Category Archives: Monthly Meetings

Fucking Writers’ Conferences: how do they work?

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This is our April topic. I can drop an F bomb in it because the speaker said it was okay, and that was because the speaker is me and I’m the one who puts the PRO in profanity, right? Damn straight.

This month we’re on the 4th Tuesday instead of the 3rd Monday, but oh well, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, eh? And we’ll be starting at 6pm instead of 7, and it’s all cash, $20 a head for the set meal. Everybody gets the earlybird price this month.

There’s been a bit of chaos around Shebeen Global HQ this month, but we’re finally organized. We’ll be in the Revel Room upstairs again, from 6-8 or so. This way you don’t have to grab a snack before the meeting!

I’ll be speaking about how to get the most from a writer’s conference, and having been on the board of a couple and an attendee and speaker at more than I can count without taking off my shoes, I have a lot to share. If you do too, we want to hear from you.

And don’t forget the Women&Words conference this coming Friday and Saturday. Guess who’ll be speaking there as well? [insert smiley of your choice, as I am far too bloody dignified to use them myself]

By the way, if you have a favorite conference, please do drop a link to them in the comments. The more the merrier, and it’d be great to do one grand roundup post of all the conferences within reach of BC.

Shebeen Club Mixer Monday, March 21st

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The Auld Shebeen

The Auld Shebeen

Just a social night this month: no speaker, no pressure. Bring whatever you’re working on for boasting/comparison purposes! $25 at the door gets you dinner and a drink and the best literary cadre of companions in all of Vangroover! That’s the price for our special menu, or this once you can order off the regular menu and “pay as you go.”

Next month we’ll be back to our usual meet&greet/presentation/arguing and drinking schedule.

UPDATE: It’s apparently World Poetry Day on Monday.

Monday is World Poetry Day and, coincidentally, the anniversary of the first twitter tweet. Celebrate with a “twaiku” by Elizabeth Alexander:

Teeny tiny poem

Teeny tiny poem/just enuf 2hold/1 xllent big word/Impluvium/open-eyed courtyrd/collectng rain/as all poems do/ skylife, open/birds do:/ tweet

More on UN World Poetry Day here
NYTimes article here
Four New Twitter poems (including Alexander’s) here

 

 

Don’t forget: The Blog-to-Book Deal Monday!

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Revel Room's Loft

Revel Room's Loft

Advance ticket sales have ended for the Blog to Book deal for this coming Monday, February 21st at the Revel Room with Darren Barefoot and Trena White, but don’t worry, we have some good news!

a) You can still buy your ticket at the door for $25 (cash only, please). The price includes dinner and a drink as well as the presentation. It’s a good idea to get there right at 7, so you have time to meet everyone before the presentation begins. We’re going to be in the upstairs lounge at Revel Room, 238 Abbott Street, Vancouver, in hipsterville, adjacent to Gastown.

b) It’s possible that the event will be livestreamed (no guarantee, though). Some out-of-province Shebeeners have expressed interest in hiring April Smith of AHA Media to livestream the proceedings. If you want to make sure this happens, contact her and hire her yourself!

See you there! Be there or forever wonder if your Tumblr could be worth a fortune!

The Blog-To-Book Deal at the Shebeen Club

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Canadian writer Darren Barefoot.

Image via Wikipedia

We’re back!

UPDATE: this just in, the venue is the upstairs lounge of Revel Room, 238 Abbott Street just south of Gastown in Hipsterville! Chef is working up some special entrees just for us!

Finally, a real Shebeen Club meeting at last! After a several-months-long layoff, we’re restarting with a bang with the hot topic of the Blog to Book deal. Who doesn’t want to put their already-posted words to work for them? What publisher wouldn’t love an author with a pre-existing following and 400,000 words or so already out there, ready to be judged by an editor? How do you hook up one of these deals? What’s the market looking for: recipes? fiction? poetry? dirty stories about Julian Assange? Duh, all of the above and more.

Join us on Monday, February 21st at 7pm for a timely, lively presentation by Darren Barefoot, one of Canada’s pre-eminent social media personalities, and Trena White, Acquiring Editor of Non-fiction at our own Douglas & McIntyre. Bring your questions, and your URL!

As always, tickets are $20 in advance (available till Feb 16th) or $25 at the door and include dinner and a drink. We’ll announce the venue in a couple of days, once we’ve locked down the menu. The venue is the upstairs lounge at Revel Room, 238 Abbott Street just south of Gastown. Chef is making some special entrees just for us!

Darren is a writer, marketer and blogger. He’s a co-founder of Capulet, a web marketing agency, and a co-founder in Northern Voice, one of Canada’s largest blogging and social media conferences. He’s the co-author, along with Julie Szabo, of “Friends With Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook”. In 2011, he’s only consuming Canadian products, media and services, and writing about the experience at OneYearOneCanadian.ca.

Trena White

Trena White

Trena White is a book editor. She joined Douglas & McIntyre, a Vancouver-based independent publisher, as Acquiring Editor of Non-Fiction in 2010. Before that, she spent six years in Toronto as Editor at McClelland & Stewart, where she worked with emerging and established non-fiction writers in a wide range of subject areas, including memoir, current affairs, politics and history. She has a Master of Publishing from Simon Fraser University.

7-7:30 meet & mingle

7:30-8 listen & learn

8-whenever pitch, link, Add, Friend, Follow and schmooze!

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Revel in our menu for Selling Out!

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Revel Room's Loft

Revel Room's Loft

In case you haven’t yet decided that tickets to our October meeting, Selling Out! featuring Shane Gibson, are a must-have, here’s a sneak peek at the menu the chef at Revel has developed for our meeting:

  • Roast Apple Salad with Goat Feta, Red Onion and Buttermilk Dressing
  • Gumbo with Andouille Sausage, Shrimp, Chicken, Rice, Tortilla Hay
  • Jambalaya of Shrimp, Andouille Sausage and Smoked Chicken, Pepper Creole Sauce on Red Beans and Rice
  • Roasted Vegetable Quiche with Mixed Green Salad and Sherry Vinaigrette
  • Southern Fish ‘n’ Chips – Fried Catfish with Wedge Cut Buttermilk Potato Jojos, Coleslaw and Chili Remoulade
  • Revel Burger with Double Smoked Bacon, Aged Cheddar, Herb Aioli *
  • Pulled Pork Sandwich with Memphis Style BBQ Sauce and Coleslaw *
  • Black Bean Veggie Burger with Cheddar , Avocado Salsa, Lime and Jalapeño Aioli *

    * All Served with Wedge Cut Buttermilk Potato JoJo’s

Okay, I don’t know what a JoJo is, but it’s got buttermilk and carbs in it, so it must be good, right? Tickets are $20 in advance, or $25 at the door.