Michelle Worthington's Blog, page 10

Cover Letter and Submissions Masterclass

Join internationally published award winning author and Director of Share Your Story, Michelle Worthington, in a Masterclass designed to get your story the best chance of being published. Topics include understanding submission guidelines and standard practices, researching potential publishers, what to include in the cover letter and how to sell yourself as an author. Publishers use a cover letter to quickly make a decision about whether an applicant demonstrates the background and professional experience they are looking for and it can make the difference between whether your manuscript gets the attention it deserves or even if it is read by the people who make the decisions. All printed resources are included in the price of the workshop, including a sample cover letter and a template to write your own. This practical workshop will give you the skills you need to feel confident in submitting your manuscript to publishers for consideration.
Tea, coffee and light refreshements will be served, and of course...chocolate biscuits.
Bookings essential


Date and TimeSat. 27 May 2017
10:00 am – 12:30 pm AEST

Add to Calendar LocationRedlands Healing Centre
557 Mount Cotton Road
Sheldon, QLD 4157

Book Now https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/cover...
www.michelleworthington.com

Writing Romance, Memoirs and Historical Fiction

Share your Story is for aspiring authors who would like to learn from industry professionals and established writers about the publishing industry and the process of getting a book published. Join international award winning author Michelle Worthington and her amazing guest speakers as they share the story behind writing romance novels, memoirs and historical fiction. Special guests include self publishing historical fiction superman Warwick O'neill, the inspirational memoir rockstar Caylie Jeffrie and romance writing diva Tina Clark. Places are limited and bookings are essential. Tea and coffee and refreshments provided, and of course...chocolate biscuits!
Date and Time Sat. 13 May 2017
12:30 pm – 4:00 pm AEST
Add to Calendar LocationWynnum Library
145 Florence Street
Wynnum, QLD 4178

Book Now https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/writi...

www.michelleworthington.com

LinkedIn Masterclass with Julie Mason

Businesses large or small that want more referrals, leads and sales with quality prospects and clients using LinkedIn have a powerful ally – Julie Mason. The highly-motivated businesswoman, keynote speaker and author loves nothing more than demystifying LinkedIn and sales strategy.

These days, Julie is known as ‘The Social Media Princess’ a name aptly bestowed upon her by her clients for her ability to make the confusing world of social media simple to understand and use, strategic, profitable and fun!

Through her coaching programs, speaking events and online webinars, Julie has helped and inspired thousands of people to make a significant difference in their business using social media and LinkedIn.

Julie is a passionate LinkedIn expert and specialises in creating strategies that promote your brand, enhance your reputation and generate big money leads for your business.
Julie’s message is simple – “With over 80% of B2B conversions coming from LinkedIn, can you afford not to use it correctly?”

Starting her first foray into cold-calling at the tender age of 5 years old, Julie was on a mission to raise money for the poor people through selling her crayola and paddle-pop stick masterpieces. She returned home to her shocked mother rattling her bag full of coins with great success! This was the start of Julie’s love affair with sales.

Julie has over 25 years experience in traditional sales and 15 years in door-to-door cold calling prior to discovering social media and starting to use those tools to build two successful businesses herself using the methods she now teaches others.

In the past 12 months Julie’s clients have generated over $1,000,000 using simple strategies that are proven to work. Whether to position yourself as an Authority in your niche or to generate quality leads and sales, Julie has a strategy that will be tailored for your business needs.
For more details, follow Julie on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/GuruJules/
Tea and Coffee Provided. Bookings essential.

The Colmslie Hotel
Wynnum Road
Brisbane, QLD 4170
Australia
Saturday, 22 April 2017 from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm (AEST) Book Now https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/linke...                          

www.michelleworthington.com

Goal Setting for Creatives

Share your Story is for aspiring authors, illustrators, musicians and creatives who would like to learn from industry professionals and established artists about the publishing industry and the process of getting published. Join international award winning author Michelle Worthington and her amazing guest speakers and panellists as they explore best practice on Time Management and Goal Setting for the Creative Industries. Special guests include self publishing guru Martii Maclean, anxiety coach and Daddy Daycare extraordinaire Reece Anderson, the inspiring Susan Bradley, children's author Michel Deverall , award winning screen writer Vacen Taylor and romance rockstar/event management diva Tina Clark. Places are limited and bookings are essential. Tea and coffee and refreshments provided, and of course...chocolate biscuits!

Date and TimeSat. 18 March 2017
9:30 am – 12:00 pm AEST

Add to Calendar LocationWynnum Library
145 Florence Street
Wynnum, QLD 4178

Book Now https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/goal-...www.michelleworthington.com

Website Design, SEO and Content Creation for Creatives

If you're like most small business, your website will be your primary marketing tool. It is your business 'shop window', open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, showcasing your products and services. If you are a creative business, this becomes even more important.
Join award winning international author Michelle Worthington, Wild Cat Design CEO Cath Koch and Digital Content Creator and Photographer Kerrin Smith for a masterclass discussing all aspects of web design, SEO optimisation and creating organic and effective content.

Cath Koch is passionate about small business web design. She enjoys seeing her clients vision become a reality and will be giving advice to start ups to get them up and running with a professional website, logo & business cards. She will be sharing her journey and discussing how most of her time is spent working with established business to improve their website content, website style or functionality. She will be providing practical advice to help your business grow thanks to a professional web presence and excellent Google Search Ranking.
Cath has over 15 years’ experience creating websites, having spent years working in digital image manipulation and graphic design prior to that. As a business owner, web designer and graphic designer, she offers a boutique service, providing individual time and attention to each client project.
Kerrin is a videographer and photographer and has worked with hundreds of clients to create visual marketing content. She is passionate about making quality multimedia products for her clients that are creative and interesting, as well as being powerful online marketing tools. She will be discussing how business owners should recognise the importance of creating video content for their businesses and will provide practical advice on where to start. She will be providing tips to overcome common barriers to making DIY videos including a lack of time, confusion about what equipment and software to use and a lack of confidence on camera.
Share your Story is for aspiring authors, illustrators, musicians and creatives who would like to learn from industry professionals and established artists about how to move forward in their chosen industry and the process of marketing their unique brand.

Tea and Coffee provided..and of course chocolate biscuits.
Bookings essential.

Date and Time Sat. 25 March 2017
9:30 am – 12:00 pm AEST
Add to Calendar LocationRedlands Healing Centre
557 Mount Cotton Road
Sheldon, QLD 4157

Book Now https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/websi...

www.michelleworthington.com

Picture Book Masterclass

Discover the principles of writing for children and learn to create dynamic and vibrant picture books in this exclusive masterclass with international award winning author of empowering picture book author, Michelle Worthington. Two time winner of the International Book Award for Children's Hardcover Fiction and finalist in the USA Best Book Awards and Book Excellence Awards, Michelle also received a Gellett Burgess Award for Children's Literature and a Silver Moonbeam Award for her contribution to celebrating diversity in Picture Books. Her goal is to inspire children to believe in themselves and encourage reluctant and special needs readers to fall in love with books. She will share with you her extensive industry knowledge, the basic principles behind writing for children, picture book publishing guidelines and updates on the current market and publishing environment. This masterclass is for anyone who is wanting to publish a picture book but places are limited as Michelle's expertise in this area is sort after all over Australia. Bookings essential as places are limited to ensure each participant gets one-on-one time with Michelle to discuss their picture book idea. Tea and coffee provided...and of course, chocolate biscuits!

Date and Time Sat. 25 February 2017
12:30 pm – 3:00 pm AEST          LocationWellington Point Community Hall
347 Birkdale road
Birkdale, QLD 4159

Book Now https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/pictu...www.michelleworthington.com

Writing for Children Full Day Seminar

Writing for ChildrenShare Your Story events are for aspiring authors to learn from industry professionals and established writers to further their dream of being a published author. Join international award winning picture book author, Michelle Worthington and her special guests for a full day workshop on writing for children. Hear from multi-published children's author Aleesah Darlison, internationally published author Rachel Noble, bi-lingual author Melina Mallos, chapter book author Michel Deverall, self-publishing guru Martii Maclean, author/editor/publisher Julieann Wallace and the emerging talent of Yvonne Mes talk about the specifics of writing for children and how it is different from other types of publishing. Free parking. The cost includes tea, coffee, refreshments, a light lunch...and of course, chocolate biscuits!!! Bookings essential.
These are just some of the topics that will be covered. Looking forward to seeing you there.
-How to select a publisher
-The mechanics of submitting your work
-The editorial process
-The design process
-Contracts
-Selling systems and promotion
-Opportunities in e-book and self-publishing
Date and Time Sat. 18 February 2017
10:00 am – 3:00 pm AEST
Add to Calendar LocationRedlands IndigiScapes Centre
17 Runnymede Road
Capalaba, QLD 4157
Book now https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/writi...
www.michelleworthington.com

The Wheelchair Adventure: a story by non-verbal kids with a lot to say

The Wheelchair Adventure by Emma, Lachlan, Michael & Sam. "One perfectly ordinary day, four friends arrive at school and are transported on an amazing, extra-ordinary trip to all their favourite places, doing what they love to do best. Where will they turn up next on their wheelchair adventure?" A picture book created by the non-verbal, visually impaired students themselves by using auditory partner assisted scanning with their communication books during a series of interactive lessons with me. Working with Sam, Lachlan, Michael and Emma on this book has truly been one of the most rewarding experiences of my publishing career. To see how generous and patient they were with me and how much fun they had being listened to, as well as having Wally Lewis come to the book launch...it was the highlight of their school year.



Narbethong State Special School most graciously allowed me to be the author in residence in 2016. I got the opportunity to work with all the students in the school, with various levels of visual, mental and communicative impairment and design an author program that would most suit their needs and be of the most benefit to their current curriculum. Not to mention, it was so much fun. Copies of The Wheelchair Adventure are now available by request from me in Braille and all proceeds go back to the school to assist with their fundraising.

You can see what fun we had at the book launch by following this link: http://bit.ly/2h8eMVX
I would like to offer my services for 2017 to do any author visits to your special school with storytelling to the younger grades and possibly work with the older students on making their own published picture book. If the students write and create a picture book, it can be used for fundraising for the school with all proceeds of sales forwarded directly to them. The kids have a great time too and are able to call themselves published authors.


A huge thanks to my team who make it all possible. Giuseppe Poli for the illustrations and Julieann Wallace from Lilly Pilly Publishing for making the magic happen of turning words and pictures into a published book. Can't wait to give more children a chance to have their voices heard in 2017.

The Wheelchair Adventure is available now.
http://www.lillypillypublishing.com/_...www.michelleworthington.com

Social Media Marketing and Purpose

This resonates with me on so many levels. First of all, as an author, you have to work. Nothing comes easy in this life and your passion must be proportionate to the size of your goal. I am not afraid of hard work. Secondly, keep working until you make it happen. It might be a long hard slog and there will be times you want to give up, but your tenacity must be stronger than your self-doubt.


Social media helps me reach people who I can't personally share my stories with. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to reach people all over the world and inspire  kids of all abilities with my passion for books and the power of words. Social media is very much like all other types of technological advancements. Used the right way, it can bring great benefit and happiness to people but when taken advantage of for self serving purposes, it can be damaging on so many levels. Users need to take personal responsibility for how they use social media. Authors need to be aware of the ways to use it correctly to send their message globally.


Finally, to be known as an expert in your field. Some people may mistake my goal of brand recognition as vanity or showmanship but I can't help people if they don't know who I am. I can't share my story with them, inspire them or make a difference in this world. I can promise you that as long as I see a need, I will try and fill it. It is my duty, not only to myself, but to my children and my community to increase the greater good. This year, I will work hard so that when people hear my name, they will smile


www.michelleworthington.com

Goal Setting for Authors

Where are you now in your career as an author?   Outline your top 3 strengths and areas to determine where you are now.  Top 3 strengths:  1.   2.   3.    Top 3 areas for development:  1.   2.   3.     What drives you?
What are you passionate about?
What gives you that ‘whoo hoo’ moment during the day?      On the flip side, what do you want to avoid?
What’s the part about what you do that makes you not want to get out of bed in the morning?  Focus on ensuring: Development goals are aligned to organisational strategy and needs; whilst supporting career aspirations; that they are clear and measurable. Development goals should build skills that directly impact your capability to enable increased performance.  Learning experiences and formal learning activities (if appropriate) are explored to support the achievement of goals. A timetable for completion of activities and milestones during the development year  
   A good author development plan:  Focuses on the development of a few skills, balances the need to develop both strengths and development areas that are tied to performance goals Has concrete action steps Sets gradual, realistic, and achievable success measures.
Join us for the Share your Story Goal Setting for Authors workshop in March 2017. Join our MeetUp Group to be notified of the next workshop in your area.
http://www.meetup.com/en-AU/Share-Your-Story-Australia/

www.michelleworthington.com