PubCamp book publishing lessons

I love writing this blog, learning about new publishing startups and talking with people about how to market their books. But sometimes there are things that take a lot more focus and time to teach or get right than you can do in a basic blog post. I'm talking about workshops and conferences, of course.

This coming weekend I'm part of one that I'm particularly proud of. It's called PubCamp, and it's put on by Writer.ly, a great startup out of Seattle. Imagine an Elance or Odesk or Craigslist, but specifically for books and publishing. That's what they do. I work with them as the San Francisco Community Manager. To introduce what Writer.ly is about to the Bay Area, we're putting on PubCamp. If you're nearby, I'd love to see you, or if you know a writer in the SF Bay Area, let them know.

Here's the official PubCamp blurb:

Could you use book publishing guidance? Excellent! We're here to help.

To celebrate the launch of Writer.ly, a marketplace where you can hire publishing help, we invite you to attend our first ever PubCamp in San Francisco on May 18th!

Learn how to become an “Authorpreneur,” exploring all the nuts and bolts of self publishing. We’ll cover everything from writing and editing your masterpiece, to building your author platform and throwing an amazing book release party.

There will be five speakers throughout the day covering these topics:

1. Writing from the heart and finding your passion: Successful Writer's Life

2. You're not here to make friends: Social Media Strategy for Authors

3. Blogger Outreach for Authors: How to get reviews, build partnerships and tell the world about your book

4. Working with Freelance Editors: Tips and tricks for making the process smooth and effective

5. How to Throw an Amazing DIY Book Release Party (You guessed it- that's my topic!)

I'm guessing most of you will not be able to make it, so I'm going to take each day this week to write about my perspective on and new tips and tricks within each area. Also, if you have any specific questions for me about any of those topics, please leave them in the comments here and I'll address them in my article. Alternately, if you have any great tips or tricks yourself that you want to have included in the article, let me know!

Finally, if you are in the SF Bay Area, you are also cordially invited to the Writer.ly Happy Hour on Thursday, May 16. That one's free!

Have any of you tried Writer.ly for any part of your book process? What did you think?

Image courtesy of Writer.ly