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| Share Cyber Smores at MFRW Summer Camp |
What is MFRW?
MFRW is Marketing for Romance Writers, although you don't
have to be a romance author to join. The Marketing for Romance Writers Yahoo group
is focused on learning marketing and publicity. We discuss ways to advance our careers,
brainstorm new ventures and ideas, get feedback, and find others interested in mutual
promotion. Our motto is "Seek, teach, share, learn, succeed." We welcome
marketing-related material that asks a question, offers a promo or idea, or is a
request for help, advice, or opinions. We offer opportunities to promote and join
others in promotional efforts.
What if I don't write Romance?
Not a problem. We have many members who aren't even authors. Most of us are published writers, but some aren't. We are also publishers,
literary agents, editors, author promo groups, promo assistants, artists, and virtual assistants. We
are your support group and co-workers. Need to buy pens, pins, or other goodies?
Found a great place to do that? Please share. We are open to all fiction and non-fiction
genres without limit. Our writing per se is not discussed; we focus on creating
an image and using it effectively. Pitch sessions and calls for submission are welcome.
Sounds cool. So
what's this Summer Camp everyone's talking about?
Because we're a large group (well over twelve hundred fifty
members) we wanted to pool our resources and help others learn. It's what we
do, so summer camp seemed like a great way to do that. In keeping with the
spirit of the group, camp is free. For two days, July 14th and 15th (this Saturday
and Sunday) we will host twenty-two hours of training. Topics include Helping
Your Publisher Promote Your Books (taught by Mary Caelsto of Jupiter Gardens
Press), Finding Your Audience (R Ann Siracusa), Blogging (Coffee Beans and Love
Scenes Promotions), Workshops on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Triberr
(including a guest appearance by Triberr founder Dino Dogan), Dealing with
Online Piracy, and more. There will also be giveaways such as free blog tours,
advertising spots, discount offers, and handouts. Speakers include Kay Dee
Royal, Rolynn Anderson, Kayelle Allen, Dawne Prochilo, Julie Eberhart Painter, Tina
Holland, Rochelle Weber, Mary Caelsto, Marcia James, R Ann Siracusa, Janet
Elizabeth Jones, Maryann Reid, and MFRW's own Promotions Director Karen Cote'.
How do I sign up for
summer camp?
In 2012, it's easy peasy! Become a member of the Yahoo group
and you are automatically signed up. You don't have to go anywhere or do
anything special. Just read the messages you'll be getting from the group.
Awesome. What's the
group URL?
How do I get lessons?
In 2012, this is also easy peasy. Read the messages from the
group. Be aware: if you do not want two hundred messages a day (or more) sign
up for digest. Digest lumps up to 25 messages in one email. If you see
something you want to read, you can scroll down and click on it. You can change
your delivery options at any time.
Suppose you only want to get messages about the Triberr class - set your email
delivery on the group to no email, and then before the class, come back and
change it to individual messages. After the class, switch to digest so you
don't miss any straggling messages. Then, when you feel sure you've gotten
everything, go back to no email.
Another option (for those who only want certain classes) is to set your email
delivery to Special Notice. At the beginning of each workshop, a special notice
will tell you the workshop is beginning. When you get that, you can either come
to the group itself and read messages there, or go change your delivery
options.
To change your options, go the group homepage
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MarketingForRomanceWriters/
and chose "Edit Membership" then make the changes to your delivery
options.
Do all of the posts
stay up on the loop or do I need to sit on the loop for the entire period of
the campfire? Will I be able to read what was posted after they're over?
Absolutely! You can even go back and read the first message
ever posted on this Yahoo group. On the front page of the group, scroll to the
bottom. You'll see a chart showing each year of the group, broken down by the
number of messages per month. Clicking on the number takes you to the first
message of that month. You can also pop a bit of text into the search box to find
messages about a particular topic. Messages stay up indefinitely.
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| MFRW Summer Camp |
If I can't make one
session, can I jump into the next?
Yes. You can easily find one topic you are interested in.
Come to the group itself. Click the text "Group by Topic" below the
words "Most Recent Messages." If it says "List Individual
Messages" then you are already set to "group by topic." This
puts each message and all its replies into one group. You can open the first
item, and then scroll down to see all the replies. Click each one to read the
message.
That way, you can see everything you want to see.
For this reason, we do ask that when you reply to a question, that you delete
the previous material. Otherwise, each message gets consecutively longer, and
therefore harder to read. For example, in answering your email, I deleted my
info that began it, and left only your question. If everyone does that during
camp, it will keep the pertinent data and not everyone's successive answers.
How can I tell people
about Summer Camp?
There are many ways. One easy way that you can do it is to
post a link to the group on your blog. Members who know how to add a little bit
of html in a widget can find several cool buttons for the group on this page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MarketingForRomanceWriters/promote
Choose the option you prefer and upload it. Other ways are on Twitter using the
hashtag #MFRWSummerCamp (make sure there are no spaces) and #mfrworg Both of these
are for our group. The short URL for Twitter is
http://is.gd/mfrworg
for the website, and
http://is.gd/mfrwgroup
for the Yahoo group. You can also use those links on Facebook. One other link
is
http://is.gd/mfrw_camp_hours
which is our camp schedule in pdf. If you aren't sure how to create your own
Facebook post with a link, you can always look on the group
Facebook page and share
a message from there. Click the "Share" button and post it on your
own timeline.
Is it easy to take part?
More than easy. You don't have to join the group to read the messages. To see the files or ask questions, you do have to member, but that's as easy as entering your email address. You can set your email delivery options to no email, and never get a single message from the group, set it for individual messages and get everything, or other options in between.
Okay, so can I forward this info to my friends?
We'd be honored if you did! You are welcome to invite your own Yahoo group members,
author groups, and critique groups. In fact, go invite any author groups you can think of
-- this camp is free training on how to further an author's career. They'll be
glad you told them.
