Contra Costa County Library: Indie Author Talk with Lee Wind

Click here to watch my recent "Indie Author Day" presentation, done virtually with the Contra Costa County Library.

My thanks to librarian David Greene for the invite, and to everyone for watching.

Stay safe,
Lee

I'm Interviewed on the BookBaby Podcast!

The April 6 edition of "BookBaby Spotlight" is a 45 minute interview with, well, me!

BookBaby's Sam Sedam and I talk about a whole range of issues, including the early impact of COVID-19 on indie publishing, my perspective as the director of marketing and programming at the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), and my own writing and publishing journey and mission to empower kids and teens.

It's a great conversation, and I hope you'll enjoy it! You can listen to the episode here.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

I'm Speaking Tonight in Culver City, California, on a panel about Book Publicity and Marketing

**UPDATE: 10/28/19 1:00 PM Pacific

Because of the fires in Los Angeles, this event has been cancelled and will be rescheduled.**

Wearing my day-job hat as the director of marketing and programming for the nonprofit Independent Book Publishers Association, I'll be on a panel for the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC) / Publishers Association of Los Angeles (PALA):

Publicity Panel — Seeing 2020 Book Publicity More Clearly

Moderated by Steven Sanchez (Vice President, Independent Writers Of Southern California), my fellow panelists include: Emanuela Cariolagian (Senior Public Relations & Transformation Strategist); Kathleen Kaiser (President, Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network); and Desireé Duffy (Founder of Black Château.)

You can find all the details here.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

I'll Be On Faculty at the 2019 La Jolla Writers Conference!

Hello community!

I'm excited to be leading three sessions at the upcoming 2019 La Jolla Writers Conference in La Jolla, California, October 25-27, 2019.

So You Want To Crowdfund Your Book?
Workshop Block
A Case Study Breakdown and Brainstorming Workshop.

In January of 2018, Lee Wind launched a crowdfunding campaign to finance both the professional publication of his debut YA novel, Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill, and raise enough money to donate 400 copies of his empowering book to LGBTQ and Allied Teens. The project fully funded in six days, and by the end, he’d raised enough money to donate 910 copies! Lee will walk you through both his Kickstarter project page and all the things he did to set himself up for success. Together, you’ll work through the main points to consider in setting up your own crowdfunded publishing project. From backer rewards to international shipping; from email lists to the financial realities; there are so many elements to consider. There will be worksheets to guide you and time to brainstorm your own book’s crowdfunding campaign!

Friday October 25, 2019 from 2:10 pm - 4:00 pm

and

The Art and Science of Book Marketing
Workshop Block
A Hands-On Workshop.

Are you ready to create a marketing strategy for your book? Book marketing is both an art and a science, and never a one-size-fits-all endeavor. The answer to “how will I market my book?” must be customized, and during this workshop, Lee Wind will focus you on the specific efforts you can take to achieve your book marketing goals. From his dual perspective as the director of marketing and programming for the Independent Book Publishers Association and the author-publisher of the teen novel Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill, Lee will guide you through a five-part program to craft your personal book marketing strategy. You will learn how to: Target Your Audiences; Get Your Book Vetted; Choose Your Tools; Lean Into Synergy, and Own Your Resilience. In the end, you’ll leave with book marketing insights and an actionable marketing strategy for your book.

Saturday October 26, 2019 from 8:00 am - 9:50 am

and

How Do You Measure Success: A Networking Game
Lecture Block
Every publisher, every author, wants to hit the best-seller lists and win the major awards. It’s also important to consider additional definitions of success. How about reaching readers? Inspiring social change? Building the author’s professional standing? Sending the book’s creators on tour? Growing a tribe? Shining a light on a subject you’re passionate about? And so many more…Join your fellow conference attendees in this fast-paced meet-and-greet networking event. We’ll challenge and expand our mental models about why we write and publish. We’ll find common ground and explore new territory in small groups that will keep shuffling – all in a game format that comes with bragging rights and new connections! Bring your business cards and a sense of adventure…

Saturday October 26, 2019 from 2:30 pm - 3:20 pm

You can find out all the conference info at https://lajollawritersconference.com/, and if you'd like to attend, use this special promo code “25LJWC2019” and get 25% off conference registration (saves you about $100).

Hope to see you there!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

I'm at BookExpo!

As I say in my bio, one of my "Clark Kent" jobs is working for IBPA (the Independent Book Publishers Association) as their director of marketing and programming.

In that capacity, I'm excited to be attending Book Expo in New York City this week! I'll be leading an educational/networking session "How Do You Measure Success?" on Thursday May 31, 2018 (4:45pm in room 1E16, if you're attending BookExpo and want to join in the fun!)

Here's the session description:

Every publisher, big and small, wants to hit the best-seller lists and win the major awards. It can also be exciting, however, to consider additional definitions of success. How about reaching readers? Inspiring social change? Building the author's professional standing? Sending the book's creators on a book tour? Growing a tribe? Shining a light on a subject you're passionate about? And so many more...

Join your fellow publishers, big and small, in this fast-paced meet-and-greet networking event. We'll challenge and expand our mental models about why we publish our list of books - and even why we published a specific title. We'll find common ground and explore new territory in small groups that will keep shuffling - all in a game format that comes with bragging rights and new connections! Bring your business cards and a sense of adventure...

It should be a blast.

And if you're there, and our paths converge—make sure you say "hi!"

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Librarian Friends and Allies: I Hope I'll See You In Chicago at #ALAAC17

I'm really excited that I'll be attending the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Chicago from Friday June 23 through Sunday June 25, 2017. I'll be working at the IBPA Booth (#3529) helping the IBPA Indie-Publisher and Author-Publisher members with their Author signings.

If you'll be there at #ALAAC17, too, please swing by and say "Hi!"

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Exciting News! I'm The New Director of Marketing and Programming For IBPA, The Independent Book Publishers Association!

Can I get a waiver for over-use of exclamation points, please?

I am delighted to share that I've taken a full-time position with IBPA, as their Director of Marketing and Programming. (I know, I know... I said that in the blog post title, but I really like my job title! And it's still fresh!)

Monday June 19, 2017 will be the start of my third week working at the IBPA offices in Manhattan Beach, California – I hit the ground running and am learning lots, overseeing five different programs and helping shape the organization's marketing and social media strategy.

The most visible project I'm doing is hosting the once-every-two-weeks IBPA Publishing University webinars, PubU Online. I did my first webinar this past Wednesday June 14 with book marketer Shari Stauch, and it was phenomenal (we had live video, polls, prizes, and such inspiring and actionable info on "outside the box" book marketing ideas from Shari!) A great start!

And I'll be going to ALA's Annual Conference in Chicago this week, working at the IBPA booth and helping our Indie-Publisher and Author-Publisher members with their book signings! While I've always wanted to go, I've never been to ALA before (or Chicago, for that matter.)

My IBPA colleagues are wonderful, the community is passionate and engaged, and the organization is all about helping Indie-Publishers and Author-Publishers in a mission close to my heart: For everyone to be empowered to be their authentic selves and to share their stories, their voices... and be heard!

And like they say in improv, "Yes, And..."

Yes, and I will still be blogging twice-a-week for SCBWI (doing my work on the weekends, like this post here.)

Yes, and I will still head up SCBWI's Team Blog, leading the live-blogging and social media coverage of their twice-annual international conferences.

Yes, and I'll keep my new one-day-a-month gig producing and editing SCBWI's monthly podcasts. (Also on the weekends.)

Yes, and I'll keep blogging three days a week here at I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? (Yep, you guessed it: on the weekends!)

Yes, and I'm still writing an hour-a-day, every day. (Which means that Monday through Friday, I'm waking up extra-early, commuting down to Manhattan Beach before most of the traffic, and sitting in a cafe to write for an hour before heading into my new, awesome job!)

I love the new routine, feel very grateful for the opportunity, and am so happy to share the news with you, my community.

Hurray!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee