This week in “You Gotta Love This Writing,” we count on the knowledge of author Joan Dempsey.
Joan Dempsey might have worked for seven years perfecting her latest masterpiece, This is How it Begins, but it is her ability to juggle all—including writing a book, running a community, working one-on-one with an abundance of writers, and dealing with behind-the-scenes marketing—that has us wondering “how.”
Cover Design by Damonza
All this devotion has a reason to be. Take a look at her portfolio, and you will understand why.
Joan has been navigating the writing industry for quite some time. She is a writing teacher and expert who guides a community of writers from all walks of life to better their revision processes, and with that, improve their craft.
Joan was kind to share her wisdom with us and give us the scoop on some tools she uses to make her writing journey a breeze. In Joan’s words:
1. Revise with Confidence
Revise with Confidence is my free video series, designed to help writers determine whether their writing is really any good, and now that more than 3,300 writers have participated, I can safely say that writers have been inspired by this series.
2. Funds for Writers
Every week I scour the Funds for Writers insanely helpful newsletter from C. Hope Clark to see where I can apply for writing grants, contests, and awards.
3. CWROPPS
Similarly, I get daily emails from the Creative Writing Opportunities List that alerts me to submission, grant, and job opportunities; it’s super helpful for keeping up with what’s available to advance my writing career.
4. Self-Publishing Formula
Even though I’m not (yet) a self-published author, I have learned heaps from Mark Dawson and his Self-Publishing Formula, particularly about Facebook advertising (he’s got a great free series on this), which I use as an author to sell books, and as a teacher to raise awareness about my online writing classes.
5. Ruzuku
I’ve been using the Ruzuku online course-building platform for years, and love, love, love it! If you’re teaching online, this platform is simple to navigate for both you and your students, and the folks who run the business are always eager to hear from their users.
6. Big Scoots
Seems crazy to love my internet hosting service, but I do. Super-personalized service, and no more dealing with massive companies and long wait times when I have issues with my website—now I contact Big Scoots and usually within minutes, my issues have been cheerfully attended to.
Image by Greta Rybus
Winner of the 2017 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from Poets & Writers, and named by Poets & Writers magazine as one of “5 more over 50” writers to watch, Joan Dempsey is the author of the novel, This Is How It Begins, which has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Joan received her MFA degree and teaching certificate in creative writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles. She was the recipient of a significant research grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation for her work on This Is How It Begins, a grant that took her to Warsaw for a month, and to Washington, D.C. for ten days to study in the archives at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Her writing has been published in The Adirondack Review, Alligator Juniper, Obsidian: Literature of the African Diaspora, and Plenitude Magazine, and aired on National Public Radio. She lives in New Gloucester, Maine, with her partner and their family of animals. Learn more at http://thisishowitbeginsnovel.com/.
*Author images, including featured picture, by Greta Rybus
