VJs Power Blog

“Your coaching helped me both on the radio and in my first presentation—

I got a standing ovation, and sold lots of books and CDs!”

My client launched his book tour last week and is already seeing RESULTS.

To kick off the Fall Book Tour Season, I’m offering a

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A good time was had by all at Sunday’s “IWOSC Reads Its Own” at Barnes & Noble, the Grove in L.A. Fifteen writers shared both published stories and works-in-progress, including a song about writing at Peet’s Coffee! I read my essay, “Mother’s Day” (see pic) and several poems, which will soon be available as recorded downloads.

Because the subtitle of this blog is Make Your Message Count, here are some of my tips to add Performance Power to your readings:

1. ADJUST the microphone until it’s the right height and is close to your lips. Particularly important if someone much taller or shorter has read just before you.

2. PRINT your selection in larger type, double-spaced on paper if you want to make it easier for you to read. Some authors also re-write certain book passages if they don’t sound quite right for the spoken word. Others are perfectly comfortable reading from their published books. That’s up to you.

3. BREATHE. Pause and take breaths regularly for energy, pacing, tone, and character shifts.

4. SPEAK UP. It doesn’t matter what beautiful words you wrote, if the audience can’t HEAR them.

5. PRACTICE. If you write every day, read out loud every day. It’s a different set of muscles.

As writers, if you can face the blank page and write, you can face the microphone and speak. Each is its own mountain, and you climb them one step at a time. Yes, it’s work, but the view from the top is well worth it.

Since I’ve spent months blogging about how authors should perform, It’s time for me to take the podium.

As a member of IWOSC (Independent Writers of Southern California), I’ll be among a dozen or so appearing at Barnes & Noble, the Grove in Los Angeles to read this Sunday, July 20th, from 2-4pm. It’s a celebration of all types of writing…fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and more.

I’ll be reading an essay and a few of my poems.

Other writers & authors who will be participating:

• Robert S. Levinson delivers an excerpt from his gritty murder mystery,
“In the Key of Death,” a Los Angeles Times-ranked bestseller.
• Award-winning playwright Libbe S. HaLevy spins a tale about a
post-menopausal acrophobe facing her fear of heights while rock climbing in Malibu.
• Peter Balaskas, managing editor of Ex Machina Press (and winner of the
2007 Publisher of the Year by the DIY convention), reads from his novel, “The Grandmaster.”
• Pam Ward, honored for her poetry and whose work is featured in “Best
American Erotica,” reads from her new novel, “Bad Girls Burn Slow”.
• Judy Seckler, art and architecture magazine writer, offers a humorous
essay titled “Requiem for a Stick Shift,” her take on saying goodbye to a trusty Honda CRX-Si after 22 years on the road.
• Professional Business Coach Josef S. Klus serves up poetry based on his
adventures living in and leaving Paris, and on other emotional and spiritual roller coasters.
• Natasha Bauman offers a selection from her historical novel, “The
Disorder of Longing,” which was just published by Putnam this month.
• Novelist and screenwriter Marvin Wolf reads a riveting excerpt from his
memoir, “The Best Outhouse in Vietnam, And Other War Stories I Never Told Mom.”

If you’re around L.A. this Sunday afternoon, stop by and join us.