JOIN US FOR A ONE-DAY WRITERS’ CONFERENCE
Sponsored by the Kansas City Press Club,
the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists
Learn what it takes to be a freelance writer,
meet and greet editors
When: Saturday, March 3, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: The Writer’s Place,
3607 Pennsylvania, Kansas City, Mo.
The Panels
Setting Up and Minding Your Freelance Business, Including Writing Query Letters and Other Marketing Tips 9-10:30 a.m.
Freelance writing is about much more than sitting at home and writing; you must learn to manage a small business as well. Seasoned freelance writers will give you tips and share some insights on what to do and not do when building your home-based business. Bernadette Stankard, Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell & TBA
The Digital Age: Using Digital Photos, Audio and Video to Sell Your Work 10:30-11:30 a.m.
It’s the digital age and freelance writers are going to have to stay on top of new technology. The more you know about photography and digital audio and video, the more marketable your work will be. Learn the basics of what kind of equipment you need, cost and what it takes to use it from some of the most tech-savvy journalists in the metropolitan area. Jeff Douglas, TBA.
Lunch – on your own 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Please bring a brown bag lunch or make plans to go out on your own.
Establishing Your Expertise and Platform 12:30 p.m. -1:30 p.m.
One of the most profitable ways to earn a living as a freelance writer is to build an area of expertise and establish your platform. Join some of the area’s most successful freelancers as they share how they built a freelance career in limited areas.
Diana Lambdin Meyer – travel writing
Kate Beem – education
Allie Johnson – animals/pets
Suzanne Lieurance – children’s book author
The Art of Networking 1:30 p.m. -2:30 p.m.
Part of being a business owner is knowing that networking is more than passing out your business cards, it’s about using your memberships in organizations to lead you to the right people and more. Mary-Lane Kamberg, a successful freelance writer and author and Anne Baber, co-author of “Contacts Count,” will tell you the secrets of building your business through networking.
What Do Editors Really Want? 2:30 p.m. -3:30 p.m.
Writers are from Mars, editors are from Venus. At least that’s what it seems like sometimes. What exactly are they looking for in queries? What do writers do that tick them off? Hear from a panel of editors from local, regional and national publications and ask them questions. (See list below)
Editor/Writer Meet and Greet 3:30 p.m. -4ish
Here’s your chance to put your new networking skills to use. Meet the editor panelists and join us for some refreshments. Note: This is not a pitch session. Writers will not be allowed to pass out resumes, portfolios of clips or pitch story ideas to the editors. This is a get-to-know-you social. Please do not ask editors to carry home anything more than your business card. If you get theirs, you’re welcome to follow up with them later.
Andrea Darr, managing editor for Kansas City Homes & Gardens
Lynn Anderson, managing editor for The Best Times
Jonna Lorenz, associate editor for The Kansas City Business Journal
Tim Janicke, editor for The Kansas City Star Magazine
John Rockhold, managing editor for Mother Earth News
Another Editor TBA
Hurry! Space to this writer’s conference is limited to 30 seats! Reserve your spot by emailing Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell at fivecoat@kcnet.com Please leave email subject line blank and include your telephone #.
Checks must be received within five days of reserving your seat. Mail checks, made payable to the Kansas City Press Club, c/o Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell, 5420 Vista Dr. Kansas City, KS 66106
Cost: Only $10 for members of the Kansas City Press Club/$20 for non-members
(Once paid, fees are non-refundable).
Most of our panelists are book authors and they will be offering their books for sale at the conference.
Please help support these local authors!
Panelists Bios
Lynn Anderson's writing career began in her 20s when she worked with the United Farm Workers Union, writing and editing for the union's newspaper, El Malcriado. After earning a master's degree in journalism from the University of Kansas, she spent 22 years working with KU Continuing Education as a writer, editor, and director of marketing. In November 2004, she landed the plum job of editing The Best Times, a monthly tabloid newspaper mailed to Johnson County residents 60 and older. Because the paper's staff is small, she works with an eclectic collection of regional freelance writers, who make the publication a vital and trusted source of information on aging issues.
Anne Baber is co-founder with Lynne Waymon of Contacts Count, the premier training company for business and career networking. The company includes eight Certified Presenters, who also provide training throughout the United States and Canada. The second edition of Baber and Waymon’s fifth book on networking, Make Your Contacts Count, made its debut last month. Sign up for their free e-newsletter at www.ContactsCount.com.
Kate Beem has been a freelance writer since 2001. Before that, she served as the Kansas education writer for The Kansas City Star, covering several school districts and the Kansas Board of Education. In the late 1990s, she received a fellowship from the Education Writers Association to research and write about social conservatives’ impact on public education. Her project published as the Kansas Board of Education began its infamous debates over evolution in its state science standards. Since 2001, Kate has continued to focus on education writing for journals such as The School Administrator but also has written for business publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Crain’s Chicago Business. She also frequently contributes articles to The Kansas City Star.
Andrea Darr is the managing editor of Kansas City Homes & Gardens, the home and lifestyle magazine that focuses on the unique interests of upscale homeowners in Kansas City.
Jeff Douglas has been a writer and editorial assistant for The Associated Press since 2004. He spent time reporting in the St. Louis AP bureau in 2006 before returning to The AP in Kansas City. He helped launch The Kansas-Missouri bureau's first Web site, ap.org/kansas, and has led the bureau in collecting and editing digital audio while reporting. Jeff is also a regular contributor to asap, The AP's new young reader site, which focuses on multimedia storytelling using Podcasts, Blogs, audio and video (asap.ap.org). He previously worked as a weekend Web editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune and interned at The Kansas City Star, the Kansas City Business Journal, The Joplin Globe and the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell has written more than 2,000 articles for publications such as The Associated Press, Audubon, Entrepreneur, Women in Business, Fido Friendly, Today’s Collector, Industry, and Fate. She’s a regular contributor to The Kansas City Hispanic News, Kansas City Homes and Gardens and The Kansas City Star’s Neighborhood News and business sections. In a former life, she worked in the corporate world. Her bachelor’s in business administration from the University of St. Mary gives her a unique perspective on being a writer/entrepreneur. She teaches online classes and writes a blog for writers. Find more about her classes at www.writeforyou.biz and read her daily blog at www.kcwrite4u.blogspot.com
Tim Janicke is editor of Star Magazine, the Sunday magazine of The Kansas City Star. He is also a writer and photographer for the magazine. He is an adjunct professor of photojournalism at the University of Kansas in Lawrence and frequent contributor to journalism workshops. Janicke is the author and photographer of a book about public art in Kansas City called City of Art. The book, offered by the books division of The Kansas City Star, was first published in 2001.
Allie Johnson is a Kansas City, Missouri-based writer who worked for newspapers for 10 years before going freelance in 2005. She writes for a variety of magazines on a range of topics, but her niche is pet writing. (Her blue heeler mix, Gobo, and cocker spaniel mix, Maddy, serve as research assistants.) Her pet-related work has appeared in The Bark, Healthy Pet, Best Friends Magazine and a pet-industry trade magazine, Pet Age. She also has written for Popular Science and Cooking Light. She has a degree in magazine journalism from Ohio University.
Mary-Lane Kamberg's freelance writing career began when she joined the Kansas City Writers Group in 1985. Through memberships in writing organizations including the Missouri Writers Guild, Kansas Authors Club, and Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc., she has met hundreds of writers and stays in touch via e-mail. Connecting with other writers has enhanced her writing skills and marketing opportunities. She is author of seven books, including The "I Don't Know How To Cook" Book (Adams Media, 2004), which won Best Nonfiction Book honors from the Missouri Writers' Guild in 2005.
Suzanne Lieurance is a children's author, fulltime freelance writer, and the Working Writer's Coach. She has written 12 published books for children, with two more to be released soon. Lieurance has been an instructor for the Institute of Children's Literature for more than five years, teaching a course called "Writing for Children and Teens." She also publishes The Morning Nudge, a few words of inspiration and motivation to help writers get a little writing done each day. Subscriptions to The Morning Nudge are available free at www.workingwriterscoach.com and www.suzannelieurance.com
Jonna Lorenz is the associate editor of the Kansas City Business Journal. She is responsible for planning and editing the paper's weekly In Depth sections and most of its special publications, including coordinating freelance work. The Kansas City Business Journal is a weekly newspaper owned by American City Business Journals, the nation's largest publisher of metropolitan business newspapers with business journals in 41 markets across the country.
Diana Lambdin Meyer is an award-winning member of the Society of American Travel Writers and the Midwest Travel Writers Association. Her feature on Tucson, Ariz., is in the March issue of Cooking Light. Diana writes the "Real Vacations" column for The Kansas City Star and the "Great Places" column for Log Home Living Magazine.
John Rockhold is the managing editor for Mother Earth News magazine, also known as “the original guide to living wisely.” Rockhold started with Mother Earth News in 2002 as an assistant editor. Jobs prior to Mother Earth News include freelance writing and working for Primedia Business’ Wireless Review magazine – first as a staff writer, then as the news editor. Rockhold graduated from the University of Kansas in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in English and a special concentration in magazine journalism. Mother Earth News is North America's leading environmental magazine, with about 1 million readers. Since 1970, it has served those with a passion for conscientious living and self-reliance, focusing on renewable energy, organic gardening, homesteading and sustainable farming, green building, green transportation, natural health and more. The magazine brings a fun, practical and hands-on approach to making a difference, for our lives and the environment.
Bernadette Stankard is an author of five books, president and founder of Creative Reaches, a business dedicated to creative presentations, and is co-owner of Farm to Market Neighborhood Cafe in downtown Overland Park. She has been active in the freelance world for more than 20 years, writing for several newspapers in Minnesota, Texas, Kansas and Missouri.