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letterbladePlease note: this is not my usual carrying on and asking you to carry on about my own writing. This has nothing to do with me and everything to do with the large, unique, struggling independent bookstore I work for. Help Tatnuck become a better place!
Context: Last night the old and new owner (long and complicated story) called a meeting for all employees, and I hauled my ass down there to see what was up. It was an announcement: Tatnuck is now offering discounts of at least 10% on every book in the store. Standard, every day. Paperbacks 21%, bestsellers 31%. I announce this here just by way of advertising, should you ever find yourself in Westboro. ;) But besides the announcement, there were random ideas being tossed about, and much schmoozing, and I gathered my guts and asked the current owner whether he'd considered hosting a writer's workshop at the store.
Lightbulbs went off. Soon I had both owners clustered around me, pelting me with questions, and the former owner declared me to be the Person Working With Him on the idea.
Now naturally I'm scared out of my wits. Excited liekwhoa, but also scared, esp. as the old owner is by reputation a very tempermental fellow. The new one much less; I like him. But that's neither here nor there.
I want to be able to send him an email detailing various possible workshop formats, because he's absolutely clueless about them. And I'm mostly familiar with the standard small group of writers with a discussion leader, two or three people send in work in advance, everyone critiques--what we usually think of when we think of writer's workshops. But I want to be able to give him details about that, how it works, various ways of running it, and preferably drawn from experience broader than my own. And I want to be able to, at least a little, explain how some other workshop or group methods work.
So please, if you've ever been in a writer's workshop, especially one hosted through a bookstore: how did it work, and didn't work? What was it like? Who led it, and what kind of work did they do? Experience level of participating writers? How much money changed hands in which directions? What kind of work was or wasn't read--poetry, nonfiction, playwriting, questionable content, etc. etc.? How long did meetings take? Anything?
And I'm thinking--this is a good opportunity to propose also a poetry workshop, either seperate from or in conjunction with a prose workshop. And also either seperate from or in conjunction with an open mic night, because I'd like to throw that possibility at him too. And poetry is something I have much, much less experience with, so if you know anything about organizing poetry workshops, groups, open mics, please let me know. Or if you know anything about broader-access open mic nights--as in, how does it work if one has the poets, the comics, the musicians, etcetera, all together?
Deluge me with information, please! It seems I have an opportunity here to have a major say in the future, with respect to writers and poets, of probably the biggest indie bookstore in New England short of the Mobile Book Fair. And I want to not screw up, and I know there are some of you dear people with way more experience in the writing world than me.
Context: Last night the old and new owner (long and complicated story) called a meeting for all employees, and I hauled my ass down there to see what was up. It was an announcement: Tatnuck is now offering discounts of at least 10% on every book in the store. Standard, every day. Paperbacks 21%, bestsellers 31%. I announce this here just by way of advertising, should you ever find yourself in Westboro. ;) But besides the announcement, there were random ideas being tossed about, and much schmoozing, and I gathered my guts and asked the current owner whether he'd considered hosting a writer's workshop at the store.
Lightbulbs went off. Soon I had both owners clustered around me, pelting me with questions, and the former owner declared me to be the Person Working With Him on the idea.
Now naturally I'm scared out of my wits. Excited liekwhoa, but also scared, esp. as the old owner is by reputation a very tempermental fellow. The new one much less; I like him. But that's neither here nor there.
I want to be able to send him an email detailing various possible workshop formats, because he's absolutely clueless about them. And I'm mostly familiar with the standard small group of writers with a discussion leader, two or three people send in work in advance, everyone critiques--what we usually think of when we think of writer's workshops. But I want to be able to give him details about that, how it works, various ways of running it, and preferably drawn from experience broader than my own. And I want to be able to, at least a little, explain how some other workshop or group methods work.
So please, if you've ever been in a writer's workshop, especially one hosted through a bookstore: how did it work, and didn't work? What was it like? Who led it, and what kind of work did they do? Experience level of participating writers? How much money changed hands in which directions? What kind of work was or wasn't read--poetry, nonfiction, playwriting, questionable content, etc. etc.? How long did meetings take? Anything?
And I'm thinking--this is a good opportunity to propose also a poetry workshop, either seperate from or in conjunction with a prose workshop. And also either seperate from or in conjunction with an open mic night, because I'd like to throw that possibility at him too. And poetry is something I have much, much less experience with, so if you know anything about organizing poetry workshops, groups, open mics, please let me know. Or if you know anything about broader-access open mic nights--as in, how does it work if one has the poets, the comics, the musicians, etcetera, all together?
Deluge me with information, please! It seems I have an opportunity here to have a major say in the future, with respect to writers and poets, of probably the biggest indie bookstore in New England short of the Mobile Book Fair. And I want to not screw up, and I know there are some of you dear people with way more experience in the writing world than me.
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no subject
Date: Mar. 2nd, 2006 06:50 pm (UTC)Alas, I've never actually been in a writer's workshop. I've watched some happening in cafes and such, but never participated, even in workshops at cons. So I can't really give any pointers. Getting a published local writer who might be willing to do the workshop gratis or for an honorarium might be a good thing for publicity, though.
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Date: Mar. 2nd, 2006 10:01 pm (UTC)I wish I could say the cafe is as good as the restaurant once was, but it isn't. Yet. Might be soon, because there are substantial changes being made--as in, I walkd into work toda and bam!, no prior discussion, no warning, there was a cookie oven. Mmmmmmm, baking cookies smell.
Though I have been told I make a mean latte. XD
The entire restaurant staff got hired by a new restaurant just starting business. I don't know what restaurant or where in Worcester, but I could find out if you're curious. :)
no subject
Date: Mar. 2nd, 2006 07:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Mar. 2nd, 2006 07:17 pm (UTC)Personally, I know nada, but I will see what info I can scare up.