Calendar

Jun
15
Sat
Brunch and Learn- CrowdFunding DeepDive!
Jun 15 @ 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm

It’s Crowdfunding Unplugged!

Crowdfunding Workshop

Is there a Kickstarter in you? Should there be? Would you like to know savvy tips to be successful?

Find out and determine exactly how to create, use and succeed with any crowding funding activity.

Whether you need $1,000 or $100,000, crowdfunding is an option.

There’s money in the cyber clouds and Author U’s first regular Saturday pops with a topic that authors want to know about … where to get money to support, create, publish and market their books.

Crowdfunding: Raise Capital To Fund Your Creative Project

Crowdfunding is “the” method for creative thinkers to raise capital for their businesses and projects. It enables anyone the opportunity to raise money for anything, without going to a publisher, VC, or bank. In this workshop, Leigh Lepore, Founder of Crowdfunding Strategy & Information, will walk through what crowdfunding is, which type of crowdfunding (e.g., donations, rewards, debt, or equity) is ideal for which situations, and how to set up a successful campaign. We will discuss in detail the key steps for engaging an audience, presenting your project to the market (including creating the right video), and hitting your goal.

  • Would you like money for your Book Project?
  • Would you like to expand your book empire using OPM—other people’s money?
  • Would you like to learn the how and why of how to do it?
  • Would you like to learn about crowdfunding from someone who creates the strategy and copy for crowdfunding projects?
  • Would you like to learn how to create your own crowdfunding project?

We’ve got the answers to all of the above and much more. See you Saturday morning for a late Brunch and Learn at Author U.
Author U is switching to a Brunch and Learn format after the recent survey with our members.

Leigh LeporeLeigh Lepore is a crowdfunding strategist. She raises funds for products, creative ideas and causes. Leigh has raised a total of $40K for her personal campaigns and has researched, blogged and trained with top platforms and crowdfunding partners to assist in the raising of mega thousands for authors and entrepreneurial projects.

Leigh  is the Founder of Crowdfunding Strategy & Information. She advises small businesses and creative individuals on raising money for their projects through crowdfunding. Leigh has successfully raised $40K for her personal campaigns and advised others on campaigns of over $100K. She is passionate about helping others and being socially responsible. She is focused on crowdfunding especially for those who cannot fundraise for themselves and believes in a communal yet competitive approach to achieve success.

She began her career in crowdfunding while in San Francisco where she trained with the top funding platforms and worked with industry partners. Since then, her passion for democratizing funding and empowering others has led her to raise thousands of dollars and help people around the world.

Leigh started her career in Environmental Engineering and Strategy Consulting with a top global consulting firm. She later transitioned to work for a Fortune 200 financial services corporation until fulfilling her entrepreneurial spirit and successfully reinventing an antique African art business in San Francisco.

Brunch and Learn

When: Saturday, June 15th from 10 am to 2 pm
Where: Hilton Garden Inn, DTC
Cost:
$30 members | $40 nonmembers

Reserve Member Seat | Reserve Non-member Seat

Jan
7
Wed
WebinarGold: How to Create Compelling Characters
Jan 7 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Do you have characters or stories in your books? Will your reader love ’em, hate ’em … or just not care? It’s a critical question that every author needs to deal with.

Webinar Gold

You can have the most compelling and creative plot out there, but without good characters your story just won’t move. But how do you come up with compelling characters that readers can relate too and get behind? That will be the subject of this webinar. We will delve into the creation of characters, and even how to write bios for them so we have something to refer back to when writing. So please come join me as we go over how to create engaging characters. Date is Wednesday, January 7th –details on the Events tab on the website. Freebie for AuthorU.org members. Get ready for Publish Smarter … Not Harder. Watch for the dates and get them on your calendar. Archives will be in the Logged in Members Only section. Check this month’s webinars under the Events tab.

Date: January 7th
Time: 6 pm Eastern, 4 pm Mountain
Location: Anywhere your laptop is.
Register:  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9178102207940740098

Mar
4
Sat
MARCH 4th and 5th: BOOKCAMP-Comedy Intensive with a Hollywood Master! @ The Colorado Automobile Dealers Association (CADA)
Mar 4 @ 9:00 am – Mar 5 @ 4:00 pm

sWhat do Actors Jack Black and Nathan Lane have in common?
2 words:  The outrageous and comedy writer Steve Kaplan … and so can you!

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We have a DOUBLE HEADER BOOKCAMP in March!


March 4
… Sharpen up your writing with Hollywood’s premier comedy writer.
March 5 … Learn tips and tricks to transform your work to the big screen.

A very special BookCamp is coming your way with comedy writer, trainer, author and mentor to the inside club of Hollywood’s entertainers is coming to AuthorU and Denver. Steve Kaplan is bringing the Comedy Intensive to us … you will learn tips and tricks on how to humor up your writing when appropriate; how to engage an audience when speaking that you’ve never thought about; and so much more. http://www.KaplanComedy.com/

Get ready for a dynamic duo: The Comedy Writing Intensive BookCamp: A Weekend Workshop for Authors, Writers and Screenwriters. Attend one day … or both. Your choice … you choose.

Whether you’re writing a novel, short story, a comedy screenplay, working on a sitcom script, or producing or directing a comedy film, Steve Kaplan has been the industry’s most sought-after expert when it comes to comedy. From the industry’s top stars to first time comedy writers producers directors and performers, Steve Kaplan has worked with and developed the best.

The proven and practical methods and principles contained in his famed Comedy Intensive course reveals the hidden tools and principles that help you understand comedy from the inside out. If you went to Steve, you would pay $395 for this course (plus air, plus food, plus hotel). AuthorU is bring the amazing, outrageous and hilarious Steve Kaplan and the Hollywood factor to you … and you can sleep in your own bed.

Don’t miss this … Register Now! Early Bird ends on February 8th.

SEATS: Space is allowed for ONLY 40 attendees … register EARLY for this one.                                                                                            

Saturday, March 4th … Comedy Author Writing Intensive and Prose

Whether you’re writing a comic novel or just want to inject more humor into your prose, your books, your speeches … this all day workshop will open avenues you never envisioned. 

Learn

  • How to Create Great Comic Characters
  • The Power of Not Knowing
  • Funny You Should Say That: Writing Comic Dialogue
  • Unblock the Block
  • And more!
     
    An intimate, supportive day that will include creativity and brainstorming techniques, solo and group writing exercises, and lots and lots of laughter!

1_Steve_Photo

 

Steve Kaplan is a master in Hollywood comedy and will delve into the sometimes elusive art of writing comedy. He’ll will explore this potent and popular form by distilling its basic principles, bringing them into the lingo and jargon you get … and can use. Combining hands-on writing exercises with story analysis and other interactive activities, this one-day event will help you find your own comic voice and offer guidelines on how to write humor with confidence, honesty and clarity. 

Here’s Steve on Why Most Romantic Comedies Suck … http://bit.ly/1S3jmBc

 

Sunday, March 5th  … Comedy Intensive for Screenwriters (and Screenwriters-to-be), Performers and Filmmakers

  • How do you write funny?
  • How do you act funny?
  • How do you direct funny?
  • How do you be funny?

Get ready to deep-dive and discover the hidden tools and principles of comedy

  • what comedy is,
  • how it works, 
  • why it works,
  • what’s happening when it’s not working
  • what you can do to fix it,

Your take-aways include proven and practical methods and principles. The workshop includes exercises, solo and group writing activities, as well as a liberal use of clips from current and classic comedies to illustrate our points and principles. It’s a very interactive experience, and we tend to laugh. A lot!

Get ready to alter your thinking, your style and your outcomes!

Don’t miss this … Register Now!                                               

TIME: 8.30 to 4.30  includes lunch each day

WHERE: CADA – Colorado Automobile Dealers Assn, 290 E Speer Blvd., Denver CO

COST: AuthorU GOLD Members:
Early Bird  $99 per day or both days for $180 until February 8;

GOLDden

 

Gold members need to login to Member site to register.

AuthorU GOLD Members Regular Rate: $129 per day or $250 for both days after February 8



ALL Other Participants

 
1 Day – March 4th


1 Day – March 5th



Both Days

BASIC and NON-Members Regular Rate after February 8th: $169 and $310

SEATS: Space is allowed for ONLY 40 attendees … register EARLY for this one.

There are no refunds 21 days before the event and a $40 Administrative fee will be charged.

Apr
26
Tue
Webinar: Creative Juice for Writers and Authors
Apr 26 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Creative Juice for Writers and Authors

Feeling stifled? Uninspired? Tired of the blank page?

Feeling as if writer’s block is an unwelcome houseguest that never leaves and eats all the ice cream?

It’s time for a little creative juice!

In this webinar, Melody Jones, Writing and Creativity Coach, will help you move past the writing blahs by tapping more deeply into that creative core we all have.

Tuesday, April 26 at 4 p.m. MT … REGISTER: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2465273717260940558

What we’ll talk about and you will learn:

  • What is creativity – exactly?
  • A dog’s life, and what that has to do with creativity.
  • Artistic expression, and no, being able to draw a stick figure is not a prerequisite
  • Your body as a creative tool.
  • Valuing creative energy in the ordinary.
  • Structure as a framework for creativity.

You’ll leave with a refreshed mind and new ideas and tools for moving past the writer’s doldrums.

Interaction and questions are encouraged!

Melody will send all participants handouts, and everyone who attends this special AuthorYOU webinar hosted by Judith Briles qualifies for a special discount on an upcoming creativity event. Join us!

REGISTER: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2465273717260940558

Melody Jones is a published author and poet and loves all things creative. She was an early adopter of Etsy, selling numerous handcrafted paper and jewelry items. Melody has worked with hundreds of writers and authors since 2011 as a social media consultant. After 30 years in the Denver metro area, she moved back home to Colorado’s Western Slope last year and is now the President of the Western Colorado Writers’ Forum. Visit her website at www.MelodyJonesAuthor.com.

Aug
6
Sat
AUG – Join Local Bestselling and Award-Winning AuthorYOU Members at Barnes & Noble – @ Lone Tree
Aug 6 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Saturday, AUGUST 6th in Colorado
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Join Local Bestselling and Award-Winning AuthorYOU Members
at Barnes & Noble – 8374 S. Willow Street, Lone Tree

AuthorYOU authors will be celebrated and featured at the July Barnes and Noble Bookfair to sign, sell books, and support of the Colorado Author’s Hall of Fame. Barnes & Noble has been a generous supporter of Colorado Authors and the AuthorYOU community.

This is an event where any books and other store merchandise purchased by visitors to the store on Saturday will generate a donation to support the Colorado Author’s Hall of Fame, which will provide funds to support the Aspiring Authors Scholarships that will be awarded in September to residents of Colorado aged 16 and beyond.

 

The book signing event will feature fiction and nonfiction authors of all genres: adult, YA, juvenile, and children’s books.

If you want to be considered as a participant, you need to:

  • Be a current paid-up member of AuthorYOU.org.
  • Have your books available in the Ingram catalog.
  • Had your book professionally edited.
  • Cross market all participants books – your opening encourages visitors to our tables to meet and get other authors’ books.
  • You commit a minimum of two hours to the event.
  • You encourage everyone in your “circles” to come to the store. Over the phone. In-Person. Through your email. And via your social media portals.
  • BN is supporting you and your book … you support BN as well, encourage book buyers to come to the store on July 3rd to support you, other authors … and BN.

Participation space is limited … it’s a first come first serve. Interested? Contact Judith Briles at Judith@Briles.com  

In your subject line, put AUGUST BN

Usually, it’s a first-come, first-served. There are a limited number of spots available.

For more information about the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame and the Aspiring Authors Scholarships, visit www.ColoradoAuthorsHallofFame.org .

Register here: