Sonja Dewing

Short Storyathon
2018-10-21 05:00 - 11:00, 2018-10-20 02:00 - 14:00, 2018-10-19 12:00 - 15:00 (America/Denver) | Fatpipe ABQ, 200 Broadway Blvd Ne, Albuquerque, 87102, United States
Go from idea creation (on Friday night) all the way to your published short story on Amazon by Sunday! Sound crazy? It kind of is, but it works!

What peeps have said about the last one?

“I arrived on Saturday morning not knowing which idea I was going to choose to develop. The first sprint got me launched. I picked an idea from the walking tour on Friday evening and just went with it. Within five minutes I had an interesting beginning and that developed into a story remarkably quickly. Having the freedom to take breaks, to work at my own pace, to participate in the sprints or not, in the company of other supportive writers, made all the difference. I had never used a professional copy editor before. Grace was fantastic. She caught mistakes I didn’t see. Her feedback was essential to making me feel that I had a product worth publishing.”

Full schedule is coming soon! It’s getting restructured due to the input from last time. Brought to you by Plot Duckies.

The basics:

Friday night 6pm – 9pm

Bring your walking shoes! And be ready for any weather. We’ll start out at FatPipe ABQ, a coworking space. We’ll discuss how to write a short story and how to find ideas for your story (if you don’t have one already). Then, we’ll take a walking tour of downtown to collect those ideas.

Saturday – 8am – 8pm

We’ll start with some writing sprints to get us going. Then take a quick break while we talk about book covers and consider hiring a book cover artist (they run $60 to $250). Then keep writing all morning. After lunch (lunch is on your own, but we have plenty of places nearby) we’ll sit down and review each other’s work, so we can get ideas on what needs to be improved. Then, it’s back to writing.

In the evening, your stories will be sent to our professional editors. They will edit the first four pages of stories you started that weekend (this is so everyone gets some professional editing on their story). Also, this is paid as part of your purchase.

Sunday – start at 11am – 5pm

We’ll sleep in a little after all that work. Then it’s back to work. We’ll polish our stories in the morning. Then, I’ll go over how to set up your story on Amazon.

Then, we’ll celebrate with cake!

Limited spaces:

I’m limiting this event to only 25 attendees, so you probably want to buy your ticket now, and before the early bird prices go up.

Plot Box!

To celebrate the launch of our new audiobook and accompanying box (to help you write your novel), We’ll be giving a box and audiobook away to one lucky attendee ($60 value)!

Win a story cover!

Everyone who brings a cash and/or book donation for Albuquerque Reads will receive a chance to win a free story cover design ($60 value) by Leslie Reilly. Leslie Reilly is the designer behind all of Sonja Dewing’s book covers!

The Facilitators:

Sonja Dewing is a published author and award-winning creative writer. She has an adventure novel, Toy of the Gods, published by Creativia (available on Amazon), and a couple of self-published short stories on Amazon.

Elisabeth Loya is a published author and member of Querque Quills.

Ready? Get your tickets today. Full Wkd ticket is $99.

Querque Quills at Octofair
2018-10-13 04:00 - 10:00 | Octopus and the Fox, 514 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87102
Come and meet the Querque Quills authors at Octofair, buy a book, get a photo with us, and get it signed.

About Octofair:

Since 2011, The Octopus & The Fox has existed to support the Albuquerque arts community by offering a selection of locally handmade art & gifts in a fun, colorful and unexpected retail space. Once a year we take it a step further and celebrate our wonderful community by throwing a huge party called OCTOFAIR!!! This year we are proud to produce this free and fun, grassroots, community event with our local business partners, artists, musicians and community members.

As always, we will have some the finest locally handmade arts and crafts Albuquerque has to offer, as well as a live music stage presented by Sister Bar, superb local beer by La Cumbre Brewing Co., EDo’s finest pizza and food by Farina Pizzeria & Wine Bar, and this year we are proud to host the wrap party for the finale of Mural Fest 2018. There’s plenty more surprises to be announced, so stay in touch.

It’s free, it’s fun, it’s funky, it’s East Downtown Albuquerque’s original arts & crafts festival. It’s Octofair 2018!!!

Visit www.octofair.com

Querque Quills Book Signing at Bookworks
2018-10-04 12:00 - 13:00 | BookWorks, 4022 Rio Grande Blvd NW, Albuquerque, 87107, United States
Come and meet me and three of my fellow published authors! We’re all members of Querque Quills – a review group right here in Albuquerque.

You’ll hear from:

You’ll hear from:

Trinity Tarrow,

Katy Hammel (coming soon to Amazon),

Dallas Hunter,

and Me!

Four very different books and four fun authors.

Ire of the Gods - Free for 4 days
2018-09-19 02:00 - 2018-09-22 11:00 | NM
Free for 4 days only. Benedict Cecil Spafford is the most famous of British explorers. He’s survived wars, snobby British society, and several excursions into the Amazon, but can he survive his brush with a god?

You don’t have to have a Kindle to read it – you can also read it on your computer through Kindle Cloud reader! http://mybook.to/IreoftheGods

And, please give it a review when you’re done! 🙂

ExperienceIT
2018-09-13 02:00 - 10:00 | Sandia Resort & Casino
I’m honored to be a moderator for the powerhouse social media panel. Buy your tickets to ExperienceIT today.

Tickets for this all day conference is $99 for members; $120 for non-members.

Find your next writing ideas
2018-09-07 12:00 - 15:00, 2018-08-24 12:00 - 15:00, 2018-07-20 12:00 - 15:00, 2018-07-14 12:00 - 15:00 | NM
I’m proud to say that I have the first approved Airbnb Experience in Albuquerque, New Mexico!

Bring your notebook, pen, and good walking shoes! We’ll start out in FatPipe ABQ, a coworking space that was once a historic library for the old Albuquerque High School. We’ll cover ‘How to Craft a Short Story’, and how to find ideas for your story. Then, we’ll head into downtown Albuquerque for a walking tour of some of the most interesting places, find ideas for our stories, and explore.

FatPipe ABQ is a beautiful space for our workshop kickoff. It’s a historic building with a creative vibe. Depending on what’s happening downtown we’ll go to a few different places. Civic Plaza often has activity, the Hotel Andaluz is a gorgeous historic hotel, and there’s a collection of other great locations on downtown Central (coffee shops, breweries, murals, etc.)

Sign up through Airbnb.

Duke City Short Story Slam
2018-08-23 13:00 - 16:00 | Red Door Brewing Company, 400 Gold Ave, SW, Suite 105, Albuquerque, 87102, United States
I’m honored to be one of the featured speakers at this month’s Duke City Story Slam. Come hear all three featured speakers including my true story about coming home. And get a chance at sharing yours!

This event is hosted by the Storytellers of New Mexico.

Menagerie is free for 4 days
2018-08-19 02:00 - 2018-08-22 11:00 | NM
Get your copy of my flash fiction story! Free on Amazon for just a few days!

http://mybook.to/Menagerie

Kauffman Fast Trac - By WESST and FatPipe ABQ
2018-08-15 12:00 - 14:00 | Fatpipe ABQ, 200 Broadway Blvd Ne, Albuquerque, 87102, United States
I’ll be facilitating this course…

This ten-week in-person course will be facilitated by a certified professional instructor and will include speakers and local resources to help you get your business idea off the ground.

Courses will start on August 15 and will run Wednesday nights, 6pm-8:00pm. Ends in October.

This course provides the tools to develop a business concept, determine the viability of the business concept, and outline the critical steps to a successful business launch.

The course includes:
~Identify market needs
~Understand Business Fundamentals
~Pricing and structure
~Network with Entrepreneurial Professionals
~Business Plan
~Access to resources
and more..

Keep in mind that as we build businesses we need to be connecting with other businesses and our community. This course will connect you with other entrepreneurs, as well as the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Albuquerque.

$249 will pay for workbooks, instructor/facilitator, snacks, and other costs related to putting on this ten-week course. Tickets will be available soon.

Find your next writing idea
2018-08-10 12:00 - 15:00 | NM

Using Instagram to Grow Your Fanbase
2018-07-27 09:45 - 10:45 | Westgate, Las Vegas, Nevada
I’ll be teaching at this year’s RollerCon in Vegas! If you play derby and you want to know about Instagram, I’ll see you there.

“Friday, July 27th, 3:45pm PST Instagram is all about great photos, and it’s a great place for roller derby. I’ll share photo techniques, apps to have, the most important info to have in your profile, using posts, video, stories, etc. Author of Pain is a freelance writer, published author, and social media guru. She manages social media and helps run accounts for Albuquerque Roller Derby. Pain manages Instagram for several accounts and knows the secrets to get followers and more!”

Use Facebook to Grow Your Fanbase
2018-07-27 08:00 - 09:00 | Westgate, Las Vegas, Nevada
I’ll be teaching at this year’s RollerCon in Vegas! If you play derby and you want to know about Facebook, I’ll see you there.

“There are so many great things you can share on Facebook to grow your fan base. I’ll also explain methods to get more views, teaching your team how they can help, and sharing the load of social media. Author of Pain is a freelance writer, published author, and social media guru. She manages social media and helps run accounts for Albuquerque Roller Derby. She and one other team member have grown the ABQRD Facebook page to 2,400+ followers.”

Using Twitter to Get Media Attention
2018-07-26 10:15 - 11:15 | Westgate, Las Vegas, Nevada
I’ll be teaching at this year’s RollerCon in Vegas! If you play derby and you want to know about Twitter, I’ll see you there.

“Twitter is a perfect way to get quick attention from your local media. I’ll show you how to find, connect and get the media attention roller derby deserves. I’ll also talk about setting up an account, monitoring Twitter, and teaming up to run the account. Author of Pain is a freelance writer, published author, and social media guru. She manages social media and helps run accounts for Albuquerque Roller Derby. Pain has been able to get media coverage for a variety of clients, including ABQRD, through Twitter.”

Build Your Following with Social Media
2018-07-22 02:00 - 11:00 | Fatpipe ABQ, 200 Broadway Blvd Ne, Albuquerque, 87102, United States
We’ll spend a whole day focused on getting followers and finding our customers through:

~Facebook
~Instagram
~and, your email marketing

This is focused on creatives and creative businesses, but the information is relevant to any business. The event doesn’t include lunch – you can bring your own (we have a refrigerator and a microwave available), or go somewhere nearby.

More details and the full schedule will be posted to the Plot Duckies website.

Ask me about discounts for:
~UNM staff and students
~APS Teachers
~Military
~Nonprofits

About your facilitator:

Sonja Dewing is a published author, freelance writer, and CEO of Plot Duckies. Her business, Plot Duckies, gets writers through blocks and get to the point of publishing.

Her love of social media has propelled her into a local influencer, a social media manager for a variety of businesses, as well as a successful creative.

She successfully launched a crowdfunding/presale campaign with Publishizer that netted her a publisher for her first novel, Toy of the Gods. She successfully used Facebook to fill her first Plot Duckies event, the Short Storyathon. And she’s grown her clients, like FatPipe ABQ and Albuquerque Roller Derby to large fanbases.

She loves Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Everything You Need to Know about Social Media
2018-07-11 10:30 - 13:00 | MCM Elegante Albuquerque, 2020 Menaul Blvd NE, Albuquerque, 87107, United States
I’ll be speaking as one of the social media peeps for this Smart Spider mixer. Come hear the speakers and there’s plenty of other things happening:

Join SmartSpider.net and a very special panel of Pros as they give you tips and insights to make social media a marketing tool for your business.

Be camera ready!
FREE: PRO Monica Walters with ShutterBooth will be at our mixer and will take free photos for all SmartSpider.net PROS.

FREE: PRO Lala Gonzales will help you boost your social media exposure with a brief intro video you can use on facebook.

Ask a Pro 4:30 – 5:30 | SmartMixer – 5:30 – 7:00
MCM Elegante Hotel

https://www.facebook.com/events/981758225320034/

Find Your Next Writing Ideas
2018-07-06 12:00 - 15:00 | Fatpipe ABQ, 200 Broadway Blvd Ne, Albuquerque, 87102, United States

Title Wave's 3rd Anniversary Celebration
2018-06-30 04:00 - 08:00 | Title Wave Books, 2318 Wisconsin St NE, Albuquerque, 87110, United States
I’ll be at the event selling and signing my novel, Toy of the Gods!

Title Wave Books:

•30% off all book purchases, all day!
•Local authors, including Best of Burque authors, Jason Witter and Sheri Velarde!
•Open mic, featuring local authors and musicians!
•Cookies from local cookie artist Marla Banning!
•Local tea from Vampyre Tea Company

All are welcome to participate in our open mic, so prepare your poetry and music!

Short Story-A-Thon
2018-06-24 07:00 - 11:00, 2018-06-23 02:00 - 15:00 | Fatpipe ABQ, 200 Broadway Blvd Ne, Albuquerque, 87102, United States
The idea? Do all the hard work of creating a short story, including editing, and submitting it to Kindle. So we can try to make some money off of our great creativity!

Friday night 6PM – 9PM

6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

I’ll cover “How to Craft a Short Story”

7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Idea creation. Don’t know what to write about? Want to come up with more ideas for your next story? We’ll meet at FatPipe ABQ and use downtown Albuquerque as our idea incubator. We’ll people watch, I’ll share stories, and we’ll explore.

Bring: walking shoes, notebook and pen

Homework before Saturday: Come up with the premise for your short story and create a general outline.

Saturday 8am – 9pm

Writing a good story takes a lot of work and no one is going to want to read something that is sloppy or poorly written. This is where it will all happen.

FYI: I suggest a minimum goal of 1,000 words or a maximum of 5,000 words but the final decision is up to you.

8:00 am

Start writing our short story. I’ll have some sprints to get us writing fast. (I’ll have coffee and snacks available for free all day)

9:00 am

We take a break because we need to think about book covers. I’ll talk about how to design your own book cover. Or, if you want to hire someone, I’ll share my list of graphic designers willing to design a cover within 24 hours. We’ll also talk about copyright.

10:00 am

Back to writing! During this time, as people finish their stories, we’ll start reviewing each other’s stories, giving feedback, then back to editing.

Noon – Lunch break. Lunch is on your own, but there are plenty of options. Bring your lunch (we have a refrigerator and microwave); or stop in one of several nearby restaurants for your break – Standard Diner, Holy Burger, Whole Hog, Tucanos, etc.)

2:00 pm

Think your short story is ready for the next step? Hand it over to one of the two editors I’ve hired for the day. They’ll scour your piece for grammar issues and fix those commas that are in the wrong place!

Our editors: Jim Wagner of Daddy Wags Editing (acknowledged in Anne Hillerman’s latest novel for his editing); and Grace Parazolli, owner of Wax Tablet Content and member WriterGals.

9:00 pm

It may not take all this time to finish, but we’ll have FatPipe ABQ until 9pm

Bring: Laptop and your idea notebook! Feel free to handwrite your story, but if you want to get it reviewed, edited by our editors, submitted to the Plot Duckies contest, and published to Amazon; you’ll need a laptop.

Homework: Follow up on your cover.

Sunday 1pm – 5pm

It’s time to publish!

First, sleep in a little. You’ve earned it!

1:00 PM

I’ll announce the top story winners who will get the Plot Duckies stamp of approval on their stories.

Then, we’ll follow along as I publish my short story – and everyone submits theirs as well. Those steps include putting copyright wording in your story, creating your Amazon author account, etc.

I’ll also share a list of contests to submit your story to.

Then, we’ll eat cake and everyone who publishes will get their own duckie!

Top stories will get a seal of approval “Approved by Plot Duckies”, and be included on our website.

More Happening!

If you bring a donation to this event on Friday night or Saturday morning for Albuquerque Reads, you’ll be entered to win a free cover design from Leslie Reilly! (Leslie designed the cover for my first novel – Toy of the gods)

The donation must be either funds ($5 or more per person) or new/gently used early elementary books!

The Facilitator:

Sonja Dewing is a published author and award-winning creative writer. She has an adventure novel, Toy of the Gods, published by Creativia (available on Amazon), and a self-published short story, Menagerie, on Amazon.

Ready? Get your tickets today.

Short Story-A-Thon ABQ
2018-06-22 13:00 - 14:00 | Fatpipe ABQ, 200 Broadway Blvd Ne, Albuquerque, 87102, United States

Kindle Sale-Toy of the Gods .99¢
2018-06-22 02:00 - 2018-06-26 11:00 | NM
Toy of the Gods is on sale for $.99. Buy it now for your Kindle!

Toy of the Gods: A group of tourists is stranded by a recently awakened Inca god. They’ll have to make their way on foot past bandits hired to kill them, a banana plantation owner with a secret to keep, villagers who think they are out for their land, and drunken monkeys.

Enjoy!

Write-In
2018-05-20 07:00 - 14:00 | Fatpipe ABQ, 200 Broadway Blvd Ne, Albuquerque, 87102, United States
Are you working on a creative project and need to sit and write? Here’s a way to set aside time to do that!

I’ll have FatPipe ABQ for us to use. We’ll get to know each other, then get writing! We’ll also take a break and go get dinner at a local restaurant (we can choose from Standard Diner, Holy Cow, or Whole Hog which are all a short walk from FatPipe ABQ).

Then it’s back to writing again! I’ll also have coffee available throughout the event. Let’s get our writing done!

This is a free event, however, I need peeps to register so I know how many desks to have available that day.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/write-in-tickets-45446901907

Kindle Sale - Toy of the Gods $.99
2018-05-03 02:00 - 11:00, 2018-05-02 02:00 - 11:00 | NM
For just two days, 5/2 and 5/3, Toy of the Gods is on sale for $.99. Buy it now for your Kindle.

Toy of the Gods: A group of tourists is stranded by a recently awakened Inca god. They’ll have to make their way on foot past bandits hired to kill them, a banana plantation owner with a secret to keep, villagers who think they are out for their land, and drunken monkeys.

Enjoy!
