Blogher: The Excitement Continues

[forgot to mention a great contest...please scroll to bottom if you have already read this - it's worth your while]

I'm not a good "live blogger" - hence, you did not hear from me though I was at Blogher last week, and met some truly amazing women. I did a session on Blog to Book, that you can get a sense of here, and I attended some sessions that blew me away, which I'll talk about over time. The women on the panel I moderated were worth your time so I will have to do a separate post about them... in the next couple of weeks.

But, in the meantime, here they are - go see them, talk to them, learn from them:

1. Deb Rox from Deb on the Rocks - she has a fab book, 5 Ways to [ Blank ] Your Blog - that I highly recommend. Deb was able to talk to the option of self-publishing, and why. But she also related to those touchy issues of publishing - like, how the heck do you even write the darn book! Ans: it's not easy!

2. Penny C. Sansevieri - whom I have admired from afar for a long time. She's a marketing expert for authors - do not ignore her! Her advice was so spot on, I hope the audience was taking good notes.

3. And, Stefanie Wilder-Taylor who has been published by traditional publishers - and writes at Baby on Bored. She's funny - online. We did not find her that funny during the panel. Read her blog - you'll be glad you do. It will make you laugh.

Now, on to the really good stuff...

Linda Lowen from About.com Women's Issues was there - and we discovered she lives in Syracuse, while I live (for the time being) in Rochester and OMG! we are so close to each other we can do lunch! I am so happy about that. Linda is one of the very best writers I know. Linda, thank you for being you. Thank you for being such a really good writer. Really...good. (notice I didn't say great - because great is overdone; when someone says 'great' today, they just mean average. GOOD is what we strive to be, as writers - and Linda has the market cornered on that! I cannot wait for her book!)

Rhonda Shasteen was there - yes, Mary Kay herself! Well, she's not Mary Kay, but she speaks for Mary Kay. She speaks of leadership and empowering women and standing tall if you're smart and talented. I was more than delighted to meet her in person. Regular readers will remember my Open Letter to her, back in Feburary encouraging her to blog, which she does, now. This is a woman to watch - she is destined to accomplish great things. I hope she will let me tag along. :-)

Kamy Wicoff of She Writes gets a place on this first post because - she made me feel important. Some of you may be surprised but...I'm not all that confident about myself and my work. I'm often stuck in those ancient Dick and Jane days where women were supposed to be kept "in their place"...sort of like children, seen and not heard. So, I put up a good front and it works well, but underneath, there's a lot of, "I'm an average person...certainly not an expert."

Kamy called me on that and said, with a surprised look in her eyes, "Why would you question that you know more than everyone else...when you do?" This during the publishing session. (which she knew from attending a previous session on how to identify yourself as an expert...and I said I couldn't)

Do I know more than everyone else? Well, I know more than a whole lot of people. Surely there are experts with more experience, but I've been in the trenches, and studying this for more than 10 years, so...I am an expert. Kamy helped me stand a bit taller, and to be proud of my knowledge. Which I try to share here, and in the many emails you send me, dear, dear readers of Lip-sticking.

That seems to be enough for one blog post. I will have more. Very relevant to us - to women on the net, and everything we do.

Let me just end with a story - my move to CO is pending. Many people have introduced me to connections in CO, for which I am so grateful.

One connection, a woman I have NOT met yet, is Beth Lang, president and CEO of Alexa's Angels. Beth sent me 200 positivity bracelets to pass out - and I cannot tell you what fun that was! The women of Blogher embraced this idea, and all of them were eager to pass the message on, not only to other women, but to their daughters!

More on that in a future post. I will have Beth in a podcast for you, also. In the meantime, get your own Posi+ivi+ty bracelet and pay it forward.

EXTRA: I received notice of a contest that may interest a number of this blog's readers. I meant to post on it earlier, and forgot (sorry, Deb!) I'm posting on it now to give you a chance to win $10,000... here's the scoop - Sponsored by websites.com, this contest is giving $10K to the "best new small business website built within a certain timeframe. Contestants can choose from a directory of website developers to build their site, and they can host the site anywhere they choose." Get to the Websites.com site and get entered. Time is of the essence!

Comments

[Linda]

Yvonne, thanks so much for the shout-out and for your far-too-nice comments. Everyone should know that you did a marvelous job moderating the panel (which was a tough one, I must say. Great people, but some came from very 'different' perspectives that don't necessarily represent the common 'publishing' experience.)

Hey, you're breaking my heart here...I didn't know you were planning a move to Colorado! I shall have to plan a drive out to Rochester for lunch sooner than later.

The panel discussion about publishing and the time spent with you really got me fired up to write an extended work (fiction or non-fiction, I'm still not sure - have started both.) I read a lot of review copies and I can't tell you how many times I've thought, "I can do better than that."

But as children's author Paula Danziger once told me, "I can't tell you the number of times someone has said to me, 'I always wanted to write a book.' Wanting doesn't do it. Just sit down and write the book! Stop making excuses, or else all that you'll ever have is the desire to write a book but no books to show for it."

BTW, I love my positivity bracelet and have yet to take it off. It was just one of the many things you shared with me during BlogHer that I'm truly grateful for - a delightful dinner, a cab ride (much cheaper than the one I 'experienced' coming in) and a two-hour wait before our train departed that just seemed to fly by thanks to you.

Let's not lose touch!

[Paula G]

Good wrap up of the panel. It was a very important conversation & here's to embracing your expertise & that of the others on the panel. Remember a true expert is someone who knows a lot (more than most others) on a topic and even more importantly knows when they don't know something and says so (and refers them to someone who does know/or finds out the answer if possible). So indeed, stand tall.

Most important takeaway from the panel is that there is more than one way to be an author and it is up to each person to determine the best road based on their overall goals and strategy.

It was super to meet you & get to chat over breakfast as well...