GA--'Live" Blogging from "How to Get Published by the UUA"

note--I didn't have wi fi in the convention center, but took notes for all my writer friends out there in blog land. I only had time to stay for Deb Weiner and Chris Walton's portions of the presentation. I notice that the PDFs from Skinner House and about Self Publishing are available at uua.org. Please excuse the unpolished nature of the "live blog" ! ~k

Deb Weiner

Director for electronic publications:

Contributions for congregational life

--stories directly from you, life in your congregation, news. Write the story, send in some “good” photographs, use in 8 categories of congregational life

-social action, generosity, worship, joys and concerns and more….

UUA .org Worship web, compilation of worship resources, general leadership of Rev Wickstrom, lay or ordained, written a prayer, chalice lighting, opening words, sermon, homily….submit to worship web worshipweb@uua.org

Features that show up on UUA.org, feature two thumbnail items and stories, in members can feature three more, leader, three more items can be featured. (if you are a military person could write about veteran’s day, pagan who values the solstice, etc…)

dweiner@uua.org

Images: looking for good photos. Congregations and congregational life. Illustrate something extraordinary going on in the life of your church, blessing of the animals.

Blog posts, Sara Robinson, professional blogger. Reflections on ga last year, wrote a piece after the shootings in Knoxville, 15 ministers wanted to use her post in the pulpit. Can self promote blog posts by sending them into Debra Weiner.

At GA have a web team of volunteers, people who are bloggers and writers and photographers, who love doing something for the assn. bringing GA to the wider world. Contact Deb if you are interested in volunteering for the Minneapolis GA.

Chris Walton

Welcome from Salt Lake, Chris is from Salt Lake. Director of periodical office. Three, UU World, a quarterly magazine, 127,000 households. UU World.Org on the internet. Weekly emailed news magazine. Depends on your tips, your reporting of what is going on in your congregations. Uuwold.org, more aimed at the broader world,

Interconnections: 10 years a quarterly newsletter for uu leaders, changing to a monthly email newsletter. Weekly updates, and archive of resources on the internet.

Looking for storied from your congregations and your own creative work. Flooded by submissions. Most likely response is thank you but we can’t use this. Get so much good content with so little space that it’s hard to fit it all in.

Looking for: story idea about something happening in your UU institutjion, a person doing good work, send in tip. World@uua.org. Press releases, helpful to the UUA is helpful. A tip based on something, interconnections@uua.org.

Writers who want to see your own work shared with UU audiences. Pay attention to what the magazine already publishes. Features by professional journalists, exerpts from addresses and books. Those are the big articles. Hardest bar to cross. Other areas, reflections section includes first person essays, poettyr, sermon exerpts, slice of life from congretational life, adaptations from sermons, pay attention to what goes in that section. How does your faith enrich your life? Tell that story. Also publish book essays. Some by ministers and journalist some by people found in other ways. Letters section, don’t get as many letters. If you have a response, write, they are likely to publish it. A couple of words about how to impress Chris Walton with your work. That you are eloquent, articulate in expressing your work. “We are not a writing school!” send in your best work. Show it to other people before you send it in, find other venues to share it first. UU World will be there a while. UU related blogs. How many new writers have been introduced to UU World by blogs. Doug Muder was first a blogger. Hadifa Aquia’s writer on her UU blog. Ways to find an audience.

Submissions guidelines, about us, click the submissions guidelines, send in a hard copy. Send in your best work, don’t give up.

Questions:

Worship web—are materials published there credited? Yes, also publish a note about appropriate use.

2500 people subscribed to the weekly newsletter, 30 -40 k hits a month. Low of 3750 and 6500 visitors to UUA. Org every day

Cross pollinate? Send to both Deb and Chris—Deb more likely to take what you’ve written directly. Never a bad idea to send it to both.