The Howard County chapter presents MWA member Allly E. Peltier on "Your Author Platform: Why Background Matters, and How to Get the Right One."

In today's highly saturated book market, a strong publicity and marketing campaign requires that authors have a solid platform to get the kind of media attention necessary for sales. But what is a platform, what is it used for, and how do you acquire one? This talk will introduce you to the thinking process of acquiring editors and agents and give you the edge you need to get your book published and sold. We will also discuss the difference between a fiction and nonfiction platform and the role each plays in developing your book proposal (and why you should write a proposal even if you're a novelist).

MWA member Ally E. Peltier is an editor, writer, and publishing consultant with a decade of experience working for clients such as Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group USA, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, The Literary Group, Kaplan Publishing, Chronicle Books, F&W Publications, iUniverse, and more. She speaks regularly on writing and publishing related topics for conferences, organizations, and as an adjunct instructor at both Anne Arundel and Howard County Community Colleges. She also ghostwrites nonfiction books and has had work appear in The Writer, Writer's Digest, and other venues. Learn more at www.ambitiousenterprises.com.

This is also an election meeting and WE WANT YOU!! We need you!! We'll be taking nominations from the floor and then voting for President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Please email me immediately if you are able to lend a hand and fill one of these spots. If we don't fill them we can't be real!

Tuesday, April 28, 7:00-9:00 at Java Coffee Cafe, St John's Lane and Route 40, in Ellicott City. (Get there early -- say 6:30 -- to mingle and order coffee and goodies. It will take a while to be served.) For more information, contact Nicole Schultheis.