You’ve written a great crime story. Now, you have to tell the world. Where does one begin when you have no experience in marketing or publicity?

Objectives:

Participants will better understand the ugly business of book marketing; how it works, how to influence the results, and when to go out on your own.

Suggested Reading: 

19 Ways to Promote a Book: https://scribemedia.com/how-to-promote-book/

How to Promote: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/05/18/how-to-promote-a-book

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writing the story is half the journey. Now you need an agent and publisher. But where do you begin?

Objectives:

Participants will discover how to submit to professional agents and editors. This separates the real writers from the amateurs.

Suggested viewing: 

Alyssa Matesic YouTube channel on publishing: https://www.youtube.com/@AlyssaMatesic

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every crime story has a common structure. It’s up to you to know when to subvert the rules. A look at how the sausage is made - what goes into good crime writing?

Objectives:

Participants will learn how to manage their writing time and how to organize their story into a compelling narrative structure.

Suggested Reading: 

Writing True Crime: https://www.janefriedman.com/writing-true-crime-qa-with-janis-thornton/

The Power of True Crime Writing: https://crimereads.com/the-power-and-the-responsibility-of-true-crime-writing/

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An in-depth discussion about best practices when it comes to interviewing families and law enforcement officials connected to crimes.

Objectives:

Participants will learn how to submit FOIA requests and what is covered under Sunshine Laws.

Suggested reading:

Tips for interviewing victims: https://dartcenter.org/resources/tips-interviewing-victims-tragedy-witnesses-and-survivors

Advocating for victims: https://ovc.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh226/files/ncvrw2019/info_flyers/message/eng/2019NCVRW_AdvocatingWithMedia_eng_508.pdf

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So you want to write true crime. Great. What sort of cases do you want to write about? Solved? Unsolved? Current? Historical? Journalist James Renner walks through the pros and cons of each.

Objectives:

Participants will better understand the differences between covering solved and unsolved crimes.

Suggested reading: 

Animals, by Chris Jones: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a12653/zanesville-0312/

Anna Delvey, by Jessica Pressler: https://www.thecut.com/article/how-anna-delvey-tricked-new-york.html#_ga=2.51948521.1965596281.1672763816-1586900800.1667489273

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.