Important News: SPAWN Gets New Name, Offers New Opps

SPAWN has long been a favorite resource of mine, one I love to support. And now it will be even better!  Here are the details you need to get the most of it in its new designer duds, a media release that does what media releases are supposed to do:

Media Release from Kathleen Kaiser, President: 

Approaching our 25th year as a national literary nonprofit, the Small Publishers, Artists & Writers Network is changing our name to the Writers and Publishers Network. The change reflects the direction the organization has taken over the last few years of focusing on the needs of writers and small publishers in the digital age of publishing.

We still support artists, but our primary members as of now are indie authors, freelance writers, and small publishers, along with book marketers and those offering publishing services such as cover design, interior layout, and more. The original intent of the organization was to be an online group. But twenty-five years ago, that goal wasn’t easy to accomplish. With new online services and educational programs, we hope to expand even more over the next two years. Technology had to catch up with our ideas.

The new programs include a series of webinars by top publishing professionals launching in May. Titled WPN Publishing Webinars, topics will cover a wide range of topics on the business of writing, the book marketing element for either indie authors or small publishers.

Many genre-specific organizations handle the basics of writing. WPN has transformed into being more about the business of writing. Our focus in the future will be business though we are investigating a series of master classes for the craft of writing.

The May issue of SPAWNews introduces the new name and new title for the monthly newsletter, WPNews. The monthly members’ exclusive newsletter – SPAWN Market Update – will feature the new logo and name in May.

Writers & Publishers Network’s new website will be live by June 1 at WritersAndPublishersNetwork.com. We will send out an eblast announcing the new site.

We planned our introduction to be at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this month. With the festival rescheduled to October, we will have a significant presence at the show, and all of our graphic materials will be ready. Already we have eighteen authors who will be in the booth over the weekend, most for one full day or both.

Other projects launching soon:
· Online writing critique groups
· Weekly podcasts
· Authors Helping Authors – a new program for everyone to join in the promotion of their books and those of other members.

Until everyone is familiar with the new name and domain, SPAWN.org will forward visitors to the new website.

We hope everyone will take advantage of all the new benefits of membership (discounts on all services, webinars, and events) that more than save the price of membership.

If you have any ideas for more things we can offer, please contact me. I’d love to hear your ideas.

Kathleen Kaiser
President
[email protected]