Utopia Con 2017 - New Ticket Packages Available!

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I bring you information! I know you're all super excited about this. Reader only tickets for Utopia Con 2017 are now available. Get your clicking fingers ready, and let's get going.

BUY THEM HERE

I'm going in order via price, least expensive to most expensive, I'm not getting into vendor table costs, and I'm just giving you an overview of the details. For more in depth explanations and the refund policies, please visit the official Utopia website ticket page here:

Exhibitor and Signing Hall ONLY (Choose Friday-June 23 OR Saturday-June 24)
Sales end June 22
Access to the Exhibitor and Signing Hall ONLY from 11AM-5PM
Price: $15 plus fees

One Day Admission (Choose Friday-June 23 OR Saturday-June 24)
Sales end June 22
Access to all official events. Does NOT include access to Master Classes, private events, or any other event that is listed for an extra charge on the website.
Price: $55 plus fees

Silver Ticket Package (Includes admission Thursday, June 22-Sunday, June 25)
Sales end December 31
Includes a welcome bag (while supplies last) and access to all official events. Does NOT include access to Master Classes, private events, or any other event that is listed for an extra charge on the website.
Price: $105 plus fees

Titanium Ticket Package (Includes admission Thursday, June 22-Sunday, June 25)
Sales end December 31
VIP Registration/Badge. Includes a welcome bag (while supplies last), t-shirt, lunch Friday and Saturday, early seating for the awards, and access to all official events. Does NOT include access to Master Classes, private events, or any other event that is listed for an extra charge on the website.
Price: $180 plus fees

Master Class - Revising Like a Pro (Thursday, June 22 at 4PM)
Sales end June 22
Bestselling author C. J. Redwine will teach pacing, character development, conflict arcs, prose, and more.
Price: $50 plus fees

Master Class - Save the Cat! (Friday, June 23 at 10:30AM)
Sales end June 22
Jose Silero teaches authors how to give their stories a strong "spine" and create a transformative journey for the protagonist.
Price: $75 plus fees

Master Class - Improv for Writers (Friday, June 23 at 2PM)
Sales end June 22
Two improv professionals (who are also authors) will teach writers how to get out of their chairs and get moving to create dynamic worlds and action for their characters.
Price: $75 plus fees

If you want information on promotional opportunities, those are also listed on the official Utopia Con website.

In case you need that link again:

BUY THEM HERE

What do you think? Will you be going?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

GLBB Tickets on Sale NOW! Plus, FREE Entry!

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I have the AWESOME news for you! GLBB tickets are on sale NOW! Ready to grab yours? Get your clicking fingers ready and let's get going.

Get tickets HERE.

Here's the info, schedule, and available ticket packages:

A two-day event in 2017, Great Lakes Book Bash is going to be an epic experience that you won't want to miss. It's more than just a book signing. There will be informational panels geared towards authors, readers, and bloggers. Don't forget about the COSTUME Party on Saturday night celebrating that "Readers are our Rock Stars".
For more information about the event, please visit our website at www.greatlakesbookbash.com.

Thursday 10/26/2017
7pm - Registration will open to exhibitors and assistants
7-9pm - Exhibitor set-up

Friday 10/27/2017
9:30-10:30am - Opening announcements and keynote speech from M.R. Polish (everyone is welcome to come to the opening announcements and keynote speech - no ticket required)
10:30am - registration opens for ticket holders
11am-2pm - Author signing (bring your own books or buy them from the authors)
3pm-7pm - Informational panels
9pm - Exhibitor meet and greet (location TBD)

Saturday 10/28/2017
10:30am - registration opens for ticket holders
11am-2pm - Author signing
2pm-3pm - Exhibitor break-down
3pm-6pm - Informational panels
8pm-12am - Readers are our Rock Stars COSTUME Party

(The schedule of events is subject to change at any time. The most up to date version of the schedule can be found on our website at the address listed above.)

WHEN:
Friday, October 27, 2017 at 9:30 AM - Saturday, October 28, 2017 at 11:30 PM (EDT)

WHERE:
Radisson Plaza Hotel at Kalamazoo Center - 100 West Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Available Ticket Packages:

• Friday Signing ONLY ticket

  Free
• This ticket includes your admission to the signing on Friday, October 27, 2017 from 11am-2pm only in the Kalamazoo Room at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Kalamazoo, MI. Registration will open at 10:30am. You MUST stop at the registration table located outside the event room and pick up your name badge to be granted access to the event. A master list will be available and no printed ticket will be necessary.

  Hide Info

• Saturday Signing ONLY ticket

  Free 
• This ticket includes your admission to the signing on Saturday, October 28, 2017 from 11am-2pm only in the Kalamazoo Room at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Kalamazoo, MI. Registration will open at 10:30am. You MUST stop at the registration table located outside the event room and pick up your name badge to be granted access to the event. A master list will be available and no printed ticket will be necessary.

  Hide Info

• Two-day Signing ticket

  $15.00 (+$1.37 fee) 
• This ticket includes your admission to Great Lakes Book Bash on Friday, October 27, 2017 and Saturday, October 28, 2017 from 11am-2pm in the Kalamazoo Room at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Kalamazoo, MI as well as ALL panels on both Friday and Saturday. Registration will open at 10:30am. You MUST stop at the registration table located outside the event room and pick up your name badge to be granted access to the event. A master list will be available and no printed ticket will be necessary. This ticket DOES NOT include admission to the Rock Star Costume Party on Saturday night.

  Hide Info

• Rock Star Costume Party ONLY ticket

  $15.00 (+$1.37 fee) 
• This ticket includes your admission to the Rock Star Costume Party on Saturday, October 28, 2017 ONLY that will be held in the Ballroom at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo, MI from 8pm to midnight. You MUST pick up for name badge before entering the costume party at the registration table that will be located outside the ballroom beginning at 7pm.

  Hide Info

• Rock Star Pass

  $20.00 (+$1.49 fee)
• This ticket includes your admission to Great Lakes Book Bash on Saturday, October 28, 2017 from 11am-2pm in the Kalamazoo Room at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Kalamazoo, MI as well as ALL panels on Saturday afternoon from 3pm to 7pm and the Rock Star Costume Party that will be held from 8pm to midnight at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in the Ballroom. Registration will open at 10:30am. You MUST stop at the registration table located outside the event room and pick up your name badge to be granted access to the event. A master list will be available and no printed ticket will be necessary.

  Hide Info

• VIP Rock Star Pass

  $30.00 (+$1.74 fee)
This ticket includes your admission to Great Lakes Book Bash on Friday, October 27, 2017 and Saturday, October 28, 2017 from 11am-2pm in the Kalamazoo Room at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Kalamazoo, MI as well as ALL panels on both Friday and Saturday, the Rock Star Costume Party & you will receive a VIP tote bag filled with goodies from some of the attending authors. Registration will open at 10:30am. You MUST stop at the registration table located outside the event room and pick up your name badge to be granted access to the event. A master list will be available and no printed ticket will be necessary.

What are you waiting for? Get on it RIGHT NOW!

Tickets HERE!

Well, what do you think? Are you coming?

That's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

What a Wonderful Thing

Happy Monday, everyone! As most of you know, yesterday was my birthday. Because of all the outpouring of wishes on my Facebook timeline, I have a few things to say today. So, sit back, relax, and grab a cup of Jo.

Please keep in mind this has nothing to do with the feels I had at home. My family and my work are two separate beasts, and one does not negate or overshadow the other. These are just some thoughts I had about my work community that I'd like to share.

Why?

Because good things seem so rare right now. With all the crap pouring out of the media, I'm bringing a little bit of balance. Ready? Let's go!

When I checked my e-mail yesterday, I saw a number of notifications about posts on my Facebook timeline. So, I clicked over to tell each person thank you. If they took the time to tell me HBD, I was going to take the time to thank each and every one of them personally.

As I'm clicking "like" and dropping comments, I realized I've hugged or shaken the hand of nearly every person who posted. It was staggering to know that, not only have I met most of those people, I've helped nearly every one of them in some way or another.

It humbled me.

I'm so proud of the people I know who've done so many wonderful things. I feel blessed to be a tiiiiny part of whatever they've accomplished.

But, more than that, I can call these people more than acquaintances. They aren't generic faces in a sea of people. That makes me positively giddy. In just three years, I've met so many amazing people!

For those of you I don't know personally (we've either never had a chat or I've not met you in person), I invite you to say hello and strike up a conversation (if I don't make it to you first). I want to know about you!

So, thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday. I'm so grateful to have you all in my life. What a wonderful thing to have such a vibrant tribe (there is no such thing as a tribe of one). I wouldn't bother doing all that I do if not for you guys.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Good to Go on GoodReads - Day Ten WABC

Wow. Happy next post, everyone! This time, the post is about one of my favorite reader websites: GoodReads! I use it for a lot of things that I've been prompted to discuss. So, without further ado, the prompt for day TEN:

Are you on GoodReads? It seems a pretty obvious place for authors to hang out, yet I’m not sure authors are using it to quite the maximal benefit. If you are on GoodReads, how often do you visit/use the site? How often do you update your reading list? What other kinds of things do you post? Are you finding yourself using it the way social media was intended: to create a community? If you are NOT on GoodReads, have you made a deliberate choice to skip it? What other mechanisms do you utilize for meeting other readers/writers/authors? How else could you begin to create your very own community? If you are on Goodreads, remember to give us your profile link.

I think every author worth their salt is on GoodReads. Every reader is, too! You can find my profile here: Jo Michaels.

As far as visits to GoodReads goes, I pop over every day to say hello and check up on things. I'm a member of a number of groups there and visit them pretty often to poke around and see what's new. I do giveaways on GoodReads every time I release a new book (about once every other month). My blog auto-posts over there from here and I get a couple of reads on it every day. I post every review I write there, too.

When I did my 12 Days of Christmas Party, I utilized GoodReads to host my event and invite people to join me. I had an amazing response and around thirty indie authors pitched their books to me before the end of my challenge. There's no way I could've reached that number without the help of GoodReads and their event application.

I've met a number of cool indie authors via GoodReads and am the moderator of my own group there with a handful of members. We aren't too active though. It's a small group and I like it that way.

As far as my reading list goes, I don't update it very often. But, when I do, oh man! I slash and burn that list. If I'm not gonna read something, I don't like it hanging out in my proverbial coffee shop window.

I like the way the site links up with my Facebook and how easy it is to add friends to my list. Navigation could be improved and I think they need larger servers to accommodate the huge number of people on the site; but, other than that, I love it.

If you're a reader or a writer, you'd do well to join up over on GoodReads and poke around to see what they have. Your eyes will pop wide open. Enter to win a book or two (or three) in the giveaways. The more reviews you write there, the more likely you are to win! It actually says that in their terms.

I'm looking forward to connecting with the other folks in this challenge over there!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo