EBRPL Writing – East Baton Rouge Parish Library InfoBlog

Louisiana Authors, Two Weeks Left!

Calling all Louisiana authors – there are just TWO WEEKS LEFT to submit your self-published novel to the Louisiana Author Project!

Any self-published adult or young adult fiction work is eligible to win great prizes:

$500 each in adult and young adult categories
Honors at the Public Library Association Conference 2020 reception in Nashville
Opportunities to promote your book(s) at Louisiana public libraries
Inclusion in a full-page print spread in Library Journal

Already self-published through a platform like CreateSpace or Amazon? No problem! All independently published works in EPUB or PDF format are eligible for entry by May 31st.

Not sure your manuscript will format correctly outside of your word processor of choice? No problem! The library’s partnership with Biblioboard will help you CREATE new, perfectly formatted works with Pressbooks, SHARE them with Self-e (this is how you submit your books for the contest, too!), and DISCOVER your own books or indie authors just like you with Biblioboard.

You can submit your book at the following link: https://indieauthorproject.librariesshare.com/louisiana/

Things That Go Bump in the Night: Magic and Monsters in the Deep South

As part of the One Book One Community celebration of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, authors Diana Rowland, Em Shotwell, Eden Butler and Cherie Claire will be at the Main Library at Goodwood at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 14, to present a panel for adults on how they’ve used the south’s rich storytelling history to craft books involving magic, monsters and more! From folklore, to local legend, to modern creations, we celebrate a history that is ripe for creating tales to give readers chills. Be sure to bring all your burning questions!

Learn more about the participating authors here:

Don’t forget to check out all the One Book, One Community events still happening this year!

Louisiana Author Project

Are you an indie author? Do you have a novel gathering dust somewhere on your computer’s hard drive? Dust it off and submit it to the Louisiana Indie Author Project! Indie authors all over the country (and even in one Canadian province!) are participating in Indie Author Projects in their state, and Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and New Orleans have teamed up to bring this great contest to you.

Any self-published adult or young adult fiction work is eligible to win great prizes:

$500 each in adult and young adult categories
Honors at the Public Library Association Conference 2020 reception in Nashville
Opportunities to promote your book(s) at Louisiana public libraries
Inclusion in a full-page print spread in Library Journal

If you’ve already self-published your work of fiction, that’s okay! Any indie published work available in EPUB or PDF format can be submitted between April 1st – May 31st for consideration. Winners will be announced in October.

Want to make sure your book is formatted correctly? Check out the library’s self-publishing resources! With Pressbooks, you can create the novel of your dreams and make sure it looks exactly the way you want it to. When you’re ready to submit it to the Indie Author Project, stop by Self-e! Self-e is the sharing platform to get your books on Biblioboard, our indie ebook collection, which will let readers all over Baton Rouge discover your work.

If your work is ready for submission, click here to get started: https://indieauthorproject.librariesshare.com/louisiana/

Good luck and good writing, Baton Rouge!

National Novel Writing Month 2018

It is said that we all have a book in us. If you’re ready to start exploring the story you might have to tell, November is the month for you!

Join the National Novel Writing Month challenge, and try to write 50,000 whole words in the thirty (30) days that make up November. It sounds impossible, or at least a little impractical – and frankly we can’t argue the latter. But it’s also a whole bunch of fun! There’s a robust local community of wrimos (a wrimo, of course, is a NaNoWriMo participant) that cheer each other on.

When your book is finished and you’re thinking of publishing it, why not try self-publishing? The library has a great ebook formatter, and with Self-e, your book can become part of a national collection of Library Journal Selected Reads!

The library is a great place to Come Write In! Check out the scheduled write-ins for the Main Library and the River Center Branch:

Main Library at Goodwood

Thursday, November 1st, 6 – 9p.m.
Thursday, November 8th, 6 – 9 p.m.
Thursday, November 15th, 6 – 9 p.m.
Friday, November 23rd, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Thursday, November 29th, 6 – 9 p.m.

River Center Branch Library

Thursday, November 8th, 4:30 – 6 p.m.
Thursday, November 22nd, 4:30 – 6 p.m.

If any more write-ins get scheduled for other library branches, you’ll be able to find them on our calendar. Check out the NaNoWriMo forums for your home region to get in touch with other local writing devotees, and announce your novel today!

Self-Publishing @the Library

Get that novel out of the drawer and self-publish it for free at the library!

We’ve got several electronic platforms that, individually or in concert, will be perfect for your creative brainchild. If you want to standardize your book’s digital formatting and make sure it reads the way you want, check out Pressbooks! You can upload a file or even just copy and paste what you’re working on, and export a shiny new file in the format of your choice when you’re finished.

From Pressbooks, you can send your book to SELF-e for publication in the library’s ebook collection! SELF-e is an ebook submission platform managed by Library Journal. It’s completely free to submit to, and if your book is selected for publication (almost all are), it will be included in the East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s Biblioboard collection. They’ve recently revamped the submission process to make it easier and more streamlined than ever!

Your book could even be chosen as a Library Journal Select Title,
meaning it would be shared with collections across the country – or anywhere a library has signed up for the Biblioboard service. We’ll be able to feature it in a variety of collections. You can use your profile on Biblioboard to grow your readership and support your new career as a published author!

Get started today!

National Novel Writing Month 2016

This year’s theme is Imagination and Beyond!

Y’ALL it’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s WRITING TIME.

If you’ve ever wanted to write a novel, or needed an excuse to spend 30 solid days completely entrenched in your own mildly obsessive hobby, or been curious about what it might be like to go gently and temporarily bonkers, National Novel Writing Month is for you.

Hang out with the Red Stick Wrimos, Baton Rouge’s own group of extreme November novelists, every Sunday at the CCs on Jefferson, or on Thursdays at the Main Library on Goodwood! Check the November Source for other library-focused writing events, like the Jones Creek Fiction Writers Workshop on the first and third Thursdays of every month.

To “win” NaNoWriMo (there are no prizes but the glow of accomplishment, but oh, WHAT a glow it is), all you have to do is write 50,000 words in the month of November. You can write a whole novel! You can go rogue and write a bunch of essays! You can finally write the Batman fanfiction you’ve always dreamed of! (People do!) It’s a glorious time to let your creative juices run wild all over the rest of your life.

Come write with us!

SELF-e and Biblioboard

It’s time to get that novel out of the bottom drawer of your desk, dust it off, and get it published – with the library’s new self-publishing duo, SELF-e and Biblioboard.

When you submit a book to SELF-e, it goes through a low-key review process by Library Journal – mostly just to check for file formatting errors and very basic readability standards, like the occasional presence of verbs. Some books are chosen as “Select” titles, which are shared with Biblioboard users across the country.

All accepted titles, though, will be published to the East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s Biblioboard collection. Readers will be able to add them to favorites lists, comment on their favorite parts, and share their opinions with other Biblioboard users – it’s kind of like Goodreads, but the books are already there, too.

SELF-e and Biblioboard are great resources for everyone who’s interested in reading and connecting with local authors – and for those authors who want to reach more readers with their self-published works. Try them today, or check out our infoguide for more information!

Are You a Budding Poet?

November Is NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo! It’s a national event that encourages participants to work towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 p.m. on November 30. “Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel.”

It’s free to register on the NaNoWriMo website and you can track your writing progress, chat with other writers, and find out more about local writing sessions and parties. Join hundreds of thousands of writers across the country in this fun event.

Did you know? Over 250 NaNoWriMo novels have been traditionally published. They include Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hugh Howey’s Wool, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Jason Hough’s The Darwin Elevator, and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder.

Join us at the Main Library at Goodwood for write-in sessions on the following days:

Tuesday, November 4: 7-9:30 p.m.

Thursday, November 13: 7-9:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 16: 3-6 p.m.

Thursday, November 20: 7-9:30 p.m.

We’ll meet in Conference Room 102 on the first floor.

There are two write-ins scheduled at the Greenwell Springs Road Regional Branch Library: Monday, November 3, at 7 p.m. and Monday, November 17, at 7 p.m.

The Writers Club at the Eden Park Branch Library is also having a write-in on Saturday, November 15, at 3:30 p.m.

EBRPL also offers a wealth of resources for aspiring writers. Check out our Writers InfoGuide for details, including information on the self-publishing platform FastPencil and Gale Courses that offer writing classes, all free with your library card.

Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month.

Louisiana Book Festival 2014

The 2014 Louisiana Book Festival is this Saturday, November 1, from 10-5, in downtown Baton Rouge at the State Library of Louisiana, the State Capitol, the Capitol Park Museum, and nearby locations.

Whether you’re young or old, just can’t get enough of poetry or love to cook up some great Louisiana dishes, this national award-winning event has something for every book lover.

The Louisiana Book Festival is your chance to meet exceptional writers while enjoying book-related activities and presentations. Don’t forget to stop by our Library tent as we unveil our 2015 One Book, One Community selection.