Hester Bass

Success tastes best when it’s shared.

For your writing conference, Hester Bass will create a presentation customized for your attendees, or you may choose from the following titles.

“The Three Ps of Author Promotion: Professionalism, Persistence, and Paper”
Learn how to effectively promote yourself and your work before the sale and after publication. We’ll discuss business cards, brochures, web sites, media interviews, school visits, book festivals, and more. Acquire the tools you need to get your name in front of the decision makers who can lead you to more sales and appearances.

“Fly as a Writer: Join the WRENS”
Fly in the face of rejection! Use the WRENS system to motivate your writing even if your mailbox is full of form letters, or you have only a few minutes a day to devote to your craft. Success is the address of those who finish what they start, and have the courage to persevere.

Lights! Camera! School Visits!
A memorable school visit can have a profoundly positive impact on a child's love of reading, art, and books. Learn to use exercises from theater training to boost your confidence, add pizzazz to your appearances, and be entertaining as well as educational.

"Research: The R That Can Turn Contacts into Contracts"
You've just met an editor who you think might be interested in your work. Learn how to target your submission and meet their editorial needs through research. The resources are already at your fingertips.

"Query Letters: You Need a Big Hook To Catch A Contract"
More and more publishers are closing their doors to unsolicited submission and accepting only query letters. When you're fishing for a contract, or trying to catch an agent's attention, learn to bait your query letter with a big hook!

"Honing Your Home Run Pitch"
You never know when opportunity will knock, so be ready to answer the call. Learn to craft a one-line, a one-paragraph, and a one-page pitch for every story you write to catch the attention of busy editors and agents.

"Inhabit Your Characters"
Learn from theatrical character study exercises how to "be" your characters. Once a writer inhabits a character's skin, decisions regarding dialogue and action become so much easier. Think like an actor and think like your character!

“Be a Spider: Use the Web to Your Advantage”
The internet can be a powerful ally for networking and research, if you know how to use it. Whether you’re writing manuscripts, finding markets for your work, crafting targeted queries, or preparing submissions, the web is a sea of information. This presentation provides your surfboard.

Contact Hester Bass for more information regarding honoraria and availability. She is based in Huntsville, Alabama.

Hester Bass is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Authors Guild, International Reading Association (IRA), Alabama Reading Association, the Children's Literature Assembly (CLA) and the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English (ALAN), the Association of Booksellers for Children, and the Huntsville-Madison County Library Foundation Board.

Contact Hester Bass by e-mail or at:

Hester Bass
P O Box 222
Owens Cross Roads AL 35763-0222