Sarah Butland, author of 14 books (so far), is our guest of the day... she and I started networking back in Oct 2023 after we met in a FaceBook writer's group. She was a guest back in November to share some of the experiences in the realm of writing. Today, Sarah is here to tell us about the Read By The Sea Literary Festival which takes place in Nova Scotia (Canada) in July, and celebrates Canadian writers, publishers, poets and more.
Sarah invites you to check out her Author Central page on Amazon & drop in HERE to learn more about the literary organization.
Q: How long has the organization existed?
A: Read by the Sea Literary Festival has been an annual event since its inception in 2000, with the exception of 2020 when plans had to be cancelled.
Q: What kinds of services are offered through your organization?
A: The festival consists of a variety events suitable for all ages, readers and aspiring authors. We try to ensure our line up is as diverse as our audience, ensuring we offer something for everyone. For example:
- With WordStock, we invite writers to attend workshops and open mics, to share their work and be inspired by others.
- We also offer WordPlay for picture book readers, recently offered OnWords for middle grade/young adult fans and the main event (MainStage).
- MainStage which invites readers of poetry, science fiction, fiction and more to enjoy readings and interviews from some of Canada’s Literary Finest.
Q: How did you personally become involved in this organization?
A: As an author and lover of everything literary, moving back to the area and attending the event was a step in the write direction. I was soon asked to take care of the writing workshops, and stepped up to help with their social media management.
Since then, my responsibilities have grown tremendously as some past members stepped down.
Q: How do you manage evaluating the effectiveness of the organization's efforts?
A: With our 25th year coming up, I designed a survey to reach out to past audience members as well as those who haven’t heard of the festival to get new ideas, feedback and requests on what to offer in the future.
Having our audience help organize the event with a quick and easy survey ensures they are a greater part of it without using up too much of their time. We pride ourselves in ensuring we offer something for everyone so want to hear if we are missing the mark.
Q: How have you gotten the community involved?
A: Getting the community involved temporarily has been fairly easy. Being able to communicate what we need and when our events take place allows other organizations to hold their own related events around our festival.
For example, prior to our opening Campfire Story Time last year, we had our local Creative Pictou County group hold their monthly networking session in the same area.
Q: Do you, personally, belong to writer's groups?
A: I do belong to several writer’s groups, organizing and as a participant. I feel these are valuable to receive feedback, motivation and inspiration from others with the same love of literature as I have. This helps take an introverted role into a social area, where all participants are quite passionate, too.
Q: What kinds of benefits come from participating in groups and organizations?
A: Being a part of Read by the Sea has allowed me to connect with such great individuals, from avid readers, aspiring authors, to Canada’s Literary Finest. Being able to network with them and put on a welcoming show that honours their talents and passion is energizing!
Q: What are your thoughts on the massive changes in the publishing industry?
A: I personally feel there is a lot to be said about the publishing industry and how it’s changing. Two years ago Read by the Sea welcomed it’s first independently publisher author to their stage who shouted out the warm welcome and great opportunity we offered him.
While self-publishing gets easier, and therefore available to many you rush through their books, a lot has to be said about those who have a team of experts behind them, know the risk and reward and still take the time and efforts to get their books in front of readers.
While self-publishing gets easier, and therefore available to many you rush through their books, a lot has to be said about those who have a team of experts behind them, know the risk and reward and still take the time and efforts to get their books in front of readers.
The possibilities are endless when you believe in yourself, your story and have the courage to put your heart on your sleeve for many to judge (and review).
~~~
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