By Gini Dietrich
The first time I saw Ann speak, I was in awe.
She embodied everything I knew I wanted to be as a speaker.
I was just getting my start so I paid super close attention to how others handled themselves on stage.
She was smart, she was funny, she could tell a well-timed joke, and she was one of the very few speakers I’ve seen who can pull off a pair of jeans on stage.
She started her presentation by showing a side-by-side picture of her and of Tina Fey. The similarities are uncanny.
For those of you who’ve seen me speak, you now know I stole that intro slide from Ann.
The whole world thinks I look like Emily Deschanel (aka Bones) so that’s how I begin my speeches.
Thank you, Ann, for that.
I respect and admire the heck out of her and I’m very excited she is joining us today for the author Q&A.
About Everybody Writes
One of the things that kills me about my career is everyone thinks, because they talk, they know how to communicate.
Likewise, just because you can be a publisher today, doesn’t mean you should just write something and hit publish.
Enter Everybody Writes.
The book consists of six parts:
- How to write better (or how to hate writing less);
- Easy grammar and usage rules;
- Story rules;
- Publishing rules;
- Typical marketing tasks; and
- Content tools.
Buy Everybody Writes and Get Freebies
Her first solo book (she co-authored Content Rules with C.C. Chapman), Everybody Writes doesn’t come out for another month, BUT…
She has a lot of freebies if you buy today (click here to learn more).
The Everybody Writes toolkit includes a door hanger featuring Stephen King, a coaster featuring Ernest Hemingway, a bookmark with an Ann original poem, and more.
And then you can join us for the live Q&A, where you can ask Ann all about Tina Fey, her tiny house, or advice she has for budding authors.
Today’s Author Q&A with Ann Handley
At noon ET (that’s 11:00 CT, 10:00 MT, and 9:00 PT for those of you who can’t do time zones), Ann will be here to answer any and all of your questions.
In order to participate, all you have to do is:
- Make sure you have a Livefyre account or be ready to sign in with one of your social networks.
- Set a reminder for noon ET today.
- Order Everybody Writes so you can support Ann, get your freebies, and get your learn on.
- Create a list of questions.
- Come back here, scroll to the bottom, and write a comment in the form of a question. As soon as you hit “post comment,” Ann will see it and reply to you. You can even join the conversation around questions others are asking, if you like.
We’ll be here for an hour so you can join us the entire time or step in and out during the hour. It’s entirely up to you; just make sure you’re here before 12:59.
Win a Copy
Those of you who participate in today’s author Q&A (even if you’re late to the party, but not if you’re an Arment Dietrich employee) will be entered into a random drawing for a free copy of the book.
Don’t forget—you have to actually leave a comment, ask a question, or participate in the chat to be entered in the drawing. Otherwise we won’t know you were here.
Get ready with your questions and join the conversation. And don’t fear! If you missed the live portion of this, we’ll keep the drawing open until midnight PT so you still have time to get in your questions.
Former Guests and Who’s Next
For former guests, check out Margie Clayman, Sarah Robinson, Mark Story, Beth Hayden, Sarah Evans, Stanford Smith, Chris Brogan, C.C. Chapman, Mitch Joel, Danny Brown, Chuck Hemann, Michael Brito, DJ Waldow, Tom Martin, Ahava Leibtag, Jay Baer, Shel Israel, Mark Schaefer, Gini Dietrich, Rob Biesenbach, Steve McKee, Neal Schaffer, and Ed Zitron.
And following are the dates for the next few months, so mark your calendars!
Same bat time, same bat channel.
- September 17 – Tim Frick, with Return on Engagement
- October 16 – Tom Martin, with The Invisible Sale
- November 19 – Paul Roetzer, with The Marketing Performance Blueprint
- December 17 – Diana Kander, with All in Startup
- January 21 – Jeremy Miller, with Sticky Branding
- February 18 – Hessie Jones, with Marketing as You Know it is Dead