Quijano's Words

Baltimore author Fernando Quijano III, who calls himself a word nerd,  spoke about using social media to build a platform and prepare for the publication of your book  at a recent meeting of the Carroll County, Maryland Writers’ Association.

Quijano, who knows how to make words work for him, is president of the Baltimore Chapter of the MWA. His work has been featured in “Welter,” “Smile Hon, You’re in Baltimore” and the poetry anthology, “Life in Me Like Grass on Fire.” He is a columnist for theurbantwist.com and uses twitter, Facebook and his blog, http://thewordpimpspits.blogspot.com. 

Awarded a B grant for his writing by the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund in 2011, Quijano also discussed, the Hampstead Maryland housewife, Sharon Lopatka, who's death was the motivation for his forthcoming novel, Killing Lilith.

Quijano recommends writing short. Writing and publication is in transition, he said. The internet is important to writers, for recognition, building a platform and to be taken seriously. He spoke about hash tags, klout perks, blogging and linking accounts. He discussed advertising and other details about using social media.

There are many writing sites out there and they can be very helpful, he said. As far as checking out lots of other writing sites, you must think about cost and benefit. You should ask “What can I get out of it.”

A number of area writers have spoken at the Carroll County writers’ organization during its first two years of existence including B. Morrison, L M Preston, Lois Szymanski, Ally Peltier Machate, Stephanie Dray (Draven),  Laura Shoven, Lynne Shapiro and LeRoy Lad Panek.

This year will end with a humorous presentation by Michele "Wojo" Wojciechowski on Saturday June 8. Wojciechowski writes the humor column WoJo’s World. Her book, Next Time I Move, They'll Carry Me Out in a Box, won an Outstanding Book Award (Lifestyle/Memoir category), from the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

For more information about future Carroll County meetings check out www.mwacarrollcounty.org.