Victoria Noe

Award-winning Author, Speaker, Activist

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Libraries Illinois Conference

My Day at a Library Conference

My Day at a Library Conference
Oct 20, 2016 by Victoria Noe
Sharing a table with James Gordon

In a former life, I was a vendor for Chicago Public Schools. I repped two children’s book publishers (one at a time) for fifteen years, working mostly with the school librarians. That experience could be a book in itself.

Occasionally, I had a booth at an educational conference: statewide library or teacher gatherings. I had the whole booth to myself (at considerable expense). I hauled boxes and boxes of inventory to set-up and sell, along with catalogs and order forms. It was hard work, but I usually did well. I almost always did it alone. That wasn’t unusual. A lot of vendors ran their booths alone. Only the really big companies had...

Why Writers Should Step Away from the Computer

Why Writers Should Step Away from the Computer
Oct 27, 2015 by Victoria Noe
My table at the Illinois Libraries conference

Now and then online I come across conversations where writers bemoan the current state of publishing, which requires them (no matter how they are published) to market themselves. They are expected to host websites, build their platforms, tweet, post, comment, share. For those of us who are used to being self-employed, marketing is a normal part of doing business. But for others – who just want to write! – it’s a challenge and a burden that’s sometimes resented.

I’m not one of them. I could blame it on having a master’s degree in theatre, or just that I like talking. But I hope that if you’re a writer who doesn’t like...

Fasten Your Seat Belt!

Fasten Your Seat Belt!
Sep 29, 2015 by Victoria Noe
There’s so much news to share with you and a lot of it has been happening quickly. So fasten your seat belt while I bring you up to date on what I’m doing.

First of all, do you see the upper right hand corner of your screen, where is says “subscribe to my newsletter’? You really want to do that. Subscribing to my short and sweet Wednesday newsletter means you get all the good stuff first. Not only that, but subscribers receive a pdf copy of my latest book, Friend Grief in the Workplace: More Than an Empty Cubicle, free. Yes, free, but that’s an offer that will not last much longer.

Back to the news. Here’s what I can share and...