AROHO Community

The Best Of...

Women around the country have joined the AROHO community. Inspiring us with their passionate voices, here are the a few excerpts from Gift of Freedom applications and letters to our organization.

• Gloria Mills — Montrose, Minnesota
• Arianna Ortiz — Santa Monica, California
• Jennifer Tseng — Los Angeles, California
• Kitsey Canaan — North Bennington, Vermont
• Rebecca Carroll — Brooklyn, New York
• Camille T. Dungy — Lynchburg, Virginia
• Deborah Lubar — Lincoln, Vermont

Organizing your own AROHO event !

 You can organize an AROHO event, wherever you are.  Did you have a great time at an AROHO Retreat or other AROHO event?  Wouldn’t you just love to continue the sharing in a community of women writers that we began at the AROHO Retreats?  You can plan your own local AROHO event, in any one of a hundred ways: 

1. “An Evening of Wine and Words,” like the one organized in Nashua, New Hampshire, which featured several writers and socializing
2. A class or workshop for writers
3. A day or weekend retreat at someone’s home or at a bed and breakfast
4. A monthly book discussion group for women at the local library
5. A “Meet the Author” dinner at your home, with an author as special guest and all your reader-friends celebrating together
6. An open mic reading at a bookstore or coffee house
7. A reading, with a question and answer period at the end
8. A salon, with each guest reading some of her favorite writing
9. A table at a local writers’ conference where you distribute AROHO information
10. A potluck writers’ supper, with sharing of work after dinner
11. Afternoon tea or coffee, with a discussion about best books you’ve read recently
12. A party for a writer who has a new book out
13. A critique group that meets regularly to discuss work in progress
14. Whatever other wonderful idea may inspire you...

Some organizational suggestions:

1. Imagine what sort of an event you’d like to hold, using the list above as a springboard.
2. If you don’t feel like tackling such a project on your own, network!  Connect with other writers in your community.  If you don’t know many other writers, see if a writing teacher would be willing to organize the event with you.
3. Plan the event:

   Find an appropriate location:  a library, an art gallery, someone’s home, a school, a bookstore, a café, whatever…

   Invite a speaker or reader, if appropriate.  You don’t necessarily need a big name.  Some of the people you met at AROHO may be perfect.

   Decide whether you will charge a fee or ask for donations, or leave the event entirely free.  Will proceeds go to AROHO?  Do you want to set up a scholarship fund?

   Do you want to offer any extra enticements to get people to your event?  Food, door prizes, something else?

4. Publicize the event.

   Write a press release and send it out to local news media, both print and radio.  Be sure to include all the pertinent information about the event, a few quotes, and contact information.

   Prepare fliers.  Post them at the public library, local bookstores and businesses, and educational institutions.  Give them to your friends.

   Email everyone you know who might be interested. 

   Talk to your friends, and everyone you meet.  Word of Mouth can be the best publicity.

   Ask local writers’ organizations and anyone else you can think of to post news of your event on their web sites.

5. As the event draws closer, deal with the details.

   Will you need a microphone, chairs, a podium, a table…

   Will you serve food?  Find out if your town or state has any regulations regarding food served at public events. 

   Will you have a sign up sheet for the AROHO newsletter?

   Do you need a donations box, receipts?

   Do you have extra journals or other things at home that you could use to put together a door prize?

   Is an LCD projector available?  Educational institutions often have them, and sometimes you can find a local business who will donate the use of a projector for an evening.  AROHO can send you a power point presentation on the AROHO Retreats to use if you have a projector.

   Exactly how will you schedule the event?  Make a timetable to follow, if appropriate.

6. Contact Janice Fowler to request her to supply you with AROHO literature.  Here are some things Janice could send you:

   AROHO brochures

   “Celebrate a Creative Woman” info

   Postcards about the upcoming Gift of Freedom Award and/or Retreat

   Receipts to use for tax-deductible donations

7. Have a great time!
8. Let AROHO know how the event went. Send an e-mail to us.
9. Celebrate, knowing that you have advanced the cause of women writers in the world!