Workshops, JWWS 2019
Workshops, set one
Turn Your Experiences into a StoryEsther Leah Avner
Learn the art of choosing the subject matter for a personal, publishable essay with vivid details and riveting content by looking at incidents that have recently come to your mind. Your life is filled with richness, no matter when it happened – use it! What’s special about your story? It's not the latest news, because your story could have happened many years ago. Rather, it's the fact that you recently related it, to the fascination of your audience probably family or close friends, and of course yourself, that makes it into a topic worth writing up.
Freelancing FundamentalsMichal Eisikowitz
The 5 rules you need to know to run a profitable business – and stay sane. You thought being a freelancer would be liberating - no boss, no set hours, no mind-numbing assignments. So why does it (often) feel so painful??? Maybe you're working till 12 AM each night (your kids + spouse let you know how they feel about that)...and you're *still* not bringing home enough money. Or you're losing sleep at night from
- Late (or never-appearing) payments
- Revisions that go on and on and on and on
- Clients who make you want to cry
Write Text that SellsRachel Gross
A practical session outlining how to identify the unique selling points of a product/service, create a central message around it and adapt that message to fit different types of content, from one-line slogans to a full blog post. Why is this relevant to the JWWS audience? Many people are looking to promote their own books and services, or are paid to create materials that are designed to sell something. Knowing how to write well is not the same as knowing how to sell. This workshop is designed to help writers hone their craft so their writing has the power to sell effectively. Practical examples from known Jewish brands will be given to help illustrate the points being discussed. Whether participants are writing to sell in the Orthodox world or not, the same lessons will be applicable.
Feature Writing that GrabsPenina Neiman
The art of pitching features with appeal, and recognizing a captivating story. Learn how to write for a broad audience and sell your idea to the magazine of your choice. Learn how to research and how to identify a willing and compelling interviewee, and to recognize the red flags that let you know it's time to move on to greener pastures. Includes: Exploring the quality and quantity of information you are going to need; how much detail, how much emotion and how to keep the feature on target. As well as how to reach a broad readership.
Writing Authentic Dialogue Dina Neuman
Insights and techniques for creating irresistible characters with dialogue so natural, you'll feel like you're eavesdropping!
The Right to Write!Shifrah Devorah Witt
Why your writing matters and how to feel entitled to take time for your writing and yourself.
The Art of Persuasive WritingJudy Gruen
Writing effective opinion essays that editors will want to buy is one of the most challenging niches to break into in journalism. Everyone has opinions about things, but the art of a compelling and salable opinion essay requires the writer to do several things at once:
- Demonstrate why the issue is important and why the reader should care
- Explain why you are personally invested in the topic
- Offer statistics or other facts to back up your point
- Write the essay in an absorbing fashion, without sermonizing or “giving musar”
Workshops, set two
Covers That WorkShanie Cooper
Don’t leave all the visual creativity to the graphic designers! Learn what makes a successful cover and how you can apply these principles to your next book or project.
Publishing by Tapping into Universal MessagesChava Dumas
Evaluate the challenges in our life journey and recognize the universal message contained within each experience. Participants will be given exercises to encourage this process of turning difficulties into renewal, with tools for moving beyond our personal story to convey the depth, insight and potential for growth that can resonate with others, enabling our readers to grow along with us.
Strong Interview, Strong StoryRachel Ginsberg
Learn how to interview successfully, create a powerful piece from your material and write it up with the interviewee’s voice still intact. After years of interviewing, I’ve found that the first step in making sure you have the possibility of keeping the interviewee’s voice starts with the interview itself. I rarely take notes, and I NEVER schlep a laptop. With the use of a discreet recording device, I free myself up for a real conversation without any distractions. I do this both on phone and in-person interviews. While this may seem like much more work because I have to listen to the whole thing over again, I have found that it’s really the long-shorter way.
- The story always comes out better (richer, more honest and more human)
- The entire topic can be revisited if I’m not able to process the story at the time of the interview, without having to rely on memory and notes to reconstruct it.
Train to be an EMT: Emergency Manuscript TechnicianSara Miriam Gross
Vital tips for saving the life of a book! A humorous, hands-on workshop about how to check books before print. Your book is about to close for print. Is it ready? Does it contain any embarrassing errors that will send you into hiding under an assumed identity, or doom your book to a dusty existence of discounted warehouse sales because it can't be sold in stores? Find out what to look out for! This is a practical, hands-on workshop for:
- Self-publishing authors (information applies equally to print books and eBooks)
- Proofreaders who want to sharpen their pre-print skills
- Authors using conventional publishing houses who want to look out for their own best interests
Changing your Personal NarrativeYocheved Rottenberg
Learn simple and effective writing techniques from a certified journal instructor to change your personal narrative, thereby changing your understanding, viewpoint and emotions for life.
Re-Discovering Your Writer's ResilienceLeah Subar
For self-doubters, second guessers, and those who ask: “Wait, why did I think I could do this?” In this workshop Leah helps participants acquire a visceral experience of their own ability to move forward; to reveal the engine inside that says: I am a writer. I can move forward. I got this. This engine is more than a "narrative" we tell ourselves, more than an affirmation; rather, it's a kind of an energy that can be experienced physically, by slowing down and tuning in. Best of all, we can help this energy expand by giving it some space to move. This is an experiential opportunity to be just a tad brave and have lots of fun using movement to (re)discover the voice inside that knows you got this.
Embrace Your Inner Thief: Little Ideas – Big FictionSara Sumner
Learn the foolproof, three-step process that will bring any writer from stolen ideas to sensational stories.
- Step 1: Carrying and using an ideas notebook
- Step 2: Matching a theme to an idea
- Step 3: Creating a plot and/or outline
Workshop Presenter Bios: Workshops, Set ONE
Esther Leah Avner is a published writer, public speaker, and Torah lecturer living in Northern Jerusalem. She has numerous articles published in Binah magazine, Ami, the Jewish Press, and Chabad.org.
Her book Learn, Live, Teach, published by Brand Publishing and distributed by Israel Book Shop, proved a popular memoir.
Esther Leah Avner enjoys several hobbies, including visiting her children and grandchildren.
Michal Eisikowitz is CEO of Michal Eisikowitz Copywriting, a micro-agency that specializes in compelling, data-driven website copy and strategy for B2B service-based businesses.
She is also co-founder of CopyTribe, the first-of-its-kind copywriting course that in just one cohort has helped 25 frum women launch and maintain profitable copywriting businesses.
Rachel Gross has worked in marketing for 15 years writing copy for major brands in the Jewish market, including Osem, Tnuva, United Hatzalah, WIZO.
For three years she was the Director of Creative Content at IMP Media, promoting Jewish brands and organizations across the full range of platforms from Instagram to print media. Rachel now works at MobileODT, a Tel Aviv-based high-tech firm selling medical imaging technology globally.
Having used copy and content writing to sell to Jews and non-Jews, Rachel has a good understanding of the challenges facing religious women in the marketing world. Penina Neiman is a features writer for Binah magazine for over eight years. She also authored the book The Mountain Family published by Artscroll (and first born via the JWWS meeting she and Tzirel Rus had with Artscroll’s rep!) which sold over 10,000 copies worldwide.
Dina Neuman is a serial coffee drinker and a multi-genre writer for Ami magazine. Those two facts are probably connected.
Her published novels include Walled Secrets, Daddy’s Girl, and a book of short stories for teens entitled Surprise! (published by Menucha Publishers).
She lives in Jerusalem, Israel, with her husband, children, and tortoise, and is an aspiring grown up.
Shifrah Devorah Witt received her MA and MFA in creative writing from San Francisco State University. She is the author of From Me to We: A Guide to the First Year of Marriage and Beyond and Inside Secrets to the Craft of Writing, as well as co-author of The Complete Asian Kosher Cookbook and The Best of Mexican Kosher Cooking.
She is a certified narrative therapist and Bach flower therapist, and the creator of a transformative, therapeutic, writing process called Writing to Heal.
Shifrah Devorah also teaches creative writing workshops and manuscript development in Jerusalem where she lives with her family.
Judy Gruen is the author of the highly acclaimed memoir, The Skeptic and the Rabbi: Falling in Love with Faith, three award-winning humor books, and co-author of MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools.
Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, Aish.com, Jewish Action, Jewish Journal, Mishpacha, The Wisdom Daily, and many other media outlets. She is known for her versatility as a feature writer, humorist, and essayist who infuses Jewish values into writing geared for a non-Jewish audience.
She is also a public speaker, ghostwriter, developmental editor and writing coach.
- Read more of her work on www.judygruen.com
Workshop Presenter Bios: Workshops, Set TWO
Shanie Cooper
of www.VirtualPaintbrush.com is a book designer specializing in children’s books and has over 17 years’ experience as a book designer working with some of the most popular Jewish publishers, including Mosaica, Menucha, Feldheim, Israel Bookshop, Apples and Honey Press, Gefen, Urim, Ktav, Flashlight Press, and more.
She designed the logo and branding for Tamar Ansh’s JerusalemChallahExperience.com website – take a look!Shanie can be heard on her podcast, The Jewish Women Podcast, available on iTunes, Spotify, and other major podcasting platforms.
Chava Dumas
has been writing and publishing her work for over forty years.
Based on over four decades of personal triumph over hardships, counseling cancer patients, facilitating a fertility support group and writing interviews and articles on a broad range of vital Jewish hashkafic topics and concerns, Chava offers Jewish women a unique perspective on the growth that comes from dealing with life’s challenges.
Her workshops, using classic Jewish sources, help enhance our ability to develop and deepen our relationship with Hashem. 
Rachel Ginsberg Rachel Ginsberg is associate editor at Mishpacha magazine. She has been publishing features/interviews for over two decades.
Sara Miriam Gross is the editor in chief of Tfutza Publications and also manages the production of independent publishing projects.
She’s seen a lot; okay, too much! And she wants to give you her best insights, tips and lists that will save you headaches, heartaches, and ultimately, money. 
Yocheved Rottenberg. Using the simple yet powerful tool of therapeutic writing, Yocheved Rottenberg, CJI, has guided hundreds of women in their quest to self-discovery, healing and growth. She leads numerous live workshops in Yerushalayim and online workshops for women around the world.
Sara Sumner’s fiction has been published in Binah, Inyan and Endurance Magazine. She has studied both writing and literature at York University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in linguistics and English. Her first novel is due to be published by Menucha Publishers next year.
In addition to writing and participating in the Kiryat Sefer Writer’s Group, she is a part-time English teacher in the Meir Seminary English Maslul in Kiryat Sefer.
Every writer has a story to tell. By teaching writing, Sara can provide writers with the tools needed to share their stories.
Leah Subar is a dance/movement therapist in Jerusalem and Petach Tikvah, offering one-on-one consultations and ExploreMovement workshops. She helps women get back their zest by engaging the transformative power of emotion and body-felt experience.
Leah creates custom-made audios to support growth-minded professionals on their personal or professional journey.
Leah has published two books with Targum and a book of music and movement for mothers and babies, co-written with international dance educator Ann Barlin. She co-produced the popular children’s CD series Uncle Reuven and the Simcha Train together with her husband, Rabbi Reuven Subar.
- Leah Subar
Dance/Movement Therapist, DMT | AEDP - leahsubar @ gmail.com
- www.leahsubar.wixsite.com
