By Debby Preiser, Community Relations Coordinator

For more than 20 years, I have been hosting author events at Oak Park Public Library. From many first-time authors, I have heard the same thing: "Marketing a book is much harder than writing a book." I think William Hazelgrove would agree. 

"There's really only one way to sell your writing today: on the Internet," Hazelgrove suggests. Now a best-selling novelist, Hazelgrove has used the power of social media to secure media and build sales for his six, soon to be eight, novels. On Saturday, Oct. 11, at 2 pm, Hazelgrove will present "Selling Your Writing in the Age of Social Media," in which he shows what it takes to get started and how to put—and keep—your name in front of readers.

Once a struggling fiction writer living in Oak Park, Hazelgrove toured the Ernest Hemingway birth home on Oak Park Avenue in the 1990s. On a whim, he asked if the house had any unused space. It did—the attic. Hazelgrove became the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence, and for years he wrote in the attic of Hemingway's birthplace.

Today Hazelgrove is the author of eight novels, Ripples, Tobacco Sticks, Mica Highways, Rocket Man, The Pitcher, Real Santa, and forthcoming in 2015, Jack Pine, and The Pitcher 2. His books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist's Book of the Month Selections, American Library Association Editors' Choice Awards, Junior Library Guild Selections, and have been optioned for the movies. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today and other publications and has been featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and USA Today have all covered his books with features. 

I encourage any new or aspiring author to come learn how Hazelgrove has used social media in many ways to bring attention to his writing. Learn from a pro at this free two-hour workshop at Oak Park Public Library. At the event, Magic Tree Bookstore will have copies of Real Santa available for sale.

Here's what Susan Gibberman from Schaumburg Township Library has to say about this program: "Mr. Hazelgrove tells it like it is, with humor and inspiration. Every writer—from the newbies to those with numerous publications—can learn something from his 'Selling Your Writing in the Age of Social Media' presentation."

For more information, go to oppl.org

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