This is a story that touches each and every one of us today, with increasing violence in the world and particularly after recent events of violence in Sri Lanka. We are confronted with the realities of how war and violence can tear at the veils holding community together.

A riveting talk that’s most relevant today amid war and displacement

During the hour-long talks, Sue will take people back to the tragedy of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami and experiences in Sri Lanka and with communities of Trincomalee. She will also talk about her 12 years of voluntary aid and community work and what inspired her and how she continued to help people over such a long period of time.

“This talk is very much about how powerful connection and community is in life. It’s about the people who you meet along the way and how I’ve been inspired by them to step outside my own life to help people in need. By sharing my story, I hope to encourage people to look around them and see where and how they can contribute to helping others.”

Sue has connected with many readers and attendees of her talk with her candid, storytelling. Many have been inspired and motivated to start volunteering or helping others after hearing about Sue’s adventures and experiences, considering what they can do to help others in times of need and crisis.

Sue will be presenting 7 author talks all around Sydney in May and June .

• Thursday 16 May – Rockdale Library  – 6pm
• Monday 20 May – St Ives Probus Club – 11am
• Wednesday 22 May – Campsie Library and Knowledge Centre – 6:30pm
• Thursday 30 May – Blacktown Library –6pm
• Wednesday 5 June – Merrylands Library – 6pm
• Tuesday 18 June – Ryde Library – In Focus talk – 6:30pm
• Thursday 20 June – Sutherland Library – 6:30pm

Find out more at the Speaking Tour page and how to book

Signed copies of Accidental Aid Worker are $35 and available for purchase at the talks, with $5 from each book donated to a charitable project.

Sue heads up to Sydney’s beautiful Northern Beaches for a very special sunset talk at Avalon Community Library. Seats are limited, so book your ticket now at the library by calling 99183013.

You’ll also be able to purchase your signed copy of Accidental Aid Worker, which includes the special bookmark, card and numbered token.

Sue will talk about the events and adventures that featured in her memoir, Accidental Aid Worker at Newtown’s favourite Buddhist Bookstore, Bodhi Books and Gifts.

You’ll journey back in time with Sue to the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and it’s effects on communities in war torn Sri Lanka. You’ll hear how her giving ways led to over 12 years of volunteering, fundraising and helping people in need in Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Australia. It’s a powerful hour expoloring our humanity, the power of connection and community.

Where: Bodhi Books and Gifts – 375 King Street, Newtown (350m from Newtown Station)
When: Wednesday 20 February 2019
Time: 6:30pm for 7pm

It’s the first author talk for 2019 and an absolute pleasure to be in the Inner West/ Newtown and with Bodhi, who have been so supportive over the years championing Accidental Aid Worker. This is the first talk after hours for a while, so I hope that those who haven’t been able to catch an author talk before, can come along. I hope to see you there!

You’ll be able to purchase books on the evening and have them signed. This is a free talk, no bookings are required.

It’s an honour to be invited to give an author talk to a group of women dedicated to preserving the stories of Australian women.

 Accidental Aid Worker is in the collection of the Jessie Street National Women’s Library and today, I’ll be presenting the Lunch Hour Talk for April at Customs House Library in Sydney. 

To accompany this talk, Jessica Stewart and Barbara Henry wrote this review for the newsletter, which truly captures my story and journey into aid work. You can read the review here .

Read the report of the talk on page 7 of the National Women’s Library newsletter – May 2018

I’m becoming a professional public speaker – for real!

FOR TEAMS IN WORK AND COMMUNITY PLACES: If you have a conference, team meeting or workshop coming up, and you’re seeking a new, fresh, dynamic, funny and captivating speaker to inspire your people – I may be for you!  I can deliver for you in a very meaningful way to your organisation and community via a talk, presentation or workshop.

FOR YOUNG MINDS IN HIGH SCHOOLS: I’ll also be exploring speaking at high schools, because it’s young, growing minds who need to hear about the realities of life as they prepare to venture out. If you’re involved in a high school, this could be an opportunity to really connect and engage young people via a talk/ author talk  in the following areas:

• Human Society and it’s Environment and Society and Culture (years 11&12) and International Studies (years 9&10).
• Social Justice, community, fundraising, volunteering and trips to developing countries.
• PHDP – life choices, deciding what to do in life and careers advice for year 10, 11 or 12
• Workshop: writing your own story and considering publishing books and works

For high school bookings in particular, I’ve signed up with by signing up with Lateral Learning Speakers’ Agency.

With warmth and bare honesty, Sue Liu delivers an inspiring talk about the power of connection and community, sharing tales of natural disasters, hilarious happenings and personal tragedies from her life, as detailed in her memoir, Accidental Aid Worker.

Sue captivates and engages audiences of all ages in her dynamic, thought-provoking talk, prompting people to consider their choices at life’s crossroads, what their moral responsibility is to help others, and how to get involved with causes and communities. Read the full profile at Lateral Learning. 

• You can read comments from attendees of my talks here 
• Find out more about workshops and education here 
• Listen to radio interviews about my work and story here

Contact me for more information about speaking and workshops for your people. 

Leichhardt Library is proud to be hosting an innovative, free one-day workshop for writers who aspire to publish their work and build foundations for being successful authors. Step-by-step Publishing Essentials workshop will be held at Leichhardt Library on Saturday 24 June is part of a joint pilot program between the State Library of NSW, Inner West Library Service & Parramatta City Library, a digital library lending platform, called indyreads™.

This custom-tailored workshop, created by authors and professionals, Sue Liu and Anna Maguire, aims to help writers of all ages to navigate their way through the maze of publishing options and expectations, the need for clarity of purpose and commencement of marketing well before the book is published.

Among the many challenges for aspiring writers is understanding the context, options, steps and realities of releasing work in an ever changing, over-crowded, competitive industry and market place. This workshop is designed to help individuals customise and build the foundations for their author and book brands, as well as learning about the various options and practical steps for producing industry-standard books and getting them to market.

Sue Liu is Marketing consultant, author of Accidental Aid Worker and an Inner West local. Her focus is on creating the foundations for an authentic author profile and brand for book(s) and how to develop and apply these to marketing campaigns.

“Every writer, whether signed by a publishing house or self-published, needs to be active and engaged in the business of creating and promoting their work. Key to this, is the need to be strategic in creating marketing devices (tools) that can be easily adapted and incorporated into campaigns to promote yourself and your books.” said Liu.

“Writers need to also become business-minded and marketing savvy – with an understanding of the options and mechanics of producing works for publication, but also aware of where and how pitch and publicise. Without the right structure around your publishing project at the beginning, it can be tough to connect with the publishing world and of course, readers.” She continued.

Sue is honoured to be presenting this workshop for Inner West Libraries alongside respected publishing consultant and crowdfunding pioneer, Anna Maguire. Maguire will explore paths to publication, fundraising and budgets, producing print and digital books on your own or with professionals, to achieve industry standard outcomes. Both Liu and Maguire will share their experiences and perspectives as authors, self-publishers and professionals.

The workshop is part of the indyreads™ pilot, a new digital lending and distribution platform for public libraries.

“Once indyreads™ is ready for release, we’ll be seeking submissions from our community to build our Inner West Libraries collection” said Marilyn Taylor, Leichardt Library Manager and project champion. “We’re really thrilled to be working with two respected professionals, and know that this may be just the inspiration and guidance people need to finish writing and publishing their books” she continued.

“This is a first workshop of its kind for Leichhardt, we are proud of our involvement in indyreads™ and know that we’ll be receiving the quality and standard of ebooks we require for the collection”

STEP-BY-STEP PUBLISHING ESSENTIALS WORKSHOP

Presented by publishing, marketing professionals and self-published authors Anna Maguire and Sue Liu. This one-day workshop is for writers aspiring to publish their new works as print copy and ebooks. Be guided on the importance of:

• Being business savvy and marketing aware about publishing;
• How author profile and book identity are crucial for writers;
• Building your brand and marketing options;
• Key elements for producing a book and how it helps with marketing, sales and distribution;
• Funding options to enable you to create a professional publication.

Date:  Saturday 24 June

Time: 10-4pm

Where: Leichhardt Library

Cost:   Free

Limited numbers. Bookings essential at Eventbrite or phone: 9367 9266

More about indyreads™ 

indyreads™ is a hosted eContent Management Platform that has been developed by the State Library of NSW to provide library users with access to local publications including digitised local history material as well as purchased ebook titles. The platform allows the Inner West libraries to work with community authors and independent and mid-list publishers to explore ways of making locally important content more readily available to readers.

The industry standard platform has enabled the library service to smoothly integrate ebook content into their catalogue and provide a seamless experience for library members. The hope is that indyreads™ will give communities a greater diversity of local content and help connect writers with their audiences.

The State Library is developing plans to make indyreads™ available in more libraries across NSW and to continue their support of programs for self-publishers.

PRESENTERS:

Sue Liu is an energetic community leader, business woman and marketing communications consultant with over 24 years’ experience. She self-published her first book, Accidental Aid Worker, in November 2015 and has been recognised by fellow writers, industry experts and readers for her efforts and achievements, as an author. Sue has also been acknowledged as an emerging voice and one worth listening to in the education sphere. Her approach is from the perspective of the author/self-publisher/business person/marketer.

Sue shares her insights, perspectives and experiences to help each writer clarify expectations, hone goals and create strategies, resources and tools to best suit their journey. For further information about Sue and her work, explore: www.accidentalaidworker.com.au , www.zulucommunications.com.au ,Facebook https://www.facebook.com/accidentalaidworker/, Twitter (@zulu2you) and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sueliu/

Anna Maguire is a Sydney-based consultant and blogger specialising in digital training and strategy. She advises on digital publishing and crowdfunding through her consultancy Digireado.

Anna has worked in book publishing and digital content for 25 years. She is a former head of production and interactive at Random House Australia and is a passionate advocate for digital developments in the book. She is a graduate of the Yale Publishing Course and has appeared at the Sydney Writers’ Festival and Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. Anna has trained authors in their digital publishing options for over eight years.

In September 2012 Anna wrote her first book Crowdfund it!. Anna lectures and coordinates the unit Book Production and the Book Publishing Business unit of stud at Sydney University. Anna blogs (infrequently) on the Digireado website, www.digireado.com.au, and at www.crowdfundit.com.au. She is also on Twitter (@digireado and @crowdfunditnow) and Facebook (facebook.com/digireado and facebook.com/crowdfunditnow/)