Hi, I’m Madison Woods and I’m available to give presentations (to writing groups as well as ginseng/nature enthusiasts), lead herb walks, nature journaling or sketching hikes.
Email me to inquire about any of the above or to ask questions about the items below. ([email protected]).
2017 Schedule
Saturday May 13 – Kingston Fair on the Square
Come out and pass a good time in the quaint little town of Kingston for our annual Fair on the Square.
Friday May 5 – The Valley Cafe, Hindsville (AR)
Arts and Crafts festival out in front of the Valley Cafe in downtown (old) Hindsville.
Saturday, April 22 – The Artist Retreat Center in Bella Vista (AR)
Join me for an herb walk at the Artist Retreat Center in Bella Vista, AR. I’ll have my books, plants, and artwork to sell.
Tuesdays from April 11 to October 2017- Huntsville Farmers Market (AR)
The Wild Ozark booth will be set up in the town square of Huntsville, AR every Tuesday from 7 to 11 am. I’ll have ginseng seedlings beginning in May, but in the meantime I’ll have my nature art cards, books, ginseng jams, and whatever else I can come up with to take up space on the table.
January 26, Columbia MO – 8th Annual Agroforestry Symposium
I’ll be participating on the panel discussion between medicinal plant growers and entrepreneurs, and will have a Wild Ozark booth with information and possibly books.
2016 (printable schedule)
That’s all for 2016! If you’d like to book an event for your group, email [email protected] to inquire 🙂
Show notes and transcript from the FPL Try It: American Ginseng – Wild Treasure in the Ozarks
Slideshow: http://www.slideshare.net/MadisonWoods/american-ginseng-wild-treasure-in-the-ozarksTranscript: Notes for Ginseng Habitat talk
Previous events:
Feb 6, at the Kimberling City Library
I’ll be giving a 10-minute talk at 11:10 a.m. titled “What’s the big deal about ginseng”. I’ll also be there all day with books to sell and autograph. There will be many other authors presenting and talking, too, so there’s bound to be something you’ll like to see and hear about. Here’s more information: http://www.kalib.org/web%20info%201-9-16.pdf
Free, Kimberling City Library Author Event
March 3, at the LDS church in Huntsville, AR
Local Kingston foraging expert Lou Ann Nolan and I will talk to a ladies group about edible and medicinal plants of our area. This is a private event, I think.
May 14 at the Ozark Folkways Center in Winslow, AR
All-Day Ginseng Workshop with Field Hike, bagged lunch and door prize – details still pending. It may end up being a half-day workshop instead.
Here’s an outline of the various ginseng workshops available, including the all-day one.
$35/person
June 4, Nature Journaling at the Place on the Square in Kingston, AR
Still in the planning stages, but here’s a tentative flyer. Click on it to enlarge or print.
June 8, “Try-it” at the Fayetteville Public Library: American Ginseng: Wild Treasure in the Ozark Hills
Learn about American ginseng & how to find or recreate an American ginseng habitat on your own property. Details still being nailed down.6 – 7 pmginseng seedling to bring home
2015
Nov. 22, 2015 Nature Writing and Journaling Workshop (1pm to 4pm) at Hobbs State Park, AR
Sponsored by the Village Writing School of Eureka Springs. I’ll be teaching a workshop on nature writing/journaling. You can read the schedule and register through a link at this link: https://www.wildozark.com/nature-writing-workshop-schedule/. Bring pencils, camera, notebook if you can or want to do some hands-on writing, drawing and photography. That same link is useful if you’re trying to decide if this is a workshop that will fit your group. I can also tailor it to the audience.
Oct. 26, 2015 (noon, 7 pm) KUAF’s Ozarks at Large
Our local NPR station interviewed me and Luke Davis (Compton Garden Manager) about the Ginseng Sanctuary project. You can hear the replay here: http://kuaf.com/post/ozarks-large-monday-october-26-2015.
Oct. 23, 2015 Interview for CivilEats.com: Ginseng Gold: The Hidden World of the American Ginseng Root
Monica Johnson, freelance journalist and founder of Sacred Seeds, interviewed me and some of the other local ginseng experts for this article on ginseng at CivilEats.com.
Sept, 18 (11 am – 12) Compton Gardens: “A Ginseng Habitat”
I’ll be giving a talk at the Compton Gardens in Bentonville, AR about the sorts of places that ginseng prefers to grow – companion plants, lighting, soil, slope, types of trees in the over- and middle-story, etc. Here’s a link to the event page.
This is part of the Compton Gardens “10 for 10” free lecture series and it’s open to the public. Compton Gardens Conference Center 312 N Main St, Bentonville, AR 72704
Here’s a link to Wild Ozark and Compton Garden’s Ginseng Sanctuary project: A Ginseng Sanctuary in Bentonville
Oct 10 (6pm-8pm) Author Reading & Presentation on my work followed by Open Mic
I usually get between 800-1500 pageviews to my website each day, most of it organic traffic from search engine queries. Visitors usually visit between 2-5 pages and spend more than 30 seconds on average. Many of them click my links to go to Amazon or my online shop listings. My mailing list is 436 members strong, but it took two years to get there. Why do these things matter to me as a writer trying to make a business of writing? That’s what I’ll talk about during this presentation and I’ll share the first biggest mistake I made when I first started thinking of myself as an authorpreneur, with books to sell, rather than just a blogger or just a writer with dreams. I’m not traditionally published, and don’t have a marketing team to help get my books noticed (most trad only does so for their best authors, although some of the big 6 might still do a lot). I don’t want to blast my friends with “buy my book” tweets and posts often (I do it sometimes, and so far they still talk to me, lol). I’m also not making a ton of money or sales yet, but I’m pulling at least enough to give me hope of doing better in the future and I’m laying groundwork to make sure that can happen more easily. I employ tools to help me see the progress I’m making with my attempt to attract attention to my website, where pretty much all of my marketing takes place.
Presented by the Northwest Arkansas Artist Retreat Center & Bella Vista Library. I’m not sure yet whether I’ll be doing the open mic, or whether that’s something the other writers present will be doing, or perhaps both. I’ll talk about my process of self-publishing, how important having a blog has been to my business as a creator, my biggest mistake and how I’ve (attempted to) correct it, and some tips on what have been the most valuable tools I’ve found so far. I’ll bring some copies of my books. The earlier two will be a clear illustration of my progress on this learning journey. If I’m also doing some open mic reading, I’ll read from the opening scene of my novel-in-progress, Bounty Hunter.
Their FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/artistretreatcenter/
