Tips for Self-Editing Your Novel or Memoir

 

Wendy Nelson Tokunaga

Developmental Editor, Novels, Memoir, Queries & Pitches

There are many different types of editing (proofreading, line editing, spell checking, grammar checking, copyediting, etc.) but this talk will focus on the big picture aspect: developmental editing. Editor and writer Wendy Tokunaga will give you practical tips on how to analyze your own writing and identify issues you can fix to make your novel, memoir or shorter work shine.

Takeaways:

• Figure out if your story starts in the right place
• Determine if there is enough dramatic conflict in your scenes.
• Read like a writer to improve your own writing.

About the speaker:

Wendy Nelson Tokunaga is an award-winning writer and independent editor for novels and memoirs. Her novels include Midori by Moonlight, Love in Translation, Falling Uphill, His Wife and Daughters and No Kidding. Her non-fiction work is Marriage in Translation: Foreign Wife, Japanese Husband. She received her MFA from University of San Francisco and teaches for Stanford’s Certificate Program in Novel Writing. Her latest book is the first in a series of short story collections called Postcards From Tokyo, described as “A superb collection of short stories” by the Asian Review of Books

11 AM–1:00 PM

10:15 Pre-meeting Talk & Share: Pros & Cons of a Pen Name

1:15-2:15 Post-Session: Making Every Word Count in Your Memoir and Personal Essay
Presented by members who have published, won contests, and judged contests

$25 Non-Members
$15 Members (40% discount)
Lunch included with meeting.

Fee includes pre- and post-meetings

Cattlemens Restaurant
12409 Folsom Blvd
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

 

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Luncheon Information

• Monthly Luncheons are open to the public
• Cost is $15 for members, $25 for nonmembers
• The meeting fee includes speaker,  lunch and beverage
• Cattlemens Restaurant, 12409 Folsom Blvd., Rancho Cordova, CA

The restaurant is located just east of Hazel Ave. at the northeast end of the Nimbus Winery complex along Highway 50. Cattlemens offers CWC a spacious meeting room with free WiFi, quality AV equipment, free off street parking and excellent food.

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What You Should Know about Hybrid Publishing

Brooke Warner

Publisher, She Writes Press & SparkPress

Takeaways:

• Why hybrid publishing has been called “the best of both worlds” and what about it makes it appealing to authors and self-publishers alike.
• Hybrid industry standards and why its reputation hinges on vetting and quality.
• The challenges facing hybrid publishing and authors who choose this model.
• What writers and authors need to know about this publishing space and the business model.
• Where hybrid publishing might be heading from here.

 

About the speaker:

The hybrid publishing model occupies space that’s neither traditional publishing nor self-publishing. So what is it exactly? And why is it the fastest-growing publishing business model? Find out how this middle ground of publishing is opening up more and interesting business opportunities for authors and publishers of all stripes.

Brooke Warner is publisher of She Writes Press and SparkPress. She is president of Warner Coaching, Inc., and author of Green-light Your Book, What’s Your Book? and three books on memoir. Brooke is a TEDx speaker and the former Executive Editor of Seal Press. She sits on numerous boards including Independent Book Publishers Association and the National Association of Memoir Writers. Publishers Weekly carries a monthly column by Brooke. She also blogs for Huffington Post Books. Check out her new podcast series:

http://podcast.shewrites.com/episodes/

 

11 AM–1:00 PM

10:15 Early Bird Topic –  The Author Interview: Prepare Yourself for Questions

$25 Non-Members
$15 Members (40% discount)
Lunch included with meeting.

Cattlemens Restaurant
12409 Folsom Blvd
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

 

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Luncheon Information

• Monthly Luncheons are open to the public
• Cost is $15 for members, $25 for nonmembers
• The meeting fee includes speaker,  lunch and beverage
• Cattlemens Restaurant, 12409 Folsom Blvd., Rancho Cordova, CA

The restaurant is located just east of Hazel Ave. at the northeast end of the Nimbus Winery complex along Highway 50. Cattlemens offers CWC a spacious meeting room with free WiFi, quality AV equipment, free off street parking and excellent food.

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How to Become a Bestselling Indie Author on Amazon

Dr. Cara Gubbins, Author

You will learn to:

* Understand the Amazon algorithm and learn how to make it work for you

• Identify and apply effective keywords for long-term sales

• Choose Amazon categories that maximize sales and rankings

• Set up effective promotions that won’t break the bank

• Take home practical tips to revive your backlist

 

About the speaker:

Cara became an expert in the Amazon algorithm after studying books and blogs and also taking webinars featuring authors, publishes, and other experts. She spoke with many self-published authors who continue to be successful on Amazon. Then she compiled all the information she had gathered into her a “bestseller” system. She’s tested it on her own books – debuting at #1 in several categories and continuing to sell well months later.  The result of Cara’s study is Launch Your Kindle Bestseller – How to Become a Bestselling Indie Author on Amazon, one of her Amazon #1 bestsellers. Cara will share what she knows when she speaks to the California Writers Club on October 20, 2018.

A professional coach whose passion is helping others live their dreams, Cara loves being outside enjoying nature with her family. Cara’s upcoming books include Totem – Finding My Power in the Animal Kingdom – a stirring memoir of love, loss, hope and redemption,
and The Plot Clock: An Easy Step-by-Step System to Outline and Write Your Page-turning Story.

11 AM–1:00 PM

10:15 Early Bird Topic –  Micro fiction talk & share

$25 Non-Members
$15 Members (40% discount)
Lunch included with meeting.

Cattlemens Restaurant
12409 Folsom Blvd
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

 

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Luncheon Information

• Monthly Luncheons are open to the public
• Cost is $15 for members, $25 for nonmembers
• The meeting fee includes speaker,  lunch and beverage
• Cattlemens Restaurant, 12409 Folsom Blvd., Rancho Cordova, CA

The restaurant is located just east of Hazel Ave. at the northeast end of the Nimbus Winery complex along Highway 50. Cattlemens offers CWC a spacious meeting room with free WiFi, quality AV equipment, free off street parking and excellent food.

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The most common mistakes authors make when seeking publication and how to avoid them.

Photo © Cheryl Rinzler

Alan Rinzler

Executive Acquisitions and Development Editor since 1962

You will learn:

* The most effective strategies of inquiry etiquette when seeking a literary agent.  When to be more aggressive and when to obey their guidelines.

* How to make sure the samples, proposal, or completed manuscript you submit is ready for prime time.

* Ten obsessive habits of successful authors I’ve worked with.

* When to use your life experience as a fictional novel and when as a non-fiction memoir.

* How to overcome stalls, or so-called writers block.

 

About the speaker:

Acquired and published Toni Morrison (The Bluest Eye) , Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail), Tom Robbins, (Jitterbug Perfume), Shirley MacLaine (Out on a Limb, Dancers in the Light), Jerzy Kosinsky (Pinball), Robert Ludlum (The Scarlatti Inheritance), Clive Cussler (Night Probe), Dee Brown (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee), Andy Warhol (Index Book), Katherine Neville (The Eight), Frank Capra (The Name of the Title), Danny Lyon (The Bikeriders, Conversations with the Dead), while working at Simon and Schuster, Bantam Books, Macmillan, Holt, Grove Press, and elsewhere.

11 AM–1:00 PM

10:15 Early Bird Topic –  Critique Group Good Practices

$25 Non-Members
$15 Members (40% discount)
Cash or check only.

Lunch included with meeting.

Cattlemens Restaurant
12409 Folsom Blvd
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

 

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Luncheon Information

• Monthly Luncheons are open to the public
• Cost is $15 for members, $25 for nonmembers
• The meeting fee includes speaker,  lunch and beverage
• Cattlemens Restaurant, 12409 Folsom Blvd., Rancho Cordova, CA

The restaurant is located just east of Hazel Ave. at the northeast end of the Nimbus Winery complex along Highway 50. Cattlemens offers CWC a spacious meeting room with free WiFi, quality AV equipment, free off street parking and excellent food.

View Larger Map

Develop Your Creative Mojo and Write, Write, Write!

Grant Faulkner
Executive Director, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
Author, Pep Talk for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo

11 AM–1:00 PM

10:15 Discuss & Share: Book Covers that Draw Readers.
Bring a cover you think is either fabulous or that needs improvement
Facilitated by Pretty Road Press Publisher Ted Witt

Cattlemens, 12409 Folsom Blvd, $15 members/$20 guests (includes lunch)

 First 50 people who don’t have Grant’s book will get a free copy!

So many things conspire to keep you from achieving your goals as a writer. Self-doubt, lack of discipline, time management, writer’s block, creative solitude, fear of rejection…the list goes on and on.

But just because you’ve been struggling with one or more of these challenges doesn’t mean you have to abandon your creative goals and give up your dreams.

Grant Faulkner, executive director of National Novel Writing Month and author of Pep Talk for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo, will show you ways to banish your inner editor, dive into your work with creative abandon, write boldly on the page and develop your self-confidence.

Among Grant’s articles: “The Writer as Seducer,” Writer’s Digest 2/18; “Imagination Under Pressure,” Poets & Writers 1-2/18;  “How to Beat Writer’s Block,” IngramSpark 11/9/17; “Why You ARE the Creative Type,” Goodreads 11/1/17; “How a Month of NaNoWriMo Can Lead to a Lifetime of Better Writing,” Writer’s Digest 11-12/16; “Naked (On the Page) and Afraid,” Writer’s Digest 7-8/15; and “Writing Flash Fiction: Telling a Story with What’s Left Out,” Writer’s Digest 5-6/15.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

• Set an audacious goal and a deadline.
• Track your daily progress.
• Connect with others in a creative community.
• Write what you love, not what you should.
• Find and nourish your muse.
• Use writing games and challenges to overcome writer’s block.
• Deal with feedback and rejection.
• Achieve writing mastery.

 

 

 

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Luncheon Information

• Monthly Luncheons are open to the public
• Cost is $15 for members, $20 for nonmembers
• The meeting fee includes speaker,  lunch and beverage
• Cattlemens Restaurant, 12409 Folsom Blvd., Rancho Cordova, CA

The restaurant is located just east of Hazel Ave. at the northeast end of the Nimbus Winery complex along Highway 50. Cattlemens offers CWC a spacious meeting room with free WiFi, quality AV equipment, free off street parking and excellent food.

View Larger Map