Local Events:
San Francisco Writers Conference, Feb. 16-19, 2012 at the Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill. Event is for both fiction and nonfiction writers, and includes an optional Agent Speed Dating session.
Big Sur Writing Workshop for Children’s through YA, March 2-4, 2012, in Monterey/Seaside, CA.
Left Coast Crime , an annual writers conference specializing in mysteries and thrillers, will be held in Sacramento March 29-April 1 2012
2nd Annual Northern California Storybook & Literature Festival, April 14, 2012, sponsored by the Placer, Roseville, and Sacramento public libraries.
Stories on Stage: monthly short fiction reading series held at the Sacramento Poetry Center (25th St. between Q and R)
Workshops/Classes:
April 7, 2012: Transform your writing and your life through the universal story by Martha Alderson CWC event in Sacramento
March 10, 2012: Get Polished to Get Published by Melanie Bowden. Click for details. CWC event in Sacramento
Writing as a Way of Healing & Self-Expression, starts Feb. 22nd 7-9 PM in Rancho Cordova for six weeks. Free.
CWC-Fremont Area Writers, June 30, 2012 will offer a one day “Agents and Producers Day” workshop in Fremont, CA 10:30 AM-4 PM, $55 for CWC members. CLICK HERE to download Word Doc details. Register by May 1.
Ongoing: Online Lawson’s writer’s academy courses (inexpensive, diverse options)
Whether or not you’re interested in the conference, sign up for San Francisco Writers Conference newsletter here. The newsletter is loaded with event information for California Writers Club branches across northern California. The following events were listed in the SFWC newsletter:
February 16 Writing Intensive MASTER CLASS sponsored by San Francisco Writers University. An in-depth session starts the day before the San Francisco Writers Conference. Katharine Sands will offer her ever-popular session–Pitchcraft! This Master Classes is open to all for just $99. Also on Thursday: Free orientation and mixer for conference attendees. Details and registration coming to the website next week. We will send you details then.
February 16-19 San Francisco Writers Conference at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel. Keynotes by Lisa See, Lolly Winston, Alan Rinzler. Once again…100 presenters, 50+ sessions–and accepting just 300 attendees this year. Seats are going fast! For all the juicy details go to: www.SFWriters.org
SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS UNIVERSITY PRESENTS:
THE 2012 SFWC MASTER WRITING CLASSES
We are pleased to announce the Master Classes are finalized…and ready for online registration. Below are brief descriptions of the full and half day classes taught by SFWC presenters. Click here for more information: http://www.sfwriters.org/pages.cfm?ID=206
Tell your friends. You do not need to attend the San Francisco Writers Conference to take advantage of these great classes!
THURSDAY EVENING MASTER CLASS on 2/16/12: Cost: only $99!
PITCHCRAFT with New York literary agent Katharine Sands
Thursday, February 16, 2012 from 7-9 p.m. at the Mark Hopkins Hotel.
This tutorial is a must for everyone looking for an agent. Katharine Sands, literary agent extraordinaire and editor of the book Making the Perfect Pitch, will teach you how to effectively pitch your book to agents and editors. Learn the components of a pitch, how to deliver it, and how to make pitch opportunities happen. You’ll also create the very pitch you’ll use for your specific book! http://www.sfwriters.org/Details.cfm?ProdID=88&category=0
MONDAY MASTER CLASSES (on President’s Day holiday 2/20/12)
ALL-DAY! SELF-PUBLISHING BOOT CAMP 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (2-hour lunchbreak) Cost: $249
Carla King, Laurie McLean, Joel Friedlander, Brian Felsen & Carol LeVow
Self-publishing is one of the most talked about areas of book publishing today. Let the experts show you every step of the process–how to prepare, publish and promote your work. Last year’s boot camp was sold out, so reserve your space early! (You are on your own for lunch.) http://www.sfwriters.org/Details.cfm?ProdID=89&category=0
MORNING CLASSES (9 a.m.-noon on 2/20/12) Cost: $129 for any of the morning sessions
A1. AUTHOR MARKETING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA: An introduction to online promotion
Social Media Guru Linda Lee will introduce you to social media from Twitter to Facebook to Google+ . Learn how to use one or more of these tools effectively to market yourself and your writing. http://www.sfwriters.org/Details.cfm?ProdID=90&category=0
A2. BEGINNING WRITING TECHNIQUES with NY Times Bestselling Author Robert Dugoni
Bob Dugoni is a master teacher in the art of writing a bestselling novel. This class teaches an introduction to writing techniques and shows writers how to create compelling, deep characters, a plot that works, the basics of grammar, pacing, conflict, and much more. http://www.sfwriters.org/Details.cfm?ProdID=91&category=0
A3. GET PAID TO WRITE YOUR BOOK: How to Write an Irresistible Book Proposal, Sell It Fast for Top Dollar, and Create a Career Out of It; with Literary Agents Michael Larsen and Jody Rein
This class gives you a blueprint for writing the proposal you need to get the best editor, publisher and deal for your book. Learn how to excite agents and editors about your book; give editors what they need the way they need it; and how to sell your book yourself. Have an idea, a proposal, a manuscript, or a self-published book? This class will help you. Bring a sample of your writing and get feedback on it. Larsen is author of the fourth edition of How to Write a Book Proposal. http://www.sfwriters.org/Details.cfm?ProdID=92&category=0
AFTERNOON CLASSES (2-5 p.m. on 2/20/12) Cost: $129 for any of these afternoon sessions
PM-1. BUILD YOUR BLOG AND THEY WILL COME: Step-by-Step Creation of YOUR WordPress Author Blog!
Linda Lee not only teaches you the ins and outs of the most popular free blogging platform on the planet, she will lead you in a hands-on application of your newfound skills to create your very own author blog. You must bring your wifi-enabled laptop because you’ll be creating your blog LIVE! http://www.sfwriters.org/Details.cfm?ProdID=93&category=0
PM-2. ADVANCED WRITING TECHNIQUES with NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Dugoni
Dugoni teaches you how to write a bestselling novel! Bob shares more advanced writing techniques in this afternoon class. It’s perfect for self-published and traditionally-published midlist authors who want to take their writing to bestseller level. http://www.sfwriters.org/Details.cfm?ProdID=94&category=0
PM-3. MEMOIR: Writing a Successful Memoir with author Catherine Friend
In this workshop, author Catherine Friend (Hit By A Farm, Sheepish) and you will talk, laugh and learn how to combine the writing skills you’ve acquired with your life stories. Discover the joy of touching people’s lives with your own. You’ll examine the seemingly chaotic elements of your story. Learn what to include…and leave out! Come with an idea; leave with a plan for a compelling memoir of any kind. http://www.sfwriters.org/Details.cfm?ProdID=95&category=0
February 20 WRITING INTENSIVE classes sponsored by San Francisco Writers University. In-depth sessions follow the San Francisco Writers Conference… with some of the most popular SFWC presenters including Bob Dugoni, Michael Larsen, Linda Lee, Carla King and more. Open to non-conference attendees, too. Details and registration information will be detailed in the next SFWC Newsletter.
March 30 Deadline for 2012 BAIPA Book Awards for books self-published in 2010 and 2011. Entry fee: $25 and you must be (or become) a member of BAIPA–an excellent organization which has monthly meetings in Marin. For details, go to http://www.baipa.org/2012/01/02/2012-baipa-book-awards-contest/
-SFWC PARTNER EVENT-
March 21 The 2012 Notes & Words Essay Contest Deadline Notes & Words is looking for the next great memoirist. We’re calling for short personal essays about the challenges of caring for a child (age 18 or younger), including medical issues (e.g., accident, illness or diagnosis) or emotional crises (e.g., a death, divorce, breakdown) or common parenting dramas (e.g., academic, social, athletic, epicurean). We welcome both humorous and serious essays of up to 800 words. Finalists are determined panelists; then those stories can be viewed online for online voting. There is no cost to enter! This essay contest is part of the annual Notes and Words, a fundraiser for Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland.
The first prize winner will have one-on-one phone consultations with: An editor at Random House/Ballantine, a literary agent at ICM, and the Executive Editor of O Magazine…and introductions to: Michael Chabon, Anne Lamott, John Hodgman, and Kelly Corrigan! Finalists will receive two tickets to Notes & Words performance and after-party on April 28, 2012 at The Fox Theater in Oakland. See www.notesandwords.org for rules and deadlines (later this week).
March 24 (Saturday) 2012 Women’s National Book Association–SF Chapter presents “Meet the Agents/Speed Dating with Agents” Lynn Henriksen chairs; Teresa LeYung-Ryan, Mary E. Knippel and Tanya Egan Gibson will coach registrants on how to pitch. http://wnba-sfchapter.org/
June 9 & 10 Call for Entries! 3rd Annual New Media Film Festival in Los Angeles California. Judges Pixar, Industrial Light & Magic, and The Caucus. Over $25k in prizes. Choose from 17 Categories… All Ages, All Cultures, All Media, and Affordable. Go to www.NewMediaFilmFestival.com and click on submit.
The Writers’ Bridge: for freelance writers. Article ideas, markets, query tracking, and more. First month free.
Capitol City Young Writers, Sacramento/San Francisco-based group for writers ages 10-18
Capitol Crimes, local chapter of Sisters in Crime
International Thriller Writers
Northern California Publishers and Authors
Sacramento Valley Rose, local chapter of Romance Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco chapter (open to both women AND men!)
San Francisco Writers’ University
Smashwords (the original digital publisher)
Createspace (amazon’s self-publisher)
Dan Poynter’s ParaPublishing
Bouchercon (mystery writers)
Left Coast Crime (to be held in Sacramento in March 2012)
San Francisco Writers Conference (all types of writing)
ThrillerFest (thriller writers, both fiction and nonfiction)