California Writers Club, Sacramento Branch

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Andrea Fleck-Nisbet: How to Successfully Publish Your Own Books

CWC-Sacramento Meeting

Saturday, June 21st, from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm at

The Spaghetti Factory, 1625 Watt Avenue, Sacramento


Andrea Fleck-Nisbet
Andrea Fleck-Nisbet

Detailed information for Andrea’s presentation is coming soon

What you will learn from Heather

Plus: Micro-Workshop Query Work with Michael Larsen

Book online here

Filed Under: LuncheonTagged With: california writers club, cwc sacramento, sacramento writers

Heather Lazare: Editor and Publishing Consultant

CWC-Sacramento Meeting

Saturday, May 17th, from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm at

The Unitarian Church, 2425 Sierra Blvd, Room 7/8 (Park in the Rear) Sacramento


Heather Lazare
Heather Lazare

Former Big Five editor Heather Lazare pulls back the curtain on what really happens when you book goes out on submission to a publisher. When your literary agent submits your proposal or manuscript, there are dozens of decisions made before an editor is allowed to make an offer—what are those and who’s involved? We’ll talk about all of this and more, and leave plenty of time for questions!

What you will learn from Heather

  • What “comp titles” are and what role they play on the financial side of publishing.
  • What to ask when you get a chance to meet with an editor.
  • What does a publisher mean by “platform” and what role it plays in the acquisition process.
  • Don’t quit your day job—even if you get a six-figure book deal.
  • What is an advance and how does an author earn out their advance.

Heather Lazare is a developmental editor and publishing consultant who specializes in editing adult fiction. She worked at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency and both Random House and Simon & Schuster before starting her own business in 2013. She teaches courses on publishing for Stanford Continuing Studies and is the director and founder of the Northern California Writers’ Retreat. Visit her online at heatherlazare.com and norcalwritersretreat.com.

Plus: Micro-Workshop Query Work with Michael Larsen

We have to pay for this room, so we have to charge an admission fee of $15. You can pay on the day or get your ticket below.

Book online here

Filed Under: LuncheonTagged With: california writers club, cwc sacramento, sacramento writers

Michael Barrington: The Art of the Short Story and its Use as a Marketing Tool

CWC-Sacramento Meeting

Saturday, April 19th, from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm at

The Unitarian Church, 2425 Sierra Blvd, Room 7/8 (Park in the Rear) Sacramento


A short story versus the novel or novelette. What’s involved? How to get published in a magazine or journal. The SS as a major marketing tool.

Michael Barrington
Michael Barrington

What you will learn from Michael

  • How to write a short story: the Art
  • How short is short? The Craft.
  • Genres: Does it matter?
  • Who decides if it is ready for publication?
  • Finding a publisher?
  • Driving readers to your website.

Michael Barrington,  MA., M.Ed., Ph.D., is from England, has a Diploma in Marketing from Harvard, written twelve books, published two collections and more than 60 short stories in the US, UK and Europe. He has taught workshops on the craft of the Short Story, and Marketing. He is an assistant editor for The Brussels Review, and blogs on his website www.mbwriter.net. He is the VP of CWC Mt Diablo.

Plus: Micro-Workshop “Your Author Platform” by Christina Brabham and Query Work with Michael Larsen

Members who sign up by Friday, April 18, will receive a copy of Agent Michael Larsen’s Superpower 2. Based on this article, please come ready to share literary and publishing goals. These goals will determine how and whether a letter and a proposal are needed.

We have to pay for this room, so we have to charge an admission fee of $15. You can pay on the day or get your ticket below.

Book online here

Filed Under: LuncheonTagged With: california writers club, cwc sacramento, sacramento writers

Peter Mountford: A Short Story as a Torrid Love Affair

CWC-Sacramento Meeting

Saturday, March 15th, from 12:00 pm to 2:30 pm at

The Spaghetti Factory, 1625 Watt Ave, Sacramento, CA 95864 Open to the Public!

Writing Coach and MFA faculty member, Sierra Nevada College


Imprudent, impulsive, poorly planned, wildly exciting—writing a short story is, as Lorrie Moore once pointed out, like having a brief intense love affair. Whereas a novel is a marriage. Marriages are fine and well, but if you’re writing and reading for fun, you might want to play the field a bit—fall in and out of love a few times, maybe get your heart broken without destroying your life. In this talk, we’ll focus on the craft (and process) considerations specific to this most exhilarating of literary forms.

Peter Mountford
Peter Mountford

A streetcar named desire?

What you will learn from Peter

  • Short stories require play and improvisation. They resist planning.
  • The ingredients and basic approach that ensures the play goes well.
  • Short means move fast – the crucial role of information management.
  • The key craft difference between shorter short stories, and longer short stories.
  • How to get end a short story? The role of theme and a surprisingly early narrative climax.

Popular writing coach and instructor Peter Mountford is the author of the award-winning novels A Young Man’s Guide to Late Capitalism, and The Dismal Science. His work has appeared in the Paris Review, Ploughshares, The Atlantic, New York Times (Modern Love), The Sun, Granta, Guernica, and elsewhere. He teaches at UNR’s low-residency MFA at Lake Tahoe. His collection of stories Detonator, will be out in fall, 2025. Learn more: mountfordwriting.com

Tickets are available here

Tickets are $30 if you buy 3 days before the event. Menu selection must be chosen at time of purchase. The buffet includes salad, bread, ice cream, and coffee. Walk-ins and late purchases will be $35.

Filed Under: LuncheonTagged With: california writers club, cwc sacramento, sacramento writers

Ted Witt: The Seven Disciplines of the Credible Writer

CWC-Sacramento Meeting

Saturday, February 15th, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm at

Arden Dimick Library, 891 Watt Ave, Sacramento, CA 95821 Open to the Public!

Publisher, Pretty Road Companies, LLC


Ted Witt is the publisher behind Pretty Road Press, an independent publishing company in Folsom, California, where he specializes in content syndication and trade books. He is a previous vice president of CWC’s Sacramento Writers, where he emphasizes that marketing skills are as important for today’s authors as writing skills.

He is a former newspaper reporter from San Diego County and California’s Central Coast. He later transitioned to public relations and lobbying in the education arena in Sacramento before taking jobs as the executive director of the California Association of School Business Officials and then as the vice president of a private Bay Area firm specializing in software and consulting for schools.

He is the author of the business book, No One Ever Told Me That. His bylines top scores of newspaper, magazine, and website articles. Read some of his writing and publishing tips at one of his Pretty Road Press websites.

Ted Witt
Ted Witt

Join on Zoom

Meeting ID: 831 1220 0475

Passcode: 568644

Filed Under: LuncheonTagged With: california writers club, cwc sacramento, sacramento writers

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