Free Monthly meeting, 1-hour Zoom presentation
(includes Q&A) 

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Social time: 12:30 – 1:00 p.m.

Presentation 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

with

J. Scott Coatsworth

Award-Winning Sci-Fi Novelist

Both sci-fi/fantasy and queer characters involve stepping into the unknown. Take a journey through the undiscovered country with me! Learn:

• How to write LGBTQ+ characters without appropriating queer culture.
• How to avoid some of the worst tropes about queer characters.
• How to find LGBTQ+ Beta Readers.
• Self-Publishing Tips and Tricks.
• Answers to your questions about writing sci fi and fantasy.

Scott lives with his husband Mark in East Sac. He started reading fantasy and sci-fi at nine, but wondered where all the gay people were. A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Liminal Fiction with Mark, and is a full member of SFWA.

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Transforming True Stories Into Art

Free Monthly meeting, 1-hour Zoom presentation
(includes Q&A) 

Saturday, May 15, 2021

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

with

David Hagerty

Novelist and Educator

Whether you’re a cop or a teacher, you probably have some experience you think will make a good story. Join us to learn how to:

• Change anecdotes into art.
• Use stories from the news as inspiration.
• Learn what to leave in and what to leave out.
• Find the angle on a story that is uniquely yours.
• Use your imagination.

David Hagerty wrote the Duncan Cochrane mystery series, which chronicles crime and dirty politics in Chicago. Real events inspired all four novels, including the murder of a politician’s daughter, a series of sniper killings in the city’s most notorious housing project, the Tylenol poisonings, and the false convictions of ten men on Illinois’ death row.

https://davidhagerty.net

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Get Known Everywhere!

Free Monthly meeting, 1-hour Zoom presentation
(includes Q&A) 

Saturday, April 17, 2021

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

with

Jill Lublin

Best Selling Author, Publicity Strategist and Consultant

Learn how to use a book to leverage expertise and generate revenue, by using the media to “Get Known Everywhere.”

1) Understand the real purpose of publicity – to boost your credibility and amplify your visibility. 
2) Uncover your “Oooooo, Ahhhhhh!” factor. Find the Wow! that sets you apart from the crowd. 
3) You are the news! Craft a riveting message that lets others know who you are and what you do.
4) Simplify! Learn how the pros mesmerize the masses by tailoring their message to the level of a five-year-old
5) Pass the all-important “Who cares?” test by showcasing your book and your expertise in a way that commands attention.

Four-time Bestselling Author, Publicity Strategist and Consultant, Jill Lublin, wows audiences worldwide with her entertaining and interactive style. Acknowledged as the go-to person for building success through influence marketing, networking, and publicity, she helps authors to create book deals with agents and publishers as well as obtain foreign rights deals.

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How to Design, Prepare,
and Promote Your Book

Free Monthly meeting, 1-hour Zoom presentation
(includes Q&A) 

Saturday, March 20, 2021

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

with

Andrew Benzie

Designer, Publisher, and Owner
of Andrew Benzie Books

With the availability of the Internet, print-on-demand technology, and electronic book formats, there has never been a better time for authors to publish their work.  Andrew Benzie, publisher, designer, and owner of Andrew Benzie Books, will discuss the steps involved to self-publish your book.

Topics covered will include:

• The importance of cover design and branding
• How to prepare your interior layout
• ISBN numbers, pricing and royalties
• KDP, Amazon, Ingram Spark, ebooks, audiobooks
• Tips and strategies to help market your book

Bay Area native Andrew Benzie has over 30 years experience in
the design industry. He has worked for corporate art
departments, and as a freelance designer for his own company:
Andrew Benzie Creative Design (ABCD). In 2010, he established
his own publishing company — Andrew Benzie Books — to help
authors design, publish, and market their books.
(www.andrewbenziebooks.com)

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The History of African-Americans’ Organized Resistance to Racism and Oppression

Free Monthly meeting, 1-hour Zoom presentation
(includes Q&A) 

Saturday, February 20, 2021

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

with

Dr. Stan Oden

Political Science Professor and Author

The Black community has been severely impacted by historic under-representation as well as by racism and oppression. Historically, African-Americans have used a variety of vehicles to mount an organized resistance against the forces of oppression. Learn how historic Black under-representation in power relationships has impacted the African-American community.

The methods used in organizing ourselves in opposition are relevant in current issues related to Black history. Dr. Oden is a Political Science professor at CSU, Sacramento, and the author of a number of books and essays on the sociopolitical history of under-represented groups in the U.S. and in California.

Dr. Stanley Oden is a native of San Diego, California, where he was raised by very successful parents who, during his formative years, were also community and political activists.  Following his parents’ lead, Oden spent many years living and working as a civil rights activist in the Oakland/Berkeley community in California, where he was also an early member of the Black Panther Party. He is a graduate of U.C. Davis where, in the late 1960s, he was one of only 10 Black students in a student population of over 40,000. He later went on to earn a Ph.D. in sociology from U.C. Santa Cruz. Dr. Oden currently teaches political science at California State University, Sacramento. He is the author of two major works treating issues related to the unfolding roles of minority communities in U.S. history as well as in California history:

California Politics: Shifting Majorities, Emerging Minorities (2005) and Rivers of Struggle and

Resistance: A Social Political History of the Underrepresented in the United States (2010).

Additionally, he is the author of a number of published essays dealing with social justice in America.

Dr. Oden is the proud father of several grown children, who have followed in the Oden family tradition of community service, political activism, and professional excellence.

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