A Beautiful Idyllwild Mountain Retreat for Writers for $20.

 Though Idyllwild--LA's favorite mountain retreat for artists--is available for everyone--including this retreat, I realize that this will be my rare post that is primarily for my local (Southern California) readers. Sorry, but it's too good for anyone to pass up. Even those who must travel a bit to get to it.  I will be leading a workshop and would love to see you no matter where you come from!  

Here it is: 

Subject: Sat Sept 30, One Day Writers Retreat in Idyllwild

September 30, 2017: One Day Writers Retreat in Idyllwild

09:45 a.m.-3:45 p.m.

Idyllwild Town Hall Recreation Center

25925 Cedar St, Idyllwild, CA  92549

Only  $20 for non-members of California Writers

SPEAKERS:

Carolyn-Howard Johnson:
Make your Media Kit & Write an Effective Query Letter.

Writers often feel inadequate, even when they receive good reviews and success, so a lack of sales and book reviews feels like slow death for many authors. The antidote, the shot in the arm, is to learn how to make a proper media kit.  A media kit promotes sales because it generates coveted reviews before your book is even off the press, and doubles as a marketing plan. At this retreat, Carolyn-Howard Johnson will make sure you walk away with a custom media kit and a successful query letter, two tools of book promotion to cultivate credible reviews.

Best known as The Frugal Book Promoter, Carolyn Howard-Johnson is also a fiction writer, a poet, and editor. She started writing for the Salt Lake Tribune--"A Great Pulitzer Prize Winning Newspaper." She wrote features for the society page and a column under the name Debra Paige. Later, in New York, she was an editorial assistant at Good Housekeeping Magazine and as a publicist for the great Eleanor Lambert who founded the 10 Best Dressed List. She also worked as a consultant for the Oak Park Press in the Chicago area. Ms Howard-Johnson studied at University of Utah, graduated from USC (University of Southern California) and did postgraduate work in writing at UCLA, Cambridge, Charles University in Prague and Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia. She was an instructor for UCLA Extension Writers' Program for nearly a decade. Find more information at: www.HowToDoItFrugally.com

Jeri Westerson: Ten tips for Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writing. 

This local writer is the author of ten Crispin Guest Medieval Noir novels, a series nominated for 12 national awards from the Agatha to the Shamus. Ms Westerson is getting ready for her next book tour, a debut urban fantasy series, Booke of the Hidden, releasing this Halloween. Westerson will discuss the craft of setting, using her specialty genre of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writing as examples.

Jeri was featured on two local NPR shows, ‘My Awesome Empire” and KVCR-Arts. She has served as president of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, as vice president for the Los Angeles Chapter of Sisters in Crime, and twice president of the Orange County Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She frequently guest lectures on medieval history at local colleges and museums, and lives in southern California with her home-brewing husband, a complacent desert tortoise, and 40,000 bees. See more about Jeri at JeriWesterson.com or visit BOOKEoftheHIDDEN.com for exclusive content about her new series and a fabulous “booke” trailer.

Jodi Rizzotto: 

First Page Critique

Your first page is your first chance to impress your reader or agent. During the Fall Writing Retreat, we will look at some examples of first pages as a group. Bring 12 copies of the first page of your work-in-progress so that other members can give you helpful comments. 

RSVP Yes email (so we can plan): Jodi Rizzotto jrizzotto@rusd.k12.ca.us by 9/23/17

Free for IECWC members, $10 CWC branch members, $20 nonmembers (morning coffee and snacks, lunch included).  Pay ahead on Paypal at iecaliforniawritersclub@gmail.com.  Or pay at the door by check or cash only.

MORE ABOUT THE CLUB

JK Conibear, is President of California Writers Club, Inland Empire Branch. Their meeting every 4th Saturday is at the Ovitt Family Library, Ontario, California,10 am to noon

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER



Howard-Johnson is the author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the award-winning second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter (where she talks more about choosing and the advantages of winning contests and how to use those honors)  and The Frugal Editor. Her latest is in the series is  How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. Learn more on her Amazon profile page, http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers is one of her booklets--perfect for inexpensive gift giving--and, another booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal helps writers who want to be traditionally published. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it will help them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. In addition to this blog, she helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs at all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com )