Writers, if you’ve often thought about attending a workshop out of town but were dissuaded by the price of gas or the expensive conference fees, the Writers of Kern is pleased to announce their annual Bakersfield Writers Workshop happening this Saturday at the Clarion Hotel.
The workshop consists of a continental breakfast, three industry speakers, and access to local published writers during a social meet and greet and Q & A session. Each paid admission also receives one opportunity to win a Livescribe Pulse smartpen.
If you’ve thought about writing your own memoirs but didn’t know where to begin, here’s your chance to learn how to “mine your life” for stories to discover the gold for your family and friends. Annis Cassells, who teaches memoir writing for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute through CSUB and independently conducts writing classes for senior adults in Coos Bay, Oregon, will be the first of three speakers and offer a presentation and writing exercises designed to give memoir and fiction writers the tools to get started.
For poets, local product Nancy Edwards, PhD, will conduct the session, “Entering the realm of current poetry” to focus on accessible resources, being published and avoiding rejection. Edwards will explain how to find your own poetic voice and offer an enjoyable practice exercise for the group. Edwards is a Professor of English Emeritus from Bakersfield College, where she taught creative writing, research, and composition. She has published poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and academic essays in small literary and education journals.
Jaguar Bennett, publicity director of independent publisher Linden Publishing, will offer a session entitled, “Cutting Though the Noise: Book Publicity in a Saturated Market.” Getting your book published is easy—selling it is tough. Writers today face an oversaturated book market in which more books are published than ever before, but book sales are flat or shrinking. How can a writer cut through the noise and get his or her book noticed by the reading public? And how can you do it without a spending a fortune? Bennett will discuss both the concepts and specific steps of building an author’s publicity platform.
Admission to the conference is $35 ($25 for current members), and registration is at 8:00 a.m. Workshop attendees should bring writing materials.
The Writers of Kern is a branch of the California Writers Club that offers resources, education, and social functions for writers of all experience levels. Writers of Kern conducts monthly meetings in Bakersfield and weekly critique groups (in person and online) for all genres. New writers and guests are always welcome.
Info. box:
Bakersfield Writers Workshop
$35 non-members, $25 members
Registration, breakfast: 8:00 Workshop: 8:30 – 12:30
Clarion Hotel, 3540 Rosedale Hwy.
For more info., email: WritersOfKern@gmail.com