PastEvent17 Archives - Independent Writers of Southern California

Learn about the New Print on Demand Publishing Service from Amazon Kindle Direct!

Seminar
Thursday, April 20, 2017

For April we present a special event: a phone-in seminar in conjunction with The Publishers Association of Los Angeles (PALA) — on a THURSDAY EVENING rather than a Saturday morning. We save you a trip to Culver City, enabling you to learn with us from the comfort of your own home — and for a special lower price!

Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is rolling out a new program that offers self-publishers and indie authors the opportunity to publish print on demand paperbacks through Kindle, along with publishing their eBooks.

In this telephone seminar, Daniel Slater, Principal, Independent Publishing, Kindle Global Content, will present an overview of what making your POD paperback available from KDP entails, including publishing specifics, economics. etc.

Presented by: Daniel Slater, Principal, Independent Publishing, Kindle Global Content

[To read more, click the title!]

Writing Culture

Panel
Monday, March 27, 2017

Here’s a question that perplexes every writer, no matter their genre:
What Do Critics Want?

How does a book writer, novelist, screenwriter, or filmmaker get noticed by professional critics and bloggers – especially if the author is published by a small press, or is self-published, or is an “indie” filmmaker?

If a screenwriter or book author is lucky enough to make a film deal, there are further questions. With hundreds of film festivals around the globe and hundreds of channels of content on TV (let alone the internet), what determines whether a TV show or movie is one of the best – or one of the rest?

And we’ll throw in another angle: writing criticism yourself.

Justin Chang

Tim Cogshell

Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn

Debra Levine

Moderator:
TELLY DAVIDSON

[To read more, click the title!]

Nonfiction Writing Seminar

Seminar
Saturday, March 18, 2017

This month we’re diverging from our usual one-person seminar and hosting an intimate panel of sorts for our seminar.

Our experts will cover many aspects of writing non-fiction prose including…

Presented by: Marc Weingarten and Kelly Carlin with Greg Miller

[To read more, click the title!]

Science Fiction and Fantasy: Writing the Future and Alternate Realities

Panel
Monday, February 27, 2017

Award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors discuss science fiction and fantasy writing.

Topics covered on this panel for writers include:
worldbuilding and constructing alternate realities
genre bias in publishing
the explosion of Young Adult fiction
women and diversity in speculative fiction
writing dystopian books in the age of Trumpism
how to translate books into film and TV

The panel will also cover practical tips for writing speculative fiction and an insider’s perspective on the state of the publishing industry, especially as it pertains to Science Fiction and Fantasy (SFF) writing.

Moderator: Jennifer Brody
Tobie Easton
Elizabeth Briggs
Romina Russell
Nicole Maggi

[To read more, click the title!]

Rewriting your writing

Seminar
Saturday, February 25, 2017

Finishing a draft of a book or script is an awesome accomplishment – but we all know that at least one more set of revisions will certainly follow, because you probably won’t get it totally right on the first or second draft.

Assessment of a draft and deciding what to emphasize or cut in the next draft is a very delicate stage of the process.

Now you’re not just invested in the project, you’re immersed in it.

This seminar will cover methods and principles that you can apply to books, scripts, memoir, personal essays, speeches, storytelling, etc.

Presented by: Greg Miller and Ina Hillebrandt

[To read more, click the title!]

Method Writing: An Organic Approach to Writing

Seminar
Saturday, January 21, 2017

Presented by: Jack and Josh Grapes

“Method Writing” is an organic approach to writing, much as method acting is an organic approach to acting, stressing inner process and deep voice. “Method Writing” consists of various concepts that take the writer through techniques designed to make the writing more compelling and more effective, publishable and productive.

Back by popular demand, Jack Grapes will present this overview of the writer’s creative process, focusing on his book “Method Writing,” a technique he’s developed and used in his writing workshops over the last 35 years.

Jack will discuss the nature of the creative process, and how that applies to “Method Writing.” So bring something to write on: paper and pen, parchment and quill, stone and chisel — whatever works.

[To read more, click the title!]

IWOSC Reads Its Own – January 2017

Twice a year, a dozen or so members get together at a local book store and regal fellow writers and the public with some of their writing.

Readers this time were:
Christy Wilhelm
Stefanie Stolinsky
Herbie J Pilato
Chuck N. Baker
Bert Wouters
Janiss Garza
Jim Caccavo
G. L. Helm
Wanda Maureen Miller
Pamela Tartaglio
Sue Zeidler
Vibiana Aparicio-Chamberlin
Lisa Verlo
Ginger Pennington
Ruth Frechman