Seminar
Saturday, May 16, 2015
There’s an oft-told story that Michelangelo, when asked how he could possibly create a statue as beautiful as David from a block of marble, answered, “I simply chip away everything that’s not David.”
As writers, we don’t start with a block of marble. If we want to get at the beautiful work of art, what do we do?
As our presenter, Deborah Edler Brown, will explain, we have to “write” the marble, then chip away at it.
[To read more, click the title!]
Annual Agents Panel
Monday, April 27, 2015
In a fast-changing marketplace, it’s more important than ever to have an advocate to fight for you when going the route of traditional publishing. Our annual Agent’s program this April 27 will present a panel of stellar Southern California agents who will provide a look at their world today. Topics we’ll be covering (and there will be time for Q&A from the audience) will include:
Do’s and Don’ts — how to get an agent’s attention in a good way, what agents are especially on the lookout for (and what they DON’T want to see) in cover/query letters and proposals.
How to make your cover, query, or proposal irresistible, and how to match yourself with the right agent for your “brand” and interests as a writer.
[To read more, click the title!]
Seminar
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Nearly all nonfiction books are sold with a proposal that enlists the aid of a literary agent in convincing an acquisitions editor at a publishing entity to advance funds to a writer with an idea.
Bring paper and pen (or a laptop or iPad) and your best idea for a nonfiction* book, and learn how to write irresistible query letters and book proposals. Marvin J. Wolf, author of a dozen nonfiction books, as well as a novel and several photography books, will take you through the seven steps to a successful book.
*Except for a handful of superstars, selling a novel or a screenplay requires that the writer create a brilliant first draft of the work. Nevertheless, novelists and screenwriters will find this workshop valuable.
[To read more, click the title!]
Panel
Monday, March 30, 2015
Looking for clues on how to get started writing mysteries? Have a who-dun-it in the trunk eager to escape? IWOSC’s March panel assembles a cadre (i.e., a core group of trained personnel able to assume control and to train others) of mystery writers, and a mystery reader-moderator who couldn’t solve a crime if his life depended on it, even though he read “The Hardy Boys Detective Handbook” and mixed his own fingerprint powder with chemicals from his Gilbert Chemistry Set.
Topics for discussion:
[To read more, click the title!]
Seminar
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Reading your work aloud is a powerful marketing tool for the writer, if done right. If you lack performance skills, however, a great piece of writing can sound like sour mud. Many writers are reclusive, but sometimes you just have to get out there and present your work by reading to an audience. Some people are inherently gifted in this discipline, but most of us need the simple tips, tricks, and pointers that are offered in this workshop — which include microphone technique, dealing with stage fright, vocal strength, and communicating the emotional meaning of language. We will aim to give individual time to each student.
In keeping with this year’s theme of exploring the writing process, this seminar will tell you what to expect and how to make it happen.
[To read more, click the title!]
Seminar
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Everyone takes pictures these days, with cellphones, tablets, and cameras of all sizes and capabilities. But are they pictures or snapshots? If you hope to illustrate your story with photos, or sell photos from your travels, the three simple principles of professional photography that you will learn during Erika Fabian’s presentation will help you to do so. Based on years of worldwide assignments using the techniques of National Geographic photography, Erika Fabian will show and tell…
[To read more, click the title!]
IWOSC Reads Its Own
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Guests and members came to hear some of IWOSC’s talented member writers as they read excerpts from their work. Published, not yet published, in progress…
The writing was varied — poetry, fiction, memoir, nonfiction.
Location: Vroman’s Bookstore
[To read more, click the title!]
Seminar
Saturday, January 17, 2015
In this short, interactive program, Jasmine Powers, multimedia marketing expert, will teach how to:
Set up or optimize your Twitter account
Build strategic relationships on Twitter
Define a Twitter strategy
Connect with potential clients and friends with shared interests.
[To read more, click the title!]
Panel
Monday, January 26, 2015
Contracts! Intellectual Property! Collaborations! (Oh my!) As that past California attorney Richard Nixon might have said, “What do writers need to know — and when do they need to know it?” How can we avoid the pitfalls of intellectual property theft, frivolous libel and plagiarism lawsuits, scam literary agents, too-good-to-be-true offers, contract loopholes, and avoid being cheated out of OUR money when we write a book, screenplay/play, or TV format? What are some of the biggest stumbling blocks that writers fall over — in both traditional and agented mainstream publishing, and in self-publishing and small-press publishing? And what new traps are out there in cyberspace and online writing that we need to be aware of?
These questions — and MANY more — will be answered by a small group of top LA and Orange County area experts, who bring decades of experience in their fields to our stage…
[To read more, click the title!]
Donation to Sojourn
The Pam Leven Book Nook
at Sojourn Services For Battered Women And Their Children.
This little library is room where Sojourn clients can select from donated books including many self-help and domestic violence books.
As a tribute to our longtime treasurer, Pam Leven, a supporter of battered women’s shelters, IWOSC donated $2,500 to Sojourn Services For Battered Women And Their Children. Sojourn is a domestic violence program within Santa Monica’s OPCC (Ocean Park Community Center).
We lost Pam when she died from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident December 2013. We love that Pam is now honored by a spot in which women in need can be comfortable as they read and empower themselves.
[To read more, click the title!]
Seminar
Saturday, November 22, 2014
The self-publishing model has changed a great deal over the last three years, creating a wonderful open door for writers to see their name on a published book.
Unfortunately, most aspiring authors make detrimental mistakes in bringing their books to fruition and publishing them, ultimately diminishing—rather than solidifying—their credibility.
Stacey Aaronson will not only share the missteps most people make when embarking on self-publishing so that you can avoid them, but she will impart the essentials you must know to become a self-published author with excellence and marketability, such as…
[To read more, click the title!]
Panel
Monday, October 27, 2014
Social Networking becomes both easier and more difficult all the time. As soon as you get the hang of it, the rules change. But we are not always privy to the subtle changes that may not be well-publicized. Some changes are obvious, and even then, the way to implement these new rules may not be user-friendly. Algorithms and layout can affect all aspects of the experience.
[To read more, click the title!]
Seminar
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Brand: A unique and identifiable symbol, association, name or trademark which serves to differentiate competing products or services. Both a physical and emotional trigger to create a relationship between consumers and the product or service. A simple way to recall it is to consider a brand as a promise or an expectation.
Personal branding is the most important thing that you can do for your career.
This seminar will discuss Personal Branding and why it is important for writers. Tiffany will discuss Branding in terms of…
[To read more, click the title!]
IWOSC Reads Its Own
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Twice a year IWOSC holds a special FREE event — “IWOSC Reads Its Own” — a spellbinding afternoon of eclectic, eccentric, and exemplary works — from poems to true stories to hilarious monologues and beyond, read aloud by distinguished IWOSC scribes.
Thirteen of IWOSC’s talented member writers will read short excerpts from their work.
Their selections may be published, unpublished, or works in progress. We’ll be regaled with their wit, have our emotions stirred, or be plunged into deep thought, at Barnes & Noble in the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade.
FREE!
Everyone is invited!
[To read more, click the title!]
Discussion
Monday, September 29, 2014
“All my life I’ve been a performer – an actress, a singer, a dancer, even a talk show host – but never in the wildest dreams of my first 50 years did I ever imagine I would write something that other people would read. I still can’t quite get over it.”
So writes ADRIENNE BARBEAU on her website, ABarbeau.com. Best known as Bea Arthur’s daughter, Carol, in Norman Lear’s TV series “Maude,” starring in the John Carpenter films “The Fog” and “Escape from New York,” Wes Craven’s “Swamp Thing,” and her creation of Rizzo in the original Broadway production of “Grease,” she has created a versatile career encompassing diverse facets of entertainment and has found success and acclaim as the author of three books.
She has become a best-selling author, a recording artist, and the star of numerous features, films for television, concert performances, musicals and plays. She’s even been a radio show book reviewer and narrates audio books. She’s also written books.
Join us for a lively and unforgettable evening with this multi-talented actress and author.
[To read more, click the title!]
Seminar
Saturday, September 20, 2014
The first ten pages of a creative nonfiction book can make or break you as a writer. You have to establish your story, determine your tone, introduce your core characters, develop the drama and major conflict, and hint at a narrative arc and main themes.
Sound like a tall order? It is and there’s a reason for that…
[To read more, click the title!]
IWOSC Reads Its Own
Sunday, August 3, 2014
On August 3rd we were regaled with wit, had our emotions stirred, and plunged into deep thought, at the beautiful independent bookstore, Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, California.
[To read more, click the title!]
Panel
Monday, July 28, 2014
Many of us have short stories or novels either inside us, in the works, or already published. The world of fiction can be confusing with all of the needed time, artistic, and mechanical decisions.
We have assembled a panel of veterans who have successfully navigated the fiction wars. They will share the ups, downs, secrets, and machinations of writing and selling fiction.
What makes good fiction? How do you create meaningful characters and situations? How do you create fiction out of nonfiction and protecting yourself from real people recognizing themselves. How do you keep track of it all?
We will discuss…
[To read more, click the title!]
Seminar
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Stacie Chaiken’s What’s the Story? workshop is for artists who are wrestling with personal (not necessarily autobiographical) story, for any genre.
It’s not about “what happened”; it’s about what you want to say, and why
What’s the Story? is an exercise in empathy, an innovative group-process approach to selecting into the morass of information that is our lives.
Please bring…
[To read more, click the title!]
Panel
Monday, June 30, 2014
Your writing will not sell itself. No marketing, no nothing, nada, zilch. Regardless of the enormous competition, there are numerous, often changing marketing opportunities, if you are savvy, creative, and energetic.
You need to know how….
[To read more, click the title!]
Seminar
Saturday, June 28, 2014
How do you write the story you want to tell and capture your audience’s heart? Regardless of genre or format, to tell an effective story you must first sort through all the ideas you’ve been toying with—organize them, whip them into shape, and turn them into great writing.
In “The Writer’s Compass” Seminar you will learn how to do just that.
[To read more, click the title!]
Panel
Monday, May 19, 2014
There was a poet from Los Angeles
Whose limericks never would scangeles.
When asked just why so
He replied, “I really don’t know –
“Maybe it’s because I always try to cram as many syllables into the last line as I possibly cangeles.”
Well, poets do take license.
Our panel of established and credentialed poets will discuss the poetic form as they use it, their
marketing ideas, and the aesthetic and public opportunities for poets.
Impressive energy is employed as a poem is created, and a similar level of energy and creativity is required to really get the poem seen and marketed.
Our panelists have been through it all, and have won many of the battles in a field that has been described as a minefield.
[To read more, click the title!]
Seminar
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Pitch quickly and avoid producer tune-out. Returning presenter Pilar Alessandra offers written templates that help writers define the key elements of their screenplay or television series. Writers learn to pitch their ideas in a brief, concise and entertaining manner that emphasizes the hook and eliminates “writer-babble.”
[To read more, click the title!]
Outside event
Saturday, May 3, 2014
More than 90 independent bookstores across California will celebrate books, readers and indie bookselling.
There will be famous authors and books you cannot get on any other day, in any other place.
There will be reads, and prizes, and things to eat and drink.
IWSOC reminds you that in So Cal you’re welcome at Vroman’s. The writers of IWOSC always enjoy their visits to Vroman’s when it hosts our writers as well as when they come in on any day.
[To read more, click the title!]
Panel
Monday, April 28, 2014
In a fast-changing marketplace, it’s more important than ever to have an advocate to fight for you when going the route of traditional publishing.
This annual program again presents writers with a panel of stellar Southern California agents who will provide a look at their world today.
We’ll cover what you need to know to find the right representative, how to get their attention, “do’s and don’ts,” what kind of feedback you can expect to receive, and the steps you should take to create the strongest and longest-lasting relationships with writers and editors — as well as touch on what the future of the author/agent relationship will be in our new era of publishing, film/cable, and technology.
We will also have a top Hollywood motion picture and TV agent who specializes in working with newer writers, for those who are pursuing screenwriting rather than (or in addition to) book writing. And we’ll be examining the E-book factor, transitioning from self-publishing to traditional publishing, book-to-film deals, and more. Come join us!
[To read more, click the title!]
