$20 members — $30 non-members
Clarion Hotel
3540 Rosedale Hwy. (Hwy. 58)
Bakersfield, CA 93308
8:00 – 8:30 Meet & Greet with continental breakfast
8:30 – 9:00 Welcome, Writers of Kern President, Dana Martin
Book sales provided by Book Hounds, hourly door prizes, Q&A with speakers
9:00 – 9:45 – CAROL SANDERS
A Writer’s Journey: In this session, Sanders will discuss the requirements of the first chapter of a novel, then proceed with a verbal tour of her journey as a creative writer. Highlights of this tour include a peek into a writer’s birthing chamber, a place of both pain and delight. Discussion will include the traits necessary for a creative writer, the helps and hindrances for writing, and the roller coaster of publishing.
Carol Sanders is a retired high school English teacher. After 30 years in the classroom, Sanders moved to Oregon and wrote Spy on Clinton Street, published in 2013 by dMon Publishing, Dallas, Texas, which followed her first book, the already-published novel Selene, retitled One Last Kiss, published by Zebra Press.
10:00 – 10:45 – ESTER SHIFREN
How to Self-Publish Successfully: Attendees will learn how to build a platform prior to self-publishing and the importance of social media as it relates to building your platform on the road to publication. Shifren will explain how to develop a theme to get speaking engagements and how to get noticed by subscribing to, and regularly commenting on, excellent blogging sites. She will also break down publishing using Createspace and Kindle (KDP) and other self-publishing engines.
Ester Shifren is a published author, artist, musician, and dynamic international speaker. In 2005, in England, she was featured in the BBC1 program “We’ll Meet Again,” and was a guest lecturer for several days at the Imperial War Museum. Ester’s book Hiding in a Cave of Trunks details all facets of Shanghai’s colorful multi-ethnic population and relates the saga of her family’s century-long existence in China.
11:00 – 11:45 – NINA AMIR
How to Blog a Book: Rather than just blogging and repurposing your posts into a book, or booking your blog, learn how to write, publish, and promote a book on the Internet using blog technology. Blogging a book is the easiest and quickest—and most efficient—way to write a book and promote it at the same time. If you can write, you can blog. That means you can blog your way to creating a successful book—one that attracts readers and publishers.
Nina Amir has 35 years of experience in the publishing field, earned a BA in magazine journalism from Syracuse University, and has edited or written for more than 46 publications on a full-time or freelance basis. She is the author of How to Blog a Book and The Author Training Manual, is a successful book editor, and speaks widely to inspire people to create books that positively impact others.
11:45 – 12:30 Q&A, discussion, book signings, books sales, closing