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June Speaker – Robert A. Lane

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Workshop Title: Art of Audiobook Narration (and Marketing)

NOTE: This meeting will take place on the 4th Saturday of June, on June 28th.

Narrating an audiobook is more than just grabbing your book and hitting the record button. There are two factors that are key to creating an engaging audiobook – the practical and the intangibles.

In this interactive presentation, participants will not only learn but discover that they CAN narrate their own audiobook. They will also learn the practical steps needed to create an audiobook as well as tools to build confidence in their voice.

We will also talk about ways to market your audiobook before, during and after your audiobook is launched.

Robert’s Bio:

Robert A. Lane is an Audiobook Coach & Producer as well as a Transformational Speaker. After working 30+ years in the entertainment industry, Robert founded Robert Lane Coaching in 2020 as a career and life coach, then expanded his business to help nonfiction authors narrate their own audiobooks by creating the “Your Book Your Voice” audiobook coaching program, getting authors published on Audible, Amazon & Apple Books in six weeks.

You can connect with Robert here:

Website – https://www.robertlanecoaching.com/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/robertlanecoaching/
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@robertlanecoaching
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-a-lane/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/robertlanecoaching
“Lights, Action, YOU!” (Book on Amazon) – https://amzn.to/3Ly833t

Meeting on Saturday, June 28, 2025
Breakfast begins at 8:30 am
The general meeting begins at 9:15 am
Hodel’s at 5917 Knudsen Dr, Bakersfield

Writers of Kern Monthly Meeting and Workshop Fee. Breakfast is included.

The Ready-Set-Go of Open Mic Mondays

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Do you want to become more involved with Writers of Kern and your fellow writers? Want to find a welcoming place to read and share your work?  Beginning Monday, October 5th WOK members are invited to participate in Open Mic Mondays over Zoom.

Open Mics offer a friendly environment of like-minded people for you to share your work with, but you are also welcome to just come and listen to others read.

You may be nervous about reading your work. You may even be thinking, Hey, I’m a writer, not a performer! Daunting or not, public speaking is an important skill for a successful writer. You want to be ready when your award-winning poems and short stories are published or your break-through novel or screenplay is optioned for a film.

So plan ahead for Open Mic Mondays with these steps:

  1. Choose your material. Search your files and find something that:
    • Represents you and your writing well
    • Lends itself to being read aloud
    • Can be read in the allotted time
  2. Take time to prepare your material.
    • Print out your selection. Double space. Use a 14pt. (or larger) font so you can see it easily. Number the pages, but do not staple them together.
    • Read through aloud two or three times. Notice where you stumble, and notice where you want to emphasize or change your inflection. Highlight or use a BOLD font  for those areas before you reprint the page.
    • Check to see if you need to polish anything in your piece.  Do you need to: add or delete a word or two? Rewrite a sentence for clarity?
  3. Rehearse.
    • Read aloud to yourself. Read aloud to your mirror. Read aloud to your pet. Read aloud to another person.
    • Record yourself reading aloud.
    • Check your timing and cut where necessary.
  4. Show up on the first Monday of the month for Open Mic.
    • Be sure to Register for the event each month.
    • The flip side of nervousness is excitement. Feel the nervousness, but transform it into the energy you put into your reading.
    • Be proud of yourself for taking this step in moving your writing career forward.

Writers of Kern is dedicated to assisting writers of all levels in meeting their writing goals, and we’re proud offer Open Mic Mondays for our members.   You can go directly to the Eventbrite site to register by clicking HERE. You must register to attend.

We hope to see you there—as a reader or as part of the welcoming audience.

If you have further questions, contact us by email at [email protected].

Tips for Crafting a Successful Scholarship Application

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Rebecca Langston-George

The Peg Connelly Scholarship was established by Writers of Kern to both honor the late children’s writer Peg Connelly and encourage all childrens writers in Kern County to achieve their goals. Up to two $500 scholarships are awarded annually.

Applications will be accepted March 11-31, 2017.  To apply, writers must submit an application along with either the full text of a picture book OR the first ten pages of a young adult or middle grade manuscript.

Full details can be found here.

What can the money be used for?

Writing conferences, retreats, and classes as well as travel expenses for research are all appropriate ways to use the scholarship money.  Applicants could also use the money for tools such as a computer or books on writing craft.  If finding time to write is a problem, the money could even be spent on childcare.  Basically, anything the applicant feels would help him or her achieve personal writing goals is an acceptable use of the money.  If you need ideas on where to attend workshops, classes or conferences focused on writing and/or writing for children, here are a few options:

What does a successful application look like?

Applicants who express specific goals along with a brief itemized budget show they have given the task careful thought and have an actual plan they want to accomplish. These type of applications are much more likely to be awarded money.

  • Specific:  My goal is to work on infusing my middle grade novel “Joey’s War” with a unique voice, so I plan to attend the Highlights workshop titled “Characters with Voice” August 21-24 in Honesdale, PA.  The workshop costs $425 which includes lodging and food.  A flight from LAX costs $200 for a total cost of $625.  I can cover the additional $125 if I’m awarded the $500 scholarship.
  • Non-Specific:  I plan to go to a writing workshop.

In addition, applicants who demonstrate a knowledge of craft in the way they format their materials stand out as professionals. Manuscripts should follow the industry standard: double-spaced, in a 12 point serif font, with one inch margins and the first line beginning one-third of the way down the first page.  The age category (picture book, chapter book, middle grade, young adult) should be placed in the upper right corner with the word count below it.  Entries should carefully adhere to all guidelines, be free from spelling errors, be written in an active voice and demonstrate the writer is a professional with a lively interest in writing as well as growing as a writer.

This is a great opportunity for local children’s writers.  With a little thought and planning you could be this year’s recipient, and further your writing dreams.

Blogging With Style Tips for Bloggers

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“If you’re going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance.”

Blogging with Style

Blogging is about you.  Are you new to the Writers of Kern A-Z Blog Challenge? Breathe. You will be fine. You have the support of friends and fellow writers. You have plenty to be blogging about. Breathe.  As a past participant in the Blog Challenge and with many years blogging under my belt, let me offer some tips and suggestions that will help you through your next 26 posts.

Find a Theme

One way to approach blogging is to have a theme. Having a theme narrows topics and lends to finding something for the letters K, Q, X, and Z.  And, the whole A-Z thing is just a suggestion anyway.  Don’t worry if you don’t have a topic for every letter.  But, I did find  the alphabet structure was comforting to me.  Having one letter to start with was one less thing to think about.

The first year I participated, my theme was places I’ve been. I looked back at photos and travel journals for inspiration, topics, and words for the page.  “Write what you know” is something every writer hears.  You know where you’ve been and that’s why it is such a good place to start blogging.

The second year motorcycling stories was my theme. I had just decided to sell my beloved motorcycle, and writing the A-Z blog challenge was therapeutic.  Having a motorcycle had been a big part of my life.  And, as you can imagine, there were lots of memories – both good and bad – that went along with that experience.  Blogging helped me deal with the impending loss of my bike and my identity as a biker. When I handed over the keys to Big Red, I’d resolved all issues.

Plan Ahead

So, think about the interests and hobbies and passions you have. Choose your theme and start brainstorming, then you can start blogging. I found an organizational grid helpful in listing possible topics and fleeting ideas. Here’s an example of my grid.

blogging

Still thinking about joining in? It’s never too late. There’s still time to get on board the A-Z Blog Challenge train.

We’re all here to cheer you on, extend a hand if you need one. Have fun and enjoy the writing, the reading, the camaraderie. Breathe. Go! Just Write.

Did I miss anything? Share it in the comments.

Annis CassellsAnnis’s work has been published in local magazines as well as in professional journals and hobbyist publications. She is a contributing author in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for the Young at Heart. Her short story, “The Blessing” appears in the Scarlet Leaf Review, and she has a poem in the Yellow Chair Review anthology. Annis writes and publishes The DayMaker, an inspirational blog..

11 Publication Opportunities for Emerging Writers

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Admit it. The writer life can be a daunting one. We work hard to master story mechanics, sweat over voice and style, and struggle to determine just which writing rules to follow and which to break. After all that, finding a place to actually send our work for publication can feel like an afterthought.

Or worse, sometimes when we don’t know where to send our work, the writing can feel less worth it somehow.

Sure, we’re supposed to love the writing for its own sake. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t all been there anyway.

So here are eleven resources overflowing with publication opportunities for emerging writers. Use this list as the carrot stick that keeps you writing through your most recent work in progress, then find the perfect place from this list to finally hit submit.

Where to Find Publications That Accept Work from New and Unpublished Writers

The Review Review Magazine Database: offers a slew of literary and commercial publications that accept work from new writers. Here you can search publications by format (online or print), response time, and pay range.

The Review Review Classifieds: from the same publication that created the magazine search above, these classifieds save you the search time by listing calls for submissions for publications that are looking for work right now.

Chicken Soup for The Soul: publishes inspirational, true stories from “ordinary people having extraordinary experiences.” What’s great about this publication is the sheer number of titles they publish each year. That’s a lot of opportunities for new writers to get published. Be sure to check out their guidelines first for story themes and what they’re looking for.

Funds for Writers Newsletter: this email newsletter is particularly helpful for writers looking for fellowships, grants, and publication opportunities. With 35,000 subscribers, Funds for Writers must be doing something right.

Paying Flash Fiction Publications: these five paying publications listed on my site are looking for flash fiction only. Flash fiction stories range from 100-2000+ words, which means a great opportunity to get something under submission quickly. Resource lists payment rates, word counts, and deadlines for each publication.

LitReactor’s Publications by Genre: this resource covers more than just genre specific publications like Fantasy, Horror, Scifi, Literary, Mystery, and more. It also lists each publication’s professional ranking and how difficult it is to break in. Most of the publications listed here pride themselves on publishing work from unpublished writers.

Paying Freelance Publications: if you’re looking to publish articles instead of fiction, these 75 publications—listed on The Work at Home Woman—are looking for you. You’ll find a home for everything from blog posts to greeting cards, short stories, recipes, and travel writing.

Local Online and Print Magazines: don’t forget the publications in your own backyard. You’re more likely to know what’s important to the readers in your community when you live there too. If you’re from Bakersfield, these four publications will bring you up to eleven places to submit your writing: Bakersfield Californian letters to the editor, Bakersfield Life, Bakersfield Magazine, and Kern Business Journal. Pro tip: send a quick note through each site’s contact page to ask where to send your pitch ideas.

4 Simple Steps to Your First Publication

If you want to get published, you’ve got to submit your work. There’s no way around it, writer. So apply this easy strategy to ensure your publication success this year.

  1. Take a few minutes to pull all your finished writing, works in progress, story ideas, and articles you’d like to write into one place.
  2. Using the resources listed here, select 5-10 publications that match each one of your works or ideas. Keep this list of potential publications where you’ll see it every day.
  3. Send your work to the first publication on your list right now.
  4. When and if that first publication rejects the work (rejection happens and it’s okay!), send it immediately to the next publication on your list.

Apply this strategy to each of your works, and you’ll be way ahead of most writers. And with this recipe, you won’t be unpublished for long. Good luck!

Did I miss anything? Share it in the comments.

Mandy Wallace, writer & bloggerMandy Wallace is a writing coach and blogger with a bachelor’s in English Lit and a few academic writing awards under her belt. She shares weekly writing tips and interviews with publishing experts on her website for new writers, which clocked over a half million page views last year. Get her weekly writing tips here.