Spring Writing Conference

Spring Writers Conference 2016

You’ve heard about it through email. We’ve talked about it at meetings.  You’ve seen it on Facebook.  Have you signed up for the Writers of Kern Spring Writers Conference?  The Spring Writers Conference brings four prominent people in the writing and publishing field together in Bakersfield to teach creatives how to become better writers.  Their focus is to help you get published.

This year we have expanded to the Liberty Hall at Hodel’s on Knudsen Dr.  The event is Saturday March 12th, from 8 am until 4 PM.  Included with your registration is a continental breakfast, Hodel’s famous buffet lunch, and light snacks.  There will be local authors and other vendor spaces available.  This IS THE writers event of the year.

This years invited guests are:

• Edgar Award-winning and New York Times best-selling  author Anne Perry is best known for her Thomas Pitt and William Monk novels.  She is a prolific writer to say the least.  She has sold over 27 million copies and every book she has written is still in print.  Anne will show you how to “Put Your Heart on the Page” and will participate in a Q & A session with Victoria Zackheim.
• Victoria Zackheim is an author, playwright and UCLA instructor of writing.  She has published anthologies and works with Anne at many writing workshops.  Victoria will help you take that kernel of an idea, develop it, and get it published.
• Matthew Woodman is a poet and CSUB professor.  Matthew will be talking about “Letting The Voice Lead”.  His poems have appeared in recent issues of Unsplendid, Jab, Empty Mirror, Gris-Gris, Cactus Heart, and The Brasilia Review. Matthew has been teaching since 2000.
• Bakersfield Californian columnist and investigative reporter, Lois Henry studied journalism at Fresno State and has worked for the Californian since 1990.  Her articles tackle the tough issues and she’s not afraid to speak her mind.  She’ll show you ways “Write Like You Mean It”.

Register for the SPRING WRITERS CONFERENCE NOW!

Anne Perry and Victoria Zackheim Help You Become a Better Writer

The Writers of Kern Spring Conference is right around the corner.  On Saturday, March 12th at Hodel’s Liberty Hall you will get to hear Edgar Award winner and novelist Anne Perry.  Anne has sold over 27 million copies of her books and it’s a good bet she knows a little about writing.

Victoria Zackheim teaches writing at UCLA.  She also is a novelist and playwright.  One of her favorite topics to teach is the Acorn Class.  “We’ve all been struck by that acorn-that nut of an idea- but what to do with it?” says Victoria.  She helps the writer explore how one little idea…and acorn of an idea…can be nurtured and developed into many media possibilities:  short story or poem, feature film or documentary, essay, memoir, novel, theater play.

At the Writers of Kern Spring Conference you will not only get to hear these two excellent speakers, but poet and CSUB professor Matthew Woodman and Lois Henry, columnist for the Bakersfield Californian.  There is still time to register visit the Spring Conference Page.  We’ll see you at the conference!

Anne Perry and Victoria Zackheim are also presenting a workshop along with Barbara Abercrombie at the Ebell Club in Los Angeles.  The Ebell Club is an educational and philanthropic organization founded by women in 1894.  The Ebell Clubhouse is a wonderful venue to see and learn from theses very knowledgeable writers.  To register for this All Day Writing Workshop go to Ebell Events Page.

We were able to catch up with Anne Perry and Victoria Zackheim to talk about theirupcoming writers’ workshops in Southern California.  If you want to take your writing to the next level, these are the people from which to learn.  Check out the video with Anne Perry and Victoria Zackheim below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPGfhXxXZ9A]

$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.