2014 Redwood Writers' Conference

by Sandy Baker

Conference Co-chair and VP, Redwood Writers

Want to write? Want to publish? Find out much of what you need to know at next year’s Redwood Writers’ Conference! Early Bird registration and the prose and poetry contest deadlines are March 15. Sooo, get out your pen and get ready to be published. Save up your moola and give yourself a practical present—the conference! Please note the date: April 26, 2014, again at the SRJC — Santa Rosa Junior College.

Using the 2012 conference evaluations, the speaker team put together 16 sessions that tend toward nuts-and-bolts: how you move along the writer continuum to eventually become published.

We kept the same tracks—Craft, Genre, Publishing, Marketing. The breakout sessions will answer many nitty-gritty and how-to questions: Why do I need ISBNs or have to pay sales tax to the state? How can I make my own book trailer? How do I develop my platform and brand? How can a critique group make me a better writer? Should I self-publish or keep looking for an agent and publisher? How do I write a short play? How can I design an appealing book cover? How do I use social media and why? And how do I write a first page or non-fiction book proposal that will knock the socks off an agent?

Other topics will address point of view; the genres of fantasy, romance, and non-fiction/non-memoir writing; dialog and setting. Our presenters will include familiar faces (e.g., Joel Friedlander) as well as new ones, all experts in their fields. Your challenge will be to select only four among the sessions offered.

John Rothmann, noted radio talk show host, author, and political analyst, will rev up the morning over breakfast to weave our theme into an inspiring keynote presentation. Preeminent poet and critic Dana Gioia will address the lunchtime crowd about “The Joy and Misery of Being a Poet.” He knows both! We’ll also launch our first-ever poetry anthology and make the conference poetry contest awards. Prose contest and the Jack London awards will be announced during snack time at the end of the day.

As you can tell, the conference will be a jam-packed event, filled with practical and provocative presentations. All the conference information is available on our website www.redwoodwriters.org. Browse the bios and blurbs of our speakers, select your sessions, and get in on the $125 Early Bird conference fee for members. Non-members pay $155. (Isn’t that incentive to join?) All fees include parking; passes will be available upon registration.

Anyone interested in writing may attend our conference—members, non-members, students, experienced or novice writers. There is something for every level of writer or wannabe. Please spread the word and help make this fourth Redwood Writers conference a great success!