by Nate Hoffelder | Nov 19, 2024 | Events
Building Readership
with Iris Jamahl Dunkle
3:30 – 5:30 pm
Dominican University in San Rafael
FREE
REGISTER
Remote access also available via live Zoom broadcast. You may select your ticket type at registration.
This event is co-sponsored with Dominican University MFA Creative Writing Program
Iris Jamahl Dunkle will discuss the art of building a platform to grow your audience as an author including everything from developing a weekly Substack, fostering an online presence through social media platforms, scheduling strategic readings and developing community through literary citizenry work to connect with readers, editors, and the literary world.
Iris Jamahl Dunkle is an Emerita Poet Laureate of Sonoma County and a faculty member at UC Davis and she teaches in the Dominican University Low-Res MFA program. She has authored two biographies: Charmian Kittredge London: Trailblazer, Author, Adventurer (University of Oklahoma Press, 2020) and Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb (University of California Press, 2024). Her fourth poetry collection, West : Fire : Archive, was recently published by The Center for Literary Publishing. Dunkle writes a weekly blog called Finding Lost Voices, which revives the voices of women who have been forgotten or misremembered and serves as the Poetry and Translation Director at the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference. She’s on the board of the National Book Critics Circle where she is the Co-VP of Awards.
Registration Details
Registration is required. Event details will be emailed to all registrants. This event is free and open to the public as a service to our community.
Contact mfa@dominican.edu with any questions.
by Nate Hoffelder | Oct 25, 2024 | Events
December 8, 2024
4:00 – 6:00 pm
FREE
Celebrate the year in writing and CWC friendships at our Members-Only Holiday Party!
The party will take place at the home of former CWC Marin President Mike Van Horn (address to be provided to registered attendees only).
- Members may bring one guest
- Potluck! Bring a drink or snack to share
- White Elephant Book Exchange! Bring a book to give away (see rules below)
Register Here: marin@cwcmarin.com
Note: If the link doesn’t work, please simply RSVP to the email address. Space is limited to thirty people so don’t wait!
How the Book Exchange Works
- Bring a book to the party (unwrapped) — it can be your book or a book you love. We’ll lay them out on a table for everyone to admire.
- Everyone will be given a chance to introduce his/her book — thirty seconds — (I chose this book because x. I love this book because y)
- Everyone takes a number from a hat
- The person with #1 goes first. He/she chooses a book.
- Person #2 can either choose a book from the table, or steal the book from #1.
- If stolen, #1 goes back to the table and chooses another book.
- #3 goes next. He/she can choose a book from the table or steal one.
- * No ‘steal-backs’. A book can only be stolen twice. When stealing, you must address your ‘victim’ by name. Nobody ‘has to play’. Feel free to just watch!
by Nate Hoffelder | Sep 22, 2024 | Events
The Heart and Craft of Memoir Writing
with Linda Joy Myers
1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
Mill Valley Public Library
FREE
RESERVE MY SEAT
When you write a memoir, you must bring everything you have to it—your past, your present and the shadow. You put your heart on the page, create a world for the reader, and offer a universal message. In this presentation, we’ll investigate the skills that memoir writers need to create a world that the reader can enter, including theme, powerful scenes, dialogue, and characterization. To write a heartful memoir, you need to dig deep and at the same time, take care of yourself. Some memories are painful. And in the end, what does the reader learn from you that they can apply to their own lives?
Linda Joy Myers, founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers, is the author of award-winning memoirs Don’t Call Me Mother and Song of the Plains, and two books on craft The Power of Memoir, & Journey of Memoir. She co-authored Breaking Ground on Your Memoir and Magic of Memoir & co-teaches Write Your Memoir in Six Months with Brooke Warner. Linda is teaching a new course, The Craft of Writing a Successful Memoir, an ongoing class with Carla King. A memoir coach for 30 years, she helps memoir writers find their voice and get their story into the world. Linda has just ventured into novel writing land, and her first novel, The Forger of Marseille, a WWII historical fiction novel won four awards in historical fiction and is published by She Writes Press. http://namw.org
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by Nate Hoffelder | Aug 28, 2024 | Events
Who’s Afraid of Social Media?
Author Platform Two-Part Workshop
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Mill Valley Public Library
FREE
In the self-propelled world of modern publishing, writers must promote themselves. You need a website, social media followers, and speaking engagements. But where to start? What if you’re technically challenged? How can you create content to promote your unique story? The California Writers Club of Marin partners with Dominican University to answer your questions and provide actionable advice in this two-part workshop.
Pt. 1 Author Platform Primer: After all the work you’ve done, your writing deserves to be seen and heard. Dominican University Professor Claudia Morales and Communications student Elizabeth Rosales make the case for getting outside your comfort zone. Their fresh ideas will educate and inspire you.
Pt. 2 Instagram 101: Bring your laptop or mobile phone to this 90-minute workshop and leave with an Instagram account to which you have posted. If you already have an account, bring your questions about hashtags and SEO algorithms. Dominican student Elizabeth Rosales will lead the workshop, sharing what she learned working with CWC Marin authors over the summer. Other Communications and Media students will also be on hand to provide one-on-one help.
Prof. Claudia Morales Ramirez hails from Chiapas, Mexico, where her debut novel, No Habrá Retorno, won the National Rosario Castellanos Prize for Short Novels. Her work has been supported by the Fulbright Program and the Foundation for Mexican Novels. She is Assistant Professor of English at Dominican University in San Rafael.
Elizabeth Rosales is studying Communications & Media and Creative Writing at Dominican University, where she edits the Dominican Beat and contributes to Tuxedo literary magazine. CWC Marin is supporting her internship in author social media this fall.
by Nate Hoffelder | Jun 13, 2024 | Events
10 Myths About Publishing
With Steven Radecki
3:00 – 4:30 pm
Mill Valley Public Library
FREE
Register here
Getting your book published is easier than ever, but it is also more confusing. How do you choose between traditional publishing, hybrid, indie, vanity, or self-publishing? How much is it going to cost? Do you need an agent? How do I promote my book? Is it even possible to make money? Steven Radecki will debunk the myths and help you come up with a plan.
Steven Radecki is the Managing Editor of Paper Angel Press and its companion imprints Water Dragon Publishing, Unruly Voices, Graveside Press, and Cupid’s Arrow Publishing. He produces the podcast Small Publishing in a Big Universe. (https://paperangelpress.com)
This event is presented by the Mill Valley Library in partnership with the California Writers Club of Marin. The registration link will be available shortly.
Reserve your seat here
