News And Announcements

Last September’s LA8 bestowed conferee Tonilyn Hornung’s manuscript, How to Raise a Husband, with the Outstanding Non-fiction Award. Now agent Sally van Haitsma reports she’s signed Tonilyn on as a client and is revving to get her book sold. Given Sally’s record for discovering exceptional talent at the SCWC — including Stacy O’Brien (Wesley the Owl), Raul Ramos (America Libre) and Mark L. Thompkins (Illuminations) — it shouldn’t be too long ’til she finds yet another priceless baby a home.  This makes Wes happy!

While we sort out the massive number of advance submissions that came in at the last minute (you know how writers are with deadlines), word is in that a few readers are already caught up and will accept a limited number more over the next couple of weeks, among them is agent Dana Newman. We’ll provide a list of who exactly will be doing so in the next couple of days, but before arbitrarily selecting any reader, first be sure to email Michael to confirm availability.

In response to many requests to address the issue of how to build a slick, professional author’s website that enhances one’s platform and — in the words of one conferee — “doesn’t suck and cost a fortune,” we’ve added a hardcore hands-on workshop to the schedule.  Jeremy Lee James, internet developer, marketing strategist, and SCWC site guru, will conduct “From Zero to Rockin’ Writer Website In One Workshop,” enabling participants to test drive for free his Word(slinger)Press Writer’s Website + Web Hosting package, which he developed specifically for writers.  In this session, literally, participants will be able to launch a secure, expandable and easy-to-maintain ultra-cool website in a matter of minutes.

Now, a Writer Replay about the challenges all modern authors face…

Her first time attending a writers’ conference was last February’s SD24. Net result, three agents requesting her memoir, Drop Dead Life: A Pregnant Widow’s Heartfelt and Often Comic Journey through Death, Birth, and Rebirth. Then a funny thing happened. Hyla discovered the social reading and publishing website Scribd.com and amassed 80,000 reads prompting two of New York’s Big Six to contact her directly requesting the manuscript. Numerous speaking requests and interviews followed.  Just how she built such a singular, massive platform — and you can too — is what she’ll be addressing in February.

Another former conferee joins us for SD25.  Karen Ronney, author of almost countless awards-winning Proud Parents’ Guide to Raising Athletic, Balanced, and Coordinated Kids: A Lifetime of Benefit in Just 10 Minutes a Day, the original proposal which was snapped up at SD21 and sold in a high-figure deal, is back. This time with a muchly needed workshop on crafting the non-fiction proposal that will sell the book before you actually write it.

Deadline for discounted hotel lodging is Jan. 28.  Got a call today from the hotel and it appears they’re filling up a bit earlier than usual. If you’re planning to stay at the Crowne Plaza during the conference — who isn’t? — and you haven’t booked your room, do it now.

Deadline for advance submissions is Jan. 28. We absolutely must receive your material by no later than Jan. 28.  Jan. 28 is the day to get your advance submission material to us. Remember, if you’re submitting to multiple readers you can stuff all your submissions into a single envelope addressed to the SCWC to save postage. So long as we receive it before — you guessed it — Jan. 28, you’re good.

Finally, agent Gordon Warnock, announced to be a last-minute addition to SD25 last update, will not be in San Diego, but in fact attending September’s LA9 conference in Newport Beach. Call it crossed wires or just plain doofusness, I take full responsibility for the error and will be in touch with all conferees that submitted to him based on my inexcusable oversight. I suck.

More soon.

Featured in Writer’s Digest as one of 27 agents looking for new work (October 2010), Gordon Warnock, senior agent for Andrea Hurst Literary, will be joining us.  He’ll be accepting advance submissions in commercial fiction, young adult, pets(!) and humor, as well as narrative and practical non-fiction. Deadline for advance submissions is a mere two weeks away so you’ll want to move fast on this one. Also just confirmed, ZOVA Books publisher Molly Lewis, along with  editor-in-chief Daniel Silva, are aboard to address the topic on everybody’s mind: The Next Generation of Publishing: Where the Industry is and Where it is Going.

The PoetryCram is beginning to fill up, as is Jean Jenkins’ genre-centric “Best Foot Forward: Polishing To Impress.”  Remember, these sessions are limited in size and available only on a first-come, first-served basis. For Jeanie’s, in particular, the deadline to email requested material is Jan. 24th.

Another deadline fast approaching is the Early “Bard” Discount off full conference registration. Register by Feb. 1 and save.  There’s plenty of room.

From the Martin Literary Agency, agent Kate Folkers has just been added to the lineup.  While interested in all kinds of subjects and genres, she’s actively seeking fresh novels, mysteries/thrillers, historical fiction, women’s fiction, entertaining chick lit and urban fantasy.  Also accepting advance submissions, along with conducting workshops, award winning author/journalist Sylvia Mendoza will be with us and we’re lucky to have her.  Though the deadline for submissions isn’t until Jan. 28, readers are beginning to sell out.

Already filled up is Jill Marr and Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein, with several other agents, editors and authors close behind.  If you’re wanting vital one-on-one feedback on your work, now is the time to select an optional advance submission reader.  If you need help selecting a reader, feel free to contact Michael for guidance via email or phone (yes, our phone system is working again!).

On the good muse front, conferee Claudia Whitsitt’s first novel, The Wrong Guy, is out March in e-book form from Echelon Press.  The publisher has snapped up many SCWCers in recent years and has had quite a bit of success rolling out novels in digital form prior to print publication.  Just another interesting new strategy in this ever-evolving  digital age.

We’re still plugging in the schedule.  More soon.

Happy New Year, writers! With the arrival of 2011 one thing we can all agree on is that the Internet has come of age in such a way as to fundamentally change the way publishers, agents, authors and readers relate to one another. The old days of doing book-business are done, this the modern author knows. Thing is, how to fully exploit the potential afforded by all the social media buzzwords being bandied about to truly maximize (and monetize) the modern author’s work?

A turning point has occurred, a sea change if you will, a sweeping, virtual tsunami of such immutable fury that the modalities of traditional publishing have suffered a full-on fiscal wedgie the likes of which it’s never known.

The Era of the Modern Author has arrived. Today is the writer’s day.  Today is your time. And the modern author doesn’t have time to waste. Yet, wasting time on ineffectual marketing efforts that do not translate directly into book sales is what far too many authors today are doing.

While the prospects for launching a book by a new author successfully are now perhaps greater than at any other time, the challenges of doing so are many; the decision to go Big Six, indie press, self-publish, e-book, then wrestle the various aspects uniquely inherent to each, are myriad.

Unfortunately, today publishers expect you to do the work for them.  For the most part they print the book while relying on you, the writer, to sell the book. Will you?  Can you? Should you?

Online, it’s about eyeballs. From provocative book trailers and author profile videos to dynamic personal websites and global social networks, readers everywhere plant their eyes on the Internet to discover new authors, mingle with up-and-coming authors, or simply stay informed about the progress of a cherished author’s next book.

Landing those eyeballs on your book can make all the  difference between breakout success or a swift dip in the remainders bin.  For the modern author, falling victim to much of the hype surrounding “platform” building and “branding” can result in a time-suck of such magnitude that finishing a next book, let alone successfully launching the current one, may seem impossible.

In February, we’re going to drill through a lot of the noise out there in effort to clearly identify and understand the options available to the modern author, the risks involved in choosing one manner of publication over another, what truly matters in establishing a platform and the building blocks to do so, the reality of e-books, and, ultimately, how to better utilize your time in order to get back to what’s most important: writing.

The Schedule, Administration and More

Due to some lingering technical issues the preliminary schedule has not yet been posted, but you can still see the growing variety of sessions slated for SD25 by clicking on individual staff bios. Should have the glitch fixed by week’s end. The phone answering system issue, too.

On the additions front, longtime SCWC workshop leader and genre author/editor Mike Sirota will be with us in a fresh capacity come February: special guest speaker. (That’s the cover of his new book up top.)  Only 17 years after the publication of his last sci-fi novel, Mike returns to the genre with his latest, Fire Dance, out February from Zova. Of it Publishers Weekly declares, “Horror fans will enjoy this updated take on the western ghost town.” Good job, Mike!

Making his sophomore appearance at the SCWC, provocative author/poet/nonfictionalist Linton Robinson will be with us.  Early on forward, Lin’s had great success seizing author opportunities in the digital age from the DIY perspective.  Along with the guys from Behind the Book, web developer & marketing strategist Jeremy Lee James, and many others plying the ether, much will be covered on the digital front.

Registrations are unusually high at this time. What this affirms to us is that you, the writer, understand that now is the time to make time for your work. Whether a matter of validation of purposeful being, or simply to tell a good story, 2011 is the year in which your work must be the top priority. Your story matters. Together, this year, let’s let you shine.

House Cleaning

Couple of final things. We have a female conferee looking for a roommate to split hotel lodging costs from Friday through Monday checkout. Please email Michael if you’re interested. She’s a good gal and a pretty accomplished writer in her own right . . . Also, we need to determine the interest level in both the PoetryCram and Jean Jenkins’ “Best Foot Forward” sessions. Both are limited in size, so please email us if you’re intent on participating in either.

That’s it for now. Advance readers will begin selling out this week, so check back regularly for updates or subscribe the SCWC RSS feed. Also, join us on Facebook (but not in Farmville!) More soon.

Come February, for 25 years the SCWC will have empowered writers with the vital tools, information, feedback and connections needed to get published. The latest to join the roster of success is SD23 conferee Tim (T.B.) Smith. His debut novel, The Sticking Place, is out December from Hellgate Press. And SD21/22 conferee Pam Goldstein reports braving short stories since her last attendance, getting several published in five different anthologies, including Chicken Soup for the Empty Nester and this year’s Christmas books (Simon and Schuster). Also, her first play, The Interview, opens in April. Writes Pam, “Whenever I falter I think of the SD with great fondness and go from there.”

The Hummingbird Review has announced a winner of the LA8 “What if?” writing contest. E. Scott Menter of Irvine, CA, will see his short story, “Dolphinarium,” published in the literary quarterly. Another submission, a non-fiction piece by Kelly Thacker of Murray, UT, also struck the attention of publisher Charles Redner and managing editor Robert Yehling, so much so they’re publishing it as well. Both stories will appear in the next issue, out February.  Congratulations Scott and Kelly!

Lots of additions to the SD25 staff, including Stephens Press editor-in-chief Carolyn Hayes Uber, who’ll be joining us for the first time. Still a few more to announce, including our final special guest speaker, but do check out the staff page to see who all are presently confirmed. While we now begin filling out the schedule with actual workshops, new to the SCWC is the PoetryCram alluded to last update. Limited to 12 participants, this 1-day intensive is dedicated to those wanting to publish a collection of poetry in professional chapbook form.

Another seriously hands-on session limited to 12 participants is Jean Jenkins’ Best Foot Forward: Polishing To Impress 1 & 2. Quite the success when it debuted in September, Jeanie’s made some slight tweaks to make it even better than before. If you’re a genre writer and feel your work’s ready to go, get full details here.

That’s all for now. If you’re in town December 10th, don’t forget to join us and San Diego Writers, Ink for Mark A. Clements Appreciation Night.

More soon.