Press Room - Left Coast Writers

Literary Salon: Your Path to Publishing 🗓 🗺

LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: Your Path to Publishing with Laurie McAndish King, Jim Shubin and Linda Watanabe McFerrin

Tuesday, September 4th, 2018 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
www.bookpassage.com

Writers, published and otherwise, the mysteries of successful publishing will be revealed on this September night at our next Left Coast Writers Literary Salon. Please note that we will be meeting TUESDAY, September 4th! Mark your calendars and settle in to find out how to avoid becoming one of self-publishing’s epic fails.

We will cover the following:

Understanding the process: Which indie publishing model is the best fit for me and my book? What costs are involved? Do I need an editor? Do I also need a proofreader? How does print-on-demand work? How many books will I sell, and how long does it take?
Planning and getting organized: Understanding how long each step takes (editing, design, production, marketing). Building your list, planning ahead for marketing (short vs long lead time activities), using an ARC, submitting your manuscript for reviews/awards, pricing your book properly.
Marketing: Defining your goals, developing a marketing plan, building your platform, understanding your audience, developing a relationship with your readers, setting up your online presence, optimizing your website, mastering social media.

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Member News: Event for Kerry Campbell

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Kerry Campbell

Saturday, March 24th, 2018 || 7pm Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Member Kerry Campbell will also be having a book launch at Book Passage.

No matter our age, many of us continue to dream about the person we might become, the next idyllic place we could call home, or even the serene beauty of another country we might visit. Sometimes on the periphery of these dreams we see glimpses of what might be, what we could be, waving to us like colorful flags on the horizon, urging us on to the next incarnation of our life.

Dreaming of France, award-winning writer Kerry Campbell’s debut collection of prose poems and vignettes, takes the reader on an unforgettable journey through France. Her characters are dreamers, a group of American women of all ages who explore their dreams and memories of France, alternately through the lenses of romantic love, fashion, food, interior design, gardens and family. (more…)

Library Reading: Wandering in Andalusia: The Soul of Southern Spain 🗓

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Saturday, August 5th, 2017 || 11am
Novato Public Library || Novato
1720 Novato Blvd, Novato CA 94947

In many ways, Andalusia, situated as it is, at the southern boundary of the Iberian Peninsula, is a crossroads, a caravansary where settlers from northern Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East have left their mark. Our writers went from Córdoba to Málaga, from Granada and its Alhambra to Cadíz to bring back stories of cities, rivers, coasts, plains, food, spirit and passion. All embarked upon new roads of discovery, and all were well rewarded in their investigations. These, after all, are the landscapes that inspired Cervantes, Lorca, Machado, Navarro, Unamuno, Hemingway, Conrad and Menocal.

In the words of poet and rock idol, Jim Morrison, “Andalusia with fields ripe with grain, I want to see you again and again.”

“Wandering in Andalusia’s enchanting collection of travel tales illuminates the region’s history, traditions, and myriad attractions. It’s the perfect companion for your next visit to Spain.”
— Christi Phillips, Author of The Rosetti Letter and The Devlin Diary

“To change ourselves, we must give ourselves away. The glass we hold cannot be filled until it is first emptied. In Andalusia, we yield ourselves to an irresistible and cumulative beauty, just as we do in love. And the life we then can lead, with reborn and unbound hopes, follows a trajectory of dedication and understanding.
— Steven Nightingale, Author of Granada: A Pomegranate in the Hand of God and The Hot Climate of Promises and Grace (more…)

Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference 2017

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Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference
August 10-13, 2017
Corte Madera, CA

Register Here

The Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference has an extraordinary reputation among publishers, editors, and writers. Alumni have published books, articles, and photos—many as the direct result of lessons learned and contacts made at the conference. There is no finer travel conference anywhere in the world.

The Conference offers an array of workshops, panels, and evening activities. There are many hours of informal interaction between faculty and students during lunch and in discussions that often last late into the evening.

The collegiate atmosphere of this four-day conference attracts participants and faculty from all over the country, many for repeat visits. Opportunities abound for faculty and participants to talk, laugh, and exchange ideas in classes, workshops, panels, and informal lunches.

For a full overview of the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference, check out Conference Days!

Meet Garrett Omi

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Garrett Omi

Meet Garrett Omi, our new Left Coast Writers Coordinator at Book Passage. Garrett, along with Jack, here in our office, will be working with writers on all Left Coast Writers-related events. We are so fortunate to have his help. Garrett is also a writer, so he’s very understanding when it comes to literary matters. He’ll be able to help you with signing up or renewing membership, with on-site coordination of your LCW events and with information about Book Passage procedures. For scheduling and all other questions, please continue to contact Jack through our e-mail or on our website. You can reach Garrett at gomi@bookpassage.com.

Garrett Omi is a writer and photographer with a BA in English Literature from St. John’s University. His work has been featured in Folioh Port magazine, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, and local New York City publications. Omi currently lives in the Bay Area and is one of Book Passage’s Marketing & Event (more…)

Hawaii Book & Music Festival and 5th Annual Mokule’ia Writers Retreat 🗓

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Linda Watanabe McFerrin

Hawaii Book & Music Festival: May 6-7, 2017

The Mokulē‘ia Writers Retreat: May 7-12, 2017

Join me this month for two terrific events for writers events in Hawaii.
The Mokulē‘ia Writers Retreat is an annual gathering that brings three dozen writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, essays, and memoir to the North Shore of O‘ahu for a week of intimate workshops and coaching. The retreat is high-level and professional — but also low-key and tuned in to the beauty of the surroundings. It fosters an exchange in two directions — between islanders and mainlanders, published writers and budding writers, Native Hawaiian artistry and mainland publishing.

With the Waianae Mountains as a backdrop and the open ocean in front, participants break bread with colleagues, gather in daily workshops, salute the morning sun in yoga, write privately in the shade of ironwood trees, and wander along the beach. They even dance some hula. The theme, nā wahi ho‘oulu, acknowledges that a sacred spot like this will inspire the assembled to explore other places — whether in the heart, in memory, or in the moment. (more…)

Workshop: Writing Sexy Stuff with Linda Watanabe McFerrin and Laurie McAndish King

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Linda Watanabe McFerrin

Laurie McAndish King

Saturday, January 21st, 2017 || 10am-4pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera ||
www.bookpassage.com

If you have trouble steaming up the page or even your life, this is the workshop for you. Spend a day learning the techniques for adding spicy, sensual, and sometimes funny sizzle to your work and your days. The class is full of quick free-writes and entertaining exercises that will have you

moving from comfort to erogenous zones in no time.

A careful investigation will also reveal that you can receive Dominican College credit for this workshop.

The workshop will be held on Saturday, January 21st, from 10am-4pm at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera, CA, 94925. Sign up here.

Poet, travel writer, novelist and Left Coast Writers® founder Linda Watanabe McFerrin (www.lwmcferrin.com) is a contributor to numerous newspapers, magazines and anthologies. She is the author of two poetry collections, past editor of a popular Northern California guidebook and a winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction. Her novel, Namako: Sea Cucumber, was named Best Book for the Teen-Age by the New York Public Library. In addition to authoring an award-winning short story collection, The Hand of Buddha, she has co-edited several anthologies, including the Hot Flashes: sexy little stories & poems series. Her latest novel, Dead Love (Stone Bridge Press, 2009), was short-listed as a finalist in the 2007 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Competition and was a Bram Stoker Award Finalist for Superior Achievement in a Novel in 2009.

Linda has judged the San Francisco Literary Awards, the Josephine Miles Award for Literary Excellence and the Kiriyama Prize, served as a visiting mentor for the Loft Mentor Series and been guest faculty at the Oklahoma Arts Institute. A past NEA Panelist and juror for the Marin Literary Arts Council, she has led workshops in Greece, France, Italy, Ireland, Central America, Indonesia and the United States and has mentored a long list of accomplished writers and best-selling authors toward publication.

Laurie McAndish King grew up in rural Iowa, studied science and philosophy at Cornell College, and has (more…)

Anne Sigmon’s story “Moorstones” will be Editors’ Choice on Travelers’ Tales

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Anne Sigmon

Anne Sigmon’s story, “Moorstones,” will appear as the Editors’ Choice Monday, December 12th, on TravelersTales.com and will be the feature story on BestTravelWriting.com. The story was first published in the Wanderland Writers anthology, Wandering in Cornwall: Mystery, Mirth and Transformation in the Land of Ancient Celts. In addition, Anne has stories in the upcoming anthology Wandering in Andalusia: The Soul of Southern Spain, to be published November 1st, 2016. wandering-in-cornwall wanderinginandalusiacover_s

Small Business Saturday with Left Coast Writers 🗓

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Saturday, November 26th, 2016
Small Business Saturday: Meet the Authors from Left Coast Writers®

Small Business Saturday has been gaining momentum each year to the point where it has now become the day for customers to discover the independent merchants in their community. (Forget Black Friday and Cyber Monday; they are so over!). This year, we decided to celebrate the day by introducing authors from one of our favorite writing communities, Left Coast Writers®. These are authors who, for the most part, have written and celebrated their work through programs at Book Passage and have learned the ins and outs of being a small business with the help of this bookstore.

Meet these creative writers and find out more about Left Coast Writers®, Path to Publishing and books in general. We’ll have representatives from our programs available to answer your questions and authors on hand to entertain you.

10:00 – 12:00:

Linda Watanabe McFerrin

Linda Watanabe McFerrin, Dead Love

Left Coast Writers® Founder Linda Watanabe McFerrin (www.lwmcferrin.com) is the editor and author of award winning poetry, travel essays and fiction (Namako, The Hand of Buddha, and Dead Love).

Joanna Biggar

Joanna Biggar, That Paris Year

Joanna Biggar is a writer, teacher and traveler whose articles and essays have appeared in hundreds of publications. She is also a poet and novelist and the co-founder and editor of Wanderland Writers.

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James A. Jacobs Author Talk at San Geronimo Valley Community Center

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James A. Jacobs will be giving an Author Talk Sunday, Oct. 30 at 4 p.m. at San Geronimo Valley Community Center regarding his recent historical thriller Days of the Dead. Set in Mexico 1968, the year of the Olympics but also the first and worst government massacre of activist students and their supporters — men, women and children: The Tlatelolco Massacre. Focus will be on elements of memoir (James worked for U.P.I. during that time and witnessed many of the events portrayed in the novel) and themes of ecumenism and diversity, especially as it relates to the main character, Daniel Mendoza, a 28-year-old American journalist who tries, unsuccessfully, to intervene between government forces and activist students intent on shutting down the Olympics as well as reforming government.

While the historical backdrop is the Tlatelolco Massacre, the novel also focuses on Daniel Mendoza’s search for his wife, 8-year-old daughter, and activist nursing student friend who were disappeared after the massacre. A (more…)

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