Our 2006 Events

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LIVING FOR WORDS: POETS AND POETRY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Date: Monday, February 27, 2006

The Program:
Today, self-publishing has become a legitimate and professional method of getting your book out into the marketplace. Whether you are establishing yourself as an expert to enhance a speaking career, to otherwise extend your credentials, or to simply sell books, self-publishing can be a smart choice.

Done right, self-publishing is cost-effective, quick compared to publishing houses’ normal timeframes, pays much better than standard royalty contracts, and lets you maintain control over the publishing process. Conversely, there are production costs, technical and software requirements that can take time to master, and distribution deals to strike. And, self-publishing also requires extensive self-marketing and promotion.

Our panel of experts will compare the pros and cons, risks and rewards, of mainstream publishing versus self-publishing, and reveal how self-publishing has worked for several authors.

What does it take to self-publish? How much money does it cost? How long does it take? How do you find your market? How can you protect yourself? And then what? What new technologies are available to produce a high quality book, and to broaden the scope of your self-publishing project? Ultimately, how do you decide if your book project is viable?

Join us and learn first-hand what the realities are in the business.

Panel:

* Rob Schmidt, a former IWOSC Board member who established Blue Corn Comics to publish multicultural comics featuring Native Americans. Schmidt will discuss his efforts to self-publish comic books and graphic novels.

* Human potential expert John Seeley, M.A., is a life coach, speaker, and author of “Get Unstuck!  The Simple Guide to Restart Your Life.”  Seeley is respected and much sought after. He is in demand as a speaker by many of North America's top corporations and professional associations worldwide. He will discuss creative marketing and how to focus your energy into your book.

* David Samson has self-published six books, and has had a dozen other books produced by major New York City publishing houses.

* Rennie Gabriel, a UCLA Instructor, Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), and certified financial planner (CFP), also owns Gabriel Publications.

* Filmmaker, author, motivational speaker, and entrepreneur Joel Eisenberg will discuss his "Aunt Bessie's How to Survive a Day Job While Pursuing the Creative Life" and the upcoming follow-up, "You're Too Smart to Go Down Stupid."

Moderator: Gary Young, IWOSC’s Director of Professional Development, will discuss his “Loss and Found: How to Survive the loss of a Partner,” and the interesting fallout from that project.

This meeting was held Monday, September 26 at the Veterans Memorial Building, 4117 Overland Ave, Culver City. Free for IWOSC members, General public welcome $15.

An Evening with Sandra Tsing Loh, in Conversation with Digby Diehl

Monday, November 21, 2006

Departing from our usual formula, we are excited to host Sandra Tsing Loh in conversation with Digby Diehl.   Heard regularly on KPCC, writer-performer-musician Loh is a talented wordsmith who pens in-depth observances about everyday occurrences transfigured into delicious rants. Loh writes for many genres and has interesting experiences and advice to share. No stranger to controversy, Loh was fired from a radio commentator job over an un-bleeped obscenity, which triggered her transformation into a free-speech and First Amendment advocate.

Loh is currently appearing in her one-woman show, "Mother on Fire," at the 24th St. Theatre (see item below). Previously, she was seen in solo performance at the Geffen Playhouse in "Sugar Plum Fairy." Her other shows include "Aliens in America," "Bad Sex With Bud Kemp," and "I Worry."  

Her books include “A Year in Van Nuys,” “Aliens in America,” “Depth Takes a Holiday,” and a novel, “If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home By Now,” which was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the 100 best fiction books of 1998.  Her story, "My Father’s Chinese Wives," received a 1997 Pushcart Prize and was featured in the 1999 Norton Anthology of Short Fiction.  She and her husband Mike Miller also composed the music for Jessica Yu’s documentary short, “Breathing Lessons,” which won an Oscar in 1998. 

She has been a regular commentator on NPR’s "Morning Edition" and on Ira Glass’s "This American Life." Her weekly segment, "The Loh Life," is heard on KPCC, and her monthly segment, "The Loh Down," is heard on American Public Media’s "Marketplace."  Loh is also a contributing editor for The Atlantic Monthly. 

The evening will be hosted by acclaimed writer and critic Digby Diehl. Diehl is one of the most trusted and successful literary collaborators in America.  He has written, co-written, rewritten, researched, and edited more than three dozen books. His book credits include:

The founding editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Diehl is a widely respected book reviewer and commentator.  He was the literary correspondent for ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America,” movie critic and entertainment editor for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, and Hollywood correspondent for the “CBS Morning News.” He now offers regular book commentary on KTLA in Los Angeles. 

In addition, Diehl is an advisory board member and former president of the P.E.N.

American Center West, a founding member of the National Book Critics Circle, and, not least, was on IWOSC’s first Advisory Board in 1983.

This meeting was held Monday, September 26 at the Veterans Memorial Building, 4117 Overland Ave, Culver City. Free for IWOSC members, General public welcome $15.

IWOSC Saturday Seminar:
“Spiders and Bugs: Web Writing and Management”

SEMINAR:
Grant Writing: Harvesting Generosity

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SEMINAR:
Perfect Pitch: Queries and Book Proposals that Sell

SEMINAR: True Fiction: How to Write Creative and Literary Non-Fiction

Saturday, September 30, 2006, 1:30 - 4 p.m.

A key in nonfiction magazine and book writing of the past several decades is the increasing use of creative and literary writing techniques in the telling of a true tale. Instructor Deanne Stillman is a widely published writer whose book of literary nonfiction, Twentynine Palms: A True Story of Murder, Marines, and the Mojave, was an L.A. Times Book Review “best book of 2001.”

Seminar: How to Do Your Own Publicity & Promotion -- Successfully!

An IWOSC Saturday Seminar, with "Never Kiss a Frog" Author Marilyn Anderson

Date: Saturday, March 18, 2006

Time: 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

IWOSC is pleased to present comedian, screenwriter, and author Marilyn Anderson's workshop, "How to Do Your Own Publicity & Promotion -- Successfully!"

Anderson is the author of the hilarious and informative "Never Kiss a Frog: A Girl's Guide to Creatures from the Dating Swamp."  She considered paying gobs of money to several publicists before deciding to do her own publicity -- and paying herself much less!

It worked!  Through her own PR efforts, Anderson appeared on over 120 radio and TV shows -- and was the "Dating, Flirting, and Kissing Coach" on ABC's "Extreme Makeover." Articles about her or her book have been in newspapers and magazines throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Teen People, the Rocky Mountain News, the Las Vegas Sun, the Toronto Sun, Bostonia, and LA Splash Magazine. In addition, she has written relationship articles that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, and the Santa Monica Mirror, among others.

In this dynamic, informative, and fun-filled seminar, you will learn:

• How publicists work and what kind of fees they charge.
• What you can do yourself -- and why it works better.
• Specific ways to get your name, expertise, and projects in the media.
• How to find reporters who will write about you.
• How to get on radio shows -- over and over again
• The three most important rules for publicity and promotion.
• Specific places and people to contact to get your name in the news.

Be prepared to get lots of hard facts and information that can get you the publicity you want.

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Even seasoned writing pros sometimes need to brush up on basic grammar and usage – as evidenced by the often-comical mistakes we sometimes see in newspapers and magazines. Back by popular demand is a seminar on grammar presented by the Independent Writers of Southern California. Seminar leader Flo Selfman, a longtime public relations consultant and IWOSC’s current president, bills herself as a "professional nitpicker" who conducts lively on-site grammar workshops for organizations and companies.

Has the lazy language of e-mail made your professional communications sloppy? Do you agonize every time you prepare an article or a query letter because you're afraid it contains grammar and punctuation errors? Some of this you may not have learned in school, or you may have forgotten.

Participants will gain grammar confidence in a review of few simple rules that can correct dozens of the most commonly made errors in written and spoken communication. Topics to be covered include:

• 10 common grammar and punctuation errors to avoid
• How to error-proof a manuscript
• Why spell-check isn't enough (or, when is a rose not a rose?)
• Why grammar and punctuation matter
• My computer has a dictionary; what else do I need?
• Coping with current trends in language
• And more!

The seminar incorporates class exercises and useful handouts, and the opportunity to have grammar, syntax, and punctuation questions answered.

FLO SELFMAN of Selfman & Others Public Relations in Los Angeles is a public relations consultant with more than twenty years experience. She creates and implements PR campaigns for lifestyle companies, festivals and events, theatre productions, and personalities. She also is a consultant on all aspects of publishing, marketing and publicity for self-published authors and small publishing companies. Her press kits and campaigns have received awards. Before entering public relations, Selfman handled viewer relations and audience research for Dinah Shore's television show, "Dinah's Place." An Ohio native, she earned a BA degree in Psychology from UCLA, a California Secondary Teaching Credential, and the Instructor Development Certificate from UCLA Extension.

Seminar: The Profitable Pen: New Approaches to Making Money as a Writer

IWOSC is pleased to present humorist and author Michael J. Herman’s workshop, “The Profitable Pen: New Approaches to Making Money as a Writer.” According to Herman, the reason writers are perpetually broke is because they don't understand that writing is not just an art form or a craft, it is a business, plain and simple. Until you approach it as such, he says, you will never make any money!

In this dynamic, humorous, fast-paced, irreverent, and revolutionary program, Herman will show you:

• Why your writing isn't making you more money.
• How to make more money as a writer, lots and lots of it.
• Creating, implementing, and stabilizing your plan.
• How a writing business actually works.
• The 25 most common mistakes made by 99% of writers.
• Building your fortune while telling your story.
  and
• Doing it over and over again. Making the mechanism work for you.

Bring plenty of paper and a sharpened pencil. This is one seminar that keeps its promise to change your life!

The seminar is being taught by IWOSC member Michael J. Herman. Herman’s first book, “Wonders, the Ramblings of a 12 Year Old,” was published when he actually was 12 years old. He has made a profitable career of writing professionally for more than 25 years. His daily syndicated column, “The Motivational Minute!,” is read daily by more than 2.5 million people worldwide. His best selling book, "Becoming the Complete Champion, One Motivational Minute at a Time," has been sold in five languages.

Herman's comedy credits include "In Living Color.” He has written and produced for motion pictures and television, and received a nomination for the Humanitas Award in 1991 for his work on "Doogie Howser, MD." His current book, "How To Win Friends & Influence People The Jewish Mother Way," was named Book of the Year at the 2005 Yenta National Convention.

This seminar was held Saturday, November 19, 2006.

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