California Writers Club Summer / 2016
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THE BULLETIN Vol. 2 No. 3 California Writers Club Summer / 2016 Inside This Issue... BookFair Campaign Gets Nod for President’s Statewide Promotions in Branches Corner ant to make money for your CWC Branch? Want to have an in-store oppor- Joaquin Miller tunity to publicize your branch's authors or upcoming event? High Desert Park Annual Party W Branch has done successful promotions, but limited to our own membership. Our most recent BookFair garnered some easy money for our branch with almost Literary Review ads no effort on our part! arnes & Noble Booksellers has now allowed nonprofit book fairs to share in Branches’ News the purchases made by thousands of readers, just like you. We are looking for Anthology B other CWC branches who will also participate in these Barnes & Noble Book- Fairs to mutually support each other's efforts and expand the profit possibilities! Our Round Up CWC Central Board gave the okay to pursue this fund-raising plan. Fundraisers ery simply, a BookFair (eligible as a non-profit organization) benefits the partic- Workshops ipating group by giving them a portion of the Barnes & Noble sales on products V sold during a set period of time when the purchaser uses a pre-assigned & more voucher code in making their purchase. Purchases made using this voucher code count not only in one store, but in any store across the country or anything bought online! he possibilities, if we harness our enormous membership power, are incredible! High Desert will conduct GoToMeetings with interested branches with the goal The Bulletin is the official publica- T being to establish a cooperating coalition of branches who will commit to maxi- tion of California Writers Club, an mum communication for maximum success. educational nonprofit 501(c)3 cor- s your head spinning with ideas? A voucher number for each campaign, any poration. Issue e-edition 03 now in time, any shopper, all year. Read more on page 6. circulation as of August 2016. I To research this online, visit http://www.barnesandnoble.com/h/bookfairs. ~~ Bob Isbill CENTRAL BOARD (See voucher on back page) President: Joyce Krieg CWC Advertising & Promotions Vice President: Donna McCrohan Rosenthal Secretary: Elisabeth Tuck Treasurer: David George (interim) BUILDING BETTER BRANCHES: a Leadership Conference Mem-at-Large: Jeanette Fratto All branches throughout the State are invited to bring their newly acquired board members or any interested members within their branch to this most in- Branches: 21 formative leadership conference. This event will focus on problem-solving, brain- storming, digging ‘deep’ for ideas for more effective leadership, recruiting and re- California Writers Club taining volunteers, reaching out to new members, validating that what we do mat- PO Box 201 ters, and will especially include our most instructive peer-group breakout sessions. Danville, CA 94526 continued page 6 President’s Corner Making Time to Write That Book by Joyce Krieg These are exciting times for California Writers Club! Earlier this summer, we passed the 2,000 member mark for the first time in our history. Our newest branch, North State Writers in Chico, will celebrate its first anniversary in Septem- ber, and our 22nd branch, San Joaquin Valley, located in Stockton, is due to charter in November. Our finances are healthy, thanks largely to the efforts of the hard-working Bob Isbill of the High Desert branch to generate revenue with our two publications, The Bulletin and the Literary Review. As a writer, I hate to resort to clichés, but I cannot help myself — our writ- ers club is poised for awesomeness! Retirement is often the time when folks are drawn to writing. You know how it goes —“I’ve always wanted to write a book”— New President—Joyce Krieg and now that they’re retired, they’ve finally got the time and a lifetime’s worth of experiences from which to draw material. And here we’ve got the Baby Boomers retiring in huge numbers. Thanks to the digital revolution, it’s never been easier or more affordable to publish your own book. Put those two factors together, and like I say, we’re poised for awesomeness. At the July 24 California Writers Club Central Board meeting in Oakland, I was honored to be elected president for 2016-17. Among my goals: Continue the great stuff we’re already doing! Finally actually award a scholarship or figure out another appropriate use for the money sitting in our scholarship fund, in line with our mission of educating writers. Streamline and modernize our governing documents, the By-laws and Policies and Procedures. Boring, I know, but it’s got to be done. Clarify and put into writing the relationship between the branches and the Central Board, especially when it comes to transparency and conflict resolution. Make greater use of social media to attract new members and com- municate with our existing members. Restore the prestige and name-recognition CWC held in the first half of the 20th century, creating an image more-or-less equal to that of organi- zations like Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America. continued on page 3 Your Central Board can now make use of the new GoToMeeting feature available to Branch Reps who wish to talk face-to-face about CWC business and ideas between branches. Thanks to the convenience of this tool, they request to speak through live conference calls online and get direct feedback. By request only, this subscription service, found online at GoToMeeting.com, provides private computers to link during face-to-face video and audio sessions. (see page 24 for details) This enhancement will allow for idea exchanges. You will need a mic and cam- era on your computer — or just type in your comments and watch on live chat. You must also schedule time through the administrator: [email protected] 2 continued from page 2 Once and for all, make a determination as to whether Jack London was or was not Our Founder, and create a statement that we can all use that recognizes London as part of our legend and lore, while still remaining true to the historical record. And did I mention greater and greater awesomeness? Finally, a bit about your new president: From the Central Coast branch, basically the Monterey Peninsula. Grew up in San Jose “before it became Silicon Valley,” San Jose State grad. Worked in radio for many years, where my greatest claim to fame—and shame—was to be part of the management team that discovered Rush Limbaugh and launched his career. Author of three mysteries published by St. Martin’s Press, winner of the St. Martin’s “best first traditional mystery” contest. In training to be a crazy old cat lady. But enough about me. Before I sign off, a tip of my pink flowered fedora to past president Dave George, a very hard act to follow, and outgoing treasurer Sharon Svitak, who devoted countless hours of volunteer time and expertise to the club. You did us proud! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ California Writers Club All Program Chairs: Invite Your Guest Speakers Mission Statement 1. The California Writers Club (CWC) shall foster professionalism in writing, promote networking of writers with the writing community, mentor new To Advertise in The Bulletin writers, and provide literary support for writers and the writing community as is appropriate through education and leadership. Do you highly recommend a past 2. The club supports all genres, writing styles and related professions such as edit- speaker who will want to gain more ing, publishing, photographic journalism and agents. bookings for their services? Tell them CWC now has over 3. The branches provide an environment where members can obtain critique of their 2,000 members across the state— efforts, attend workshops, and share experiences. Branches are encouraged to men- that’s— 2,000 writers in every issue tor writers of all ages by providing educational programs for adults and fostering youth programs. of The Bulletin. Do them a huge fa- vor and send them a copy of each issue to illustrate what can be done with inexpensive advertising! Past members as well can be emailed a copy. Maybe they have completed a book, or have a service to offer but don't know about this new venture. Let's get the word out about this 1¢ per Word great “target market” of readers, au- thors, and speakers who want and need expanded services to help writ- ers become better at their craft! ~~ Thanx! From the Editor 3 THE TRADITION CONTINUES – CWC’S ANNUAL PICNIC LET’S EAT CAKE FIRST!! Some 50 CWC members representing 14 branches car- ried out the tradition of the annual picnic at Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland the afternoon of July 23. Highlights included barbe- cued hamburgers and hotdogs by the “Fremont flippers,” Larry and Nancy Curteman, the cake decorating contest headed up by Margie Yee Webb of the Sacramento branch, and an Open Mic emceed by Kristen Caven of the Berkeley branch—plus lots of Haiku reader Henry Hitz friendship and fellowship. Joaquin Miller Park is considered the historic home of CWC, as the poet hosted many outdoor literary salons attended by well-known authors like Jack London, George Sterling and Ina Coolbrith at his home in the early years of the 20th century. After his death, CWC was instrumental in having his land set aside as a park. During the 1930s, CWC coordinated with the WPA to construct the park’s distinctive features: The Cascades and the Woodminster amphitheater. CWC maintained the tradition of planting a tree in honor of a California writer well into the 1980s.