Use the order form at the bottom of this page to register for any of the 2013 Writing Intensive Classes. You may register for more than one class at a time. These classes are sponsored by the San Francisco Writers University and feature many of our favorite presenters from the main conference. The classes are open to non-attendees and SFWC attendees, too.

Once you order your classes using the form below, you will be emailed a copy for your records that you can print out and bring with you to the class. For questions regarding registration please email Rich Santos. For questions regarding class content please email Laurie McLean

6:30 – 9:30 pm

HOW TO WRITE A BESTSELLER - $99.00
Robert Dugoni
From your initial query letter to your published novel, writers must convey that they understand classic story structure. Bob will teach the fundamental relationship between good stories and journeys and use in-class exercises and assignments to help students better understand story structure so they can evaluate their novel’s plot. Students will also be better equipped to make educated choices on such things as the opening chapter, to make critical judgments about the middle of their book, and to ensure that the ending brings into collision the forces the writer has set in motion to deliver an emotionally satisfying conclusion.

PITCHCRAFT- $99.00
Katharine Sands
This tutorial is a must for everyone looking for an agent…especially attendees of SFWC 2013! What a way to set the tone for the conference and get the absolute most out of it. Katharine Sands, literary agent extraordinaire and editor of the book Making the Perfect Pitch, will teach you how to effectively pitch your book to agents and editors. In two hours you will learn the components of a pitch, how to deliver your pitch, and how to make pitch opportunities happen. You’ll also create and hone the very pitch you’ll use for your specific book.
JUST ADDED!
BONUS: FOR AN ADDITIONAL $25.00 YOU HAVE THE OPTION TO SIGN UP FOR A 15-MINUTE PRIVATE CONSULTATION WITH KATHARINE VIA PHONE OR IN PERSON DURING THE CONFERENCE. THIS CONSULT COULD FOCUS ON IN-PERSON PITCH READINESS FOR A CONFERENCE OR YOUR WRITTEN AGENT/EDITOR PITCH.

FROM A PLAY, TO A MOVIE, TO A MUSICAL: HOW TO ADAPT YOUR WORK AND SUCCEED IN THE CURRENT MARKETPLACE - $99.00
Marilyn Atlas
See if your idea has another life (as a book, movie, or even a musical) from award-winning producer and personal manager, Marilyn R. Atlas. The process of adaptation requires not only a great idea, but careful market planning and development strategies, which Marilyn knows well. Several of her clients (some first time book writers) have received book deals, and through her expertise she has navigated them on what does and doesn’t work in the current marketplace. She has produced award-winning films, including “Real Women Have Curves,” “A Certain Desire,” and “Echoes,” and currently has two movies in development at Lifetime (one based on a book). She is also developing “Real Women Have Curves” as a new Broadway- bound musical, which will begin work-shopping in LA in Spring 2013. This case study of how “Real Women” went from the screen to the stage will also be discussed. Writers are welcome to pitch their projects and see if it’s a perfect fit for adaptation.

WRITING AN IRRESISTIBLE BOOK PROPOSAL  – $99.00
Michael Larsen/Jody Rein
For all you nonfiction writers, this class will give you a blueprint for writing the proposal you need to get the best editor, publisher and deal for your book. You will learn how to excite agents and editors about your book; give editors what they need the way they need it; and how to sell your book yourself. Whether you have an idea, a proposal, a manuscript, or a self-published book, the class will help you. Please bring a book, proposal, or sample of your writing if you would like feedback on it. Many valuable handouts. Michael Larsen is a literary agent and author of the fourth edition of How to Write a Book Proposal. Agent Jody Rein has worn many hats in the publishing world; she was an executive editor with divisions of Big 6 publishers Random House and HarperCollins in New York; ghostwrote a critically lauded work; taught at University-level courses and spoken at scores of conferences and classes and now runs Jody Rein Books in Colorado. FOR AN ADDITIONAL $25 YOU MAY SIGN UP FOR A 15 MINUTE PRIVATE CONSULTATION WITH EITHER JODY OR MICHAEL VIA PHONE OR IN PERSON DURING THE CONFERENCE.

POST-CONFERENCE SFWU CLASSES AT SFWC
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013
Mark Hopkins InterContinental Hotel, San Francisco

9:00 am – 5:00 pm
SELF PUBLISHING  BOOT CAMP – $199
Carla King and Guests
Come learn from the experts! This all day workshop arms you with everything you need to know to format, publish, promote, and sell your book in print and every popular ebook format. Don’t waste your time with experimentation, bad choices, and dead ends. Cut the learning curve and let us help you sort out which tools and services are best-suited and most cost effective for the kind of book you imagine whether it’s plain text, includes some images, is a full-blown full-color extravaganza, or a multimedia ebook or app. You’ll learn how choose which tools are best for you from the too-many tools and services you see advertised all the time, how to build your self-publishing team, implement social media marketing that works, create an author brand, find your readers and distribute your books. You’ll get tips and tricks on discovery, metadata, ISBNs, editing, design, uploading to bookstores, blogging, and website development. You’ll learn about ebook formats and new printing technologies, about new stuff like book-to-blog software and, generally, how get the best book possible for the lowest possible time and money investment, so that you can spend your time writing. All this, plus demos, will create a clear vision of how to get your book out in the world in 2013. Students say this boot camp is “inspiring and empowering,” and “saved me many hours of research and countless mistakes I would have made.” It’s even been called “the best seminar I’ve ever attended at a conference.” (See testimonials.) WithSelf-Publishing Boot Camp Founder Carla King, Agent Savant Laurie McLean, and a lineup of technology heroes of self-publishing: Mark Coker of Smashwords, Brian Felsen of BookBaby, Ron Martinez of Aerbook Maker, and John McAlester of PigeonLab. BONUS: YOU WILL RECEIVE A FREE COPY OF CARLA’S SELF-PUBLISHING BOOT CAMP GUIDE FOR AUTHORS!

9:00 am – Noon
FROM MEMORY TO MEMOIR: THE THREE STAGES OF MEMOIR WRITING – $99
Linda Joy Myers
Writing a memoir is a journey, from the snapshots of memory to a story that offers the reader powerful themes and messages that are entertaining and life changing. And what a journey it is, starting with your passion to write your story, making your way through the “Muddy Middle,” and finally getting to “The End.”
Memoir writers need answers to these kinds of questions:• Where do I begin?
• What about my family?
• What is my truth and dare I write it?
• How do I structure my memoir?
• How do I go from writer to author with a memoir in this market?
• Do I have to learn about social media?
• Why would someone want to read my story?
• And more…
This workshop will take you through the stages of memoir writing. We will discuss these important topics, and do exercises to clarify your memoir and its message, where to begin, and how to find your themes. We will discuss truth, lies, and secrets, and how to manage family and inner critic voices. Structure, the narrative arc, and how to decide what publishing path you want will fill these three hours with information that you need to write and publish your memoir.
Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D., MFA, is the President and founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers, an Instructor at Writers Digest, Co-President of the Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco branch, and past president of the California Writers Club, Marin branch. Linda is the author of The Power of Memoir—How to Write Your Healing Story, Becoming Whole, and Don’t Call Me Mother, which won the Bay Area Independent Publishing Association Gold Medal prize. She is co-editor of the upcoming anthology Times They Were A’Changing, a collection of women’s stories from the 60s and 70s. Linda has won prizes for fiction, memoir and poetry: First Prize, Jessamyn West Fiction Contest; Finalist, San Francisco Writing Contest for Secret Music, a novel about the Kindertransport; First Prize, poetry, East of Eden Contest, and for memoir writing First Prize Carol Landauer Life Writing Contest. Linda’s new workbook is The Journey of Memoir: The Three Stages of Memoir Writing. She gives workshops nationally, through NAMW, Story Circle, and the Therapeutic Writing Institute, and helps people capture their stories through coaching, editing, and online workshops. www.namw.org. Blog:http://memoriesandmemoirs.com

9:00 am – NOON
HOW TO BUILD YOUR WRITER PLATFORM: BLOGGING, TWITTER, and MORE  - $99.00
Chuck Sambuchino 
Chuck Sambuchino, editor of The Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents and author of fiction and nonfiction, is a social media tour de force. He is the author of Create Your Writer Platform (Writer’s Digest, 2012); he runs the Guide To Literary Agents Blog, one of the largest blogs in publishing; he helms the Writer’s Digest Twitter account, which has 350,000 followers; he speaks at dozens of writing events each year; and his personal Twitter account @chucksambuchino was recently named by FORBES as one of the “Top Ten Influencers in Book Publishing”. This is what he says about this workshop: If you want to market yourself and your books, you have to build your writer platform. Building your writer platform means being visible in the marketplace, networking with readers, becoming known, and making your books discoverable to those who will buy them. If you’re writing nonfiction or have self-published books, you need platform. If you’re writing fiction, you want platform — because it translates to more books sales. In this 3-hour class, we will discuss the fundamental principles of platform that everyone can use. The class will have a special focus on using a blog and Twitter for bookselling and promotion success. This special class is for any level of writer; handouts provided. Q&A invited and encouraged. BONUS CRITIQUE FOR ATTENDEES: Any writers who attend this special Monday class can also purchase a personal critique of either a query letter or synopsis for an additional $25. This critique offer from Chuck does not expire, so writers can use it at any point (even months) after the class.

9:00 am – Noon
DISCOVERING STORY MAGIC: Nitty Gritty Writing Techniques – $99.00
Robin Perini & Claire Cavanaugh
In this nationally-reknowned workshop, bestselling author, Robin Perini, and award-winning writer, literary agent assistant, and developmental editor, Claire Cavanaugh, take writers on a journey from overall novel development to activating your scenes for power. In Part I, participants will be introduced to a tried-and-true 3-step technique (character grid, turning points, and the story board) for developing characters and braiding character and conflict with plot to create a story they can’t refuse (using the movie, LA Confidential as an example). In Part II, the instructors take you through the key techniques to propel your writing to a higher level.

THIS WORKSHOP INCLUDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO RECEIVE AN ANALYSIS OF YOUR OPENING CHAPTER. Registered attendees should submit the first chapter and a 2-page synopsis from their novel, as an attachment, toWriterInsideScoop@gmail.com no later than January 15, 2013. A small number of chapters will be selected for analysis during the workshop.

Robin Perini, national bestselling and award-winning author, sold ten books in just over a year. An analyst for an advanced technology corporation, Perini is also a nationally acclaimed writing instructor. She makes her home in the American Southwest. Claire Cavanaugh, award-winning writer and teacher, is a three-time Golden Heart Finalist and Daphne Award winner. A popular speaker, she is known for finding compelling solutions to plot and characterization problems and has helped numerous authors across the country hone their skills and get their writing back on track.

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
BUILD YOUR AUTHOR BLOG – $99.00
Linda Lee
Blog guru Linda Lee will teach you how to create and manage a WordPress author blog in this half-day class. You’ll learn how to set up a blog from scratch, how to post and add articles and images, how to create your own gravatar, and much more. You walk away with your very own author blog at the end of the workshop and you’ll be on your way.

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
50 SHADES OF GREEN: HOW TO MAKE MONEY WRITING EROTICA – $99.00
With Pam van Hylckama Vlieg, Carolyn Jewel and Isobel Carr
Join agent and super-blogger Pam van Hylckama Vlieg, award-winning romance author Carolyn Jewel and sexy historical romance author Isobel Carr as they show you how to make your mark on this burgeoning market spawned by the best selling-series of 2012: Fifty Shades of Gray. Learn details about the craft of erotica writing including how to spice up your sex scenes, make writing about sex fun, achieve authentic depictions of the sex act and tantalize your readers with your prose. Then learn about the business of erotica publishing and how to make the most money, plus what to look for in an agent who represents erotica authors. BONUS: For an additional $25, Pam will critique the first chapter of your work in progress. (Note: RWA members will have their first THREE chapters critiqued by Pam if they choose this option. RWA membership number required.)

2:00 – 5:00 pm 
AUTHOR  BRANDING – $99.00
Patrick Schwerdtfeger
Author branding is not just a single statement or a clever quip but a multilayered, congruent story told across multiple channels, both online and off. The power is in knowing how to tell the story. Branding has become essential to building your fan base and selling more books.