NEW DATE: Path to Publishing - Writing & Publishing Memoirs Workshop (Corte Madera Store)

9:00 am - 4:00 pm  • Lunch included
$175 (Path to Publishing Members); $225 (General Public)

This one-day workshop explores aspects of writing and publishing memoirs, and shares information that is essential for anyone interested in publishing his or her work. A memoir is a unique type of writing, requiring careful attention to voice, context, balance, personal history, and other factors. But memoirs also share many commonalities with other forms of writing with respect to editing, publishing, promotion, and similar issues. This workshop will explore the interaction of those factors.

..........................................................................................................................

Schedule

• Coffee & Rolls:Informal gathering and introductions
• Brief description of the Path to Publishing program: The description will focus on how the program might work for someone writing a memoir. Nancy Fish leads the discussion.
• A vision of the opportunities: The memoir is an incredibly flexible literary genre that offers many opportunities for creative exploration. Phil Cousineau is an expert on this, having explored the subject in several of his books including Stoking the Creative Fires.
• Creating a space for your book: The author’s job doesn’t end when the manuscript is finished. The book must be marketed and presented to potential readers, and the author is frequently the best person to do that. Brenda Knight from Mango Publishing helps show the way.
• Lunch: The food is provided by Book Passage, but the interaction continues between faculty and students.
• Teamwork with an agent: Author Melissa Cistaro and literary agent Laurie Fox worked together to get Melissa’s book published and successfully launched. They discuss what the learned from that and other experiences.
• Getting the most from your publicity: Pat Rose has been one of the foremost publicists in the Bay Area for the last 25 years. Here she shares some of her insights.
• Wine & cheese reception: It’s time for refreshments, but the talk about books and writing is bound to continue!

..........................................................................................................................

Faculty

Phil Cousineau
Author of over 30 books, including the bestseller The Art of Pilgrimage, and the award-winning Stoking the Creative Fires. Phil Cousineau has a strong sense of the passion and craftsmanship that needs to go into a memoir. He is a Path to Publishing mentor.

Melissa Cistaro
Author of Pieces of My Mother, which was chosen by the Northern California Independent booksellers Association (NCIBA) as the “Best Nonfiction Book of 2016.” She is a frequent teacher on memoir writing. She is a Path to Publishing mentor.

Brenda Knight
Acquisitions and Editorial Director of Mango Publishing and President of the S.F chapter of the Women’s National Book Network. She is also the author of seven books, including the American Book Award-winning Women of the Beat Generation.

Laurie Fox
Partner at the Linda Chester Literary Agency. She is the author of fiction and poetry. She represents books in the areas of literary and quality fiction, memoir/biography, popular culture and cultural criticism, narrative nonfiction, history and current events

Pat Rose
A communications professional with 20 years of book publicity experience at HarperOne, Graywolf Press, Lonely Planet, Berrett-Koehler, UC Press, Wiley, and many other publishers.

Nancy Fish
Manager of the Book Passage Path to Publishing Program and former publicity director for HarperCollins Publishing. She has over three decades of experience in publishing.