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Central
Coast Writers' Conference
at Cuesta College XXIV
Fri/Sat, September
26 & 27,
2008
(Limited Enrollment)
Keynote Speaker
Bob
Mayer
New
York Times
bestselling author Bob Mayer has 38 books published
ranging from military techno-thriller to political thriller
to non-fiction to science fiction to romantic adventure. He
has over three million books in print.
Born in the Bronx, Bob attended West Point and earned a BA
in Psychology with honors and then served as an Infantry
platoon leader, a battalion scout platoon leader, and a
brigade reconnaissance platoon leader in the 1st Cavalry
Division. He then joined Special Forces and
commanded a Green Beret A-Team. He also served as the
operations officer for the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special
Forces Group (Airborne) and with Western Command Special
Operations in Hawaii. Later he taught at the Special Forces
Qualification Course at the John F. Kennedy
Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, the course
designed to train new Green Berets. He also lived in Korea
where he earned a Black Belt in Martial Arts and in
Tennessee where he earned a Masters Degree in Education from
Austin Peay State University.
Bob draws on all of these experiences to write his novels
and his nonfiction books, including Who Dares Win: The
Green Beret Way for You To Conquer Fear & Succeed
and The Novel Writer's Toolkit: A Guide To Writing
Great Fiction And Getting It Published. He speaks
on both of these areas. Out now are Lost Girls for
Tor and Agnes and the Hit Man, in
collaboration with Jennifer Crusie for St. Martin's Press.
Bob lives on an island off of Seattle. For more information
see
www.bobmayer.org
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Workshops he is
presenting at the conference:
Session III: Saturday
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
311WC.308 The Events of Your Story: Outlining, Plot,
Conflict and Writing Scenes
Before
you begin writing your book, you should spend some time
outlining and developing your story. We'll discuss types
of outlines along with techniques for efficiently
developing the strongest possible story based on your
original idea. From the exciting opening that grabs the
reader through the escalating conflict to the climactic
scene and ending with the resolution—the entire
structure of the novel with be covered with emphasis on
hooks, the remote control effect, building suspense, and
having satisfying endings.
Session IV: Saturday
2:15-3:45 p.m.
414WC.308 Selling Your Book, Marketing Yourself and Your
Book, and the Publishing Business for Writers
A writer-friendly approach to marketing your book
efficiently and understanding the flow of a query at a
publishing house and how decisions are made whether to
buy a book. Cover letters that grab the reader, how to
do a one page synopsis, and other practical matters will
be covered. We’ll also discuss the writing business,
including fee-charging agents; sell-through and sales
numbers; E-books; print-on-demand; shrinking mid-lists;
corporate mergers; and self-publishing. What does all
this mean to the writer who often feels on the
outside? You hear agents and editors talk about the
business but it's important to understand a writer's
point of view.
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