September 8, 2016
The Berkeley Branch is the founding branch of the oldest professional writers’ club West of the Missisippi.
We are accepting new members!
Click here to commit to your writing career.
July 12, 2017
Announcements, From the President, Member Events, Social 1 Comment
There will be no statewide picnic in Joaquin Miller Park this year, our club’s original “home base,” but we will once again be holding an “open house” for all “California Writers.”
(That’s a lot of “quotation marks.” We writers sure know how to use our tools, don’t we?)
Join the Berkeley Branch of the California Writers Club at Jack London’s favorite hangout, Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon in Jack London Square, from 3:30-5:30pm on Sunday, July 23rd. No-host bar & lots and lots of writers.
We welcome all California Writers, and invite you to come and see if joining the club will benefit your writing career.
P.S. Although this is an “open house,” Jack London’s cabin won’t actually be open but you can learn about this important founding member of our branch.
June 30, 2017
Announcements, From the President Leave a comment
Summertime… may the writing be easy! While The California Writers Club is on break for the summer, I hope you will keep writing. We writers have things to say, words to wrangle, and a world full of plot twists in need of happy endings.
Hello, I’m Kristen Caven, the new president of the Berkeley Branch.
I have been a member for 11 years, and fondly remember our “Captain,” AL Levenson, who “discovered” my design business, Cowgirl Creative, and asked me for help with this website and our newsletter, Write Angles, and taught me a lot about friendly leadership. My mission as a writer is to “bring forth the treasures hidden within” and, as a human, to help others do the same.
This summer, you can:
If you’d like to contribute to the club,* contact me or another board member.
Nearly a yard of books by our club authors!
* We need a newsletter editor! And people to work the door at meetings! And someone to administer our 5th grade story contest! And a new, BART-able, accessible space to feature our monthly speaker program!
June 8, 2017
Announcements, Events, Speakers audiobooks, book marketing, Events, Howard Van Es, Joanne Ainsworth, speakers Leave a comment
Our June meeting will feature Howard Van Es, president of Let’s Write Books, Inc. His company helps authors with editing, design, publishing and book marketing services. He’s going to talk to us about audiobooks.
Howard Van Es will speak at our June 18th meeting on how to turn your book into an audiobook
The market for audiobooks is exploding due to the growing number of computers, smartphones, and tablets, which make it easy for the consumer to purchase and instantly listen to their favorite books. Interestingly, Amazon has seen this trend and purchased Audible a few years ago. They also own ACX, which is the major distributor of audiobooks to Amazon, Audible, and iTunes, the three big platforms for audiobook sales.
The digital platform is another way to easily repurpose the content of books while tapping into more channels of distribution, which means more people being exposed to your book resulting in more sales and royalty payments for you. Howard Van Es will show you how to turn your book into an audiobook and tap into this hot trend in book sales.
In addition to running his company, Van Es is also author of 30 books of his own and has ghostwritten many others for clients. He is also the former owner and creative director of an award winning advertising agency.
Find out more about Howard Van Es at LetsWriteBooks.net
Howard Van Es will speak at 3:15, but remember our meetings start at 12, and include interactive groups to help you with your writing and your book sales. In our craft group, we discuss how to tackle challenges in our writing. In the marketing group we help you spread the word about your books and build your platform. We also provide tasty snacks and plenty of opportunities to network with other writers.
Our June meeting will also be when we announce our new executive board. Find out who is going to be running the Berkeley CA Writers Club throughout 2017, what they have planned and how they will steer this ship.
12:00–1:00 – Craft Support Group
1:00–2:00 – Marketing Group
Simultaneously
12:30–2:00 – Social Hour
2:00–2:30 – Break, Book Sale
2:30–3:00 – Announcements & MEET THE NEW CWC EXECUTIVE BOARD!
Featured Speakers
3:00–3:15 – CWC Featured Member Joanne Ainsworth reads
3:15–4:30 – Featured Speaker Howard Van Es
Meetings are $5 for members, $10 for non-members.
June 7, 2017
Announcements, Club Information, From the President Leave a comment
Now is the best time to join the Berkeley Branch of the California Writers Club!
Our membership year *officially* begins in July, so why not start a few months early? Join because we have great speakers every month. Join because we’re having a party this summer. Join because it just plain feels great to be part of a professional writing club!
You can join renew online, at the June meeting, or send in a check by the end of July. There is even an auto-renew link on PayPal!
More details here. It’s going to be a great year for the club!
May 25, 2017
Interviews Interviews, politics, Stephen Cataldo Leave a comment
Editor’s note: Stephen Cataldo is one of many CWC members who writes about politics. This Saturday, we’re celebrating CWC political writers at An Evening of Political Readings at Laurel Bookstore in Oakland.
Stephen Cataldo is a social entrepreneur with a strong passion in politics. He recently published his first book, Cognitive Politics: a Communications Workbook for Progressives [CognitivePolitics.org]. Before writing this book, Cataldo took on many environmental and social projects, such as founding SpaceShare and the carpool system for the American Holistic Nursing program.
Stephen Cataldo: “What we really have are certain value sets that we don’t have words for, and when those values intersect with politics, they become ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative.’” More
May 16, 2017
Interviews, Member News, Of Interest featured members, Interviews, Judith Newton, Linda Joy Myers, nature, writing Leave a comment
Editor’s note: Judith Newton is the featured member at next month’s CWC meeting. Catch her reading from her new book, before our keynote speaker LeeAnne Krusemark Sunday May 21st.
Linda: We both have new books coming out this spring. My book, Song of the Plains is a memoir about a family of women who abandon their daughters and about the ways their history contributed to this. Your book, Oink, is a mystery about the struggle between corporate and communal values in the university. I think it’s striking that we both chose elements of the natural world for our titles. What does it mean that you chose “Oink” for a title?
Judith: In writing Oink, a send up of the university for its increasing devotion to self-interest, competition, and profit, I also wanted to emphasize a counter perspective on life: a belief in the importance of values that are more about the common good. I planned to do this, in part, through my positive characterization of the protagonist’s campus community. It is comprised of faculty in women’s and ethnic studies who have come together to support each other and to resist having their programs defunded by an increasingly More
May 10, 2017
Announcements, Events, Social book sales, Events, Laurel Bookstore, politics, readings Leave a comment
It’s been a while since we created a space for socializing, and we want to provide chances for our authors to read from and promote their latest works. So we’re partnering with Laurel Books to present themed readings. Each reader will read a short passage from their work, and when all of the works are finished, a book signing will follow. Since everyone we know is excited to talk about politics right now, that’s the theme we’re starting with.
Some of the topics will include bullying, racism, crowds, progressive strategy, the fight for a living wage, and (never surprisingly) president Trump.
Love politics? Hate politics? Come out and show your support! And let us know what theme you want us to do for our next reading in the series. Here are the readers we have signed up for the May 27th event.
Ransom Stephens
Al Sandine
Ann Berlak
Jim Beach
Gini Graham Scott
Stephen Cataldo
Mary Luersen
Kristen Caven
Karma Bennett
Henry Hitz
We are a proud partner of the 2016 Jack London Legacy Celebration!
