Big Sur Fiction Writing Workshop

For the past six years writers have come to Big Sur for an intensive weekend workshop designed for writers of adult novels, young adult novels, and narrative nonfiction. The workshop has been very successful - "the boot-camp for writers." We're excited to offer this again.

If you have a manuscript in progress our workshop will provide you with the tools you need to prepare your work for publication. Add the magic and inspiration of the Big Sur setting, gourmet meals, a professional and positive faculty and we promise you will have an unforgettable, insightful, fun and creative weekend.

Through intimate personal meetings, small-group evaluations, panel discussions and much sharing of information, our goal is to have you leave Big Sur with the knowledge and advice on how to get your work ready for submission and acceptance by agents and publishers. To achieve this we have recruited top agents, editors and authors from the fiction part of the publishing field who are most instructive, supportive and giving to new writers.

NOTE! BELOW INFO IS FROM THE 2008 WORKSHOP

FACULTY

PRICING ALTERNATIVES

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

REGISTRATION FORM

SCHEDULE

THINGS TO BRING

DIRECTIONS/HOW TO GET HERE

SUCCESS STORIES

TESTIMONIALS

FACULTY (more to be listed soon):

Editors:

Suzanne O’Neill is currently an Editor at Atria Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, where she edits a wide range of fiction and narrative nonfiction. She is drawn to plot-driven novels with fresh, energetic voices—both historical and contemporary, literary and commercial. Her nonfiction criteria are much the same, and particular areas of interest are pop culture, humor, and issue-driven memoirs. Her list of titles includes the NY Times bestseller Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, The Beautiful Miscellaneous by Dominic Smith, the NY Times bestseller Tommyland by Tommy Lee, and Ivy Briefs by Martha Kimes.

Michael Homler is an Editor at St. Martin's Press. He acquires in a wide range of areas which include literary fiction, mystery/thrillers, graphic novels, narrative nonfiction and biography. He has worked on such books as the NBCC winning biography James Tiptree Jr. by Julie Phillips, The Fault Tree by Louise Ure, Lee Child's anthology Killer Year, and Don Mattingly's Hitting is Simple by Don Mattingly and Jim Rosenthal.

Cynthia Frank, president of QED Press, Cypress House and Lost Coast Press, has more than twenty-five years experience in writing, publishing, editing and teaching. Her articles, essays, book reviews and poetry have appeared in magazines, newspapers, books, newsletters and anthologies. Cypress House is a full-service book production and promotion company as well as royalty house. Cypress House books have won awards and grants from the Before Columbus Foundation, WESTAF, PMA, Independent Publisher, ForeWord Magazine, IAPHC, the Society of Automotive Historians, the Antique Automobile Club of America, the Cat Writers Association, the Camoes Institute, the IBL and the Gulbenkian Foundation..

Authors:

Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of PAY IT FORWARD and LOVE IN THE PRESENT TENSE will add to our program by making a special presentation on Sunday before the farewell lunch. The book "Pay It Forward" has been translated into twenty languages for publication in more than thirty countries, and was chosen among the Best Books for Young Adults 2001 by the American Library Association. The mass market paperback was released in October 2000 by Pocket Books and quickly became a national bestseller. "Pay It Forward" the movie (Warner Brothers) is in release, and Variety has announced that Nicolas Cage has signed on to play Hayden Reese in the film adaptation of "Electric God." Official website here.

Barry Eisler, Author of several best selling novels, he lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area and travels frequently to Japan and other parts of Asia. Rain Storm (Choke Point, UK title) won the Barry Award and the Mystery Ink Gumshoe Award for Best Thriller of the Year, and the Rain books have been included in numerous other "Best Of" lists, including those of the San Jose Mercury News, Publishers Weekly, Ft. Myers News-Press, Deadly Pleasures, and the San Francisco Chronicle. The books have been translated into nearly twenty languages and have been optioned for film by Barrie Osborne, Oscar-winning producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Barry's website!

Eric Adams, is a producer, director, screenwriter, and novelist. He is the author of the suspense/thrillers Plot Twist (St. Martin's Press) and Birdland (Hodder & Stoughton). An award-winning investigative journalist, Eric's work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Salon, Wired and many other publications. He co-wrote and produced the feature film My Suicide (2006).

Jodi Thomas' stories committed to paper have earned her an impressive list of distinguished awards. Her first book, BENEATH THE TEXAS SKY (1988), won the National Press Women’s Novel of the Year in its category. Book two, NORTHERN STAR (1990), was named best novel by the (Texas) Panhandle Professional Writers and the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc., an organization of writers’ groups from several states. Book three, THE TENDER TEXAN (1991), was Thomas’s first national bestseller and won her the first of two Romance Writers of America RITA's, the $1.5 billion romance publishing industry’s equivalent of an "Oscar." Book twelve, TO KISS A TEXAN (1999) was her first novel to score on the USA TODAY Best-selling Books list. For THE TEXAN'S WAGER (2002), sixteen was the magic number. As Thomas’s sixteenth novel, the book scored number sixteen on the NEW YORK TIMES extended bestseller list. FINDING MARY BLAINE, (2004) received the National Readers' Choice Award in 2005. Thomas was inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame in 2006 for winning her third RITA for THE TEXAN'S REWARD (2005). With a degree in Family Studies, Thomas is a marriage and family counselor by education, a background that enables her to write about family dynamics. Honored in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Thomas enjoys interacting with students on the West Texas A & M University campus, where she currently serves as Writer In Residence. Her website here.

Brad Herzog lives in Pacific Grove, California with his wife and two sons, Luke and Jesse. He’s a dedicated father as well as a compassionate writer. Whether it’s sports articles, children’s books or a travel memoir about small town America, his prose is clean, balanced and a joy to read. His publisher for States of Mind was impressed enough with this book to send it in for consideration for a Pulitzer Prize (although he plays this down on his website). It didn’t win, unfortunately. But it did win an IPPY award (one of the ten outstanding books of the year as chosen by Independent Publisher magazine). He’s also won the Cornell University Media Award, the Best of Gannett Award, and several others. His articles have appeared in such prestigious magazines as Cornell, Sports Illustrated, Attaché, Sky, Via, Navigator, and Writer’s Digest.

Nancy Lamb, is the author of over forty books for children and adults, including The World’s Greatest Toe Show, The Vampires Went Thataway!, Vampires and Other Creatures of the Night, and One April Morning. She also wrote the book that serves as the basis for the Fundamentals of Writing for Children Workshop, The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children. She can be reached at her Web site.

Agents:

Andrea Brown: President of Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. since 1981, author of
WRITERS’ AND ARTISTS’ HIDEOUTS: Great Getaways for Seducing the Muse,
published numerous articles for Writer’s Digest and other publications.
She is the executive director of the Big Sur Writing Workshops.

Laura Rennert: Laura Rennert is a Senior Agent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency. She specializes in literary fiction, women’s fiction, crossover fiction, mysteries and thrillers, and narrative nonfiction. Some of her deals include a middle-grade/YA series she sold to Random House for over half a million dollars (by a Big Sur attendee), a six-figure YA deal to Knopf, two six-figure deals for works of literary fiction to Doubleday, and a film deal to Nickelodeon/Paramount. Laura has a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Virginia, and has taught at the University of Virginia, Osaka University of Foreign Studies in Japan, and Santa Clara University. She is the author of a picture book, BUYING, TRAINING, AND CARING FOR YOUR DINOSAUR, forthcoming with Knopf.

April Eberhardt, Associate Agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. April joined the Andrea Brown Literary Agency Inc. in 2006 after three years of editorial work with a major literary magazine. Her specialty is adult literary fiction, particularly family dramas and realistic midlife tales, often with a twist, preferably involving strong female characters. She is attracted to collections of interlinked stories with a common character or theme. An original voice and smart, speedy delivery are critical. She enjoys working with new authors to edit and streamline their manuscripts before submitting them to publishers. April earned an MBA from Boston University and a BA in Anthropology and French from Hamilton College. Her prior careers in banking and management consulting honed her strategic, marketing and presentation skills and serve her well in her literary endeavors.

Michelle Andelman is an Associate Agent and the East Coast Rep for Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. in New York City. She specializes in children's books, having recently placed projects ranging from from the funny, sweet picture book to YA urban fantasy with publishers including Hyperion, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Harcourt, and Jabberwocky/Sourcebooks. She also handles crossover/YA, literary fiction, upmarket women's fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, the graphic novel, and graphic memoir in the adult market.

Other faculty will be added accordingly to keep small ratio of writers to faculty.

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PRICING :

• The entire weekend package is $ 695.00. This includes a shared room at the Big Sur Lodge, all meals (incl. Tax and grats), the entire workshop, and reception Friday evening.

• Shared accommodations mean two participants per room. If you would like a private room, there is an additional $100.00 cost for the weekend.

• For a guest not participating in the workshop, but sharing a room including all meals and the reception, the cost is $ 390.00

• For locals, not needing a room at the Big Sur Lodge, but attending the workshop including all meals and the reception, the price is $ 595.00.

• Previous participants receive a 5 % discount.

• Cancellation policy: 75% REFUND IF CANCELLED TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO STARTING DATE.
AFTER THAT NO REFUND.

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• SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Registration form (pdf)

Full payment can be sent by mail to:

"Writing Workshops" Henry Miller Library, Highway One, Big Sur, CA 93920
or by calling 831-667-2574.
We will also e-mail the registration form to you if you like.

Your manuscript submission will not be considered until payment has been received. You will receive immediate confirmation of registration upon receipt of payment.

• The first two chapters, or first 20 pages must be submitted by:

• FEBRUARY 9, 2008.

• Send submissions for evaluation asap and definitely before the above date to:

Andrea Brown, 1076 Eagle Drive, Salinas, Ca 93905.
Mark envelope: “Big Sur Submission.”

• Works may not be accepted if the content falls outside the faculty area of expertise, or if the director feels the work and writer would not benefit from attending the workshop. Works in progress (unfinished) will be acceptable. You will be notified as soon as possible, with a full refund of registration fee, should your work not be approved. Notification of acceptance or non-acceptance is via email. The submitted material will be used by faculty for individual meetings during conference and will not be returned nor should it be counted as one of the copies you should bring to workshop.

• Register early. We will sell out and we will keep the workshop small for personal attention.

• Bring 5 copies of what you plan to work on at workshop. There may be time to work on more than one project so feel free to bring a second manuscript. (you can also bring a whole manuscript with two or three areas to work on and not forgetting to bring five copies of that extra work as well).
If you have any questions please e-mail us.

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• SCHEDULE

Big Sur Writing Workshop Schedule:

Friday, March 7:
2:00-2:15: Meet in Big Sur Lodge Conference Center. Check into room before if possible.
2:15: Welcome and Introductions of faculty.
3:15--5:15: Critique Group 1 -- first chapters.
5:25: Some private critiques.
6:00: Reception with wine and dinner
8:15: Chat with the Editors.

Saturday, March 8:
7:30--8:30: Breakfast
8:45--10:30: Critique Group 2.
10:40--Noon: Private critiques and concurrent session in conference center with Andrea Brown and Laura Rennert.
Noon: Lunch
1:30--2:45: Critique Group 3: Character Development.
Free re-writing time
6:15: Dinner
8:00: Bestselling author Barry Eisler discusses publishing with the big houses and book to film.

Sunday, March 9:
7:30--8:30: Breakfast.
8:45--10:30: Critique Group 1 repeated.
10:40--11:45: Hear bestselling author, Catherine Ryan Hyde.
11:45: Pack and check out.
Noon: Lunch and Farewell.

Note: All meals are in Lodge Dining Room.

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• THINGS TO BRING:

*Rooms have no TV, radio or alarm clocks. Plan to write. Bring pads, laptops (personal printers is good to bring). Bring flashlight, comfortable clothes and shoes, rain gear. Bring alarm clock. There is no wake-up service.

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HOW TO GET HERE

From: San Francisco, CA
To: Big Sur Lodge, Big Sur, CA

Take Highway 101 South to Highway 156 West. Connect to Highway 1 South. Continue through Monterey/Carmel. Our lodge is 26 miles south of Carmel in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Turn left into the park and follow the signs to the Lodge. For the most scenic route, take Highway 1 down the coast from San Francisco. Distance: 150 miles

From: Los Angeles, CA
To: Big Sur Lodge, Big Sur, CA

Beginning at Los Angeles, CA, take Highway 101 North to San Luis Obispo. Connect to Highway 1 North all the way to Big Sur. Turn right into Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. After entering the park, please follow the signs to the Lodge. Distance: 311 miles

NOTE: If the weather is wet, windy and/or rainy, please check road conditions ( enter SR 1 in the search field) before you take off. This is especially true for those of you who are coming from the south. The road is often closed during wet weather in the south portion of Big Sur. The alternate road is to continue Hwy 101 N, passing San Luis Obispo, to Salinas. When you get to Salinas take the road saying "Monterey Peninsula, Hwy 68 West," then connect to Hwy 1 S and drive down the coast. This way actually doesn't take more than about 20 minutes longer in time.

To view a comprehensive map of the Central Coast region visit the
Big Sur Chamber of Commerce website.

Closest airport is Monterey Airport

Others that are within 3 hours driving time are San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco airports.

We will send out e-mail to all participants to facilitate carpooling/car rental sharing as we get closer to the start date. In the past many have taken advantage of this.

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The Big Sur Writing Workshops is happy to announce the following new success stories:

The adult fiction workshop in March: Congratulations to Rebecca Wolf, attendee from 2005 on her sale of RENEGADE MAMA to editor Brooke Warner at Avalon Books, sold by agent, Laura Rennert.

Congratulations to Christina Meldrum! After attending the Big Sur Writing Workshop a couple of years ago, Laura Rennert of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. sold a two book, six-figure deal with Alfred A. Knopf for Christina! We can't wait to see the books and have Christina attend as faculty.

Also congrats to Harry Haines for signing a two novel deal with Mayhaven Publishing.

The children's book workshop from this past December, congratulates Elizabeth Shreeve who has now sold two picture book manuscripts to Front Street/Boyd's Mills Press. That brings the children's book workshop successes to seven writers.

Who is the next success story?

If any other former attendees have sales as a result of attending the workshops, please let Magnus at the Henry Miller Library know as soon as possible so we can post it. Keep writing!

Thank you,

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Testimonials from participants in previous Writing Workshops:

"I love the sense of community here. It reminds me of the level of professionalism that is needed, i.e. time to work: time to network, talk and enjoy the process of writing. Great! Great! Great!"

"No wonder people are coming all the way from Brazil!"

"The best part was the intensity! The editors/agents are so down to earth & accessible! I like that serious writers were here to discuss work. It raised the standards for people.”

“Diverse and insightful critique from colleagues and opportunity to meet and gather insights from people in the industry.”

“The best part is that you make us work!”

"Multiple critique sessions worked perfectly!”

"Having a professional in the field to ask questions of - very specifically - regarding how work fits in publishing world was the best part."

"I was actually surprised that the rooms where so comfortable and the food was marvellous, The Best!"

"Superb - The absence of distractions make this conference so much more productive."

"This conference felt like family."

"I achieved what I came for - to solve story problems."

"Excellent."

"Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!"

"I'll be back!"

"Exceptional!"

"Awesome."

"Great."

"Lodging excellent, location spectacular."

“The food was great! I was completely, and pleasantly surprised.”