The Redwood Branch of the California Writers Club (CWCR) is co-publishing an exciting new line of books with UP in 2008. The "Redwood Writers" series will showcase the work of northern California authors in a variety of genres.
Redwood Writers is one of 17 branches of the California Writers Club, the nation’s oldest professional club for authors, founded in 1909. Early members included Jack London, George Sterling, John Muir, Joaquin Miller and the first California poet laureate, Ina Coolbrith. The Club has more than 1,100 members statewide. The Redwood Branch serves writers in the wine country of Sonoma County.
In today’s world, a growing number of writers are using new technologies like “Print on Demand” to publish their own books, rather than fight an uphill battle getting published by traditional book publishing houses. However, authors who self-publish are often charged substantial fees by service providers, or spend many hours juggling complex computer operations to prepare books for publication on their own.
The new series from CWCR and UP combines the best of both worlds, allowing writers to get published without paying fees of any kind, while avoiding daunting technical hassles frequently faced by self-publishing authors who try the "Do It Yourself" approach to book publishing. At the same time, their books are released with the backing of a well-known umbrella group for professional writers and an established trade publisher.
Each new book starts in limited advance release, as a paperback available to order exclusively from the Web sites of UP and its printer(s), CWCR and its authors. Those that demonstrate meaningful public demand become eligible for broader distribution through additional printers and wholesalers that supply mainstream booksellers. The most popular can even become eligible for in-store stocking by bookstores, coast-to-coast.
This innovative approach gives new books and their authors a fair chance to prove their public appeal in real life, without falling prey to vanity presses... or needing a degree in computer science! Completely market-driven, it gives authors the dignity of getting their books in print with a "real" book publisher, and rewards those who most actively promote and market their books.
This exciting new program is available exclusively to members of the California Writers Club, Redwood Branch. Unlike vanity publishing and unlike "Do It Yourself" self-publishing systems or other options that are currently available to most aspiring authors, the Redwood Writers series could rapidly become a powerful new model for more writing groups across the nation and around the world!
Early examples appear below. Future releases will be featured at the Redwood Writers Web site as they become publicly available:
On the Brink of Nora
by JC Miller
Special Advance Release: not yet available from bookstores or other online booksellers! This promising new book is available exclusively at this location, for a limited time only!
ABOUT THE BOOK:One sweltering evening, Nora finds herself alone, dumping another family dinner down the garbage disposal. The next day, on impulse, she agrees to a drastic haircut, shedding her long braid-a lifelong defining feature. Suspecting infidelity in her husband, she makes a hasty departure, and in her absence, her family unravels. Eric wrestles his own inner demons-a sexy younger client who leads him astray-his washed-up career in a crashing housing market. Their daughter, Daniela, is shattered when her father falls from grace, as she struggles to come to terms with her own sexual identity. The story highlights the culture, scenery, food and drink of northern California’s wine country, while delivering a breathless view of life change accessible to contemporary readers everywhere. Please visit jcmillerwriter.com for discussion points, a teaching guide and other helpful resources for the classroom.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jeanne (JC) Miller’s writing reflects her interest in the strength and resilience of women, the pitfalls and complexities of conventional marriage and motherhood. She is currently completing her second novel, The To-Do List. A distinguished educator, with National Board Certification in English Language Arts and a Masters in Education, JC resides and teaches in Northern California.
This special advance release is not yet available from bookstores. For a limited time only, readers can order a copy directly from one of our printers: Please click HERE to order a paperback.
Please check ALL shipping options carefully, to get the best delivered value!
The Meaning of Water
by Marianne Ware
Special Advance Release: not yet available from bookstores or other online booksellers! This promising new book is available exclusively at this location, for a limited time only!
ABOUT THE BOOK:This collection of stories by Marianne Ware runs the gamut from intense childhood experiences to contemporary satire aimed at genealogists, would-be poetry contest winners and Vegan dietary diehards. The title piece tells of a young girl who becomes a veritable “wild child,” exploring the rough and idyllic terrain of the camp her parents manage in upstate New York. Then a city boy visits the camp and convinces her to introduce him to her secret haunts and teach him all she knows about the natural world, especially bodies of water. Unfortunately, he betrays both her generosity and her trust. Other stories explore the nature and origins of sexual guilt and the mind and heart of a vicarious mother. The most controversial piece probes the guilt or innocence of a young man accused of molesting the daughters of his older woman lover. The protagonist tells the story in his poor, white, “Okie” vernacular, leaving the reader to decide if his rationale offers irrefutable proof of his guilt or innocence.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Marianne Ware recently retired from teaching English and Creative Writing at Santa Rosa Junior College. She received her MFA degree from Vermont College in 1984 and began a twenty-year teaching career at SRJC. She was a founder of the Russian River Writers’ Guild and fostered its twenty-five-year-long reading series, the first literary venue in Sonoma County. She has published poetry, fiction and non-fiction in more than a hundred literary magazines, anthologies and tabloids. These include: Red Diaper Babies: Growing up in the Communist Left (University of Illinois Press); Salt Water, Sweet Water and Cartwheels on the Faultline (Florient Press). Her work has also appeared in Iowa Woman, the Modularist Review, Green Fuse and many others. She is also the recipient of an NEA grant for her fiction. Her poetry chapbook, Bodies Nearly Touching, was published by Doris Green Editions. A satiric novel, The Warzog Era, is currently making the rounds.
This special edition is NOT yet available in bookstores, or from other online booksellers! Click on a link below to order a copy directly from one of our printers. A new window will open with your selection already in the shopping cart.
Please click HERE to order a paperback edition.
Please check ALL shipping methods carefully before ordering, to get the best delivered value!
AWESOME LAVRATT
by Ann Wilkes
Special Advance Release: not yet available from bookstores or other online booksellers! This promising new book is available exclusively at this location, for a limited time only!
ABOUT THE BOOK:Beautiful Aranna Navna plans to conquer the galaxy one planet at a time. She steals the Awesome Lavratt, a mind control device, from a freighter in Horace Whistlestop’s junkyard. She takes Horace, too. With the Lavratt, Aranna manipulates the thoughts and desires of everyone around her-until she gets to the Emperor of Calistania. Then things go from bad to worse for Aranna. The Lavratt, however, has only just begun! Oh, the fun you can have from a small cube with mind control powers. Travel the galaxy with Tyrantz Lavratt. Silly science fiction at its best. All puns intended.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
If Ann Wilkes’ alien worlds don’t hook you, her sense of humor will. She has a unique voice that draws the reader into alien realms of danger, intrigue and rollicking adventure. Her science fiction stories have appeared in several online magazines and two print anthologies. She’s finishing a SF novel, Under the Suns of Sarshan, which is a first contact story with a twist. Wilkes lives in California’s Wine Country, with her husband, Patrick and son, Daniel. When she’s not writing, she loves to read, walk and dance. Visit her at http://wilkes.zftp.com.
This special edition is NOT yet available in bookstores, or from other online booksellers! Click on a link below to order a copy directly from one of our printers. A new window will open with your selection already in the shopping cart.
Please click HERE to order a paperback edition.
Please check ALL shipping methods carefully before ordering, to get the best delivered value!
