We're a proud supporter of Field's End, a wondrous organization that "serves the writers’ community and nurtures the written word through lectures, workshops and instruction in the art, craft, and profession of writing."

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Winter 2012 Classes

Registration beings December 8th for Winter classes.

The Art of Research
Instructor: Wendy Call

Description: Learn how to put files, stacks, and bytes to work for your writing. Whether it's a new online database, 50-year-old book, 300-year-old manuscript, or 500-year-old map that you need, this workshop will help you find the resources that best inform your writing. It might be an essay, novel, play, or poem you're creating, but at some point you'll need to do some old-fashioned research--using newfangled tools. Bring your research questions and your laptop (optional); we'll dig up the answers. A reference librarian will join us for part of the day as we navigate information superhighways and carriage roads.

Biography: Wendy Call is the 2011 Distinguished Visiting Writer at Cornell College of Iowa. She has been Writer in Residence at more than a dozen institutions, including universities, arts schools, a national park, and a public hospital. Call is the author of No Word for Welcome (2011), co-editor of Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide (2007), and translator of Mexican poetry and short fiction. She has completed research for her writing in a hospital emergency room, in forests and rural villages, and in historical archives on three continents--but her most relied-upon source is her local, public library. www.wendycall.com

Maximum class size: 20
Number of sessions: 1
Dates: Sunday, January 22
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 4 p.m. (with one-hour lunch break)
Tuition: $100
Location: Library Meeting Room, Bainbridge Public Library, 1270 Madison Avenue,  Bainbridge Island, WA  98110

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Marketing Your Book to Agents or Publishers
Instructor: Alice B. Acheson

Description: You've written your book or have a partial manuscript. Now you must write the query letter and synopsis. Where to begin? Reference books seem to have conflicting methods. Is there "one way" to do it? Which details must be included? Which statements should be avoided? Alice Acheson shares what works, what doesn't--and why. While much of this class will focus on fiction, the process can benefit nonfiction writers working on memoirs, biographies, or other creative nonfiction. Saturday will focus on the query letter. It may not be "perfect" when you leave the class, but you'll have a clear idea how to complete the final polish. Sunday will focus on putting the "sell" into the synopsis, using and amplifying what has been learned. For individualized attention, the class is limited to 10 students.

After registering, students will receive, via email, guidelines for writing a one-page query and a synopsis, plus an example of a query that succeeded. Before February 3, students should email directly to the instructor their query letter and synopsis and bring to class 12 copies of each. Between the Saturday and Sunday classes, students will be asked to read all synopses and be ready to comment.

Biography: Alice B. Acheson is a Marketing Specialist and Publishing Consultant with Alice Acheson 2011decades of experience. She has negotiated book contracts, sold subsidiary rights, and edited and publicized books. She is the recipient of the Literary Market Place Outside Services Award for Advertising, Promotion, and Publicity. As an editor at a major New York City publisher, she read the "slush" pile and spotted the "go/no-go" elements of a project. As a publicist, she has handled many titles that have appeared on The New York Times bestseller list. Nationally, she has taught workshops on marketing tools, pitching manuscripts, and publishing choices. She lives in Friday Harbor.        

Maximum class size: 10
Number of sessions: 2
Dates: Saturday, February 11 and Sunday, February 12
Time: Sat. 1:30-5:30 p.m. and Sun. 1-5 p.m.
Tuition: $160
Location: Library Meeting Room, Bainbridge Public Library, 1270 Madison Avenue,  Bainbridge Island, WA  98110

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