Literary Agents, Authors teach at Yosemite Area Writers' Conference

March 19, 2011 - PRLog -- Literary Agents, Authors teach at Central California Writers' Conference
Annual Yosemite area conference offers authors education, networking
OAKHURST, CA, April 30-May 1, 2011:  In addition to best-selling author Bob Morris, hosts of other writing celebrities are filling the card for the 2011 Central California Writers' Conference at Sierra Sky Ranch in Oakhurst, California, April 30 through May 1. The lineup includes Literary Agent and Author Lucienne Diver, Editor and Author Jan Holmes-Frost, Poet Sam Pereira, and Steve Mettee, the expert on selling non-fiction to publishers. Other agents include Ashley and Carolyn Grayson, founders of the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency, and Kathleen Rushall of Waterside Productions, a literary agency in San Diego with affiliations in New York.
What makes the Central California Writers' Conference unique enough to attract these publishing celebrities? According to Conference Coordinator HL Arledge, it is the setting and characters more than the plot. "Like other conferences, writers have one-on-ones with agents, and they attend workshops on how to plot, build characters, compose poetry, or write their memoirs. We even have a short story contest every year. The difference is our insistence on a relaxed, retreat-like setting. Every year, we are in a mountain resort near the gates of Yosemite. No more than seventy-five admissions are allowed, so everyone attending really gets to know visiting agents and authors, instead of being lost in the crowds of larger conferences."
The Central California Writers' Conference is sponsored annually by the Central Valley Writers' Workshop, a non-profit writing critique group that meets weekly in Madera. For schedule and contest dates, visit californiawritersconference.com or phone HL Arledge at (559)304-5087 or Monica McClanahan at (559)692-2665.
Conference Headliner Bob Morris is the author of five novels set in Florida and the Caribbean, along with several collections of essays. His novel Bahamarama was a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Mystery Novel. That novel launched a bestselling mystery series, featuring protagonist Zack Chasteen. The series includes Jamaica Me Dead, Bermuda Schwartz, A Deadly Silver Sea, and Baja Florida. In addition to writing best-sellers and contributing to numerous food and travel magazines, including Islands, Caribbean Travel & Life, Bon Appétit, Orlando Home & Leisure, and Edible Orlando, Bob Morris teaches Creative Non-Fiction at Rollins College.
Ashley Grayson founded the literary agency that bears his name in 1976. It is a full service literary agency handling literary and commercial fiction and non-fiction for Adult and Young Adult readers. Both, Ashley Grayson and Carolyn Grayson are members of the American Association of Authors' Representatives.
A reporter for the Huffington Post recently described Ashley Grayson as the best agent in the universe. Grayson did not deny it. Instead, he explained why. "I insist all clients treat their works as financial investments that must pay dividends in the long term. The author who needs us as his or her agent is serious about strategic investments in craft and career, and wants to maximize the return they enjoy from the books they write. Some agents are trend chasers, they pursue clients who can fill a niche and write something like so and so. Other agents are day traders. They will sell any book they can flip for a profit in three days. Many agents are good at this. Some agents get lucky and confuse luck with strategic vision. We can't represent everyone and we don't believe in luck."
Literary Agent Lucienne Diver joined the Knight Agency in 2008, after spending fifteen years at New York City’s prestigious Spectrum Literary Agency. With her sharp eye and gift for spotting original new voices, Lucienne is one of the most well respected agents in the industry and her own novels, Vamped and Revamped, have made best-sellers lists for Young Adult fiction.
Jan Holmes-Frost is an editor for Fire Ship Press in Arizona, and author of The Fiction Writers' Eight Step Journal. She will conduct various workshops at the conference. She specializes in character development and writing that creates a sense of place.
Steve Mettee is founder of Quill Driver Books and the Write Thought (TheWriteThought.com). He is the author of The Fast-Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal and the editor of The Portable Writers’ Conference: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Published, and The American Directory of Writer’s Guidelines. His workshop is entitled Reality Literature: A Workshop on Writing and Publishing Your Memoir.
Sam Pereira is an American poet from Los Banos, California. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University at Fresno in 1971 and his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1975, where he was a student in the legendary Iowa Writers' Workshop.
The conference is the last weekend in April at the Sierra Sky Ranch, located off Highway 41 at 50552 Road 632 on the north side of Oakhurst and ten miles from the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. Established in 1875, the mountain resort is a favorite getaway for golfers, anglers, ghost hunters, and writers.
Admission to the 2011 Central California Writers' Conference is only 159 dollars for the weekend or 98 dollars for a single day. For more information, visit californiawritersconference.com or phone HL Arledge at (559)304-5087 or Monica McClanahan at (559)692-2665.

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The non-profit Central Valley Writers Workshop hosts the annual Central California Writers' Conference