NORTH COAST, Calif. – Held this past summer via Zoom, the first-ever virtual Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference was a well-earned success, and participants are asking for more.

The Conference, or MCWC, is now offering a Winter Publishing Series, a three-part series featuring online seminars focused on publishing topics:

– “Save The…Novel?” with Francesca Lia Block, Dec. 5, 12 p.m. PST.
– “Submitting Strategies” with Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Jan. 9, 12 p.m. PST.
– “Publishing with Small Presses” with Diana Arterian, Feb. 6, 12 p.m. PST.

Each seminar will be two hours in length and will include a presentation, resources, and questions and answers.

Registration is $20 each, or $50 for all three. Recordings of the seminars will be made available to registrants who are unable to attend live.

These seminars were developed in response to the great demand for MCWC programming on these topics at the 2020 Conference.

“We're excited to offer these seminars, which we designed in response to requests from our 2020 participants. Our instructors are experienced, we're honored to have them join us to share their knowledge, and writers will benefit from their expertise,” said Executive Director Lisa Locascio.

“I'm particularly excited for the iconic Francesca Lia Block's seminar on applying a beats structure to fiction, and I know that writers will be eager to learn from ‘Women Who Submit’ founder Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo and distinguished poet, teacher, and translator Diana Arterian,” Locascio said. “There's a lot of information out there about how to pursue publishing through the traditional agented path, and comparatively less about how writers can find, submit to, and publish their work with independent presses and magazines. Francesca, Xochitl, and Diana are here to show our community the way forward, and MCWC is so excited to partner with these great writers on this new venture.”

These seminars also serve another important purpose for MCWC this year: fundraising. Like so many arts organizations during COVID-19, MCWC faces a significant budget shortfall.

Every registration helps the organization continue creating meaningful, prestigious and high-quality literary programming for the community.

For more information about registration, please visit our website, www.mcwc.org.