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Based in Central Colorado since 1995, Central Colorado (CC) Writers fosters writing and encourages publication through the sharing of resources critique sessions, and information. (more)     

 

*Note: The mobile phone version of this website does not work at this time.

Join us for our free and open to the public WE Write (WW) Sessions!

Our next WE Write session will be held at the Salida Regional Library on Tuesday, 5 Dec, from 10:30-12:00. Our annual membership meeting will be held prior to that from 9:30-10:30 in the same location. CCW author Stephani Oswald will lead the WE Write with a theme of Writing in a Winter Wonderland (with a focus on setting and character.) We are working on a Zoom option for this event. Feel free to bring your own snacks and beverages. The We Write is free and open to all, but if you plan to attend, either in person or via ZOOM, please RSVP at tdury3384@gmail.com.

 

WW sessions usually meet on the Zoom platform. Each session has time allotted at the start for general discussion, writing updates, and events. We start the WW sessions at 6 p.m. (MT) and are always done by 8 p.m..

 

Plan for a 15-minute "head start" for technical set-up before the start time.

The opportunity to read your writing is encouraged with no critique! See our Event Calendar for dates, times. Zoom connection information is sent the day before the session. Be sure to RSVP!

Join WE Write (WW) Zoom Session Here!

Contact Tom Dury to volunteer as a session facilitator! tdury3384@gmail.com

Subscribe to CCW to stay current with our schedule of events!

CC Writers In the News

Awards

Children's Author Joni Franks was recently honored by the 2023 American Fiction Awards with FIVE finalist awards for her books The Crooked Forest: Cloud Crazed and Corky Tails: Tales of a Tailless Dog Named Sagebrush.

Kathy Taylor won the 2023 Firebird Award for Multi-Cultural Fiction for her recently published book The Birthing House.

Cam Torrens' debut thriller, Stable was selected as the 2023 PenCraft Fiction-Thriller-General 1st Place Winner. 

Releases

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The Dollars and Sense of Self Publishing – Part One by Dan Bishop
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Your first book is fast coming to completion (or maybe already completed). You want to see it published. You want to get it out there. But you have decided not to travel the Traditional Publishing Path, sending out dozens (hundreds?) of query letters to agents, hoping someone will actually read it and decide they just might have time to look at another manuscript. And of course, if they do, they then need to decide to adopt it (lucky you). And then they must go through the same process with editors, hoping one of their contacts will be sufficiently interested to at least look at your manuscript. Chances of adoption by a major publisher? Better than a lottery ticket, perhaps, but not by much.

The Indie Press Path is another option. A step up from Vanity Press who require authors to submit up-front fees or to contract to buy a certain number of books, these are very small publishing houses with a handful of editors. These may not require an agent, eliminating the first hurdle in the "getting published" process described above. They may provide editorial assistance and cover design. They make their money from the publisher’s commission, but the royalty return to the author is usually better than offered by the majors. Many will have a marketing staff who try to influence you to take advantage of their many marketing outlets (book shows, fairs, etc.) for a fee. Undoubtedly, many of them hope to someday represent a NYT best seller and reap handsome rewards.

I published my book Mastering Spanish Irregular Verbs in 2009 through i-Universe, Inc., one of the many Indie Press companies out there.

A third option is Self Publishing. When the manuscript for my first novel Saturn Conundrum was coming together in fall of 2022 (Really? Just a year ago?), my experience with i-Universe convinced me I could do just as well by self-publishing. So I set about pursuing this option, and in three months, start-to-finish, I had my first book order (26 copies) sitting on my desk. I also kept a detailed account of the process and my costs, and that is the topic of the remainder of this article and next month’s Tips and Tidbits.

Step 1. Obtain an ISBN number for your book. In the U.S., there is only one outlet for ISBN numbers, and that is Bowker. You can obtain ISBN years before publishing, so do it NOW. Cost is $129 for 1 ISBN, but since every format (ebook, paperback, hardcover) needs its own ISBN, you are better off to buy 10, offered at $295.
CAUTION: Order directly from www.Bowker.com, which takes you to www.myidentifiers.com.  There are several Internet websites phishing for your business. A google search turns them up and they look legitimate. But they exist only to troll you into their net and take your money, either by charging you a useless ‘service fee’ or by swindling you out of your money outright.

Step 2. Your book is complete. Or is it? Yes, I know you’ve edited and edited. But trust me, your book is full of typos and consistency errors (e.g., the victim’s name mysteriously changes from Jean to Jane halfway through the book.) Read through your manuscript, slowly, deliberately, one last time. Do only the minor edits (changing ‘to’ to ‘too’), noting all major edits on a notepad. The point here is to read through the book in one or two sittings. Absorb the flavor. Enjoy the story. Revel in the fact that this is your very own creation. Just take good notes for later editing. Once through the read, make the major edits. If there are a lot of them, read the manuscript again!

Step 3. Obtain a copyright for your work. This will cost $45. The same precaution as mentioned in Step 1 applies here:
CAUTION: Order directly from www.copyright.gov, which provides a simple form to fill out.  There are several Internet websites phishing for your business. A google search turns them up and they look legitimate. But they exist only to troll you into their net and take your money, either by charging you a useless ‘service fee’ or by swindling you out of your money outright.

After you have filled out the government’s form, you will be asked to submit your work as a pdf file. You can use Microsoft Word’s File Export As... option to convert a Word document to pdf format. Other programs offer this same option. Note: The copyright office isn’t concerned that you might make minor changes to your manuscript after you’ve sent them the first copy. However, if you add a chapter, for example, it will only be protected under copyright if you apply again for a revised manuscript copyright.

This covers Steps 1 through 3. You now have a very clean manuscript, ten ISBN numbers, and a copyright for a total outlay of $340.

Subscribe to Receive
Free News & Updates

Join our email list to receive updates and notifications about upcoming writing sessions, workshops, twice monthly critique sessions, November NaNoWriMo mentoring, Members' new book releases, Salida Art Walk community event participation, links from our website to your published book(s).

Contact us!

CC Writers Exchange Membership

CCW Members receive these extras

for only $20 next year (2023) ...

​>  Workshop discounts​

>  Monthly Critique sessions

>  November NaNoWriMo Mentoring

​>  WE Write sessions

​>  Links to your website​​

​>  End of year Book Exchange

>  Members only year-end writing session

Join now on our Membership Page!

Contact Membership Chair Laurel McHargue with questions

Writing Critique Sessions
Opportunities

Want feedback on your writing from other authors? Having trouble finding beta readers? Want to learn about writing craft by reviewing other authors’ work?

Join the FREE CCW Critique Group – for CCW members only.

This on-line group meets twice per month on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to about 8:00 (see the CCW calendar for dates). By Sunday prior to the meeting, post your submission (3,000 words maximum) to Google Docs. You have three days to review/provide written feedback on three submissions and, in return, you will receive three reviews on your work. At Wednesday’s on-line meeting, you will give/receive additional feedback.

If you’re not a Google Docs user – NO WORRIES! Our facilitators will walk you through how to upload and download documents like a pro.

If you want to find out more? Please contact Author and CCW Board Member, Linda Ditchkus. Contact Linda Ditchkus HERE! or call her at 720-985-8450.

- The Buena Vista Library is sponsoring its third Local Author's Fair, scheduled for Saturday, December 2, from noon to 3:00.
The library has also scheduled a presentation to help support your marketing efforts and offer tips for connecting with people/customers in a multi-vendor setting on Wednesday, November 1 at 5:00 p.m. in the Library Meeting Room.


Contact Sarah Greenberg <sgreenberg@buenavistalibrary.org> for more information.

 

- The BV library reached out to CC Writers  to let us know about their free virtual author talks. They've got some big names coming up in their series.

 

If you haven't attended one of these talks yet, it's simple to register and watch live (and submit questions to the author,) or watch the recording if the timing doesn't suit your schedule. The full list of upcoming author talks is here: https://libraryc.org/buenavistalibrary/upcoming

 

The next talk is Joy Hargo (Nov 16.)

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