When writing nonfiction, credibility is key. Once a writer chooses a subject and a market, the work begins in earnest. Two veteran writers will share techniques that impress agents and publishers and lead to publication success.
As an author of both police procedure novels and true crime, Jim Barrett will address getting the crime information correct and the differences between writing fiction and nonfiction. Barrett is a published author of five books and several screenplays who holds a BA from UC Santa Barbara and a Master’s in Public Administration from CSU Northridge. He worked in law enforcement for 30 years, including time as a major crimes investigator. He was also an adjunct professor at Ventura Community College for nearly 20 years. He currently serves as a Police Procedures Consultant for authors and producers/directors.
Writer, editor and researcher George Winship is the proprietor of The Village Wordsmith, a business that specializes in helping writers get published in print or on platforms such as Kindle, Amazon, Smashwords, and iBooks. Winship will speak about the process of interviewing, fact-checking and proper use of quotations and references. He’ll explain how to structure books, edit and polish them, and about document preparation and formatting issues once a book is accepted for publication. He earned his MA in Journalism from the University of Oregon. He spent nearly 34 years writing nonfiction articles, features and columns in Oregon, Montana and California. For the past seven years he was Editor of the Anderson Valley Post, a weekly newspaper.
The program takes place at All Saints Episcopal Church, 2150 Benton Drive, Redding, CA 96003, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For further details, contact writersforumprogramchair@gmail.com, visit www.reddingwritersforum.com
