The Gulf Coast Writers Association is proud to provide a forum for fellowship, education, and information for writers in our community. Whether you write for pleasure or profit, you’ll find support from our members. And with an average of 175 members, there’s always encouragement and friendly guidance to help you improve your writing skills. Plus, our monthly speakers’ events are informative and fun, providing expert advice on topics such as writing techniques, publishing, marketing, and others. So no matter what your genre: general fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children’s, young adult, historical fiction, romance, mystery/thriller, memoirs, and more, you’re in good company. Check out our website and see what exciting things we have in store for you.

Announcements

Meet your  GCWA 2020 officers.

The GCWA 2021 writing contest is open for entries.
Writing Contest is open to GCWA members and the public — adults 18 and over, youth 11 to 17
Deadline January 31, 2021
Guidelines and Entry forms here.

Send your suggestions for speakers or topics at meetings this year to Bob McCarthy.

Handouts from Bob and Judy’s presentation on Self-Publishing

Legal handouts from Anne Dalton’s November Presentation

Presentation slides from Charley Valera’s October Presentation

Submit your ideas for Workshops

Visit our new page for Blogs, Podcasts, and Webinars for writers.

Interested in joining a new critique or reading group? [list of current groups]

more announcements

New Writing Game

Speaker: Rebeca Seitz
Topic:  New opportunity for your writing — Podcasts

Get your questions answered and learn about a new opportunity for your writing! Throughout her 16-year career, Rebeca’s abiding passion has been helping writers find an audience for their works. This interest led her forays into book publishing as well as film and television development. In 2019, at the behest of friend Micheal Flaherty (Walden Media), Seitz began exploring the podcast industry in depth. In 2020, she released her newly-formed company’s first scripted podcast production, MAKING THE CUT (makingthecutpodcast.com), based on the memoirs of Dr. Michael Meguid. The show – featuring 99 characters voiced by over 60 actors from studios across the world – quickly climbed into the top 30% of podcast shows worldwide. Rebeca had hit on a new way for her writers to get their stories to the public: the scripted, spoken word. Now, she’s bringing that knowledge to you. According to PodcastHosting.org, 50% of all U.S. homes are podcast fans…and the number is growing. Over 100 million people in this country listen to podcasts monthly. Studios and publishing houses alike have developed divisions specifically to acquire rights to podcast shows. Bottom line: if you aren’t considering a podcast show for your words, you could very well be missing out. Rebeca will share information about the podcast industry and the process of converting the written word into a scripted series. Drawing from her long history in multiple parts of the entertainment business, she’ll also answer your questions about publishing, film, and television paths for getting your work out there.

About Rebeca 

Future speakers.

Meeting: October 17, 2020, 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon
Location: [map] Southwest Florida Military Museum & Library
4820 Leonard Street
Cape Coral, Florida 33904

First time guests free