Welcome!
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]
New Writing Game
October 2020
The October GCWA will be a ZOOM meeting.
We have lost our meeting room, so the meeting will be Zoom only. Please register in advance at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcof-CvrD4oGdMcfx2ccM2syFtVHR-KXj8K
You will receive an email with instructions for joining the meeting.
Register early. The meeting will only accomodate 100 people. There will be no charge for our first Zoom meeting. In the future, non-members will be charged.
Rebeca Seitz
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.
Meeting: October 17, 2020, 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon
Location: ZOOM meeting
Register here.
Join Us!
Gulf Coast Writers provide ideas, support, encouragement, resources and networking opportunities to fellow writers. Don’t miss out on all the great speakers we have planned for the upcoming year. Click button below to learn what you will get within our association. Only $40 annual ($50 for families). Come join the fun!
LIKE our Facebook page and check out our meeting photos.
Dear Members: Renew now! We value your membership and don’t want you to miss the exciting events we have planned for the coming year. Dues are payable from Fall until January 31 and are good through the end of 2021. If you haven’t renewed and plan to attend our next meeting, please bring your money or check with you. Or you can pay today! Simply click the Membership Application tab and renew your membership online via PayPal. If you aren’t sure if you have paid your membership dues, please e-mail website@GulfWriters.org.
Latest Good News
If there is an ellipsis (…) at the end of a post here, that means there is more to read. To read a complete post, click on the headline. Or, if you want to scroll through ALL of our Good News, Click Here for more good news. Good news is for members only. If you would like to join in the fun, visit the Membership Application Page to learn more about joining. If you are are a GCWA member with Good News, please send email to website@gulfwriters.org.
Susan Grunin’s cover article on Best of the Vine
Susan Grunin is featured on cover article in the September 2020 edition of the Best of the Vine [...]Judy Loose publishes new book
Judy Loose, aka J.C. Ferguson, published her second Mangrove Madness novel. Mangrove Madness: Who Are You? is available on Amazon.Andrew Conlyn’s New Book Available
Andrew Conlyn published a science fiction novel The Venus Prophecy in May 2020. It is available on Amazon.
Events
We get a lot of upcoming events sent to us, from all over Florida and even beyond. If there is an ellipsis (…) at the end of a post here, that means there is more to read. To read a complete post, click on the headline. Take a look at all the events. You can Click Here for more Events, and you can go to our calendar to see those that are posted in our local Lee county and surrounding areas. If you are affiliated with a group that is hosting an event that is relevant to authors, please send email to website@gulfwriters.org.
IngramSpark’s FREE Online Book Design Course
How to Design A Book Learn how to design a book cover and interior with the newest course available in the IngramSpark Academy! This course [...]Writer’s Digest Virtual Conference
Chuck Wendig as Opening Keynote and Revised Virtual Conference Schedule Writer’s Digest is excited to re-announce the opening keynote for this [...]
Writing Contests
If there is an ellipsis (…) at the end of a post here, that means there is more to read. To read a complete post, click on the headline. Or, if you want to scroll through ALL of Writing Contests we have heard about, Click Here for more writing contests. If you are affiliated with a group that is hosting a writing contest, please send email to website@gulfwriters.org.
Women’s National Book Association Writing Contest
The 2020 WNBA Writing Contest is now open! Deadline December 1, 2020 Do you want to show the world your writing? Does the chance to win a cash [...]GCWA 2021 Writing Contest
The GCWA Writing Contest is now open for entries. Deadline: January 31, 2021 Writing Contest is open to GCWA members and the public — adults 18 [...]WOW! Fall 2020 Flash Fiction Contest
FALL 2020 FLASH FICTION CONTEST Deadline: 11/30/2020 OVERVIEW: WOW! hosts a (quarterly) writing contest every three months, [...]
Announcements and Opportunities
If there is an ellipsis (…) at the end of a post here, that means there is more to read. To read a complete post, click on the headline. Or, if you want to scroll through ALL of our Announcements, Click Here for more announcements. Also, if you would like to make an announcement of your own, please send email to website@gulfwriters.org.
Writers Blok Online FREE Version!
We wanted to reach out to you regarding an exciting new development at Writers Blok Online: a free membership option to our online [...]Writers on the Air
Every Sunday, WKDW 97.5 FM nonprofit radio invites amateur writers, poets, and comedians to perform or read on its program "Writers on the Air." [...]Submit ideas for workshops
At the November 2019 GCWA meeting, we asked what workshops people would like to attend. The following are current requests for workshops. [...]
GCWA officers
Meet the officers and directors for 2018/19.
Members Poetry and Prose
See the latest contributions by our members, Lorraine Walker Williams, Jim Gustafson and Joe Pacheco. Send your own poetry and short prose to website@gulfwriters.org.
New GCWA meeting agenda
We are replacing our long business meetings with contributions from our members. If you would like to speak at one of our meetings, please contact Bob McCarthy at Programs@GulfWriters.org or Irene Smith at Membership@GulfWriters.org
Information wanted
GCWA members — send us your photos, your bios, your books to be listed on the website — email website@gulfwriters.org.
Visit your local book stores
There are several book stores who sell books by local authors. Visit, buy books, check on selling your books on their shelves. List of stores
Looking for Word Song editor
Due to time constraints our News Magazine WORD SONG is needing an Executive Editor with MailChimp experience in order to continue. If you would like to know more about it, please email TheWord@gulfwriters.org We will continue to send out a basic meeting announcement until then. If you are not seeing these emails, please search your SPAM and PROMOTIONS folder and then add the address to your contacts list. Or contact membership@gulfwriters.org to verify that your email is in the system. You can click here to see the current edition and get instructions for how to find our emails.
Services page on website
We have added a Writing Services page to the website. GCWA members, if you have a writing-related business you would like listed, please contact website@gulfwriters.org. No fancy ads, just listings for editors, illustrators, publishers, ghost writers, website designers, etc.