Services

Educational Meetings:

We host educational meetings which are free and open to the public, commonly held on the second Saturday of most months. We  present topics on various areas of writing and publishing.  Check out the Welcome page for additional details about each meeting.

First Pages:

First Pages is derived from a comprehensive survey done by Simon & Schuster assessing how readers buy books. After examining the cover and the back cover blurb, most readers turn to the first page. What was stunning about the survey was that they found roughly two-thirds of buyers made their buying decisions based on reading the first page of a book. Roughly half made their decisions based on reading only the first paragraph. Even more incredible is that about one-third made purchase decisions by reading only the first sentence. This is why a book’s first page is important in hooking readers.

Here’s how it works: If you would like feedback on your first page (novel, story, or article), please bring a double-spaced hard copy of your first page to a monthly educational meeting and give it to our President Matt Bayan.

Matt will read the page aloud to the membership without disclosing the name of the author. After the first sentence is read, the group votes on whether that sentence makes them want to continue reading. The rest of the first paragraph is read and the group votes again. Then the rest of the page is read, another vote occurs, and then comments are elicited from the group regarding the good and bad points of the piece.

Workshops:

Our workshops help our members hone their craft and work toward success in publishing. Their cost varies. Members receive a discounted rate; non-members pay full cost. Our goal is to keep these events as affordable as possible. Check out the Welcome page for details about upcoming workshops.

Critique Groups: (You must be a member in order to participate. It’s only $25 a year.)

Critique Groups are small groups of writers, usually consisting of six to ten members, meeting weekly, bi-weekly, or once a month.

The function of the critique groups is to inspire– to get those creative juices flowing– and push a writer to write to the best of their ability. Though we feel these groups are powerful tools for our writers, we understand that they aren’t for everyone.  So before a member joins a group, we request that they sit in on a meeting. These groups are optional, so it is up to a member to join or leave at any time.

If you would like to observe a critique group, please contact membership@highsierrawriters.org. Please include in the email:

  • Your Name
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • City where you lives, or would be willing to a group at
  • Availability (days/times that are best)
  • Genre(s) you typically write in
  • Level of writing you consider yourself to be (beginner, advanced, published, etc.)
  • Do they have completed novels they would like critiqued, or have you just started a project?

Scholarships: (You must be a member and have fulfilled the scholarship requirements in order to be eligible to be considered.)

Like to take a writing class, go to a writers’ conference or a workshop offered by another writers’ organization?

For a copy of the scholarship requirements, please email membership@highsierrawriters.org.