About

For fifteen years writers have come to the Big Sur Writing Workshops for a hands-on intensive weekend designed to ready their manuscripts for publication.   It’s like writing boot camp, except there are no push-ups.  (Well, maybe just a couple…

Please register here for the March 1-3, 2013 Writing Workshop at the Embassy Suites in Monterey/Seaside. Directions here.

Registration for December is now closed. The December workshop takes place at the State Park Lodge in Pfieffer Big Sur State Park. Click here for directions.

Designed for Writers by the Experts

The workshops are designed for writers with finished or partially-finished manuscripts that need critiquing, revising, and general editorial guidance.  Our workshops provide participants with the tools needed to prepare their manuscripts for submission to agents and editors. In today’s competitive marketplace a tightly-written, polished manuscript is essential.

Work closely with agents, editors, and authors

The format of the weekend program is unlike that of other conferences and workshops.  Writers meet and work closely with at least three faculty members (who can be agents, editors, and authors) throughout the weekend.  The ratio of faculty-to-writers is five to one or better, and no two writers have the same experience.

Faculty are established book professionals who are dedicated to helping new writers. The unique nature of our workshops has made them so popular that many attendees return year after year.

A track record of fantastic successes!

We are proud of more than a dozen success stories arising from the Big Sur Writing Workshops, including Jeff Stone’s half-million dollar deal with Random House for the Five Ancestors series, and Christina Meldrum’s two book, six-figure deal with Alfred A. Knopf.   Agents attend in search of new, compelling material.  And more often than not, they don’t leave disappointed.

What makes the Big Sur Writing Workshop so unique?

Why it’s Melissa Manlove, faculty member and children’s book editor for Chronicle Books!

Glad you asked.

First, the format of the weekend is different from other conferences and workshops. Writers will meet and work with three faculty members throughout the workshop.  Ratio of faculty to writers is five-to-one

Second, the weekend admits a limited amount of writers – just enough people to share valuable information and not too many so each writer feels special.

Third, the weekend is packed with critique groups, lectures, rewriting time and meals. Writers devote the entire time to focusing on their writing.

Fourth, the faculty are all children’s book professionals, and wonderful people, who know how to target the weak spots and help writers polish their manuscripts.