Palm Springs Writers Guild upcoming events

Everybody and Their Granny Has a Podcast—Why Not You? (Saturday, September 12, 2026)

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Announcing our upcoming

September 2026 Writers Panel

In-person monthly gathering. Come experience our new panel discussions and member-to-member knowledge sharing!

Everybody and Their Granny Has a Podcast (why not you?)

Description:

From radio to podcasts, audio storytelling has never gone out of style. Podcasting has become one of the most powerful ways for writers to share their stories, build an audience, and connect with readers. Join local podcast host Matthew Landis (The VIP Suite) and The Desert Sun's Sam Morgen to discover whether podcasting is the right next step for your writing career. Learn how to find your niche, cut through the noise, and create a show people will want to hear.

Moderator: Eduardo Santiago
Panelist: Matthew Landis
Sam Morgen

The meeting begins at 11:00 a.m. and ends at noon.

This event is free for all members. Registration not necessary.

We may take photos and/or videos at any of our events for promotional purposes. Ready to become a member of the Palm Springs Writers Guild? Please click here.

Event Contact: Eduardo Santiago
santiagogo@aol.com

Dodging the Info Dump: Exposition and Its Perils (Saturday, September 12, 2026)

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 19:30:00 GMT

Announcing our upcoming In-Person Workshop

Dodging the Info Dump:
Exposition & Its Perils

Mischa Livingstone is an award-winning filmmaker whose films have been showcased at festivals worldwide and included in the Smithsonian permanent collection. Notable festival screening include the Berlin International Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival and Cinequest, where he won the Viewer's Voice Award.

He is the co-author of “No-Nonsense Filmmaking”, an OER textbook that demystifies the filmmaking process and which was a Pressbooks Book of the Month.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Mischa immigrated to Israel as a child. He studied theatre at the Thelma Yellin School of the Arts and later moved to the United States. At UCLA, he earned a BA in Film Production (summa cum laude) and an MFA in Screenwriting. He is also an alumnus of the Berlinale Talent Campus.

Mischa shares his expertise in film production by teaching at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where he is an Assistant Professor.

Presentation Overview:

Every story has a past it needs to explain but the moment readers feel you explaining it, you've lost them. This is the challenge of weaving exposition into your writing: too much and you bog down the story; two little and readers are lost in a fog. This workshop, led by award winning author and filmmaker Mischa Livingstone, will teach you some clever tricks for setting up your story, revealing character motivations while hiding your exposition in fun and creative ways. Whether it's inside a piece of dialogue, a description of a room, or the way a character fidgets with a particular object, your exposition will become richer and more relevant to the story you are telling.

Attendees, bring the first page/scene of something you are working on to the workshop.

Takeaways:

Identify why exposition is essential to grounding readers in a story.
Recognize common exposition mistakes.
Explore alternatives to dialogue for revealing exposition.

To receive a full refund minus a $25 cancellation processing fee, attendees must cancel their registration 5 days before the event. No refunds will be given after that time. To cancel your registration, go to palmspringswritersguild.org and click on the blue icon at the top right of any page. Enter user name and password and click "LOG IN". On the next screen click "My event registrations". Select event and cancel registration.

We may take photos and/or videos at any of our events for promotional purposes.

Meeting begins at 12:30 p.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m.

Ready to become a member of the Palm Springs Writers Guild? Please click here.

Event Contact: Brian Rouley

Email:Brian@Rouley.com

Free Write and Mingle (DUE TO LABOR DAY WEEKEND WE ARE STARTING FREE WRITE AND MINGLE ON 9/15) (Tuesday, September 15, 2026)

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 22:30:00 GMT

Camaraderie, Creativity & Cocktails

Free Write and Mingle

TUESDAYS!
HOST: Eduardo Santiago

Join fellow members to write and socialize! We will have writing prompts to spark our imagination, then transition to happy hour!
Registration is not required for this free event, and please feel free to bring a guest!

Location:
Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort
45000 Indian Wells Lane
Indian Wells, CA 92210
(442) 305-4500

Registration is not required for this free event, but we'd appreciate it if you did.

Members only. Feel free to bring a guest.

Free Write begins at 3:30 p.m.
Mingle begins at 5:00 p.m. and ends at 7:00 p.m.
Attend either or both.

We may take photos and/or videos at any of our events for promotional purposes.

Ready to become a member of the Palm Springs Writers Guild?
Please click here.

Event Contact: Eduardo Santiago (323) 377-9730
(323) 377-9730 santiagogo@aol.com

Achieve Better Book Publicity by Knowing Your Author Goals (Friday, October 16, 2026)

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 20:00:00 GMT

Announcing our next Online Lab

Achieve Better Book Publicity by Knowing Your Author Goals

Terena Bell is a book publicist and writer who provides public relations (PR) and publicity services to select authors on a boutique level. She’s successfully secured clients coverage from “The Today Show,” NPR, Good Housekeeping, Book Riot, New Books Network, Foreword Reviews, and others. Her debut short fiction collection, Tell Me What You See(Whiskey Tit, 2022), was named one of the “best books of the century (so far)” by New York Society Library. She believes strongly in achieving client success by uniting all PR activities and publicity actions to an author’s broader goals.

Description: Why do you really want publicity for your book? Is it to sell books or to be read? Or maybe something else? Coverage from something like “The Today Show” may sound great, but sometimes being in the local paper can sell more copies. PR — like any form of marketing — should come down to goals. So what’s yours? For self-published or small press authors, sometimes publicity needs to attract an agent for the next book. Everybody’s reasons are different, so their approaches to PR should be too. Together we’ll help you articulate the reasons you want to promote your title and pinpoint easy steps to take accordingly.

Key Points to Take Away

Attract an agent for your book, or your next book.
Find the correct approach to PR.
Define and name the reasons you want to promote your title.

Location: Zoom Online Meeting

Unable to attend, no problem, all paid registrants will receive a video replay.

You will receive an invitation to the Zoom online meeting after you have registered and payment is complete.

We may take photos and/or videos at any of our events for promotional purposes.

Ready to become a member of the Palm Springs Writers Guild? Please click here.

Event Contact: Ariella Moon
authorariellamoon@gmail.com

Author Branding & Your Book Marketing Roadmap (Saturday, February 06, 2027)

Sat, 06 Feb 2027 20:30:00 GMT

Announcing our next In-Person Workshop

Author Branding & Your Book Marketing Roadmap

Jeniffer Thompson is an author branding coach, book marketing strategist, and publishing consultant. She co-founded Monkey C Media in 2004, an award-winning book cover and website design studio, hosts The Premise podcast, and is co-founder of the San Diego Writers Festival.

Jeniffer is passionate about helping authors establish highly visible brands. She and her husband, Chad, co-founded Monkey C Media in 2004 and have been creating award-winning book cover designs and author websites ever since. They specialize in author services that integrate digital marketing strategies and engage readers all over the world.

She is a co-founder of the San Diego Writers Festival, serves on the board of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association, and is currently writing her own coming of age memoir.

www.JenifferThompson.com

Presentation Overview:

Build a sustainable author brand that grows with you.

Book marketing isn’t just about selling books—it’s about building an audience of loyal readers and being known. In this workshop, Jeniffer shows you how to elevate your authority, design your personal brand, and increase your online visibility. You’ll leave with practical tools to build your three-year roadmap and guide your publishing career to new heights.

Takeaways:

Identify your audience and the influencers who reach them
Refine your brand story for maximum impact
Create content that builds loyalty and visibility

We may take photos and/or videos at any of our events for promotional purposes.

Meeting begins at 12:30 p.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m.

Ready to become a member of the Palm Springs Writers Guild? Please click here.

Event Contact: Dak Kopec

Email: DakKopec@mac.com