PRESS RELEASE    

It is with a heavy heart that the San Francisco/Peninsula Branch of the California Writers Club must announce the cancellation of its October 10^th and 11^th writers’ conference, Call of the Wild Mind.

“The economy caught up with us,” club president Tory Hartmann said. “The Jack London Writers Conference has always been a bargain—and still is—but we are victims of the recession. We can’t put the club’s treasury in jeopardy. We’re devastated, but facts are facts. It was impossible to proceed without a crushing loss.”

The Jack London Writers’ Conference has been going on for twenty years. Usually a one day event, the club decided to put on a two day conference in celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the California Writers’ Club. High powered speakers had been booked, including Dan Millman, Sister Helen Prejean, Dr. Fred Wolf (aka Dr. Quantum) as well as a private interview with Natalie Goldberg.

“In any other year,” Hartmann said, “this conference would be a madhouse. But many people backed away because they were either unemployed or under-employed.”

A highly successful Los Angeles agent said, "This is a tough economy.  Publishers are not buying and haven’t been for months.  It would be tragic for me to listen to a pitch and then say, "I’m sorry…..I’m currently closed for submissions.”"

The California Writers Club began 100 years ago when several authors including Jack London and Juaquin Miller, met and discussed their projects. The tradition of writers meeting and discussing the craft has persisted down through the decades.

Refunds to registrants will be sent out over the next two weeks. 

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Other local conferences coming up:

Redwood Writers Conference, October 24th, Flamingo Resort and Hotel, Santa Rosa, California
http://www.redwoodwriters.org/conference.html