The forms are free, and can be found
here.
The process is ridiculously easy. There was a waiting list for the free class, so I took the paid class at Houlding's, which was still taught by the same Sheriff's LT that approves your license. He flat out told us in class that he would accept "to protect my life and the lives of my family" as good cause, so that's what we should all put on our applications.
I haven't looked at the forms lately, but when I did mine (and that reminds me - renewal is coming up before too much longer!) I was surprised to find that the actual fees that Madera County charges are
lower than the fees that were listed on the forms, by a few bucks. The lady that took my forms told me that they'd reduced the fees to the point that would just minimally cover their costs, because they wanted as many people as possible to get the permits.