Schedule:

Friday, January 31, 2025.

8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. - Workshop Intensive

Writers’ Workshop Intensive in the Cross Creek Room at Best Western Gateway Grand

This day-long Intensive learning experience will consist of four 90-minute sessions by subject matter experts. The sessions will be deep and detailed, aimed at giving attendees a clear, readily applicable understanding of each topic.

Workshop Agenda:
8:30 –10:00 a.m.  Power Up Your Prose—It’s simpler than you think.
10:30 a.m. –12:00 noon  Searching for an Agent.
What do agents want? How do you find one? What’s the right query? How long do you wait for a response? Can you query multiple agents at the same time? Keeping track of whom you queried and when.
1:00 -2:30 p.m. Indy Publishing without pulling your hair out.
Many authors find KDP frustrating. This session will go step by step through the entire process, from typesetting to final printing. It will focus on where user errors occur and how to prevent them. Pros and cons of KDP competitors: Ingram Spark, Lulu, Draft2Digital, and Author Solutions will also be compared.
3:00 -4:30 p.m. Marketing your books
A key issue for independent authors is how to attract readers. This session delves into marketing, publicity, and advertising strategies that have been proven to work for book sales, and will cover much more that the oft-bantered solutions of social media and author websites. The techniques are not genre specific and will work for mysteries, romances, paranormal, thrillers, self-help, and nonfiction.

7:00-9:00 p.m. - Opening-night reception. Readers, sponsors, and interested members of the public—come mingle with the authors