Saturday, October 10, 2020
Morning Events
Saturday Morning Kick-Off
Kick off your Saturday morning! We'll answer questions and make announcements.
Keep on Rising by Inventing Your Career
Many writers create successful careers. Many create successful careers but don’t know they have. Many writers feel they miss the mark that gives them the successful career they want. And many, many writers invest in their writing career in ways that are detrimental to it. They neglect fundamental health needs, and misunderstand where and how they can sustain good health. They don’t see how they can even enjoy a writing career when they don’t achieve best seller status. They define themselves as failures when they don’t need to.
Lynn Crandall will teach you how to build and sustain a meaningful, healthy writing life.
Video Marketing for Authors
We are in a visual, video society. If you want to reach readers, video is a perfect tool. Added to that, YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world - second only to Google (which owns Youtube.) Best-selling author Hallee Bridgeman will show you different ways you can use video to capture your audience with the tools you already have.
Hallee Bridgeman
How to Write Gooder
How to go from Pantser to Plotter in 1,001 easy steps! (Insert Sarcasm)
Yes, you can Pants and Plot. In this workshop I will teach you why both processes are important and how you can use both to improve your craft.
Suzan Tisdale
Scrivener Workshop
Scrivener Representative and expert Rebecca Schiller will teach you some of the awesome techniques to get the most out of this awesome writing tool!
The Ultimate Self-Editing Checklist… and How to Use It!
You have a brilliant cover and a snappy blurb! The reader is so hooked she stops and checks the "Look inside" preview.
Q: What is she looking for?
A: A reason to stop reading and move on.
Traditional authors face the same challenge because editors and agents look for any opportunity to stop reading your manuscript, too. This class gives authors the single tool and training to remove any excuse your audience may have to stop reading.
Attendees will take away: 1. How to change your mindset from dreading the overwhelming self-editing process to manageable and effective editing in layers. 2. How by layering edits onto the plain blank canvas of your first draft, your editing brushstrokes gradually reveal the beauty hidden within, resulting in the best final draft manuscript you can present. Attendees will take home The Ultimate Self-Editing Checklist at the end of the workshop.
Gregg Bridgeman
Authorpreneurship for Authors
In today's publishing world, an author is also an entrepreneur. Here are the how-tos! We’ll cover how to set up your business and use forms to track expenses and royalties, set up your online files for optimum organization, back up data, create media kits for your books, set up your author database of information, and publish. Then we will cover the promotional tasks—website, blog, newsletter, and low-cost promotional sites to aid helping you get you discovered—and finally, protecting your work! All will be revealed in this fast-paced course presented with PowerPoint slides.
Linda Rae Sande
Career Planning for Newbie (and Oldie) Authors
You can fly by the seat of your pants writing your books, but not mapping out your career and what it takes to be a professional author without the safety net of a day job. This workshop will touch on how to plan financially for taxes, health insurance, unexpected business expenses and the importance of utilizing technology to stay abreast of book keeping when you're not the most diligent at it. We'll also talk about what it takes to make it as a mid-list author in today's market by discussing how many books to publish per year, how length of books can impact your number of releases and your bottom line. In short, this is the down, dirty, and sometimes ugly truth about how unglamorous the #writinglife really is.
Chasity Bowlin
Q & A Session with Scrivener
In this session, Rebecca Schiller from Scrivener will answer all those questions you've been eager to ask about this stellar writing tool!
How to Write When Everything Goes Wrong
Is your muse yelling “SOS”? How do you keep the words pouring onto the page when your real life feels like it’s under attack? Every writer knows how stress and personal crises can strangle your creativity. Help is on the way in this online class with multipublished author Allie Pleiter. You’ll learn:.
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Writer-specific tactics to get you through the thick of your crisis
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Ways to keep the words flowing
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Smart communication with colleagues and collaborators
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How to use your circumstances in your writing
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As the author of over 50 books and the creator of The Chunky Method of time management for writers, Pleiter has met deadlines in the midst of some imposing traumas. With candor, insight, and the wisdom of experience, she shares practical and inventive strategies for how to stay afloat and creative amid life’s stormiest seas.
Allie Pleiter
Why Do I Need an Editor, Anyway?
Why Do I Need an Editor Anyway?
You’ve written a great book. You love your story, and you’re sure your audience will, too. It’s ready to go just the way you’ve written it…right?
Not so fast! Before you release any book, it needs to have an experienced editor read it. But why, you ask? You’re probably thinking an editor will just tear your book apart, make all kinds of changes, and it won’t even sound like your book anymore, right?
Not exactly. You do need an editor. In this session, fiction editor Sue Toth will give you the inside scoop on editors, including:
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Why you need one
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What the author/editor relationship should look like
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Where and how to find the best editor for you
Editor Sue Toth
Keynote Speaker John Van Stry
John Van Stry was introduced to Science Fiction and Fantasy by his older sister at a young age, a habit that only continued to grow as he got older. The effect on his career and life was obvious as he graduated college with a BSEE and worked in tech in aerospace for many years as a Flight Test Engineer. He then went into medical research before moving on into a number of different fields. As his primary focus has been on Test for most of his career, he has seen many technologies before they came to market.
His writing started out as a hobby in the 80's and in the 90's he was published in several small 'zines in different fandoms. His first independently published novel was released on Amazon in 2011 and the success of that led to him writing part-time. After a string of successes he went full-time in 2014 and hasn't looked back since.
John's hobbies are just a bit different than the average person; he's raised, owned, and trained big cats. He's a private pilot and scuba diver, he likes to race and wrench on cars and motorcycles as well as build guitars. He grew up on an island, so now of course he lives in Texas, several hundred miles away from the coast.
LUNCH BREAK & SOCIAL HOUR
Grab your lunch and join us for social hour!
Afternoon Events
Diversity Panel
Panelists Matt Orso, Debra Holland, Jolanthe Alexander, E. Ardell, and Hallee Bridgeman will discuss "Writing Sensitively During a Crisis of Ethnic Inequality"
Writing PG in an R Rated World
In today’s world it seems the ever darkening landscape of offerings is making it nearly impossible for the light of clean, quality writing to shine. But, it’s not! There is a greater demand now more than ever for clean, PG-rated books. You just have to know how to set them on that hill! In this presentation, you will better understand the industry biases, then learn to work around them, using savvy marketing tips to place that story where it needs to be and take your book from great to greatly profitable.
TJ Mackay
From Whining to Writing - Courageously Creating While Overcoming the Odds
No one is buying books. The industry is shrinking. People smarter
than you are make a fortune on Amazon. And writing is hard enough without all the stress of
trying to find an agent. Pondering the creative process as well as the idea of publication can
freeze us in our tracks. But there is hope. Writing books and telling stories is an ancient art form
that is a part of being human. People will always read, but the idea they will read YOUR work
can seem like a pipe dream. It isn’t. We can change lives, you and I, simple writers struggling
to string words together.
Through the personal stories of the presenter as well as real life examples from other authors,
you will learn how to ignite the creative fire in your soul and write courageously.
Aaron Michael Ritchey
Navigating the Indie World of Children's Books
Carole P. Roman is the award-winning author of over fifty children's books. Whether it's pirates, princesses, and spies, or discovering the world around us, her books have enchanted educators, parents, and her diverse audience of children.
In her workshop, you will learn how to navigate the indie world of Children's Books. How to publish, where to publish, and using social media to your advantage.
Fade In: A Screenwriting Workshop
This workshop is designed to guide authors through the beginning stages of the script writing process, adapting your novel into accepted industry standard form.
We will discuss Planning, Screenwriting Software, Loglines (what are they and how to write a compelling one), Proper Formatting, Resources, and so much more. We will see it in action, examples from novel to script to screen.
RL Jackson
5 Killers - Or How to Write Mystery the Reader Won't Solve Early
Jamie started killing people (I mean writing mysteries) as a way to escape the stress of running a
restaurant with her husband. Her first mystery was published in July 2011, and since then she’s written
21 mysteries in 3 different series. She hit the USA Today bestseller list with her Gotcha Detective agency
series novel, Let Us Prey and has never looked back. The biggest compliment a mystery author can get is
when a reader says, “I had no idea who did it until the end.” Jamie’s going to teach you how to write
your mystery, so the reader is left guessing.
Jamie Lee Scott
My Agent's Pajamas or Writing Makes Strange Bedfellows
NY Times Bestselling Author, Kathryn Lynn Davis will discuss the ins and outs of writing, traditional publishing....
How to Be Present in Your Own Life
Learn the steps to a better YOU! Susan will teach you how to forgive yourself, prioritize what is important, and getting rid of negativity.
Susan Burdorf
Historical Romance Panel Discussion
Join authors Eliza Knight, Linda Rae Sande, Kate Bateman, Kathryn Lynn Davis, Ceci Giltenan, for a lively, in-depth discussion of their favorite genre!
The RONE Awards!
Join us for the gala event of the year! The 2020 RONE Awards!
Hosted by TJ Mackay and Catherine Bybee
The RONE Awards AFTER Party!
Join us for the Happy Hour After Party! This will begin at 8:00 pacific, 9:00 Mountain, 10:00 central, 11:00 Eastern. Come hang out with your favorite authors and congratulate the winners of the 2020 RONE Awards!