Registration is now open for the 8th Annual 805 Writers Conference moves to the Mandalay Beach Resort in Oxnard Shores, CA for two days of conference sessions and workshops. The 2019 theme is Tools, Skills, Resources —the information writers need to succeed. A majority of the conference sessions focus will be on the business of writing, and the workshops offer a combination of the craft and business of writing instruction. The conference is sponsored by the nonprofit Small Publishers, Artists & Writers Network (SPAWN) and co-sponsored by regional writing organizations.
“Over the last eight years,” said Kathleen Kaiser, producer of the conference and president of the event’s sponsor SPAWN, “I’ve found that attendees really need tools and skills on how to garner attention for their books. They need to know the costs of doing a book if they self-publish and the potential benefits. But most of all, they need resources, from people who do this daily to tell them what is working to sell books – not just marketing professionals but authors.”
Several of the session will concentrate on: How to optimize Amazon, the principal outlet for books; how to build an audience of readers and social media followers, not just your friends and relatives; how to pitch a book in a meeting or query letter; and, the benefits of working with a professional editor. A panel of three successful indie authors will give the details of how they brought their books to market and sold copies.
The conference will feature two panels that should be of high interest to writers: A panel of literary agents will discuss the current marketplace, what is selling and trends they foresee and what they are signing; and, a second panel, “Books to Screen,” will have two movie producers and two agents/scouts who are all looking for a great book they can feed into the incredible streaming video markets. Before the literary panel, agent Sherry Robb will give a full session on “How to Pitch Your Project,” and Sunday agent Michelle Zeitlin will deliver the query letter session. A PITCHFEST, where writers sign up for ten minutes with one of the seven agents, takes place later in the day.
Workshops will include three half-day workshops: “The Art of the Short Story” with legendary SoCal author/editor Shelly Lowenkopf; “How to Reboot Your Book” with Carolyn Howard Johnson; and, “Social Media for Authors” with Mandy Jackson-Beverly. A full day craft of writing workshop with Toni Lopopolo will delve into “The Essentials of Characters.” Each workshop is limited to 25 writers.
Registration is now open. Early bird discount registration closes August 31. Registration and the full schedule of sessions and workshops are at 805writersconference.com. Full weekend or single-day tickets are available now along with the workshops. Individual sessions will go on sale in October based on conference capacity. PITCHFEST will go on sale October 1 to registered attendees.
For more information, contact Kathleen Kaiser at [email protected]. |
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