FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
BP Energy & Conference Center
| 8:30am |
Check-In Opens for Optional Morning Intensives |
| 9:00 - 11:00 |
Colleen Oefelein, Dante Medema, and Erin Bentley: Unleash Your Inner PITCH |
| 9:00 - 12:00 | Angela Ackerman: Writing Emotional Wounds |
| 9:00 - 12:00 | Stefanie Tatalias: Plotting for Pansters |
| 11:00 - 12:00 | FREE Illustrators Event: Social Media Tips and Tricks for Illustrators (no conference registration required) |
| 12:00pm | Check-In Opens for Optional Roundtable Critiques |
| 12:30 - 2:30 | Roundtable Critiques with Agents Colleen Oefelein, Jessica Faust, Clelia Gore, and Editor Gary Goldstein |
| 2:30pm | Check-In Opens for Optional Afternoon Intensives |
| 3:00 - 6:00 | Rebecca Zanetti: Capture your Fans with Intriguing Character Arcs, Individual Book Arcs, and Series Arcs |
| 3:00 - 6:00 | Clelia Gore: Landing a Literary Agent for your Picture Book, Middle Grade, or Young Adult Novel |
| 3:00 - 6:00 | Dr; Judith Briles: Platforms that Soar, Blunders to Avoid, and Marketing Tips Galore |
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
BP Energy & Conference Center
| 8:00am | Check-In & Coffee |
| 8:30 - 9:00 | Birch Room: Welcome, Opening Remarks, and Awards |
| 9:00 - 9:40 | Birch Room: Publishing Panel & Faculty Introductions with Clelia Gore, Jessica Faust, and Gary Goldstein |
| 9:40 - 9:50 | Break |
| 9:50 - 10:30 | Keynote Address: Creating Confidence as an Author & Writer with Dr. Judith Briles |
| 10:30 - 10:40 | Break |
| ROOM DESIGNATION |
BIRCH ROOM | WILLOW/ SPRUCE | COTTONWOOD/ ALDER |
FIR ROOM |
| 10:40 - 11:40 | Breakout 1-A Get That Agent! with Literary Agent Jessica Faust, and Authors Peggy Barnhill & Aliza Sherman: Nabbing the agent of your dreams is just the start; from finding that agent, to pitch-perfect queries and polished first pages. But what happens (and should happen) after your agency contract is signed? |
Breakout 1-B Angela Ackerman: No Wallflowers Allowed! Using Setting to Power Up Your Fiction. Dig into what strong setting description can really do: characterize the story’s cast, create emotion and mood, reveal fears and desires, deliver backstory without dumping, and more! |
Breakout 1-C
Clelia Gore: Finding Your Voice in Middle Grade and YA Writing: "A strong voice" is an element of writing that all agents and publishers look for. Agent Clelia Gore will discuss the elements of how to find and fine-tune a strong voice in your writing.
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Breakout 1-D CJ Allison: Editing in Layers. Editing your manuscript is an essential process for traditional and self-published authors alike. This session will introduce the concept of editing in layers and highlight the tools available to polish your manuscript to a truly print-worthy product. |
| 11:40 - 12:10 | Box Lunches Available in Foyer Juried Art Display in Cottonwood / Alder Room |
| 12:10 - 1:00 | Local Author Panel: Alaska Native Voices in Publishing (Birch Room) |
| 1:00 - 1:10 | Break |
| 1:10 - 2:10 |
Breakout 2-A Gary Goldstein & Marc Cameron: The Care and Feeding of an Editor. The relationship between an author and editor can be crucial to a book's success. Learn inside secrets you wish you'd never heard from these seasoned publishing pros. |
Breakout 2-B Boone Brux: Author Branding 101. Branding is about so much more than a pretty website. Learn what makes up an author's brand, where to start, and the must-have tools needed to build a solid image and platform for your writing. |
Breakout 2-C Mariano Gonzales, PhD: Illustrators' Workshop. Using digital tools for ideation, iteration and organization in the creation of imagery for books and beyond. |
Breakout 2-D Rebecca Zanetti: Layering Scenes in Your Book. How to layer a scene in your book with so much more than just talking heads. PLUS a "No-Holds-Barred" Q&A about pretty much anything. All questions welcome! |
| 2:10 - 2:20 | Break |
| 2:20 - 3:20 |
Breakout 3-A Jessica Faust: Pitch and Perfect! Each attendee will get five minutes to pitch their work to literary agent Jessica Faust, and receive feedback on their project and pitch. All pitches received on a first come / first served basis. |
Breakout 3-B Angela Ackerman: Finding Your Book's Audience. Marketing is a challenge. Regardless of how one is published, discovering an audience is something all writers must do to be successful. Understanding exactly who one's audience is and concentrating your marketing on this exact group will save time, money, andfrustration. |
Breakout 3-C Clelia Gore: Picture Books That Sell! Highlights the current trends in the picture book market, and where those trends might be heading. Hear straight from an agent’s perspective on what is selling, what isn’t, which trends are over-saturated, and how to tap into the market in your own unique way. |
Breakout 3-D Jamey Bradbury: Genre Fiction for Alaskan Authors. |
| 3:20 - 3:30 | Break: Last Chance to Bid on Silent Auction Items! |
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* Times, speakers and topics subject to change
For more information on our annual writers conference, email conference chairman Brooke Hartman at bahartman@me.com