3:15pm-4:15pm

What Fanfic can teach you about appealing to GenZ

Marguerite Carrithers

Marguerite Carrithers started reviewing YA in middle school on her blog "Nerd and a Lemon". She graduated with a BFA in writing from School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Currently she is a graduate student in Library Sciences at UI Urbana-Champaign with an interest in curation and rare books. She also has a fascination with archaic forms of communication and teaches print making at Skueomorph Press on the UI-UC campus. Workshop Description: Younger readers are coming to Romance from fanfic of their favorite television shows and movies, not their mom's Harlequins. That doesn't mean fanfic is a new phenomenon. Over the course of this talk we will explore a short history of fanfic, how readers interact with it, and the lessons we can take away for marketing our own work

4:30pm-5:30pm

Making it on to the shelf: A Bookseller's Advice

Sydney Macias

Sydney Macias is a writer, editor and romance bookseller. She has a BFA in Writing. Her experience includes development and copy editing for independent authors and publishers; she also pedals romance at The Last Chapter Bookshop in Chicago. She is published in the Latino Horror anthology: A Night of Screams. Workshop Description: I will outline how to research independent bookstores and suggest out reach methods that can help get your work sold in stores. I will also go over event inquires and social marketing to help build up your author profile.

5:45pm

Dinner

Saturday

10:15am-11:15am 

Perceived Tier of Success

Susan Stoker

New York Times, USA Today, #1 Amazon Bestseller, and #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, Susan Stoker has spent the last twenty-three years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, Indiana, Texas, and Tennessee and is currently living in the wilds of Maine. She's married to her own retired Army man (and current firefighter/EMT). Workshop Description: There's a double-edged sword to social media and talking with your friends and hearing about the successes others around you are having in their writing. It changes your perception of what's normal and what's not in this industry. Regularly, you might feel inadequate in your own success because of what others are accomplishing around you. No one makes you feel that way by their actions, it's all in your head. Comparison is the thief of joy. A truer statement has never been said. This workshop will talk about the perceived tier of success and how to combat comparing your success to others.

11:30am-12:30pm

Your Writing Voice: A Key to Success

 Gail Eastwood

Gail Eastwood is an award-winning, hybrid-published author of 11 “sweet/low heat” Regency romance novels, currently writing Book 5 in her “Tales of Little Macclow” series, featuring an assortment of lovable gentry, working class and aristocratic characters and set in a tiny Derbyshire village where the cause of True Love may be getting some extra help! Workshop Description: Are you confused when we talk about “voice” in writing? Editors say it’s what they’re looking for, and agents say it can make the difference between a mid-list and a best-selling career. It’s often defined as “a writer’s personality on the page,” but how do we put it there? Is it something natural, organic, or something related to our writing craft? This workshop will explore the integrated writing elements that make up voice, such as style, tone, and content (each with its own sub-elements) and what choices we make that affect our voices. We’ll analyze recognizable samples of strong writing voices, and through discussion and exercises, map out some ways to strengthen our own voices for greater writing success.

12:45pm-1:45pm

Lunch and Business Meeting

2:00pm-3:00pm

World-building Isn't Just for Fantasy Writers

Mickey Flagg

Mickey Flagg’s imaginative world is full of mystical warriors, witches and the not-so-normal vampires. With five novels in the paranormal romance genre, spinning tales about the paradox of love is a passion. She is a contributor in a book on urban music education and has published a piece in Still Standing, a web-magazine about loss and healing. M. Flagg is a life-long New Jersey resident, a member of Liberty States Fiction Writers, NJ Author’s Network, and NJRW. Workshop Description: Whether your world is fantasy or reality, the way an author creates the setting draws a reader in. This workshop will discuss aspects of building the world within your novel. Beginning with the germ of an idea, world building is a journey into imagination. Will you use one sentence or a paragraph? What roles do our senses play? The what, where, why, how and who will explore boundaries and rules set (and broken) by an author. 

3:15pm-4:15pm

The Making of a Damn Good Villain

Shirley Hailstock

Shirley Hailstock began writing as a lover of reading. She likes nothing better than to get lost in a book and explore new worlds. As an author, she can visit those places, and be the heroine of her own stories. A past president Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America, Shirley is working on her 51st novel. Workshop Description: The character of the villain is often blurry. We don't think of that character as we do the hero or heroine. This workshop will give you insights to the other character and allow you to add depth to your book, but pitting the villain equally with the other two characters.

4:30pm-5:30pm

Entering Contests as a Marketing Tool

Peggy Jaeger

Peggy Jaeger writes about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can't live without them. Workshop Description: As writers, we know finding new readers can be difficult. The advent of the pandemic shutdown made it next to impossible for writers to meet new readers face-to-face at places like book signings, library events, conferences. Social media only gets you so far and let’s be honest: wouldn’t we all rather be writing than marketing our books? Have you ever considered entering a contest to find new readers? It’s a unique mindset because most people enter contests to, well, win them! Come hear why I believe entering writing contests is an effect marketing strategy and tool for getting your books into the hands of new-to-you readers. his workshop explores the ins and outs of contest submissions, the ones that are right for you, where to find them, and the things you should consider before entering one.