2025 Session Descriptions
Publishing, Marketing, Promotion / SPECIALTY |
Publishing, Marketing, Promotion
Your first book's going to be released soon. Or perhaps, you dream of that momentous day. In this session, participants receive tried-and-true tips for surviving, and even enjoying, their first year as published authors. Discussion topics include book launches and signings, working with experts, hand-selling books, maintaining a writing community, growing an author platform, and book distribution. The presentation features a realist look at what newbie authors can expect from their initial publishing experience, the peaks, the valleys, and the plentiful, ho-hum landscape in between. And yes, there will be chocolate, because everything is better with chocolate!
10:00AM – 10:50AM We've often heard that authors need a platform to sell books. What if you were so busy writing that you didn't build one? If social media and Substack aren't your thing, there are still many ways to market your book. This workshop gives you action items you can use without a platform, or while you work to build one. You'll learn about defining your measure of success, and methods including podcasts, companion articles, readings and multi-author events, author panels, book festivals, bookstores and libraries, and networking with other authors. We'll discuss ways to make them manageable so your efforts are stress-free.
11:00AM – 11:50AM
This interactive workshop will share relevant and practical PR strategies to help authors develop a public profile for themselves and their books, and ultimately, increase sales. CHERRIE WOODS is a 20 year PR professional and a book publicist. She has worked with over 100 authors and is known for her dynamic PR workshops. 1:30PM – 2:20PM This marketing lecture seminar and slideshow will instruct writers on the buyer expectations of contemporary book covers, the latest design standards, and best practices for procuring covers that will attract readers. The presenter will provide visual examples of optimal and sub-optimal covers for various titles and genres. There is no artistic requirement for this seminar: writers will not be taught how to create covers, only how best to market their books with them.
2:30PM – 3:30PM Authors who have recently published, or plan to publish soon, are sure to be searching for unique ways to promote their books. Divided into three interactive segments, workshop participants will begin by identifying four elements essential to their specific marketing plan. In the second segment, the presenter will discuss creative approaches to author events and lead participants in an event planning brainstorming session. The final segment will entail a whole group-devising activity facilitated by the presenter, where participants will design a checklist for a successful event.
| Specialty
In this workshop, you'll learn the secrets to finding good-paying assignments as a ghostwriter.
10:00AM – 10:50AM Want to write more, but struggle to carve out the time? Want to feel like a writer? The secret might be unlocked for you in this practice, writing 100 word essays every single day and sharing them with your accountability partner. What is it? A poem? An essay? Flash fiction? A drabble? Who knows! Where do the ideas come from? We’ll help you unlock them.
11:00AM – 11:50AM There are things a journal editor can't or won't tell a writer because of the constraints of that role. Your piece is your baby but it's one of hundreds or thousands an editor reads to build an issue. There are the nuts-and-bolts items of submitting that are more important than you might think. And there are certain aspects of the process that are not in your control. Jane will share her perspective as a poetry editor for a Philadelphia lit journal and encourage sharing of your questions and submission experiences.
1:30PM – 2:20PM Agents and acquisition editors say it all the time. What sells a manuscript? A standout voice. Acquire the tools you need for developing a compelling voice of your own through the study of entertaining published examples, a clear explanation, and writing exercises designed to ignite your unique way of expressing yourself. You will enjoy a sense of excitement in this inspiring and instructive workshop as you successfully translate the voice in your head to the page.
2:30PM – 3:30PM What can the novelist learn from the journalist? Or from the blogger? Or even the copywriter? When it comes down to it, all writing is about the same basic concepts: Good storytelling, vivid description, emotional resonance, and ultimately leaving your reader changed by the experience. Discover how you can strengthen your skills at writing any kind of writing using those skills in different formats, for different purposes, and to reach different audiences. (Plus, you might find some forms of writing pay a little bit better than others!)
|
9:00AM – 9:50AM
NAN CARLTON MOSTELLER is an award-winning author and illustrator of children's books. In 2024, her first two picture books, 
TJ BUTLER writes fiction and essays that are not all fun and games. She teaches workshops and coaches writers. Her work has appeared in media outlets such as 
KENTON KILGORE is the author of 
JEAN BURGESS is an author, editor, playwright, and former theatre educator. In addition, she spent ten years as a Marketing Manager for an IT business before retiring to the world of writing. She writes both nonfiction and fiction, enjoys presenting writing workshops, and volunteers with a local Teen Writing Club. Her debut fiction, 
JOHN RIDDLE is a freelance writer, author and ghostwriter who works out of his home office in Delaware. He is the author of 34 books with a variety of traditional publishers, and so far has self-published 3 books for writers. His byline has appeared in major publications all across the United States, and he has written articles for over 200 websites. In 2002 he launched "I Love To Write Day" as a grassroots campaign to have people of all ages spend time writing every November 15th. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of ILTWD, he published the 
HILDIE S. BLOCK 
CHRISTINA KAPP holds M.A. degrees in Writing (JHU) and English (Rutgers). She leads creative writing workshops at the Writers Circle in New Jersey and has taught in the Writing Program at Rutgers University Newark for the last twelve years. She has also worked in a range of administrative and teaching roles at universities including Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University Teachers College, and New York University. Her writing has appeared in dozens of publications including 
JANE EDNA MOHLER is a Bucks County Poet Laureate Emerita (Pennsylvania), 2016 Winner of Main Street Voices, and second place winner in the 2023 Crossroads Contest. Publications include 
LAURA J. OLIVER, M.F.A. is an award-winning, nationally published writer, a popular newspaper columnist regularly featured on NPR, and the author of 
DYLAN ROCHE is a novelist, playwright, journalist, copywriter, blogger, editor, and creative writing coach with years of professional experience in a breadth of writing-related endeavors. Whether he's writing magazine features about fitness and nutrition, farcical sitcoms for the stage, or ad copy for small businesses, he loves connecting with and resonating with readers. His first novel, More Session Descriptions |
Questions?
Connect With Us
|
Copyright © 2024 Eastern Shore Writers Association