The all-day event, which takes place prior to the BookExpo America trade show, offers information sessions and workshops on the business and craft of writing. The keynote speaker is best-selling author Jodi Picoult.
Register Here for the BEA Writer's Digest Books www.bookexpoamerica.com or www.writersdigest.com/bea
Discover why the BEA/Writer's Digest Books Writer's Conference has become one of the premier writing conferences in the country.
2007 WDB/BEA Writers Conference Schedule
Wednesday, May 30
Registration: 7:30–8:30 a.m.
8:30 a.m. - New York Times best-selling novelist Jodi Picoult
Morning Breakout Session: 9:30 a.m.
Writing the Breakout Novel, Part I: Breakout Characters - Donald Maass, president of the Donald Maass Literary Agency
In this hands-on workshop, learn powerful techniques for creating memorable characters. Bring your manuscript and writing materials!
So You Want to Write Something Funny?: How to Make Humor Your Bitch - John Warner, editor of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
The giant brain behind TOW Books tells you everything he’s learned about writing and publishing humor, which should take about fifty minutes, more or less. Most likely less. Maybe bring something to read, just in case.
Get Known Before the Book Deal - Christina Katz, Writer Mama author
Writers who sign book contracts understand their strengths and weaknesses through the eyes of the publishing industry pros, the media, and their targeted readers. Bring yourself and your topic to this interactive presentation and walk out with a plan for getting known sooner, rather than later.
The Rhythm Method: Illustrating the Marriage of Music and Poetry - Keith Flynn, founder/editor of the Asheville Poetry Review
Poet Keith Flynn discusses the symbiotic nature of poetry and its musical elements, why poetry is made to live in the air, the seductive nature of rhythm, and a short history of poetry influenced by American music—gospel, blues, folk, jazz, and rock.
Story Beginnings - Les Edgerton, fiction writer and instructor
One of the biggest reasons agents and editors reject fiction is because the writer has begun his or her story in the wrong place. Learn practical methods for achieving the kind of story beginnings that will entice agents and editors to reach for a book contract, rather than a rejection slip.
Breaking Into Magazines - Maria Schneider, interim editor, Writer’s Digest magazine
From targeting the right publications to polishing your query letter, here’s everything you need to know to start getting bylines.
Mid-Morning Breakout Session: 10:30 a.m.
The Six Usual Suspects - Peter Selgin, award-winning fiction writer, instructor, and editor of Alimentum: The Literature of Food
Six—a curious number: the number of sides to a hexagon, of points on a Star of David, strings on a guitar. In quantum physics, the sum of all presently known quarks. For the less classically or scientifically minded, it’s the digit assigned to Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner, and the depth in feet required to bury a coffin. Six also happens to be the number of gross errors—errors in structure, form, style and conception—routinely encountered by Selgin in the works of beginning and even of advanced fiction writers, fundamental errors that present themselves with alarming frequency and consistency.
Pointers From Glimmer Train - Linda Swanson-Davies, co-editor of Glimmer Train Stories
Learn about all things related to short stories, including what to do before you submit, the pros and cons of competitions, common problems with stories from the editors’ perspective, and how to find your stories’ strengths.
Panel: Ask the Editors
This publishing Q&A with Robert Brewer, editor of Writer’s Market, Chuck Sambuchino, editor of Guide to Literary Agents, and Lauren Mosko, editor of Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market gives you the chance to learn about the publishing process from the inside. Plus, find out what agents and editors really say they want.
The Anatomy of Story: The New Approach to Screenwriting - John Truby, story consultant and “script doctor”
Learn the “pure story” methods that are changing the way Hollywood’s top screenwriters write their way to success.
You Can Write and Sell a Mystery - G. Miki Hayden, Edgar Award-winning mystery author
Discover some of the most important elements in writing any crime fiction subgenre: tightness of focus, appropriate pacing, characters that come alive on the page, and other must-haves to sell in a challenging, competitive environment.
Lunch Featuring New York Editors Q & A Panel: 11:30 a.m
Will Schwalbe, senior vice president and editor in chief of Hyperion, Judy Hottensen, vice president and publisher of Miramax Books, and others TBA.
Author Book Signings: 1:00 p.m.
Afternoon Breakout Session: 1:30 p.m.
Writing the Breakout Novel, Part II: Breakout Plots - Donald Maass, president of the Donald Maass Literary Agency
In Part II of his hands-on workshop, Maass shows you step by step how to lift your story to the next level. Bring your manuscript and writing materials!
Panel: Ask the Agents
Moderated by Chuck Sambuchino, editor of Guide to Literary Agents, this Q&A with top literary agents provides you with an opportunity to find out what agents really think of query letters, what they look for in sample chapters, and what they do—and don’t—like to hear during a live pitch.
Practice Your Pitch - Lauren Mosko, editor, Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market
Practice makes perfect! Before you approach an agent or editor, practice articulating your pitch in this role-playing workshop.
What’s in Your Locker: Tools for Writing the YA Novel - K.L. Going, award-winning YA novelist
The author of Fat Kids Rule the World and The Liberation of Gabriel King shares her journey as a published author and provides insights into writing for young adults, covering such topics as YA history, character development, and setting the pace of your plot.
Panel: Crazy Queries
Discover how to make your writing and your personality appealing to acquisitions editors and agents. Literary agent Sharlene Martin offers first-hand accounts of misguided queries and identifies the essential elements of effective queries that will bring positive responses. Author and psychiatrist Dr. Stanley Kapuchinski shows you how to identify your own personality type in order to make your individual attributes work for you—rather than against you—while you lay out your own best query letter. HCI Editorial Director Michele Matrisciani advises on how to avoid bad communications with your editor once you have successfully garnered an agent and a book deal and how to nurture a good working relationship.
Pitch Slam: 3:00–5:00 p.m.
More than 50 agents and editors will be available to meet with you one-on-one and discuss your book project. Pitches are limited to 3 minutes each. Every attendee will have the opportunity to pitch at least once. Confirmed participants include:
Linn Prentis
Lynne Rabinoff
Jenny Rappaoport
Jessica Regel
Janet Rosen
Rita Rosenkranz
Emma Sweeney
Olga Vezeris
Cherry Weiner
Ted Weinstein
Larry Weissman
Jennifer Weltz
John Willig
Michelle Wolfson
Caroline Woods
Helen Zimmerman
Marilyn Allen
Janet Benrey
Daniel Bial
Regina Brooks
Sheree Bykofsky
Debbie Carter
Jennifer Cayea
Adam Chromy
June Clark
Donya Dickerson
Jen Dunham
Stephany Evans
Grace Freedson
Mollie Glick
Emily Sylvan Kim
Jud Laghi
Michael Larsen
Meg Leder
Julia Lord
Jonathan Lyons
Michael Mancilla
Sharlene Martin
Paul McCarthy
Jeffrey McGraw
Laurie McLean
Jackie Meyer
Peter Miller
Michael Murphy
Colleen O’Shea
Lori Perkins
Alicka Pistek
Elizabeth Pomada
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