Indie Author Publishing Conference & Pitchapalooza!

Start: 02/09/2013 8:30 am

End: 02/09/2013 7:00 pm

Changing Hands Bookstore and Phoenix Public Library proudly present: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013 Burton Barr Central Library 1221 North Central Avenue Phoenix, Arizona 85004 Cost for the day includes box lunch from Carly's Bistro REGISTRATION BEGINS DECEMBER 1, 2012 @ BIT.LY/INDIEAUTHOR » $125 Early registration (Nov. 1 – Jan. 21) Registration Jan. 22 – Feb. 9: $135
The publishing world is transforming. Whether you choose the DIY model or follow the traditional route to bring your book to market, the INDIE AUTHOR PUBLISHING CONFERENCE offers you a place to get started, get inspired, and learn what you need to get published! One lucky person will even win an introduction to a literary agent during our Pitchapalooza! SCHEDULED SESSIONS Books as Business presented by Paul Taunton, Leah Vanpoelvoorde, and Cindy Dach How to Pitch your Book presented by David Henry Sterry and Arielle Eckstut Traditionally-Published vs. Self-Published presented by Laurie Notaro, Landon J. Napoleon, Stella Pope Duarte, and Gayle Shanks Going to Print presented by Paul Taunton, Annette Rogers, and Grael Norton Going Digital presented by Evo Terra and Jeff Moriarty Building your Web Presence presented by Evo Terra and Jeff Moriarty Clue to Mysteries presented by Annette Rogers Legally Speaking presented by Ruth Carter To Market, To Market presented by Tania Katan, Laurie Notaro, and Cindy Dach Publishing on Your Way to Publishing presented by Amy Silverman, Bill Wyman, Terry Greene Sterling, and Cindy Dach PITCHAPALOOZA: OPEN TO THE PUBLIC \| The conference concludes with a Pitchapalooza! Randomly selected people will have one minute (and one minute only) to present their best "elevator pitch" to a panel of book experts. One lucky author will win an introduction to a genre-specific literary agent. Judges and panelists: David Henry Sterry, Arielle Eckstut, Annette Rogers, Paul Taunton and Gayle Shanks. GREAT GIFT IDEA for the writers in your life. We'll even gift wrap the registration confirmation for you!
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
REGISTER NOW @ BIT.LY/INDIEAUTHOR » 8:30 \| REGISTRATION AND CHECK-IN 9-9:40 \| SESSION 1 \| WELCOME \| GRAEL NORTON \| Understand your options. Get informed about the modern publishing landscape, both print and digital. Learn how to submit your work, understand many common challenges and obstacles, and better understand your motivation for getting published. 9:50-10:40 \| SESSION 2 \| BOOKS AS BUSINESS \| PAUL TAUNTON, LEAH VANPOELVOORDE, CINDY DACH \| Writing is a creative art. And while writers excel at imagination and creativity, writing is also a business. From record-keeping and marketing plans to growing your brand and the tax implications of self-publishing, learn how to be a better manager of your book as a business. 10:50-11:40 \| SESSION 3 \| HOW TO PITCH YOUR BOOK \| DAVID HENRY STERRY AND ARIELLE ECKSTUT \| Writers often have just a minute or two to persuade an agent, editor, friend or potential reader to read their work. Learn the fundamentals of what it takes to make a great pitch and encourage more readers to pick up your book! 11:50-12:45 \| LUNCH TALK \| PUBLISHED VS. SELF-PUBLISHED \| LAURIE NOTARO, LANDON J. NAPOLEON, STELLA POPE DUARTE, AND GAYLE SHANKS \| 30-minute break for boxed lunch. Author panelists Laurie Notaro, Landon Napoleon and Stella Pope Duarte and moderator Gayle Shanks discuss the pros and cons of publishing traditionally and self-publishing. 1-1:50 \| SESSION 4 \| GOING TO PRINT \| PAUL TAUNTON, ANNETTE RODGERS, GRAEL NORTON \| Whether you're self publishing or pursuing the traditional route, you'll need professional help. Learn exactly what an editor, book designer, and marketer do to help you produce and sell the best book you're capable of creating. 2-2:50 \| SESSION 5 \| GOING DIGITAL \| EVO TERRA, JEFF MORIARTY \| Digital publishing isn't just radically changing the business; It's changing what it means to be an author. In this session, you'll learn to leverage digital tools to help you e-publish, collaborate, network and market in relevant ways. Digital publishing puts the power in the author's hands; understanding these changes will help you make a living in the digital age. 3-3:25 AND 3:30-3:55 \| SESSIONS 6 AND 7 \| BREAKOUT SESSIONS (CHOOSE 2) BUILDING YOUR WEB PRESENCE \| EVO TERRA, JEFF MORIARTY \| Being online means more than just having a great author website, driving traffic, or plying the hard sell to convince people to buy. This session will teach you how to grow and feed your fanbase on your site, your social space, and more. You will learn how to focus your energies where they fit naturally—and where you'll make the biggest splash. CLUE TO MYSTERIES \| ANNETTE ROGERS \| The broad genre of mystery writing includes a number of subgenres. All mysteries share the fundamentals of what "makes" a mystery, but then each digresses into its unique, specific subgenre. Understand the different genres, whether you're writing a thriller, cozy, armchair, hard-boiled, police procedure, or another style. You'll want to know your genre to sell your book! LEGALLY SPEAKING \| RUTH CARTER \| There's a lot more to publishing a book than writing or designing a great cover. Traditional and self-publishers alike must understand certain aspects of contract negotiation, copyright law, assignments and licenses, fees and royalties. Join this session to get a basic understanding of what you need to know before publishing your book. TO MARKET, TO MARKET \| TANIA KATAN, LAURIE NOTARO, CINDY DACH \| So your book has been published. Now what? Unless you have a massive advertising budget, you'll have to get creative and find low-cost ways to connect with readers. In this session, learn some creative, out-of-the-book, inexpensive marketing approaches. 4-4:45 \| SESSION 8 \| PUBLISHING ON YOUR WAY TO PUBLISHING \| AMY SILVERMAN, BILL WYMAN, TERRY GREENE STERLING, CINDY DACH \| Learn about the many online and print opportunities to publish stories, essays, and articles that will help launch your writing career, even before you print your first book. 5 \| FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC \| PITCHAPALOOZA \| DAVID HENRY STERRY, ARIELLE ECKSTUT, ANNETTE ROGERS AND GAYLE SHANKS \| Anyone with an idea for a book has one minute (and one minute only) to pitch it to our panel of judges. Pitch participants will be randomly selected from the pool of attendees present. The judges will critique everything from idea and style to your idea's marketplace viability, and much more. Whether potential authors pitch themselves, or simply listen to trained professionals critique each presentation, Pitchapaloozas are educational and entertaining for one and all. You'll come away with concrete advice on how to improve your pitch, as well as a greater understanding of the ins and outs of the publishing industry. At the end of the evening, the judges will pick a winner, who will receive an introduction to an agent in their genre and a Kobo Glo (a $129.99 value!) from our friends at Kobo.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Grael Norton is acquisitions manager at Wheatmark Publishing Services and a senior faculty member of the Authors Academy, where he helps writers prepare projects for market and coaches them on publishing success. Prior to joining Wheatmark, Grael worked as an editorial assistant for Fodor's Travel Guides, a division of Random House. His latest work is The Author's Guide to Choosing a Publishing Service, a free special report available for download at wheatmark.com.
Paul Taunton is a senior editor at Knopf Random House Canada. For more than a decade he worked at Random House in New York, both as an editor and in the sales department. He studied at McGill University in Montreal and York University in Toronto.
Leah Vanpoelvoorde, M.S., is an executive and business coach who works with executives and their leadership teams in leadership development, strategic planning, team-building, communication skills, and coaching. She coaches clients and their teams to maximize their innate wisdom, illuminate their passions, and create a powerful plan to manifest their ideals both professionally and personally. This process allows clients to increase their energy and productivity while reducing stress, all of which, according to Vanpoelvoorde, "results in an abundance of freedom, time and money."
Cindy Dach is a co-owner and general manager of Changing Hands Bookstore where she has produced and managed hundreds of author and community based events over the past eleven years. Dach is a co-owner of MADE art boutique, which features a highly curated selection of books from Changing Hands. She is also a co-founder of Local First AZ and an acting board member of Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation where she works collaboratively to help cultivate a downtown walkable arts community in Downtown Phoenix.
David Henry Sterry is the author of 12 books on a wide variety of subjects, from memoir, sports, and reference to novels for young readers. His most recent book appeared on the cover of the Sunday New York Times Book Review. He is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, and his work has appeared everywhere from the San Francisco Chronicle to the London Times.
Arielle Eckstut is an agent-at-large at the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, one of New York City's most respected and successful agencies. For 18 years, she has been helping hundreds of talented writers become published authors. Arielle is not only the author of seven books, but she is also a successful entrepreneur. She co-founded the company LittleMissMatched, and grew it from a tiny operation into a leading national brand, which grossed over $30 million in retail sales last year, and now has stores from coast to coast, from Disneyland to Disney World to Fifth Avenue in New York City.
Laurie Notaro is the New York Times bestselling author of The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death, I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies), There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell, It Looked Different on the Model, and several others. She was a columnist for the Arizona Republic until she got fired, and plays hide and seek with her dog every morning. Her new book, The Pottymouth at the Table, will be published in May by Simon & Schuster.
Landon J. Napoleon is the author of ZigZag, which was made into a film starring John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes, and Oliver Platt. Strong reviews in America and England didn't lead to big sales, though, and Napoleon's follow-up, Deep Wicked Freaky, wasn't picked up by a major publisher. Napoleon then spent five years researching and writing the legal drama The Rules of Action. When enthusiastic agenting and a rave review by the notoriously cranky Kirkus Reviews didn't lead to another contract, Napoleon self-published the novel in 2010. He recently self-published digital editions of all three books, plus a fourth: The Flatirons.
Stella Pope Duarte, whom Ursula LeGuin once described as a writer "who will enlarge humanity," is the author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated novel If I Die in Juarez. Her latest book—and her first self-published title—is Writing Through Revelations, Visions, and Dreams. Duarte has won numerous honors and awards, including the American Book Award, the Southwest Book of the Year Award, and the Women in American History Award. Inspired to write by a prophetic dream of her father, she believes that writing, like love, begins within, or it doesn't start at all.
Gayle Shanks co-founded Changing Hands Bookstore in 1974. She served as president of the American Booksellers Association in 2008, and continues to be involved with the bookselling community on local, regional and national levels. As the book buyer for Changing Hands since its inception, she knows what books sell and is able to spot trends. Her biannual Meet the Buyer sessions for authors in the community hoping to get their book published are always sold out. She is an avid reader and knows good writing when she reads it.
Annette Rogers is the Acquisitions Editor for Poisoned Pen Press, where she searches for new, unpublished mystery writers. She also evaluates and edits manuscripts for publication, corresponds with writers and agents, and brings her soft-coated wheaten terrier Griffin to work each day. Rogers published a bestselling history/travel book on Egypt that was translated into six languages, wrote for O, the Oprah Magazine, and reported on court hearings for Time/Life about the Mormon Bomber case. She has a Masters Degree in History and English.
Ruth Carter is the owner of Carter Law Firm in Phoenix, Arizona. Her practice focuses on business formation and contracts, intellectual property, internet law, and flash mob law. One of her passions is helping people protect their copyrights. She is also the author of The Legal Side of Blogging: How Not to Get Sued, Fired, Arrested, or Killed. Ruth is a co-founder of Improv AZ and a volunteer for Ignite Phoenix.
Evo Terra has made his living as a digital business strategist for over a decade. In short, he solves problems. Along the way he's become entangled in the publishing community. First it was co-hosting an author interview show that became a nationally syndicated radio program and podcast. Then it was launching a serialized free audio books service. He was even asked to write a couple of books in the "For Dummies" series on the topic. Now he's focusing on authors, leveraging his knowledge in digital marketing, branding and doing business online to help them sell more books.
Jeff Moriarty has run his own software company, assessed information security issues, performed improv comedy, and managed social media communities for a Fortune 100 company. He has become a fixture in the Phoenix social media community, organizing Ignite Phoenix and the Improv AZ prank and flashmob group, and leading the Phoenix Social Media Club. He uses the power of social media in communication and marketing to make each of his organizations highly successful in short order.
Tania Katan is the author of My One-Night Stand With Cancer, an honoree of the ALA's Stonewall Book Award in Non-Fiction and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. She also performs her one-woman show, "Saving Tania's Privates" (adapted from My One Night Stand With Cancer) in venues as ACT in Seattle and The Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia. Katan is a regular contributor to The Advocate, Stand Up To Cancer magazine and others. She is also a regular performer at Comedy Central's "Sit-n-Spin". As a public speaker and teacher, Tania is invited to teach writing workshops and give performance-style lectures around the world.
Amy Silverman is managing editor at Phoenix New Times, where she's worked for nearly two decades. Her commentaries have been heard on NPR affilliate station KJZZ, and her work has appeared on the radio show This American Life and in publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Salon, and Travel + Leisure. She co-teaches the writing workshop "Mothers Who Write" and blogs about her daughter Sophie at girlinapartyhat.com.
Bill Wyman is a reporter, critic and editor. He has served as the longtime assistant managing editor at NPR, arts editor of Salon.com, and a staff writer and music columnist for the Chicago Reader. He also created the radio show, Sound Opinions, with Jim DeRogatis. He is now a freelance writer, contributing to Slate.com, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.
Terry Greene Sterling is writer-in-residence at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU. She is also the author of Illegal: Life and Death in Arizona's Immigration War Zone, which chronicles the secret lives of unauthorized immigrants living in Phoenix. Sterling was a staff writer at Phoenix New Times for 14 years, and her work has also appeared in publications such as The Daily Beast, Rollingstone.com, Salon.com, the Washington Post, Newsweek, High Country News, and Arizona Highways.