805 Writers Conference Returns to the Beach November 2 & 3. The conference has moved to the beautiful Mandalay Beach Resort in Oxnard Shores.
Registration is now open for two days of conference sessions and workshops. The 2019 theme is Tools, Skills, Resources, the information writers need to succeed. A majority of the conference sessions will focus on the business of writing, and the workshops offer a combination of the craft and business of writing instruction. The conference is sponsored by WPN and co-sponsored by regional writing organizations.
How to optimize Amazon, the principal outlet for books; how to build an audience of readers and social media followers, not just your friends and relatives; how to pitch a book in a meeting or query letter; and the benefits of working with a professional editor. A panel of three successful indie authors will give the details of how they brought their books to market and sold copies.
A panel of literary agents will discuss the current marketplace, what is selling and trends they foresee, and what they are signing; and, a second panel, Books to Screen, will have two movie producers and two agents/scouts who seek a great book they can feed into the incredible streaming video markets. Agent Sherry Robb will give a full session on How to Pitch Your Project, and Sunday agent Michelle Zeitlin will deliver the query letter session. A PITCHFEST, where writers sign up for ten minutes with one of the seven agents, takes place later in the day.
Workshops will include three half-day workshops: The Art of the Short Story with legendary SoCal author/editor Shelly Lowenkopf; How to Reboot Your Book with Carolyn Howard Johnson; and, Social Media for Authors with Mandy Jackson-Beverly. A full day craft of writing workshop with Toni Lopopolo will delve into The Essentials of Characters.
Each workshop is limited to 25 writers. Registration and the full schedule of sessions and workshops are at www.805writersconference.com. Full weekend or single-day tickets are available now along with the workshops. Individual sessions will go on sale in October based on conference capacity. PITCHFEST will go on sale October 1 to registered attendees.
For more information, contact Kathleen Kaiser at Kathleen@kathleenkaiser.com.
Pictured above from left to right:
Top row: Carolyn McDonald, award-winning executive producer for many cable outlets; Michelle Zeitlin, literary agent who takes books to the screen; and, Jill Marr, literary agent.
Second row: Toni Lopopolo, former NY executive editor, literary agent and writing instructor; Sherry Robb, literary agent and producer; Ilene Kahn Power, former VP HBO films, Emmy and Golden Globe winner; Howard Rosenmann, producer of Academy Awards and Emmy Award-winning films; and, Dana Newman, literary attorney and agent.
Third row: Carolyn Howard-Johnson, bestselling author on book marketing; Naomi Kim Eaglson, editor; Shelly Lowenkopft, editor extraordinaire and author of more than 40 books; Zhena Muzyka, author and publisher; and, Patricia Fry, bestselling author of more than 70 books.
Bottom row: Ivor Davis, bestselling author; Mandy Jackson-Beverly, bestselling author and social media guru; Emily Heckman, former NY executive editor and now freelance editor; Kimberly Davis Basso, author; Adanna Moriarty, web designer; and, Penny Sansevieri, bestselling author and book marketer.