Sunday

9-10 am—eBook Promotions

Miranda Ditmore-BookBub representative

10-10:30 am—Break

Book Expo

10:30-11:30 am—Interview with a Celebrity Author

Celebrity Author 

11:30-1 pm—Lunch

Book Expo

1-2 pm—How to Sell More Books: Laying the Foundation for Bigger Book Sales

Penny Sansevieri, bestselling author and CEO of Author Marketing Experts

2-2:30 pm—Break

Book Expo

2:30-3:30 pm—Mystery Writers

Moderator-Desireé Duffy

Jule Selbo, award-winning author, Deborah Herman, Publisher/editor/entrepreneur and author, Cristina Hoag, former international journalist turned award-winning author, TL Bequette, criminal defense attorney turned writer

3:30-4 pm—Break

Book Expo

4-5—How to Make Money as a Poet

Hiram Sims, Poetry Professor, Daniel Lisi, Founder of Not A Cult Press, Poetry Publisher, Matt Sedillo, Author, Traveling Poet, Camari Hawkins, author, Death by Comb

5-6—Poetry Open Mic

MC-Hiram Sims

Session Descriptions

Saturday

8:45 to 9 a.m.

Kathleen Kaiser, Opening remarks

9 to 10 a.m.

Jane Friedman – The State of the Industry: Publishing Post-Pandemic

It’s often said that the pandemic has accelerated changes already underway in business, and that has proven especially true for book publishing. Even though the industry is often considered slow and not as susceptible to technological change (and even though print just enjoyed its most robust sales in more than a decade), it’s been a transformative time for the business of books.

Readers who started or increased their digital consumption or online buying habits may not return to pre-pandemic behaviors. That’s potentially good news for self-publishing authors (who mainly focus on sales and marketing through online channels), digital distributors, Amazon, Bookshop, and anyone else who saw their business get a bump in 2020. But it will likely be a challenging future for brick-and-mortar bookstores, and it may change what books get discovered in the future. The pandemic continues to speed up a slow but steady sales shift to backlist books and smaller publishers.

In the end, no one will go unaffected—not authors, editors, marketers, or booksellers.

Jane will discuss the big-picture changes still unfolding, the questions they raise for the industry, and what to watch for in the months and years ahead.

10 to 10:30 a.m. 

Break and Book Expo opens

10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Jackie Lapin – Pitching tips for getting an agent, or being a guest on a podcast or radio show

Trying to meet and be signed by an agent is a major stumbling block for many writers. To achieve this goal and sign with the right person, writers must learn how to pitch—both themselves and their work. And once the book is published and unless they have a publicist, writers must be able to pitch podcasters, book bloggers, and radio show producers who will find them intriguing and book them on their shows. 

Jackie Lapin will give you step-by-step tips for getting booked.

11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Lunch and Book Expo

1 to 2:30 p.m.

Small Publishers Accepting Submissions Panel

Moderated by Kathleen Kaiser

Melissa Carrigee, Publisher, Brother Mockingbird, Lawrence Knorr, Publisher, Sunbury Press, Lisa Green, Associate Editor, City Owl Press, Jay Hartman, Editor-in-Chief, Untreed Reads Publishing, Betty Lou Leaver, Managing Editor, MSI Press

Literary agents from both the East Coast and West Coast will be on this panel to discuss what types of books they are looking for now. This year we are adding small publishers who are accepting direct submissions from writers to talk about what genre they publish.

2:30 to 3 p.m.

Break

3 to 4 p.m.

805 Writers Finding Success 

Moderator Kathleen Kaiser, with authors Alicia Doyle, Sheila Lowe, Kimberly Davis Basso, and Constance Hood 

Talent exists in the 805 and these four authors are proof. One is an established forensic expert, one an established journalist turned author, and two newer authors who are finding success, including one having her book optioned for a film. How did they do it? What advice do they have for you? What was the magic pixie dust?

All questions will be answered within the hour.

4 to 4:30 p.m.

Break

4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Grill the Book Publicist 

Moderator Kathleen Kaiser with Penny Sansevieri, Desireé Duffy, and Jackie Lapin

Four Southern California book marketers talk about the most effective tools they are using now to draw attention, launch new authors, and expand the following of established authors. Each has her own methods for success and much of it depends upon the material of the book and the author’s desire to participate. Publicists aren’t magicians but they can capture market share with the right team and a well-written book that drives a story or message. All are open to questions from the audience.

Book Expo is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday

9 to 10 a.m.

EBook Promotions

Miranda Ditmore, BookBub representative 

How does the price of an ebook impact a reader’s decision to purchase, especially from a new author? Can discounting your ebook help?

While it may be hard to imagine that lowering the price of your ebook can make you more money, ebook price promotions are a powerful marketing strategy leveraged by many leaders in the publishing industry. Regardless of where you are in the publishing process, understanding when and how to strategically discount your ebooks, and how book prices can impact reader decisions, can help sharpen your marketing instincts.

In this virtual session, Miranda, an account representative at BookBub, will walk through what ebook price promotions are, who purchases discounted ebooks, how price promotions can help partners achieve different marketing goals, and how BookBub’s tools can help.

Some things you can expect to learn are:

• What BookBub is, and how it helps authors and publishers market ebook price promotions to over 20 million readers worldwide
• Who BookBub’s readers are, to help understand the profile and behavior of readers who purchase discounted books
• How you can use price promotions to achieve five different marketing goals
• How you can leverage BookBub’s tools to boost the exposure of your discounts

10 to 10:30 a.m.

Break – Book Expo opens

10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

805 Author Spotlight – Celebrity Author interview

11:30 to 1 p.m.

Lunch Break and Book Expo

1 to 2 p.m. –  Secrets of a Bestselling Amazon Book Page

Penny Sansevieri, bestselling author and CEO, Author Marketing Experts

Is your book not selling? It could be your Amazon book page. More and more, Amazon book page conversion is a big issue, and it can also impact your Amazon relevancy score. What’s a “relevancy score”? This class will unpack that as well!

It’s one thing to have your book up on Amazon; it’s quite another to have a book page that actually sells your book. This session will go over tips and insider information on turning your Amazon book page into a sales machine! 

We’ll discuss:

• Your book description: how to make it your #1 sales tool
• Understanding how Amazon “scans” your page for relevancy
• Understanding your Amazon relevancy score
• Running Amazon ads that aren’t converting? We’ll dig into that too and offer some quick remedies to help increase your ad conversion
• Your book’s tagline: how this helps to sell more books
• How to get more real estate on your Amazon book page
• Ways to use Author Central to enhance your book page
• Using video on your Amazon book page – yes you can!
• Using Author Central to enhance your Amazon Book Page in super creative ways!
• Creative ways to add Amazon keywords to your Amazon book page for better page visibility
• Amazon “also boughts” – why they matter to your page visibility
• ….and much more!

2 to 2:30 p.m.

Break

2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Crime and Mystery Writing: from the Courtroom to Pages of a Book Panel

Moderator Desireé Duffy with Mystery Writers:Jule Selbo, award-winning author, Deborah Herman, Publisher/editor/entrepreneur and author, Cristina Hoag, former international journalist turned award-winning author, TL Bequette, criminal defense attorney turned writer

How can you weave the reality of criminals, law enforcement, the judicial system, detective work, and gang life into your novel? A panel of writers who lived the life, along with detective series authors, talk about bringing their authentic experiences to the pages of their books. Discover their process, hear their chilling true stories, and get advice for adding suspense and thrills to your writing. What is it like to delve into the heart of darkness?

3:30 to 4 p.m.

Break

4 to 5 p.m.

How to Make Money as a Poet Panel

Hiram Sims, Poetry Professor, Daniel Lisi, Founder of Not A Cult Press, Poetry Publisher, Matt Sedillo, Author, Traveling Poet, Camari Hawkins, author, Death by Comb

How Poets Make Money is a panel discussion and tutorial exploring all of the methods by which poets make a living for themselves. The general perspective is that poetry as a career path will result in financial ruin, while there are many working poets successfully taking care of themselves, and their families. Join us at The World Stage as we explore the various career paths in the field of poetry.

5 to 6 p.m.

Open Mic for Poets—Hiram Sims to MC