Conference Schedule – Friday, April 8
7:00 AM Check-In table opens: Pick up registration materials at the check-in table
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8:00 AM – 12:00 PM in the Lehigh Room (Concurrent Session)
Thrillers and Mysteries: How Knowing the Difference will Help You Write a Great Story
Never mind how booksellers tend to lump the two genres together, they are vastly different: one is a rollercoaster ride, the other is more akin to presiding over a murder trial; one targets the heart and stomach, the other targets the brain and intellect. Not that there aren’t some crossover elements—there are, usually on the scene level, but never on the story level. From character development to point-of-view, from atmosphere and setting to the opening scene—the differences define your story, and will either engage your readers . . . or confuse them.
8:00 AM – 12:00 PM in the Cedar Crest Room (Concurrent Session)
Author Promotion Bootcamp
Maximize your promotional efforts. Make the most of interactions by implementing a purposeful engaging strategy. No opportunity should be left to chance. Bring this approach to your social media and learn how to be more relevant to your audience in a manner that is stress-free and easy to incorporate into your already busy schedule. Discover how to appeal to retailers and take full-advantage of meeting a bookstore staff. Learn how engagement will encourage a bookstore to hand-sell your books and keep them in stock. After this intensive training, you will be equipped to seize opportunities, virtual and live.
Part1: Live Author Interaction
Part2: Putting the Social Back in Social Media
Part3: Understanding Retailers
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12:00 – 1:00 PM in the Foundry — Lunch with the Experts
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1:00 – 5:00 PM in the Lehigh Room (Concurrent Session)
Indie Publishing
Mary Shafer is a leading expert on a constantly evolving set of topics related to freelance writing, book authorship and publishing, and marketing for authors.
1:00 – 5:00 PM in the Cedar Crest Room (Concurrent Session)
Cause and Effect Sequences (Pace and Flow)
Interesting stories that grab a reader’s attention and keep them turning pages don’t happen by accident. They employ the techniques and devices of Cause & Effect Sequences. This intensive course will teach you how to use Cause & Effect Sequences to:
* add or enhance urgency, suspense, and drama to scenes and plots
* enhance the flow of the story
* validate motivations for character’s behavior, thinking, reactions, and decisions
* seamlessly enter or depart flashbacks or remembrances
* insure the reader can suspend disbelief
* produce cleaner, more marketable copy by recognizing “red flag” words that often indicate skewed cause-effects
Note: This session is for writers familiar with story structure, writing and story terms, and who have completed fiction (short stories or novels). Students need to bring a hard copy (double spaced, 1″ margins all around), of a story’s first three pages to work on and analyze. Also needed are three different colored highlighters. Bonus:
Free with this session is “Bloopers & Blunders”–a list of 46 common mistakes made in writing fiction.
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5:00 – 6:30 PM
Dinner on Own:
6:30 – 8:30 PM – concurrent in four rooms: Cedar Crest, Muhlenberg, Lafayette, Moravian
Page Cuts Critique Sessions: Advance registration necessary: sessions fill quickly.
Page Cuts critique sessions are optional and included in the FRIDAY, SATURDAY or FULL CONFERENCE price. Participants will be assigned to a room headed by a team of publishing professionals who have been asked to provide off-the-cuff feedback. Your work will be read aloud by a room moderator and commented upon by our panelists. No names will be used, all works are COMPLETELY ANONYMOUS. Opinions of workshop panelists are theirs alone and do not represent the opinions of GLVWG.
Limited to 48 readings. Participants who have been informed of their successful enrollment should bring to their session four copies of the first page of a longer work (fiction, creative nonfiction, or memoir) along with four copies of a 100-word overview of the entire work. Copies must be formatted. Double-spaced, 12 pt. “Times” font, 1-inch margins, Title & Genre at top of page. No names please. Print to start at the top of the page.
7:00 – 8:00 PM in the Foundry (Concurrent to Page Cuts)
Becoming a Storyteller, Not Just a Writer
Revealed are the five secrets to becoming a storyteller, one who goes on to become a producing writer. Learn the truth about the muse and where ideas come from, and find answers to “What if I don’t know what to write?” and “How do I find time to write?”
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8:30 – 10:00 PM in the Lehigh Room
Welcome Reception (Open Seating)
Join us for hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, and the chance to network with agents, editors, presenters, and other conferees. Dress is business casual.
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Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group 