1. Mastering the in-Person Pitch Session—Chuck Sambuchino - Do you want the secret of getting that agent or editor you are interviewing with to say "yes" to your pitch? During this workshop, you can learn how to master the art of pitching your manuscript. This is your chance to practice your "agent pitch," before you interview. Learn what to include in your pitch and what not to include. Also included in this workshop is how to act when you sit down next to an agent in any setting. If you plan on interviewing during the conference, then this workshop is for you! This session is for both fiction and non fiction writers.

2. Earn Real Money for Your Writing—Mary Ann Hutchison - All writers wants to make money with their writing. But where can you find it? This workshop gets into the wheres and hows of finding writing contests, magazines, and anthologies where you will earn real money.

3. How Easy it Is to Be Published by a Traditional Publisher—Jane Eppinga - Many people have the misconception that its nearly impossible to be published through a traditional publisher. In this workshop we will bust this myth, and you will learn the tips and tricks to getting published traditionally.

4. Putting Pagans on Paper—Ashleen O'Gaea - Have you ever wanted to write about Witches, Druids, and other Pagans? Well, now you can! This workshop is taught by a Wiccan Priestess, so you can learn the correct way to write about Pagans.

5. Mastering Social Networking Sites—Donna Young - Most people know that Social Networking sites can help you find long lost relatives and friends, but what can they do for your career? This workshop will explains how to set up Social Networking pages, and how to use them to market your writing. Also covered is how to create your pages so your work and books are visible, but your personal info is kept private.

6. Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams—Terry Whalin - Many people have dreams and desires about getting into print but they have no idea where to begin or how to create a plan. In this workshop, learn key steps that you can do to make this dream come true. Whether the writer is a beginner or a pro, this workshop is certain to stir their imagination and plans in a fresh way long after the conference.

7. Mastering Point of View And Narrative Voice—Harvey Stanbrough - What is Point of View and Narrative Voice, and why do so many authors have a difficult time mastering it? We will define Point of View once and for all and clarify Narrative Voice. This workshop includes a lot of strong narrative tips, including "Show, don't tell," and how to immediately recognize and repair "passive" constructions.

8. The Future of Publishing—Jerry Simmons - The world of publishing is changing every minute. So how can we figure out what the future holds in publishing? Instead of using a crystal ball, this workshop will give sage advice about the future of publishing and how writers and authors can profit from these changes.

9. Add Courtroom Drama to Your Work—Jonathan Miller - Many TV shows such as Law and Order, JAG, The Practice and Boston Legal grab viewers attention through legal drama. So how do you do that on paper? What are the secrets to adding criminal trials, divorce proceeding, and other legal issues into your writing into your work? Learn how in this workshop conducted by a practicing criminal attorney who has published several legal thrillers.

10. How To Build a Series Character—Betty Webb - Who can forget Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn (created by Tony Hillerman), JoAnna Brady (JA Jance), Dirk Pitt (Clive Cussler) and Lena Jones (Betty Webb) ? What are the elements that make these characters so "unputdownable" that the reader will get hooked onto a series and stay with him or her for years? There are certain traits that are common to all of them. Learn these secrets so that you can create your own series character and keep your reader buying book after book.

11. Using Your Book to Market Your Business—Sam Henrie - Your book is the ultimate showcase for your expertise, and can be one of the most powerful tools for increasing the sales of your business products and services. Learn the seven ways small business owners and entrepreneurs can use a book to market their businesses and skyrocket their sales.

12. Book Publicity on a Budget—Paula Margulies - In this economy, publishers don't have the funds to market your book unless you are a best selling author. So, how do you do promote yourself if you don't have much money? This workshop covers how to talk to the media, libraries, universities, book clubs, and book store owners—who to contact, what to say, and how to get that all-important "yes" response to your inquiries.

13. Finance Your Travels through Writing—Stephanie Elizondo Griest - Do you dream of traveling the world and not paying for it? Now you can! Learn all of the ways you can finance your trips by getting paid to write about them. This workshop is taught by a best selling travel writer, and she will cover how not only improving your travel writing, but where and how to submit your manuscripts for publication. This workshop is taught by a best selling author who is a keynoter.

14. Mastering Realistic Dialogue—John M. Williams - Editors tell writers to "show, don't tell," so mastering the art of dialogue is essential. Learn how to write and master realistic, non stilted-dialogue in all areas of fiction and non fiction.

15. Using History to Enhance Your Manuscript—Roger MacBride Allen - Are you addicted to the History channel? Do you wish you could add History to your manuscript and make it as interesting as some of their programs? Our Sci-Fi Jedi Master is also a History Buff, and an expert in making history fascinating. Lean how he researched, wrote, and published a history book that is captivating readers.

16. Adding Romance to Your Writing—Janet Lorimer - Make your writing hot and spicy by adding romance. This workshop will present in-depth information about the romance market. Learn what the definition of romance is, varying sub-genres, and where to get your romance manuscripts published.

17. Become a Self-Help Guru—Three Tips to Writing Self-self (non fiction)—Patricia Brooks - Are you another Dear Abby, Dr. Oz, or Dr. Phil? Do you have advice for people that you want to share? Learn how to write self-help and share your wisdom with others.

18. How To Write a Query Letter—Pam Strickler - In this workshop, learn the Do's and Don'ts for writing and sending a query letter. (NOTE: If you are attending, please submit a query letter before Friday the 24th so that they can be critiqued in the workshop. You can email it to pam@pamstrickler.com or you can BRING a hardcopy before Friday to the hotel for Pam Strickler (arriving 9/24) C/O Radisson Suites hotel, 6555 East Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85710)

19. Weaving A Story And Getting it Down Onto Paper—Terra Trevor - Learn how to weave your story, grab your audience's attention, and it get it down onto paper. This is wonderful workshop on the art of storytelling taught by a Native American storyteller and author.

20. Deciding Character versus Plot—Victor Rangel Ribeiro - Should your writing focus on the characters or the plot? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each emphasis? This workshop will help you with this dilemma and is taught by an award winning author, editor, and 'book doctor."

21. Online Marketing for Authors—Chris O'Byrne - This workshop will cover essential marketing items to include in your website, how to dip your toe into social media without drowning, and several other marketing tools you can use to build excitement and attract as many users as possible, including podcasting your book and doing a product launch.

22. Making Sure Your Submission Gets Noticed—Natalie Fischer - Don't make the mistake that many authors do when they submit their manuscripts! Go to this "how-to" workshop on the correct formatting of your submission, and turn your rejections into gold!

23. The Business of Scriptwriting—Chuck Sambuchino - You've written a play or Screenplay. Now what? This workshop examines what writers need to do to when they are finished writing and don't know what to do. The workshop will address targeting markets. writing script queries, getting your work read, agents and managers, and much more. Everything from writing to dealing with directors is discussed.

24. Author/ Agent/ Publicist panel—John Quinn, and Claire Gerus - TBA

25. Writing from Flirtation to the Sheets—Was it good for you?—Virginia Nosky - Everyone has heard that sex sells. So how do you put it into your writing and make your manuscript sell? This workshop will cover how to add sex scenes in a way to make your work sell, and how much and how little you should be put into your work.

26. Writing Foreign Characters—Victor Rangel Ribeiro - Writing foreign characters is really tricky. How do you make your character believable and not fall into the trap of stereotyping him or her? In this workshop you will learn the secrets for writing foreigner characters, and get tips such as how to write their accents, and when and how much to include foreign words in their speech.

27. Investigate Strange New Worlds—Roger MacBride Allen - In a galaxy, far, far, away, Investigate strange new worlds in this Sc-Fi workshop. Learn about the Sc-Fi genre from the Jedi master who wrote a three of the Star Wars books.

28. Find the Right Agent and Publisher—Denise Roessle - Firing off queries without researching the agent or editor can lead to rejections . . . or worse. Learn how to target your "best bets"—those most likely to have an interest in your book and investigate their reputation in the publishing arena. Whatever your genre, if you're ready to pitch your project, you won't want to miss this workshop.

29. Flash Fiction—Harvey Stanbrough - 99 bottles of beer of the wall...no wait...its write it in 99 words or less. Learn how to write flash fiction in lightening speed and get it published.

30. Everything You Wanted to Know About E-books (but were afraid to ask)—Jerry Simmons - You won't be afraid of E-books after taking this workshop. In this workshop, learn all about them and the advantages and disadvantages of E-books versus print.

31. Make Your Memoirs Sing—Marilyn Pate - Take this workshop to learn how to write about your treasured memories and make them "sing" for you. Family continuity, avenues of researching with elders, and the side effects of writing your memoirs will all be discussed.

32. Sleuthing 101—Jonathan Miller - Is there a hidden Hercules Poirot or a Miss Marple inside of you? Do you want to learn how to be a professional sleuth, or do you just want to get away with murder? Well, now you can do all of these things! Learn all about sleuthing and writing with a poisoned pen in this workshop conducted by a Mystery writer.

33. Building Fantasy Worlds—Brenda Clough - Rome wasn't built in a day, but you can build a world in one hour. This Sci-Fi /Fantasy workshop will teach you how to build a world in your manuscript that will not only be imaginative, but be realistic enough that your readers can imagine it.

34. Red Flags in Your Manuscript—Betty Webb - If you think that agents and editors wait until they've read an entire manuscript before they reject it, you are dead wrong. This workshop, taught by a well known mystery writer, alerts writers to the red flags that will get their manuscripts killed while reading the first page.

35. How To Woo and Win an Agent—Jill Marr - Do you think that champagne and caviar will win an agent? What if that doesn't work? This workshop is essential for writers and authors who want to know what to do, and what not to do to get an agent.

36. The Art and Business of Playwriting—Carol Costa - Are you the next Shakespeare? Do you want to write plays and have them performed in theaters? If so, this is the workshop for you! This workshop discusses all of the nuts and bolts of playwriting.

37. Make a Video of Your Book—Misty Taggart - (NOTE: this workshop is canceled--Misty can't make it for personal reasons)

38. Imaginary Worlds—Maxwell Alexander Drake - Fantasy and Sc-Fi. Heroes and Villains. Could you imagine the movie Star Wars without Princess Leia or Darth Vader? Or 101 Dalmatians without Cruella De Vil? What makes those characters so memorable? How do you write characters that readers love or hate with a passion? This workshop is great for writers of many different genres.

39. Writing for the Inspirational Market—Donna Goodrich - A workshop that will inspire you to write! This workshop covers different inspirational genres, both fiction and non fiction, devotional, personal experiences, Bible stories, interviewing, puzzles, and children's stories.

40. Create a "Dossier" for Your Character—Steve Adelson - Have you ever wanted to create an alias? Well, now you can—with your character! Create a character and make his background believable. Learn how to give him a career in the military, as a criminal, a corporate CEO, or a professor! Topics such as how to conduct the research in these areas and write about them will be discussed.

41. Great Beginning and Satisfying Endings—Jo Wilkins - "It was a dark and stormy night," is not the way you should start your manuscript! So what is a great beginning to use? And how else do you end a book and not use the words "The End?" Find out in this workshop.

42. Chapter One Do's and Don'ts—Chuck Sambuchino - The first chapter is the part of your manuscript that most people are going to read. So what do you do to hook the reader and get agents and editors to keep reading? Learn all about it in this workshop. Learn also the don'ts: such as using cliches, what agents' pet peeves are, and much more.

43. Marketing books for Kids and Teens —Jennifer J. Stewart - A how-to workshop on marketing books for the younger generation. An award winning children's author will give her expert tips and advice. Other topics covered are increasing your chances of making your book stand out and how manuscripts for children's books are considered.

44. The Key to Getting Your Short Story Sold—John M. Williams - Learn all about short stories, and the tips and tricks to writing a short story that will be published. Topics being covered in this workshop are the modern short story, what essential ingredients should be in short stories and what you can do to get your stories sold.

45. Mastering Self-editing —Kirt Hickman - Don't make the mistake of sending your manuscript to your editor before you self-edit them. Take this workshop to learn the ins and outs of editing your own work. Learn what common mistakes are, and how to fix them.

46. Create Your Author Platform—Terry Whalin - What is an agent platform and how do you build it? Find out at this workshop . Because the major publishing companies cannot afford to take chances, authors are expected to come to the table with a ready-made audience or a platform. Whether you are just starting out in publishing or you have dozens of books to your credit, having a platform is a sure-fire way to make agents and editors fall in love with you and ready to sign you up. And if you're self-published and don't care about attracting traditional publishers, building a platform should be just as important to you because its your ticket to large book sales.

47. Make an Outline of Your Book—Bob Mayer - Learn the steps you need to take to outline your book before you start writing, and why you need to do this. This workshop is taught be a best selling author who is one of our keynoters.

48. How to Impress an Agent/Editor with Your Synopsis—J. Ellen Smith - What type of synopsis grabs an agent or editor's attention? Which ones end up in the shredder? When you've got a limited amount of time, what works and what doesn't? This is a 'working' workshop, so bring your synopsis or cover blurb and with you and be prepared to present it for feedback.