NINE SESSIONS TO CHOOSE FROM
Five hours each of in-depth teaching!
Thursday & Friday: 11:15 – 12:15, 3:15 – 4:15
Saturday, 11:15 – 12:15
Choose one for the entire conference,
but remember you have until December 31, 2024,
to view any or all of the replays at NO additional cost!
CS1 — Deep POV
Linda Glaz
Owner, Agent, www.lindasglaz.com
Linda spent thirteen years as an agent before going out on her own with Linda S. Glaz Literary Agency. She understands authors because she is one! Married with three grown children, she also brags about six grands and two greats. Aw, they're all great! And needless to say, she LOVES books. She is always looking for that next wonderful All American best-selling novel! Linda handles nonfiction and fiction in both the Christian and general markets. General market is clean reads only. And no spec or children’s!
Ever wonder just how deep Deep POV really is? Join me for a wander into the deep. We'll discuss dialogue tags: yeah or nah. Developing strong characters. Getting rid of filter words and Show vs. Tell. Why should we use these techniques? Because the deeper you go, the more you strengthen and tighten the writing! Bring a shovel, 'cuz we'll really dig DEEP…
CS2 — Going Indie
Five sessions below:
(1) What Makes a Book Look Self-Published (Thursday, 11:15 – 12:15)
Cheri Cowell
Owner/Publisher – EABooks Publishing
Author – www.chericowell.com
Cheri is both a traditionally and independently published author and award-winning author of 365 Devotions for Peace (Zondervan) and Parables and Word Pictures Bible study (AMG Publishers). Her other books include Direction: Discernment for the Decisions of Your Life (Beacon Hill) and the One Story, One Mission, One God Bible study. She has published over five hundred articles and countless devotions. With her experience as an author and publisher, Cheri has a unique approach and grace when working with authors to bring their dreams to reality.
Learn the mistakes, how to avoid them, and how to make your book stand out (in a good way). Whether you choose to self-publish or just want to learn how to look more professional, this session will give you the inside look from an editor and publisher.
(2) How to Publish Your Book and eBook on Amazon (Thursday, 3:15 – 4:15)
Amy Deardon
Amy is an award-winning novelist, nonfiction author, and recently a scriptwriter-in-training with one script making the rounds. She founded EBook Listing Services, a company with a unique business model that allows authors to self-publish (NOT subsidy publish). Amy loves all things story (structure, technique, how to get words down) and enjoys helping authors discover the amazing benefits of self-publishing when done the right way.
Get a knock-out cover, format your eBook/print book, and position it to sell on Amazon with categories and keywords. Keep all control and profits, and become a happy self-publisher.
(3) Going Wide as an Indie (Friday 11:15 – 12:15)
Debbie Maxwell Allen
Award-winning Author
Scrivener and Vellum Tutor
Publishing Consultant
Debbie is an award-winning author of historical fiction and works as an editor, Scrivener and Vellum tutor, and a publishing consultant. She took on the role of publisher when her cousin passed away and manages two dozen books under her cousin's name.
Debbie lives high in the Rockies, accompanied by her force-of-nature husband, her yin-and-yang cats, and plenty of visits from her children and the most adorable grandchildren. She travels as often as she can – preferably by train – and always with a hot cup of tea.
To “go wide” or “publish wide” is to distribute and sell books via multiple platforms. All the details of the many wide platforms, the pros and cons of each, and how to market wide books (as opposed to being exclusive to Amazon). Many authors are leaving money on the table by sticking only with Amazon. Learn how to do it, which platforms you can order from, sizes, special print runs, large print, hardback, and more, and not taking advantage of using print as well.
(4) Effective and Economical Ways to Market Your Book (Friday, 3:15 – 4:15)
Larry Carpenter
Chairman and CEO, Christian Book Services, LLC
Carpenter’s Son Publishing, Clovercroft Publishing
Sports Publishing Group
Larry serves as the Chairman and CEO of Christian Book Services. Through their three publishing imprints, Carpenter’s Son Publishing, Clovercroft Publishing, and Sports Publishing Group, Carpenter’s company helps authors independently publish their books. Carpenter has an MBA from the University of North Carolina. He began his career in package goods marketing at Procter & Gamble and Campbell Soup Company. He entered the book business, joining Ingram Book Company as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing in 1987. He was promoted to President and CEO of Ingram’s Spring Arbor division in 1997. In 2000, he started his own distribution company, FaithWorks. After FaithWorks was purchased by STL Distribution, Carpenter joined Thomas Nelson as Vice President of Marketing. In 2008, he became President and Publisher of Standard Publishing. He started Christian Book Services in 2010.
Shane Crabtree
COO, Christian Book Services LLC
Shane has been with Christian Book Services for four years and in 2021 became the COO for the company. He has always been an avid reader, being raised by parents who advocated reading. Shane has worked in project management at a biomedical firm in the past but has transitioned over to managing publishing products for all types of authors. He loves to help guide people through the process of publishing and finding new ways to help market their books and will always be available to listen.
Many authors write great books. But there’s an old adage in publishing. “No one ever bought a book they had never heard of.” Getting the word out is hard unless you know what you are doing. Effective consumer and trade marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. We’ll delve into all aspects of marketing, including Publicity, Platform Marketing, Social Media, Advertising, and others.
(5) The Art of the Hook: Crafting Irresistible Back Cover Copy (Saturday, 11:15 – 12:15)
Michael J. Klassen
President, Illumify Media
PowerWritersReport.com
Author, Ghostwriter
Michael is a best-selling, award-winning ghostwriter, author, freelance writer, book coach, and publisher. He has worked on projects with authors as varied as former president Jimmy Carter (Lessons From Life Bible), Michael John Cusick (Surfing For God), and Philip Yancey (A Companion in Crisis). In 2015, he founded Illumify Media, a hybrid publishing company that releases books that help authors find and refine their powerful message and then guides them through the traditional publishing process so their books look, feel, and read like a traditional release. Services include book coaching, copyediting, publishing, distribution, and author promotion.
You’ve written your book and now it’s ready for the finishing touches. If you write a simple summary of your book for the back cover, you’ll drive your potential readers away. In “The Art of the Hook: Crafting Irresistible Back Cover Copy,” publisher Michael J. Klassen will share secrets that will help you learn
Your reader is asking one simple yet crucial question when considering whether or not to purchase your book. During this workshop, you’ll learn how to answer the question.
CS3 — Grow Your Speaking Ministry
Five sessions below:
(1) Getting Started as a Speaker (Thursday, 11:15 – 12:15)
Twila Belk
The Gotta Tell Somebody Gal &
The Writer’s Champion
Gotta Tell Somebody, Inc.
Author, Editor, Speaker
Also known as The Gotta Tell Somebody Gal, Twila Belk is a writer, speaker, encourager, editor, and champion for writers. She has authored eight books (including the bestselling Raindrops from Heaven and The Power to Be) and contributed to many others, as well as written numerous articles and promotional materials.
Since 2007, she has worked closely with veteran author Cecil Murphey as his executive assistant, which has provided her with a wide range of industry knowledge, connections, and experience. Twila is also a former bookstore owner and writers conference director. She has had the pleasure of teaching and speaking at dozens of conferences across the nation and enjoys brainstorming and working with aspiring writers.
Writing and speaking are a natural fit. Learn what it takes to get started and grow as a speaker.
(2) Stage Presence (Thursday, 3:15 – 4:15) and
(3) Using Media in Speaking (Friday,11:15 – 12:15)
Karen Porter
Co-Owner, Bold Vision Books
International Retreat and Seminar Speaker
Speaking and Writing Coach, Author
karenporter.com
Karen is an international retreat and seminar speaker and a successful businesswoman. She is the author of ten books including her newest release, Make Your Heart a Manger. She is a frequent guest on regional and national radio and TV programs and also contributes to national magazines.
For more than thirty years Karen served as Vice President of International Marketing of a major food company in Texas. Today she and her husband, George, own Bold Vision Books, a Christian publishing company.
Karen is a coach of communicators in both writing and speaking and serves on numerous boards of national ministries.
Karen says her marriage to George is her greatest achievement, but she’d love to talk to you about her five grandchildren! In her spare time, Karen continues her life-long quest to find the perfect purse. Karen is a people person, plain and simple, and you will love to laugh with her and maybe even cry a little as she shares her joys and struggles.
Stage Presence
Learn what to do with your hands and body when on stage. Discover the best techniques for eye contact, moving on the stage, voice inflection and power, and facial expressions. Karen will also show you all the strategies for powerful openings and closings.
Using Media in Speaking
This hands-on workshop will help speakers learn to use PowerPoint, Keynote, and other visual aids to enhance and enrich presentations. Your PowerPoint is not your presentation. Most speakers don’t know how to use these valuable tools—go to any corporate board room and see how not to do it. Guaranteed to change your presentations, add flair and fun, and wow your audiences.
(4) Speakers Sell More Books! (Friday, 3:15 – 4:15)
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Michele Chynoweth
Author, Speaker, Book Coach
www.michelechynoweth.com
Michele Chynoweth is the bestselling author of several award-winning contemporary suspense novels that reimagine Old Testament stories from the Bible in an edgy, modern-day way. She loves helping writers become authors and is a sought-after conference speaker, professional editor with several publishing houses, book coach, and founder of “Your Book Done Right” Master Class and Elite Coaching. A former news reporter, ad agency owner, and marketing director, she lives with her husband in North East, Maryland.
Public speaking has always been the number one way to promote your books. Does that cause you concern, or do you have a little stage fright (like most authors)? Bestselling author and award-winning Toastmasters speaker Michele Chynoweth learned early speakers sell more books . . . then started landing speaking gigs at churches, Rotary Clubs, women’s groups, writers conferences, book festivals, and more! She’ll teach you how to get your own speaking engagements . . . and how to overcome your fear of public speaking, write good content, and engage your audience—so you’ll have them hanging on every word—and then lining up to buy your books! Michele will also teach you how to leverage speaking to increase book sales.
(5) Advanced Speakers Strategies (Saturday, 11:15 – 12:15)
Linda Evans Shepherd
Publisher, Leading Hearts Magazine
CEO, Advanced Writers & Speakers Assc. (AWSA)
Founder, Arise Esther Movement
Blog, GotToPray.com
Linda is a nationally known Christian speaker and an award-winning, best-selling author of almost forty books. In addition to writing and speaking, Linda is president of a large Christian ministry and ministers to the top 800 Christian women authors and speakers in the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA) that she founded and directs. She’s the publisher of the EPA Award Winning magazine, Leading Hearts, and the publisher of the all new Arise Daily e-devotional.
Unlock the best kept secrets for successful speakers with renowned speaker and speaker coach Linda Evans Shepherd. Join Linda as she shares her invaluable insights delivering a message that will be a gift to your audience through the power of storytelling. Gain hands-on expertise in stage presence, delivery, voice modulation, and body language. Elevate your speaking prowess and become a transformative force for the Kingdom.
CS4 — Narrative Nonfiction: The Power of Story
Marti Pieper
Senior Editor, Charisma Media
https://charismanews.com, https://mycharisma.com
Author, Collaborative Writer, Editor, WHAC team
https://martipieper.com/blog
Marti’s eclectic publishing career includes ghostwriting a young adult memoir that made the ECPA bestseller list and traveling to six Latin American countries to share stories of teen mission trips and an award-winning missionary memoir. She has written eight traditionally published nonfiction books and edited many more, written and edited for both print and digital publications, and taught at multiple writers conferences. A fulltime freelance writer and editor, she writes and edits for Charisma Media, serves as editorial director for the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, and has recently completed a ghostwritten book that will be published in more than 250 languages. Find her at www.martipieper.com, where her “Snapshots of Dementia” blog details life with her husband, who suffers from an early-onset dementia.
How can I make my nonfiction more compelling? How can truth and creativity coexist in my work? In this continuing session, which includes both practical tips and inspiring examples, Marti shares the basics of this popular but often misunderstood genre. Learn how to transform your writing through the power of authentic storytelling while you catch—and keep—your readers.
CS5 — Nonfiction Books That Change Lives
Jim Watkins
Editor, Family & Friends Micro-Publishing
www.jameswatkins.com
Author
Jim is the author of twenty traditionally published books and over 3,000 articles. He has served as an editor, university instructor of writing, and conference speaker. Most of all, he is a beloved child of God, husband, dad, and “Papaw” to eight grandchildren.
Hundreds of books about writing have been published, but very few on how to actually persuade with your writing! Sessions look at biblical and behavioral principles for how to write and speak to cause people to change their hearts and minds, how to organize your writing and speaking to engage your readers and listeners, how to use humor and stories to persuasively make your point and motivate without manipulating, and how to create effective marketing.
CS6 — Novelist’s Toolbox
Terry Brennan
Award-winning Author
terrybrennanauthor.com
A Pulitzer Prize is one of the many awards Terry Brennan accumulated during his twenty-two-year newspaper career. The Pottstown (PA) Mercury won a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for a two-year series of editorials published while Brennan was the newspaper’s editor.
In 1996 Terry transitioned into the nonprofit sector, spending twelve years as VP Operations for The Bowery Mission and six years as Chief Administrative Officer for Care for the Homeless, NYC nonprofits that serve homeless people.
Terry began writing fiction in 2005. His first novel, The Sacred Cipher, was released by Kregel Publications in July, 2009. Responding to many reader requests, Brennan wrote a sequel, The Brotherhood Conspiracy, which was released by Kregel in June, 2013, and what became the Jerusalem Prophecies series was concluded with The Aleppo Code in October, 2015. The Aleppo Code won ACFW’s 2016 Carol Award as the best mystery/suspense novel of the year.
Terry’s second fiction series, the Empires of Armageddon, was released in its entirety by Kregel Publications in 2020: Ishmael Covenant on February 18, Persian Betrayal on July 28 and the concluding novel, Ottoman Dominion, on November 17.
Terry and his wife, Andrea, live in western Connecticut.
Both professionals and do-it-yourselfers know that the right tool makes any job easier. In this continuing session, Carol Award winner and multi-published author Terry Brennan will share some essential tools for The Novelist's Toolbox: Mastering the timeless story structure called The Hero's Journey; How to use The Plot Skeleton to build a satisfying story; Structure for Gardeners - Designing order for those who work by the seat of their pants; Bit Players Steal the Show - Creating minor characters to drive plot (show, not tell); and the many layers of compelling Character Development. Along with exercises and class participation, this continuing session will help you acquire some essential tools to build better novels.
CS7 — Fundamentals of Screenwriting
Victoria Dorshorn
Author, Scriptwriter
VictoryThroughLight.com
Vicki has written several scripts that have placed well in major contests and have won awards, including Good Medicine, Faith House, A New Heart Beating, The Partnership, and ReachDeep, which is based on a story by Amy Deardon. Vicki also writes and publishes Christian non-fiction, including Victory through Light: How to Overcome the Growing Cultural Darkness, Victory through Voice: How to Speak Truth When the Culture Demands Silence, and Called into Light: An Allegory. She has published a novel, Out of the Prison House, and a collection of poetry, Angel Unaware: Poems, under her maiden name. Her blogs appear on her website, www.VictoryThroughLight.com.
From an initial, active discussion of what screenwriting is and how it differs from writing prose, we will establish the first things to consider when planning a script: premise, logline, and synopsis. We will proceed to learn about plot structure and character arcs. We'll study dialogue and action, as well as set-ups and pay-offs, subtext, and MacGuffins. Hands-on practice and Q & A time will be included.
CS8 — Style: Make It Subtle . . . and Memorable
Tim Riter
Author, Pastor, Speaker, Teacher
timriter@aol.com
Tim has served as a preaching pastor for over twenty years. He has a MA in Ministry and MA in Communication. He taught high school English for eleven years including five years teaching AP English Language (focus on style and persuasion). He also has sixteen years of experience as an adjunct professor teaching Composition and Communication on both the graduate and undergraduate level. Tim has ten royalty published books in Christian nonfiction with total sales of 115,000 that have been translated into eight languages. His blog, Unconventional, has an audience of 15,000.
Concept: knowing and intentionally using the six classic elements of style (syntax, diction, sound, rhythm, imagery, figurative language) will help writers make major improvements to their craft with both a Christian and a secular culture. The class will include both principles and practical application.
CS9 — Writer, Thou Art Loosed!
Beatrice Bruno
Speaker, Author,
US Army Veteran
www.DrillSergeantofLife.com
Beatrice is an Army veteran and former (but always and forever) Drill Sergeant. An ordained gospel minister and Grief and Writing Coach, Beatrice finds satisfaction in helping folks travel the paths of grief and writing and maneuver into the fresh seasons God has for them.
Beatrice is the author of six books—Christian Living, Motivational/Inspirational, and Fiction—and counting. She has ghostwritten ten books for various clients in various genres, and is an editor and book reviewer as well. She is the founder and leader of Writer, Thou Art Loosed! Writer’s Conferences where she helps seasoned and potential writers, Write On for the Glory of God!
In the current season, Beatrice has crossed over into an area few, if any, look forward to—widowhood. Married for twenty-seven-plus years to SFC John P. Bruno (US Army Retired) who passed away in August 2018, Beatrice has raised four children—his, hers, and theirs—to adulthood. She is now looking for her new normal … if there is such a thing … after losing her beloved husband. Discovering what grief is all about and what it entails, Beatrice lets her audiences know, “You don’t have to traverse the path alone.”
Beatrice has traveled the country, ministering in the style she has been given for such a time as this. As a result of this major shift in her life, Beatrice has served as a volunteer at a Christian Conference Center; lived at the home of one of her beloved soldier-sons in Brush Prairie, Washington; and recently spent a season in Hampton, Virginia, where she met new faces and received a new purpose. Many changes are in front of Beatrice. Some of the changes are very disconcerting. But Beatrice knows her relationship with the Lord will carry her through to God’s destination for her, always giving her something to write about.
Get unstuck and focused on the books you know you have inside of you. Oftentimes, writers get side-tracked when life happens. It is then, though, when writers must push in even more to write what is in their hearts for people who are waiting to read their words. Writer, Thou Art Loosed! is designed to jumpstart writers in refocusing and gaining a different perspective so they can be the writers they were called and created to be.
Have you not yet published your first book? Or, have you published your first book but still doubt the gifting God has placed on the inside of you to write more books? Beatrice Bruno, The Write Drill Sergeant for YOU, is here to help you be loosed from those infirmities that would hold you in bondage so you can complete God’s mandate for your life. Through interactive exercises, timed writings, and perspective illustrations and exercises, Beatrice will lead you on a 5-hour phased writing experience to show you how to embrace the Writer-You and move forward to accomplish great writing exploits for the Lord. In this mini-bootcamp experience, you will write, laugh, cry, and expand as you sit in a writing atmosphere created for you to receive, believe, and trust God for the writing anointing that is yours!
