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WORKSHOPS

No matter where you are in your writing career—from newbie to established author—our conference has a workshop for you!  We have a fabulous line up of speakers, agents and editors, with programs addressing all aspects of the writing life:  craft, industry, career, research and more.

In addition, for the first time ever at Spring Fling, we’ll be offering Hot Night Critiques. This popular Chicago-North RWA program allows participants to bring five pages of a love scene—from sweet to scorching—for a small group critique.

CONFERENCE RECORDINGS

All workshops will be recorded, except for those marked with a single asterisk (*).

To view workshop descriptions, place your cursor above the
underlined title (do NOT click).

Keynote Speeches
Susan Elizabeth Phillips*
New York Times bestselling author of Contemporary Romance
Simone Elkeles
New York Times bestselling author of Young Adult fiction
Dianna Love
New York Times bestselling author of Urban Fantasy and Thrillers
Master Class
Pitch Perfect Master ClassProven pitch guru and multi-published author Carrie Lofty will present tips and techniques for preparing, practicing, and delivering pitches of all kinds: from the quickie elevator pitch to the formal, 10-minute appointment at a conference.

If you want to learn how to construct a pitch or are just looking for feedback, this hands-on class is for you! No sign up is necessary, but please bring a pitch to work on during the class. (Workshop not recorded.)

*
Carrie Lofty
Craft and Research
Growing Plot from Character*An interactive workshop designed to help you create great characters and to show how even the most overused archetypes can become tools to stimulate fresh plot ideas. (Workshop not recorded.) Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Man Talk This workshop covers tips on ways to make your male characters act and speak in a realistic fashion. Barbara Binns
Packing in the WOW Packing in the WOW examines how best-selling authors insert tone, viewpoint, stakes, hook, setting, and conflict in their first few pages. Gretchen Craig
How to Write It When You Can’t Be There We’ve all heard the advice:  you must visit the places you write about if you’re going to create a believable setting. But most of us can’t afford to jet across the country (or the world) every time we start a book. And for those who write historicals, a trip to the place would still not be a trip to the time.

In this workshop, Blythe will give some practical tips and tricks for selecting, creating, and researching believable settings, no matter what your subgenre.

Blythe Gifford
Improv for Authors Learn how improvisational comedy techniques can add spark, creativity and depth to your characters and plots in any genre. Includes audience participation. Ruth Kaufman
Contest Diva to Published Author:  Using Feedback
to Improve Your Writing
In this workshop, Megan will outline why contests are important, discuss what type of contest to enter and when, and explain how to use contest feedback to improve your work and further your career.
Megan Kelly
Can This Manuscript Be Saved? Rejected?  Can’t get an agent?  Can’t sell, even though your critique partners LOVE your work?

Susan Meier reviews the seven most common rejection catch phrases and explains why you and even your critique partners can’t spot them, then shows how determining whether your book’s trouble is a story, scene or word problem is the first step on the road to recovery.

Susan Meier
Ghost Hunting Through The Ages Ghost (and demon!) hunting techniques from 1800 to the present are discussed and demonstrated by a Reiki Master and veteran hunter with Parahaunt Paranormal Research, Ghost Hunting & Demonology. Terese daly Ramin
What's Love Got to Do With It?  Erotica for Beginners In this one hour NC-17 workshop, published erotica writer Tiffany Reisz discusses Romance Versus Erotica and why Erotica wins in her book. Tiffany Reisz
Make Them Believe It You don’t have to write what you know. You can write what you can research well. Do what you must to make your world believable. Go there. Talk to experts. Read. Search the Internet. Draw your reader into your world by taking care of not only the big details, but the small ones.

Patricia Rosemoor and Sherrill Bodine will talk about the lengths they’ve gone to in building believable worlds for their readers.

Patricia Rosemoor & Sherrill Bodine
Transmedia Storytelling Storytelling in the modern world is more than words on paper. Stories come to us through audio, visual and social networks—television, radio, Facebook, Twitter, our phones and our computers. But words, images, and sound communicate in different ways. How does the story medium affect the structural elements of the story? How do stories transform as they move between mediums? Most importantly, how do the different mediums affect the audience?

Whether you want to add visuals to your website or Facebook page, try your hand at a book trailer, or simply enrich your writing, this workshop will help you understand what creates effective storytelling in different forms of media.

Julie Wachowski
Evil 101:  Where True Crime Meets Terrific Fiction Everything you ever needed to know about crafting realistic villains, you can learn in your own backyard. Sheri Lewis Wohl
Business and Writer's Life
The Road to Becoming a New York Times Bestseller* Simone Elkeles
Chat with Dianna Love Dianna Love
Headliner Q & AEnjoy a question and answer session with New York Times bestselling authors Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Simone Elkeles and Dianna Love. Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Dianna Love, & Simone Elkeles
Agent Q & AHave a question for an agent? This is your chance to ask it! Agent Panel
Editor Q & AHave a question for an editor? This is your chance to ask it! Editor Panel
Fearless and Fun Platform Promotion Take the fear out of online and live promotion with fun, easy and economical tips from award winning librarians and a bestselling author. Amy Alessio, Susan Gibberman &
Denise Swanson
7 Sentences to a Practically Perfect Synopsis Laurie Brown
Marketing when Time and Money Matter Kim Castillo
The Author/Agent Relationship according to Mad Men* Ginger Clark
Rejection - A Love Story While some people have the ability to persevere despite obstacles, some get stymied, or worse yet, quit writing altogether. How do you go from being waylaid by rejection to becoming confident and gravitating toward success?

Learn how to transform yourself from quitter to winner in ten easy steps.

Dyanne Davis & Wendy Byrne
Dissecting the Novel Scott Eagan
Meet the Press on Common Ground:  Media Tips,
Tricks and Traps
This workshop is designed to build confidence about media interactions, including social media. Keena will offer insights about how to build a message platform that supports your brand and gracefully avoid answering sticky questions from media, readers and fans.
Keena Kincaid
How To Get (And Stay) Published And Live to
Tell the Tale
Explore writing career elements from the business end to personal challenges with two multi-published authors.
Maureen Lang & Allie Pleiter
Blog Book Tour TipsThe Internet and digital world are exploding on the publishing scene. As an author, you need every weapon at your disposal to compete in the new marketplace. The good news is you don’t need to leave your house to get your electronic or print book noticed. One option is a blog book tour.

Learn from an experienced blogger and published author what steps are necessary to prepare for your tour and what you can gain by participating in this venture.

Morgan Mandel
Break into Publishing! A successful debut author and her agent share insider tips on what worked (and what didn’t) to get from slush pile to published book. Sara Megibow and Tiffany Reisz
Self-Publish without Sacrificing Traditional Quality People who decry self-publishing often point to lower production values:  stories that don’t make sense, grammatical errors and typos that throw readers out of the story. But with the right processes in place, you can meet—and exceed—the quality of traditionally published books.

This workshop walk you through the process of producing a self-published book that can go toe-to-toe with anything that New York produces.

Courtney Milan
Making a Career Out of Category Multi-published author Allie Pleiter and debut author Sarah M. Anderson will discuss the pros and cons of a category career. Learn about breaking into publishing by writing category novels, including how agents figure into the equation, how the submission process works, and what to expect from contract negotiations.

Allie and Sarah will then discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a category career to springboard to publishing single-title novels, as well as the challenges of making the jump.

Allie Pleiter & Sarah M. Anderson
Charms for the Writing Life With over forty-seven books between them and over twenty years in publishing with numerous writing awards to their credit, Margaret and Lindsay compiled a list of fifteen publishing myths that writers, whether unpublished, newly pubbed, or experienced, tend to believe about the business.

Because they’ve seen these myths trip up writers at all levels, they take a look at the myths, what the reality of the business is, and how to deal with the reality and retain your creativity—and sanity.

Margaret Watson & Lindsay Longford
Publishing Spotlights
Avon Tessa Woodward
Ballantine Bantam Dell Shauna Summers
Kensington Martin Biro
Samhain Tera Kleinfelter
Sourcebooks Danielle Jackson

*Workshop will not be recorded.

Note:  editors, agents and speakers subject to change.

Questions?  Contact Cici Edward at:  workshops@chicagonorthrwa.org

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Tiffany Reisz and Sara Megibow image
Tiffany Reisz & Sara Megibow present Break into Publishing! at Spring Fling 2012

 

Bevery Long and Blythe Gifford image
Chicago-North authors Beverly Long and Blythe Gifford (speaker) at Spring Fling 2012.

 

Sarah M. Anderson image
Presenter Sarah M. Anderson at the Spring Fling 2012 Book Signing.

 

Terese Ramin image
Presenter Terese Ramin at the Spring Fling 2012 Book Signing

 


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