Hourlong Workshops

A Vagina by Any Other Name: The Impact of Word Choice in Sex Scenes

Presenters: Mary Morris, Bryn Donovan, Suleikha Snyder, Danielle Jackson, Kelly Farmer, and Felicia Grossman

At all heat levels, authors can utilize effective vocabulary to control the intimacy, emotional impact, and explicitness of their sex scenes while ensuring the reader is fully invested (and appropriately aroused) by those scenes as a part of the characters' journeys.

The Art of Tending Your Creative Garden: tips and tricks for discovery writers

Presenter: Jaycee Jarvis

Pantsers or discovery writers will gain tools specifically tailored to their writing process, and the confidence to work with their creative style.

Trope Your Way to a First Draft

Presenter: Juliette Hyland

In genre fiction tropes are marketing devices. Everyone has their favorite! But as writers you can use these tropes to build your characters, and conflicts – basically your first draft!

The Twentieth Century IS Historical!

Presenter: Janice Laird

A quick review of the most pivotal events of the 20th century will provide oodles of inspiration as you try writing in a new era.

Mythic Quests: Incorporating the Hero and Heroine's Journey in your Romance

Presenter: Nadia Salem

This workshop examines each step of the hero's journey and the heroine's journey as two mythic quests to be incorporated in your romance.

The Romance Debut and the Dreaded Book Two

Presenters: Sarah Hawley, Jessica Joyce, Jenna Levine, Tori Ann Martin, Jo Segura, and Alicia Thompson

A group of Berkley Romance authors share their experiences during their debut year and their tips for drafting that second book once under contract.

Adding Depth to Your Story with Dynamic Secondary Characters

Presenter: Debbie Burns

Well-constructed secondary characters add richness and depth, turning a good story into an unforgettable one.

What’s Love Got to Do With It?

Presenters: Elizabeth Everett, Mia Manansala, Lynn Painter, and Lyn Laio Butler

Whether it’s a cozy mystery, a thriller, or a YA coming of age, our panel will show you how love is the ultimate motivation for everything from murder to martyrdom.

Plan to Succeed

Presenter: Camille Pagan

This workshop teaches you how to combine proven publishing strategies and research-backed mindset techniques to get clear on what you want to achieve and exactly how to achieve it—without losing sight of who you are as a writer or burning out.

Feeling Extra Crispy? When Writers Burn Out

Presenter: Liz Lincoln

Burnout seems to be on the rise in our industry. This workshop will address what's causing it,  a lot about how to prevent it, and what to do when it happens.

Crafting Memorable Meet Cutes Is a Piece of Cake

Presenter: Melonie Johnson

Learn to create tantalizing meet cutes by breaking down the basic ingredients of this essential scene.

Six-Step Revision Process: Revise Your Manuscript From First Draft to Polished

Presenter: Miranda Darrow

Revise your manuscript from first draft to polished with online RevPit contest editor Miranda Darrow's Six-Step Process that helps you break down your edits starting with high-level developmental editing review and down to copy edits plus reminders for steps to get ready for query or indie publishing.

Stuck In The Middle

Presenter: Tere Michaels

This class focuses specifically on the middle of your story, the bulk of the action that takes place after the set-up and builds up until you reach your “disembarking point” and the book’s ending.

Buff Up Your Banter: Ten Hands-On Tips to Make Your Dialogue Dance

Presenter: Sara Whitney

Banish saggy, lifeless dialogue with these action-ready techniques to drive momentum, deepen character, and increase tension in your romance.

Alter Ego Author: Tactics to keep your creative well full while juggling life's many roles

Presenter: Elle Beauregard

Everyone talks about time management and productivity, but nobody talks about the energy it takes to jump from one life role to another day in and day out, or how to keep your creative well full while you do it—so let's change that.

Manage Your Writing Like a Boss

Presenter: Michelle McCraw

Who’s the boss—you or a fickle muse? Writers who struggle with organization and discipline will learn a project management mindset and techniques they can use to win back control of their writing lives.

Seriously Funny: How Humor Makes Every Story Better

Presenter: Tracy Brogan

Learn the unique aspects of writing romantic comedies as well as how infusing humor into any type of story will make it better.

Writing Blurbs & Pitches that Sell

Presenter: Asa Maria Bradley

Learn fast and straightforward techniques for crafting stellar blurbs and pitches that stand out and sell your work.

Down the Rabbit Hole: Research for Romance Writers

Presenter: Elizabeth Essex

This toolkit presentation is designed for the historical romance writer to make the most of your research time by learning to focus the parameters of your search, choosing the best tools for the job at hand, and always, always asking yourself, “Will this information move the story forward?”

I Got 99 Organizational Tools but I Don’t Use a Single One

Presenter: Jennifer Comfort

A romance author on the AuADHD spectrum shares her best practices gleaned through trial-and-(lots of) error during her journey to becoming traditionally published, followed by a roundtable discussion.

Book Signing Superstar

Presenter: Sara Fujimura

Learn how to look like a seasoned professional author, even if it is your first book signing ever.

Arousal to Zipper: Writing the Best Sex of Your Life

Linda Mercury

Wring the most out of your love scenes, no matter the heat level, by diving into your own emotional blocks and telling the world your truth.

Creating a Thriving Business With Email Automation

Presenter: Holly Darling

Inside this workshop, authors will learn how to increase their revenues with sequences, segments, and storytelling inside of an email system that nurtures and sorts every reader with automation and intention.

Hear Your Sexy Scenes Come To Life

Presenters: Ramona Master, Lila Winters, Christopher Anthony, and Michael Johnson

After randomly picking sexy scenes from attending authors, pro narrators read the scenes aloud so the authors can get a sense of what it will sound like in the audiobook format and can assess their work in progress from a different angle.

When Disabled People Fall in Love

Presenter: Jaye Viner

A look at disability representation and a disability world view.

Let’s Talk Contemporary Romance

Presenters: Danielle Jackson, Chandra Blumberg, Kate Clayborn, Kelly Farmer, Melonie Johnson, and Tinia Montford.

Join authors Chandra Blumberg, Kate Claybourn, Kelly Farmer, Danielle Jackson (moderator), Melonie Johnson, and Tinia Montford for a lively chat about the state of contemporary romance, their approaches to writing contemporary, what they want to see next in the subgenre, a fun game, and more!

Take Your Passion and Make it Happen

Presenters: Carla Luna and Tricia Quinnies

In this interactive craft/research workshop, you'll learn how you can incorporate what you love, whether it's a hobby, a career, a unique interest, or a passion for travel, into your fiction through brainstorming, visual aids (like Pinterest boards), and research.

Preventing Sexual Stigma in Sex Scenes

Presenter: Ana Lopez

This workshop will give writers an overview of sexual stigmas, how they show up in writing, and how to stop perpetuating sexual stigmas in their own writing.

How to Show, Not Tell, in Your Writing

Presenter: Julie Navickas

How to show, not tell, in your writing in five easy and actionable steps.

From F Bombs to Minced Oaths: How to Swear Creatively

Presenter: Jennifer Rupp

Swearing can be creative, smart, even lyrical.

What to Expect When You’re Revising

Presenter: Sarah M. Anderson

Join award-winning, multi-published author Sarah M. Anderson to learn about how the revision process changes from unpublished to published and get handy tips on how to survive that first revision letter, TrackChanges, and never-ending rewrites.