This is a chance for anyone to practice their agent pitch and have them critiqued for the benefit of everyone in the room. Have you scheduled a pitch appointment? Come and learn the dos and don'ts of face-to-face pitching, then join in if you dare and have your own pitch critiqued by the presenter in a supportive group environment. Don't care to share? Supportive listeners are welcome, too.

...or Learn from the mistakes of someone who did—and isn’t sure how. 

Attendees will hear a short talk from an author who set out to write one book and is now completing the sixth book in the series, followed by an open discussion. Attendees who are writing a series or are contemplating doing so are encouraged to bring their concepts or works in progress. The goal of the session is to equip series writers with the tools to plan their books. The Topsy model, “I spect I growed. Nobody made me.” is to be avoided.

Bring your questions and join #1 NYT bestselling author Julia Quinn for a Q&A session on all aspects of a romance writing career.

Writing short stories can be quite a satisfactory creative outlet. But is it a waste of time? Should you be working on your novel instead? This class will focus on the structure of the short story, how and why you should write them, and a few marketing hints.

CSI has made everyone think they know all there is to know about forensics. Join our panel of experts to find out what they don't show you on TV and how real life cases have inspired these writers.

Finding success as a screenwriter requires more than talent -- in the most turbulent and competitive environment Hollywood has seen in its history, aspiring writers must also have a comprehensive understanding of how the overall business of Hollywood works.  From understanding what makes you valuable to agents, managers, and producers, to what your first writing deal looks like, to the path a script travels from first draft to finished film (and all the ways you have to earn money within that process) -- this seminar will give you a thorough understanding of how Hollywood works and several strategies for breaking in and laying the foundation for a lasting career as a screenwriter.

In the battle to get -- and stay -- published, winning strategies and tactics are essential. In this workshop, we'll look at several of the most important elements of career success, such as: the mental game of writing, the ten characteristics of the published writer, how to keep from sabotaging yourself, craft secrets for elevating your fiction and proposals, strategic planning and much more.

Can you create a community of fans before you even find an agent? Find out how best to use social media to build a fan base while still finding time to write the book.

New to the writing biz? Wonder about WIPs and MSs and agents and editors and how it all works? Join kc dyer for insight into the jargon and all the other basics that'll help you get the most out of your SiWC weekend.

The publishing world is changing rapidly, trying to keep pace with our increasingly digital world. What does all this change mean to your chances of getting a book contract or even to the ongoing existence of paper books? Our panel investigates.

Write what you know? The Slade novels have covered voodoo, headhunting, goth rock, forensics, the London sewer system, Lovecraft, Chinese medicine, bigfoot, yeti, Custer's last stand, Darwin, psychology, Agatha Christie, Jack the Ripper, Africa safaris, Mountie history, native culture, totem poles, Red Power, Stonehenge, gladiators, Hadrian's Wall, Culloden, the Gulf Islands, ebola, the history of hanging, ancient Egypt, aging, the porn industry, plastic surgery, Captain Cook, the World Horror Convention, the cannibal islands, Hitler's bunker, the Roswell Incident, terrorism, the crucifixion of Jesus, locked rooms, dying messages, the Winter Olympics, and much more. All those elements are researched and worked into softboiled/hardboiled/police procedure tales of the RCMP. How's it done, and how you can you use the same techniques to plot novels about your specific interests?

How to (really) get started. What do you need? How far along do you need to be on an outline or plot? Time to stop wasting time and get started on your writing project...but exactly how? And how important is Page One, anyway? That's what we'll be covering. (Come prepared to write in class).

Most nonfiction “stories” are really not.  They are articles, or reports, or informational texts.  Or they are vague and generic abstractions.  Yet people’s lives are lived in specific moments and in story form – narratives set in time and place that involve character, complication, emotion and meaning.  When journalism — the telling of true stories — intersects with those universals, magic can happen. In this workshop, we’ll peel back the curtain and show how to make that magic happen — or, more accurately, we’ll provide the tools that can make your writing (whether nonfiction or fiction) seem magical.

What is it about certain books that when we finish the final page, the characters stay with us for days? What is it about those characters that makes them so memorable? Using examples from other writers, learn techniques to make your characters well-rounded individuals who will keep readers wondering about them long after they have finished your book.

Graphic novels are much more than simple comic books. Diana Gabaldon discusses this growing segment of the market: what they are, how they're made, writing a script, collaborating with an artist, and what's different between telling a story visually vs. telling one in text. 

Once you've written your book, and whether you sell it to a publisher or not, there's always a chance it might make a fine film, tv movie or tv series.  We'll discuss what producers, studios and networks think they're looking for on any given day, and how you can best prepare your material and yourself to access them.

Aviator goggles are just the beginning of the wonderful world of steampunk. Join our steampunk-writing author panel and find out what this genre is all about.

Learn techniques used by the ancient Greeks and modern Hollywood producers to create exciting stories. Take your hero or heroine on an adventure. The map is already there, developed by the work of Joseph Campbell. In this workshop, with author and SiWC founder Ed Griffin, you will learn the theory, and then apply it to your story.

To jumpstart your writing, use a kitchen timer. The timer distracts your internal editor, making space for your unconscious to get creative. The timer catches the attention of the left-brain critic. Left brains like watching the clock. Use timed writing as a discovery tool, a pathway to insight into your work, whether you’re working on fiction, poetry, non-fiction, a screenplay, a memoir. This is a hands-on workshop with writing in the room.  

The sleuth is probably the most important character in a mystery series. Readers come back, time and again, to spend time with Kinsey Milhone and Harry Bosch and Stephanie Plum. In this workshop we'll talk about how to create and write a compelling (amateur or professional) sleuth.

Setting is so much more than backdrop in a novel. Setting not only grounds a story, and creates atmosphere but it can be a significant factor in creating character.

You can follow marketing trends and blockbusters and try to outguess the market to come up with what you think will sell and be popular, but trying to outguess the market is a loser's game, unless you look at what REALLY works, every time - a fresh original story told by a writer with a fresh, original voice.  These are the movies that set the trends, not follow them. Writing them is more a matter of courage and observation and confidence in who you are and why you're here than it is about chasing headlines and box office charts. In this workshop you'll learn how to tap into your own private Oscar, and come up with results that will make you proud.

Writers write. Actors act. But what if you want to do both? Our panel examines how their acting informs their writing and vice versa.

Writing historical fiction poses unique challenges and offers unique rewards. Our panel gives some insight into the process of crafting stories set in the past that appeal to modern readers.

Ivan Coyote is the author of six collections of short stories, one novel, four short films and three audio CDs. Still, she makes most of her living as a full time writer and storyteller from live performances. Join Ivan in this workshop designed to help you transform your nervous energy into a memorable reading. Tips on selecting material, preparing your work for performance, memorization (or not), and how to make your body language work for you. Ivan will also share some stage secrets about microphones, sound guys and selling your books. Please bring a short (3 minute) selection of your work to be staged.

The agent and editor said yes. Now what? Finding a publisher isn't the end, but just one step along the way. Join Sam Sykes for an in depth look at at the one author's experience from contract to critcism and everything in between.