INTERNET MARKETING: Obscure No More--How to Build an Audience of Raving Online Fans

In this class you will learn how to build a powerful online platform. We'll learn the art of Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and Effective Author Websites.  Learn to Rank #1 on Google and how to use Podcasts to connect with the savviest, most influential people online.  If you find technology intimidating, this class is for you.  Bring your laptop!

Instructor: Thomas Umstattd, Founder, Author Media & CEO, Castle Media Group, Texas

Thomas Umstattd Jr. loves technology. He taught his first web design class at 16 years of age and has been helping people use the web ever since.  As an award winning speaker, Thomas' friendly speaking style blends multimedia and audience participation. Thomas is the founder of Author Media, a company that helps authors use the web to sell books and win contracts. He also runs AuthorTechTips.com, a resource for authors timid about technology.

(For Intermediate and Advanced Writers)

FICTION: Writing Right

Deborah Raney will explore the spectrum of fiction writing from the spark of an idea to completed manuscript, and share perspectives on:

• common writing mistakes and easy ways to fix them
• writing "cinematically" so the reader can SEE your story
• polishing your first draft for submission
• the important work of REwriting
• resources for story and scene ideas and how to develop them
• research: truth in fiction––not an oxymoron
• inspiration to stay in your seat until the book is finished
• and much, much more, including answers to your specific questions 

Instructor: Deborah Raney, Freelance Novelist, Kansas

Deborah Raney is at work on her 23rd novel. Her books have won the RITA Award, HOLT Medallion, National Readers' Choice Award, Silver Angel, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. Her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film by that same title. Deb's Hanover Falls Novel series from Howard/Simon & Schuster includes Almost Forever, Forever After and After All.  Deb and her husband, Ken Raney, enjoy small town life in Kansas. They are empty nesters with four grown children and a growing collection of precious grandchildren--all of whom live much too far away! 

(For Intermediate and Advanced Writers)

NON-FICTION

From Idea to Print & Beyond

"Let's start at the very beginning...a very good place to start."  In this track we'll start with the creative idea and move forward discussing details of publishing, platform, proposals and process that can lead to print.  Active, interactive, reflective with a few surprises along the way.

Instructor: Kim Bangs, Author Relations/Contracts Manager, Acquisitions, Regal Books, California

Kim Bangs has twenty years experience in publishing. She has had the privilege of working with Dennis and Barbara Rainey, Holly Wagner, Jim Burns, Gloria Gaither, Lisa Harper, Josh McDowell, Gary Smalley, Michelle McKinney Hammond, Karen O'Connor and many others.  Kim enjoys working with authors to provide resources that touch hearts, change lives, and open conversation with others.   

(For Beginning and Intermediate Writers)

The Fastest Way to Get Published

It seems everyone wants to write a book, but writers who focus on articles--both traditional print and nontraditional online--get their work read by literally millions of people all over the world. This track will show you the tricks of the trade for getting an editor to notice and accept your work in both print and online. We'll discuss everything from making the first connection with an editor to what to do with those rights you're giving away to how to keep the work coming. Filled with hands-on exercises, you'll leave this track with insider information along with plenty of ideas to get your started.

Instructor: Ginger Kolbaba, Editor/Manager of Discipleship Resources, Christianity Today International/Kyria.com, Carol Stream, Illinois

Ginger Kolbaba is editor of discipleship resources for Christianity Today, including the women's resource, Kyria.com, an award-winning digital magazine and website with upwards of 1 million visitors a year. She is also former editor of the award-winning publication Today's Christian Woman, was a columnist for Let's Worship, and has published more than 250 articles. She's spoken at national conferences and appeared on such national media as CNN Headline News, Court TV, and Family Life radio. An accomplished book author, Ginger has written or contributed to 19 books, including the Gold-Medallion nominated Refined by Fire. Her most recent novel series, Secrets from Lulu's Cafe, includes Desperate Pastors' Wives, A Matter of Wife and Death, and Katt's in the Cradle.

(For Beginning and Intermediate Writers)

THE CRAFT 

Want to Write with Sizzle? Start with a Solid Foundation

Ask editors and agents what it takes to be a successful writer, and they will tell you: Learn your craft!  Before you can write with sizzle, you need a solid foundation for your project. In this track we'll learn how to begin with an easy-to-follow blueprint, then construct with the building blocks of good writing. And, yes, we will certainly see how to infuse our work with that all-important sizzle. Both fiction and non-fiction writers are welcome. Beginning writers, as well as intermediate writers who wish to pause and fill in missing pieces, this track is for you.

Instructor: Kay Marshall Strom, Freelancer, Oregon

Kay Marshall Strom is an award-winning author of 40 books, both fiction and non-fiction.  She has also written numerous articles, two prize-winning screenplays, and has contributed to many large projects, including several of the NIV devotional Bibles. Kay is also a popular speaker. More and more, her writing and speaking take her around the world as well as around the country.

(For Beginning to Intermediate Writers)

TEENS: Kill the Cat

All your life you've wanted to do read a really great story . . . or write one yourself.  You may have started, then hit a wall you couldn't figure out how to get over, around, under or through. And you probably know the business of writing is a lot more than just putting words on paper. But just how to get it all together is driving you crazy. The key to it is Kill the Cat. Our class is going to be interactive, challenging, and full of great teaching. You'll learn more about writing and story than you thought possible.  You'll learn a bit about the changing publishing industry and how you might be able to join in.  Whether you know a lot or a little, if you want to write. At all. About anything. Kill the Cat. 

Instructor: Lissa Halls Johnson, Freelancer, Arkansas

Lissa Halls Johnson is a freelance writer and fiction editor, author of novels for teens, tweens and young adults. Among her 19 published books is the most recent: Kirk Cameron, Still Growing.  She has edited over forty novels for publishers including Howard Books, WaterBrook, Thomas Nelson, and NavPress.  Lissa loves to teach and especially enjoys putting writers at ease, sharing the basics to give them a foundation upon which to grow.

(For Teenaged Writers ONLY)

Tracks By Application Only

The Intermediate Mentoring Clinics below, held each day during the major morning tracks, are by application only & limited to ten writers per group. The goal is to give novelists and nonfiction writers concentrated time for having their works in progress critiqued in a knowledgeable, sympathetic, but realistic manner.  DEADLINE for Mentoring Track application is March 15th.

For an official application form:

FICTION: Contact Gayle Roper, gayle@gayleroper.com

NON FICTION: Contact Karen O'Connor, Karen@karenOconnor.com

Gayle Roper, Chairman

Freelance Novelist

Gayle Roper has authored more than 45 books. She has won the RITA Award and finaled repeatedly in the Christys. She has won the Holt Medallion three times and twice her titles have won Book of the Year honors from American Christian Fiction Writers. Several writers conferences including Mount Hermon have cited her for her contributions to the training of writers. She has been chair of the Major Morning Mentoring program at Mount Hermon Writers Conference since its inception.

Mary DeMuth

Freelancer

Author of four parenting books, four novels, and a memoir, Mary E. DeMuth helps folks turn their trials into triumphs. Mary has spoken at several national writers conferences and has had the privilege of teaching in the US, Europe and Africa. She mentors writers toward publication at TheWritingSpa.com and fosters community at MaryDeMuth.com.  Mary and her husband, Patrick, reside in Rockwall, Texas with their three children.

Randy Ingermanson

Freelancer

Randy Ingermanson was both the class nerd and class clown. He is the award-winning author of six novels and publishes the Advanced Fiction Writing E-Zine, the largest electronic magazine in the world on how to write fiction. Randy has won about a dozen awards for his writing, has earned a PhD in theoretical physics from UC Berkeley, serves as director of software engineering for Vala Sciences, Inc., sits on the advisory board of American Christian Fiction Writers, and hopes to someday figure out what he wants to do with his life. He lives in southern Washington state with his wife and three daughters. His most recent book is Writing Fiction for Dummies.

James Scott Bell

Thriller Author

A bestselling suspense writer, James Scott Bell was a former actor, trial lawyer, fiction columnist for Writers Digest Magazine and is now an adjunct professor of writing at Pepperdine University.  His books on the craft, Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure, Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing and The Art of War for Writers are three of the most popular writing books available today.

Karen O’Connor: Chairman

Freelancer

Karen O’Connor is an award-winning author of 60 books for children and adults, a popular speaker and writing mentor. Karen was named Writer of the Year for 1997 by the San Diego Christian Writers Guild, in 2002 she received the Special Recognition Award at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference for writing and mentoring and in 2005 she accepted the International Reading Association Award for her article for children on Kurdish refugees.

Joseph Bentz

Freelancer

Joseph Bentz is the author of three non-fiction Christian living books and four novels. His most recent book is God in Pursuit: The Tipping Points from Doubt to Faith (Beacon Hill Press, 2010). Among his novels are A Son Comes Home (Randall House, 2007), contemporary novels published by Bethany House, and a fantasy novel, Song of Fire, published by Thomas Nelson. Bentz is a professor of English at Azusa Pacific University in Southern California, where he teaches courses in American literature and writing. More information about his books and speaking is available at his website, http://www.josephbentz.com.