Print Page • Email Page 

TMCC Writers' Conference

The 22nd Annual TMCC Writers' Conference is Saturday, April 14, 2012 in Reno, Nevada

Get motivated, perfect your craft and learn how to market your book at the 2012 TMCC Writers' Conference in Reno on Saturday, April 14. Writing can be a lonely art, so break away from your computer and come network with successful literary pros and your peers.

We continue our conference's tradition of quality speakers in an intimate setting at an affordable price. In addition, we've expanded our luncheon roundtables (included in your conference tuition) with informal gatherings on memoir, marketing, poetry, novel writing and short story writing. Bring your own sack lunch or purchase one through us. As a conference participant, you may also register to attend a ten-minute private meeting with the agent/editor of your choice for an additional $32 (slots are limited and registration is on a first-signed up, first accommodated basis).

We are pleased to announce this year's slate of speakers

• New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Lauck
• Seal Press Executive Editor Brooke Warner
• Novelist Shawn Grady
• How-to-market your book guru Nina Amir
• short story author Patrick Michael Finn
• Poet Lindsay Wilson
• Literary agents Andrea Brown, April Eberhardt and Elizabeth Kracht
• KUNR General Manager David Stipech

2012 Schedule

Time	Event
9 a.m.	Welcome
9:10-9:40 a.m.	"Keep Writing, Keep Working, Keep Going!," David Stipech
9:40 a.m.	"Truth or Lies? Writing from Memory and Wrestling with the Unreliable Narrator," Lauck
10:35 a.m.	"Evaluate Your Book for Success," Amir
11:30 a.m.	The Agents/Editor Panel, Brown, Eberhardt, Kracht, Warner
12:30 p.m.	Lunch (bring your own or order a $11 box lunch in advance), Roundtables/Booksales
1-4:15 p.m.	Ten-Minute Private Meetings (an additional $32, limited number available)
1:40 p.m.	"Driving Stories to their Destinations," Finn
2:35 p.m.	"Crafting a Book: Techniques for Telling a Story," Grady
3:30 p.m.	"Writing Sensibility: Why Writing and Poetry Matters," Wilson
4:15 p.m.	Thank you and follow up

Nina Amir
Nina Amir, Your Inspiration-to-Creation Coach, inspires writers to create the results they desire—publishable and published products and careers as writers and authors. Amir inspires writers to combine their purpose and their passion so they Achieve More Inspired Results. The author of the forthcoming book, How to Blog a Book: How to Write, Publish and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time (Writer's Digest Books, April 2012) and the author of the popular workbook How to Evaluate Your Book For Success. Amir is a seasoned journalist, nonfiction editor, consultant, and writing, book, blogging, and author coach with more than 33 years of experience in the publishing field. Additionally, she is the founder of Write Nonfiction in November, a yearly writing challenge accompanied by a blog. She writes four other blogs and two national columns at Examiner.com and serves as the weekly writing and publishing expert on Michael Ray Dresser's popular radio show, Dresser After Dark. Amir also has a proven track record as a book editor. One of her clients' books Enlightened Leadership was self-published and then purchased and re-released verbatim by Simon & Schuster Fireside; the book has sold over 230,000 to date. Another Radical Forgiveness won the 1998 Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Award Inspirational category, received a contract from William Morrow but remained self-published and went on to sell over 115,000 copies; recently Radical Forgiveness was purchased by Sounds True. Her clients' proposals regularly get them contracts with agents as well. www.ninaamir.com www.copywrightcommunications.com

---

Andrea Brown
Andrea Brown is the president of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. Founded in New York City in1981, it was the first literary agency to represent both children's book authors and illustrators. Prior to opening her own firm, Andrea was an editor at Alfred A. Knopf, and worked in the editorial departments of Random House and Dell. In 1990, she moved her literary agency to Northern California. Her literary agency has sold over 2,000 books to just about every publisher, from toddler board books to serious, award-winning young adult. Andrea has published articles and published a chapter about the children's book field in The Portable Writer's Conference, published by Quill Driver Books. She has been quoted in the New York Poet, CNN.com, Yahoo News, Forbes, Good HouseKeeping and Reuters News Service. President of the San Francisco chapter of the Women's National Book Association for four years, she was the National Pannell Award Chair that gives awards to booksellers at the Book Expo Association. She is also a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Andrea has had her own cable television show in New York City, "An Afternoon with Children's Books," and has appeared on C-SPAN'S "Book Notes", and public television's "Authors and Critics." Some of Andrea's sales include bestselling titles such as Mama Do You Love Me (Chronicle), The Beanie Baby Handbook and Teacher From The Black Lagoon series (both with Scholastic), the Beverly Hills 90210 series (HarperCollins), the Sunset Island series (Berkley), Olympic Silver medalist, Sasha Cohen's autobiography, Fire On Ice (HarperCollins), Neal Shusterman's Dark Fusion series (Dutton), Everlost and Unwind (Simon & Schuster) and a forthcoming series with HarperCollins. Andrea is also the author of Writers' and Artists' Hideouts: Great Getaways for Seducing the Muse, the only travel/writer's guide available. www.andreabrownlit.com

---

April Eberhardt
After 25 years as a corporate strategist and consultant, April Eberhardt joined the literary world as head reader for Zoetrope: All-Story, a literary magazine, followed by five years as an agent with two San Francisco-based literary agencies. She holds an MBA from Boston University in Marketing and Finance, a BA from Hamilton (Kirkland) College in Anthropology and French, and a CPLF degree from the University of Paris. She represents clients worldwide, and divides her time between San Francisco, New York and Paris. April Eberhardt Literary specializes in high-quality women's fiction: thoughtful, carefully crafted narratives by, for, and about women, the kind of books that generate interest and insights among women's book club members. The agency also represents selected Young Adult works, particularly those aimed at prompting meaningful discussion between mothers and daughters about relationships, values and decision-making. As readers and publishers choose among the many ways literature is being delivered in the new millennium, authors need a literary agent who understands both the traditional and electronic marketplaces, along with the evolving role of self-publishing, done right. April Eberhardt founded her own agency in order to assist and advise authors as they navigate the increasingly complex world of publishing. The April Eberhardt Agency isn't accepting unsolicited submissions just now, only manuscripts presented ("pitched") at conferences are being considered. www.aprileberhardt.com

---

Patrick Michael Finn
Patrick is the Writer's Studio instructor at Arizona State University in Tempe. His award-winning writing has been recognized by the Minnie M. Torrance Prize for Fiction, Associated Writing programs Intro Award for Fiction and the May Clayton Hayes Award for Fiction, among othersHe's also received citations in the 2005 Pushcart Prize and The Best American Short Stories 2008. His published works include the short story collection, From the Darkness Right Under Our Feet; and novella A Martyr for Suzy Kosasovich. His stories have appeared in Ploughshares, TriQuarterly, Third Coast, Quarterly West, The Clackamas Literary Review, Punk Planet and The Best American Mystery Stories.

---

Shawn Grady
Shawn Grady is a novelist who routinely runs red lights and often sees dead people. Named "Most Promising New Writer" at the 38th Annual Mount Hermon Writer's Conference, he has also served for over a decade as a firefighter and paramedic in Reno, Nevada. He is the author of three novels including Tomorrow We Die, a thriller heralded by Romantic Times as "a definite page-turner." www.shawngradybooks.com and www.facebook.com/shawngradybooks

---

Elizabeth Kracht
Elizabeth joined Kimberley Cameron & Associates in the fall of 2010 to broaden her perspective on the publishing industry. She represents both literary and commercial fiction as well as nonfiction, and brings to the agency experience as a former acquisitions editor, freelance publicist and writer. Her career in publishing took root in Puerto Rico where she completed her BA in English and worked as a copyeditor for an English-language newspaper. When she returned to the mainland she found her "vein of gold" in book publishing. She thrives on working closely with authors and researching the potential market for new books. Elizabeth's eclectic life experience drives her interests. She appreciates writing that has depth, an introspective voice or that offers wisdom for contemporary living. Having lived in cities such as New York, San Francisco and San Juan, Puerto Rico, she is compelled by urban and multicultural themes and loves settings that are characters unto themselves. In fiction, she represents literary, commercial, women's, thrillers, mysteries, and YA with crossover appeal. She is intrigued by untrustworthy narrators, tragic tales of class and circumstance, and identifies with flawed and quirky yet sterling characters. In nonfiction, she particularly loves voice—or adventure-driven memoir, and other nonfiction projects that contribute to the well-being of the self or others in addition to niche projects that fill holes in the market, offer a fresh approach, or make her laugh. She also has a soft spot for nonfiction heroic pet stories. kimberleycameron.com

---

Jennifer Lauck
Reno born, Jennifer is the New York Times bestselling author of Blackbird, Still Waters, Show Me the Way and her most recent memoir, Found. She is a former investigative journalist and has her MFA in creative writing from Pacific Lutheran University. She regularly consults and teaches memoir. www.jenniferlauckmemoirwriting.com and www.jenniferlauck.com

---

David Stipech
David has written thousands of pieces with dozens of publication credits during his multifaceted career. Writing is a key to his success as general manager of KUNR public radio in Reno. David's passion is to encourage and help others to "work effectively, live exceptionally."

---

Brooke Warner
Brooke Warner is executive editor at Seal Press, publisher of women's nonfiction books, written for women, by women. Seal Press is fueled by the radical thinking and daring work of its authors, including notable women such as Jessica Valenti, Michelle Tea, and Inga Muscio. In 2007, Seal was acquired by Perseus Books Group, allowing it to continue its long tradition of publishing books that matter to women. Brooke is also a writing coach who works with writers to develop their ideas and pursue their creative passion. Seal Press is inspired by the simple yet radical notion that a book can change a woman's life, Seal Press is devoted to publishing titles that inform, reveal, engage, delight, and support women of all ages and backgrounds. Seal was founded in 1976 as a small DIY publisher to provide a forum for women writers and feminist issues, and since then, Seal has published groundbreaking books that represent the diverse voices and interests of women. Seal's continually growing list includes books about women's health, parenting, outdoor adventure and travel literature, popular culture, sexuality, gender and transgender life, sports, relationships, memoir, careers, finance, current affairs, and much more. With each book, we strive to make a difference in women's everyday lives, and to tell the truth—the real truth—about the issues that matter to women the most. www.sealpress.com

---

Lindsay Wilson
Lindsay, a writing instructor with the TMCC English Department, has published more than 100 poems in prominent literary journals. His work has been a finalist for the Philip Levine Prize and nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize. In addition, he's published four chapter books and edits the college's literary journal, The Meadow.

Email Address:

Password:

• Manage Subscriptions

A-Z Site Index | Contact TMCC