TMCC Writers' Conference

Make 2010 the year your writing dreams come true!

This 2010 writing event brings together its most varied group of literary professionals in the conference's 21-year history! Stay abreast of the latest developments in the publishing field while gaining concrete tips for taking your writing to the next level. The TMCC Writers' Conference, held in Reno, Nevada, is here to help you reach your potential. Hone your craft, connect with agents and explore new publishing options.

Featured presenters at the Saturday, April 17 event are:

• Sheree Bykofsky, East Coast literary agent and author of approximately 25 books, including the bestseller The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published, now in its fourth edition Sheree runs Sheree Bykofsky Associates, Inc. and has authored about 25 books, including the bestselling The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published, now in its fourth edition. As an agent, she primarily represents mysteries, novels with a bestseller potential, along with topics in popular reference, business, self-help/psychology, humor, games, women's interest, spiritual and more. In addition, Sheree is an adjunct assistant professor of publishing at NYU, a travel writer, Scrabble expert and poker pro. Among her accomplishments, Sheree won $34,000 on TV's "Wheel of Fortune." View her Web page.
• Leigh Bale, an award-winning author of inspirational romance Leigh is the author of four novels, including The Forever Family and The Healing Place (a Golden Heart Award winner) from Steeple Hill's Love Inspired and The Heart's Warrior. She belongs to the Romance Writers of America, the American Christian Fiction Writers and various chapters of RWA, including the Faith, Hope and Love chapter and the Golden Network. Her latest book, The Road to Forgiveness will be released in May. She is the mother of two wonderful adult children and lives in Nevada with her professor husband of twenty-nine years. When she isn't writing, Leigh loves playing with her beautiful granddaughter, taking another class at the local university or researching another book. View her Web page.
• Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, an ebook publisher and distribution platform for authors, publishers and readers Mark Coker is the founder of Smashwords, an online publisher and distributor of more than 4,000 ebooks from over 2,000 independent authors around the world. Smashwords has gained international attention for its simple but radical idea: Provide a free service that enables any author anywhere to publish their ebook in seconds, making it available for immediate sampling, sale and distribution to a worldwide audience via major online ebook retailers such as ShortCovers, Barnes & Noble, Sony and Amazon. Mark is a contributing blogger to the Huffington Post's new books section, where he blogs about ebooks and the future of publishing.
• Mary Kole, a literary agent from the Andrea Brown Literary Agency specializing in young adult and middle grade novels and exceptional picture books Mary came to children's literature from a writer's perspective and got involved at Andrea Brown Literary Agency to see what it was like "on the other side of the desk." She quickly found her passion here and, after a year of working behind the scenes, has officially joined the agency. In her quest to learn all sides of publishing, she has also worked in the children's editorial department at Chronicle Books and is currently earning her MFA in creative writing at the University of San Francisco. At this time, Mary is only considering young adult and middle grade novels and truly exceptional picture books.
• Don Meyer, a mystery writer and print on demand expert Don spent two years with a literary agency and worked as a summer intern at a major chain bookstore, to better understand book selling in the retail world. Don, who has used five different POD publishers, is the author of POD'd The How to Guide…and conversely why you shouldn't. In addition, he has published three other books—Winter Ghost, Jennifer's Plan and The Protected Will Never Know: A Vietnam Memoir. His latest mystery, Mckenzie Affair, will be released this summer. View his Web page.
• Susan Palwick, science fiction/fantasy author and university professor Susan, a UNR associate professor of English, teaches fiction writing and literature. She has published three novels—Flying in Place, The Necessary Beggar and Shelter all from Tor Books—and a story collection, titled The Fate of Mice from Tachyon Publications. Her honors and awards include a Crawford Award from the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, an Alex Award from the American Library Association and a Silver Pen Award from the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. Susan has also been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and the Mythopoeic Award. View her Web page.
• Robert Leonard Reid, an award-winning memoirist chronicling the natural world Robert Leonard Reid is the author of three memoirs: Arctic Circle, a meditation on the North inspired by his journeys to northern Alaska and Yukon on the trail of the Porcupine caribou herd; Mountains of the Great Blue Dream, a high-altitude inquiry into the philosophical and spiritual aspects of mountain climbing; and America, New Mexico, a mean-streets guide to a host of afflictions plaguing New Mexicans, and, by extension, all Americans–homelessness, gangs, guns, censorship, racism, poverty, militarism. His first work for the theater, I Say Nevada!, a musical satirizing and celebrating life in Nevada, played to sold-out houses during its world-premiere run at the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City in November 2008. A new edition of the show is slated to open in the summer of 2010. In addition to the above works, Reid's publications include the anthology A Treasury of the Sierra Nevada, some 100 magazine articles and essays, and contributions to six nonfiction anthologies. He has received two Literary Artist Grants from the Sierra Arts Foundation and, in 2009, an Artist Fellowship in Literary Arts from the Nevada Arts Council. In 2009 he was honored with a Silver Pen Award from the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. View his Web page.
• Ted Weinstein, a San Francisco-based literary agent representing a broad range of non-fiction for adults Ted Weinstein is a San Francisco-based literary agent representing a broad range of non-fiction for adults. His clients include former Wired editor Leander Kahney (author of the NY Times bestseller Inside Steve's Brain), Dave Eggers' 826 Valencia writing centers, NPR's "Math Guy" Keith Devlin, leading investigative journalist Nena Baker (The Body Toxic), personal finance expert Charlie Farrell (Your Money Ratios), cartoonist and Web sensation Jessica Hagy, and many others. Ted's areas of focus include journalism and narrative nonfiction, popular science, biography and history, current affairs, business and personal finance, health and medicine, food and cooking, entertainment and pop culture (often based on popular Web sites or blogs), and quirky reference books. View his Web page.

In addition to hearing these great speakers, take the opportunity to have one private meeting with the speaker of your choice for an additional fee.

Register today!

View the 2010 Writers' Conference Brochure .

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