As a way to kick start your learning before The Independent Authors Conference officially begins, BookBaby is offering a series of self-publishing workshops on Friday, 11/2, given by some of our notable conference speakers and panelists. These intimate training courses will deep dive into specific topics in self-publishing like branding, author websites, book publicity, SEO, Christian publishing, and how to jumpstart a publishing career in both fiction and nonfiction. These workshops are extremely limited in size to allow for a more personal learning experience, and will all include lunch on Friday from 12:30pm-1:30pm either before, during or after the workshop.

Your self-publishing workshop registration will be valid for your selected workshop on Friday (11/2) only. Please note that your workshop registration does not include admittance to the BookBaby Independent Authors Conference, which runs Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. Tickets for the full conference can be purchased alongside your workshop registration. Sign-ups are first come, first served, so be sure to register soon as seats will go fast!

*Terry Whalin’s workshop is 6 hours long, with a lunch break in the middle. Workshops with Dana Kaye, Nancy Erickson, Miral Sattar, and the Book Publicity workshop are 3 hours long with a lunch at the beginning or end.

You may sign up for two workshops, but please be sure that you do not register for multiple workshops taking place at the same time. If you are only attending a PM workshop, plan to arrive between 12pm and 12:15pm to check-in before lunch. Check-in will take place in the Cook room in the Sheraton Philadelphia Society Hill. You will be directed to your workshop room at that time.

Workshop Descriptions

Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams with Terry Whalin

Friday November 2, 2018
9:30am-4:30pm
Full day session includes lunch
Registration: $129

Terry Whalin has written biographies on Billy Graham, Luis Palau, Chuck Colson and many others. He has co-authored books with more than a dozen people primarily in the Christian market. He has also worked as an acquisitions editor at two Christian publishers: David C. Cook and Howard Books. He takes these experiences as a writer and editor and pours it into the information he will deliver in this full-day workshop on how to Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams.

What you will learn:

• 12 Ways to Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams

• Understanding today’s Christian market conditions and ideas on how to overcome them

• What it’s like to walk in the editor’s shoes

• The current state of Christian Publishing

• 8 Characteristics of successful writers

• The importance of the pitch

• Fiction vs. Nonfiction – the critical first impression

• Critical strategies and elements for a book proposal

• Six-figure advances

• Contracts and agents

• How to understand and negotiate a book contract

• Ideas, questions and resources to get a literary agent

• How to be proactive in promotion but not high maintenance

• How to look ahead or know if you are a one book wonder

• How to repurpose your content

• Platform building ideas

Stop Stalling & Start Writing: Jumpstart Your Nonfiction Book with Nancy Erickson

Friday November 2, 2018
9:30am-12:30pm
Half day session ends with lunch and includes a copy of Nancy Erickson’s book Stop Stalling and Start Writing
Registration: $79

Join international nonfiction book coach, Nancy Erickson—The Book Professor®—for this 3-hour hands-on workshop to jumpstart your nonfiction book. Nancy works with writers all around the globe and guides them to become authors of high-impact nonfiction books that will save lives, change lives, or transform society. During this session, you’ll experience the step-by-step process Nancy developed to help you build a firm foundation to jumpstart your book.

You will:

• Discover your true motivation for writing your book

• Realize the book’s purpose

• Know how it’s different from other books on the same subject

• Determine its specific audience

• Identify the impact your book will have on that audience

• Develop a unique Purpose Statement that will guide all your writing

In addition, you’ll get training on how to create a BookMAP™—a visual map of everything included in your book—a tool that keeps your writing on track and prevents writer’s block. 

You’ll be using Nancy’s recent book Stop Stalling and Start Writing: Kick the Excuses and Jumpstart Your Nonfiction Book as a text, and all participants will receive a free copy.

Your Book, Your Brand with Dana Kaye

Friday November 2, 2018
9:30am-12:30pm
Half day session ends with lunch
Registration: $79

You've written the book, that's step one. Now it's time for step two: getting that book into the hands of legions of readers...

This hands-on workshop will take participants through each step of the book promotion process and help them understand which tactics will work best for their target audience. You don't need to be a book publicist to secure review coverage, and you don't have to be a trained marketer to grow a loyal social media following. This course will arm you with the tools you need to professionally and effectively launch your book.

Book Publicity:  How Authors Can Become Part of the News

Mike Onorato, Sarah Gilbert and Lauren Roberts of Smith Publicity
Friday November 2, 2018
1:30pm-4:30pm
Half day session begins with lunch
Registration: $79

In this workshop, Smith Publicity will define PR and explain how it is different than marketing and advertising, how authors can become part of the news cycle (and what that looks like) and what authors can do RIGHT NOW to increase media attention. The team from Smith Publicity will also show how authors can build a buzz for their book and explain the role of social media in book promotion.

Building an Author Website and Selling More Books with Search Engine Optimization with Miral Sattar

 Friday November 2, 2018
1:30pm-4:30pm
Half day session begins with lunch
Registration: $79

Google is a powerful and mysterious tool. Many don't understand what goes on in the black box that is Google. Let us take some of the mystery out of SEO for you. The higher your search ranking, the more likely your website will be found. If your objective is to drive traffic to your site so you can sell more books, you’ll need to understand SEO. There are specific actions you can take to optimize your website so that you can rank higher on Google and Amazon. This 2-part workshop will show you best practices for optimizing your web pages, the basics of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and how to get the best results and rank from searches on Google, Amazon, and other search engines as an author. You will also learn how to effectively launch an SEO optimized author website.

You’ll learn how to:

• Blog and guest blog for success

• Increase your internet visibility

• Leverage ranking algorithms

• Get links to your blog and link out effectively

• Learn about inbound and outbound links

• How to build relationships

• How to create, manage, and optimize your sitemap

• How to index your site correctly in all the major search engines

• Manage your metadata and tags and keywords

• Make sure your site is mobile-optimized

• Leverage social media

• How to do effective content marketing

• Tools to implement your SEO strategy

• How to measure success

• A step by step guide to building your own author website

• How to buy a domain name

• How to consider various platforms

• Essential pages on your website

• Integrating social media

Don’t be satisfied with a sub-par Google ranking. Enroll in this workshop today and learn the insiders’ tricks of the trade that will help get you to the top of the page and achieve the visibility you want.