The Muse & The Marketplace 2024

Introducing Characters: How to Get (And Keep) Your Reader's Atte... 10:30am - 11:30am

Funny Ha-Ha: Bringing Humor to your Fiction 11:45am - 12:45pm

Get Published Anywhere: How to (Successfully) Pitch Essays and S... 2:00pm - 3:00pm

On the Agent-Writer Relationship 3:30pm - 4:30pm

The Power of Place in Coming-of-Age Narratives: Global Readings... 10:30am - 11:30am

Universal Paradox: How to Write a Florida Story That Would Get B... 11:45am - 12:45pm

Writing Queer and Trans Joy 2:00pm - 3:00pm

How Your Characters’ Fantasy Lives Can Supercharge Your Stories 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Researching the Personal Narrative 10:30am - 11:30am

Timeless Narratives: Unearthing Truths through Historical Fictio... 11:45am - 12:45pm

Making Ancient Texts Your Own 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Agents and Editors of Color Roundtable 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Finding Your Memoir: Tips and Strategies to Get Started 10:30am - 11:30am

Resiliency (Back) at Square One: How to View Rejection as Redire... 11:45am - 12:45pm

Rise to Resilience: Writing Through Fear with Ritual and Mantra 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Shop Talk Happy Hour 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Bring Order to Creative Chaos: Project Management for Writers 10:30am - 11:30am

Polish and Shine: How to Prepare for the Author Interview 11:45am - 12:45pm

Everybody Wants Something: Desire as the Path to More Compelling... 2:00pm - 3:00pm

What Are You Afraid Of? Turning Fear into Fiction 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Friday Keynote with Jonathan Escoffery 9:00am - 10:00am

Registration Opens & Breakfast 7:30am - 9:00am

Break 12:45pm - 2:00pm

Community Space 12:45pm - 1:45pm

Where the Speculative and the Literary Meet: Re-defining Genre 10:30am - 11:30am

Storytelling to Save the World: the Fiction of Climate Apocalyps... 11:45am - 12:45pm

Break Every Rule: Trusting Your Instincts in Process and Craft 2:00pm - 3:00pm

How to Write Sex Scenes that Sizzle 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Straight Talk Over Drinks: How to Conquer Writer’s Block, Anxiet... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Beyond Innocence: Creating Multi-Dimensional Child Characters 11:45am - 12:45pm

Media Training for the Post-Pandemic World: Be your best when pr... 3:30pm - 4:30pm

On Tension: How to build suspense in literary fiction 10:30am - 11:30am

The Business of Art: How to Navigate the Market As a Writer 11:45am - 12:45pm

The Dynamics of Opposition: Getting the Best Plot Out of Your Pr... 3:30pm - 4:30pm

What No One Talks About in Publishing… But Everyone Should Know 10:30am - 11:30am

Structural Steps: Building a Novel with Good Bones 11:45am - 12:45pm

The Ultimate Craft Class: Solving the Mysteries of Character, Ch... 2:00pm - 3:00pm

There's More Than One Path to Publication: Publishing With Small... 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Writing Ourselves Home: Prompts and Exercises for Building An Im... 10:30am - 11:30am

They Toss Bodies at You: How Exciting New Trends in Latina Horro... 11:45am - 12:45pm

Elements of Autofiction: Memory, Time, Place, and Process 2:00pm - 3:00pm

The Art of Beginning Again 10:30am - 11:30am

It Takes a Village: The Editor-Author Collaboration 11:45am - 12:45pm

Writing Place: Working with Where You’re From 2:00pm - 3:00pm

How to Keep Writing 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Kissing the Muse: Flirt With Words 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Writing Your Book Jacket Copy To Nail Down Your Story 10:30am - 11:30am

Mini Zines As a Mirror: Create an 8-Page Zine to Reflect on Who... 11:45am - 12:45pm

Writing About Addiction 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Writing Historical Fiction: The Essentials 10:30am - 11:30am

Conquering the Muddle in the Middle 11:45am - 12:45pm

The Prose Chapbook: A New, Fun, and Accessible Form for Emerging... 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Roadmap to Revision: Make Your Memoir Agent-Ready 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Book Bans: An Agent Panel Discussion 10:30am - 11:30am

Shoot for the Moons: Charting Your Quest in Fantasy and Science... 11:45am - 12:45pm

Bleeding on the Page: Writing Through and About the Stigmatized 2:00pm - 3:00pm

A Trip to the Playground: Making Writing Fun Again! 4:15pm - 5:15pm

How To Stop Worrying And Embrace Genre Tropes 10:30am - 11:30am

Legacy Letters: How to They Can Be a Springboard for Your Nonfic... 11:45am - 12:45pm

You're Not Too Young For This: Queering Middle Grade 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Point of View: Tips on Breaking into Commentary Writing 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Writers, Agents, and Editors of Color Meet-Up 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Community & Craft: How Long-Form Workshops Can Transform a Write... 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Saturday Keynote with Emily St. John Mandel 9:00am - 10:00am

Registration Opens & Breakfast 7:30am - 9:00am

Saturday All-Conference Party 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Break 12:45pm - 2:00pm

Break 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Community Space 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Tarot Reading for Writers 10:30am - 11:30am

What Do You Mean by That?: Receiving feedback and becoming an ed... 2:00pm - 3:00pm

The Textures and Music of Language: Learning from Poets 4:15pm - 5:15pm

A Writer’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels 10:30am - 11:30am

Your Personal Stories Matter: How Our Voices Can Harness Socio-C... 11:45am - 12:45pm

Re-Writing History 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Pulling Back the Curtain: A First Year Editor-in-Chief Reveals H... 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Literary Agents 101 10:30am - 11:30am

Making Yourself Heard: Writing Strong Narrative Voice in Fiction 11:45am - 12:45pm

The Structure is Sound: How to Effectively Approach Multigenerat... 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Out of Order: Crafting Non-Linear Narratives 11:45am - 12:45pm

Moving the Needle: A Marketing Primer for Writers 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Agent Ask Me Anything 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Exploring Writing with Conscience 10:30am - 11:30am

Ask Me Anything: Transgender Characters 11:45am - 12:45pm

Writing and Publishing Journeys: An Author Conversation 2:00pm - 3:00pm

The Emergence of AI: An Interrogation for Creative Writers 4:15pm - 5:15pm

Social Media for Authors 11:00am - 12:00pm

Contract Red Flags - How to Advocate for Yourself 12:15pm - 1:15pm

Writing Like a Parent, Parenting Like a Writer 11:00am - 12:00pm

Moving On: A Community Memorial Service for Manuscripts We Must... 12:15pm - 1:15pm

Crafting for Audio: What All Writers Can Learn from Original Aud... 12:15pm - 1:15pm

Imaginative Narratives: Bridging AI Approaches and Storytelling 11:00am - 12:00pm

Alternative Paths to Selling Your Book: Contests & Publishing In... 12:15pm - 1:15pm

The Query Letter 11:00am - 12:00pm

An Introduction to Epistolary Horror 12:15pm - 1:15pm

Insider Insights: A Publishing Panel 9:45am - 10:45am

Closing Send-off: Take Your Muse... 1:30pm - 2:00pm

Registration Opens 8:30am - 1:30pm

Exploring the Boundary of Believability in Fiction and Nonfictio... 11:00am - 12:00pm

Reading Aloud: It's Not Just for Bedtime Stories 12:15pm - 1:15pm

The Big Bad: Give Your Protagonist a Worthy Antagonist 11:00am - 12:00pm

Manuscript CPR: Reviving Dead Work 12:15pm - 1:15pm

Finding Your Ending 11:00am - 12:00pm

You’re in a Cult! Group Dynamics, Societies, and Character in St... 12:15pm - 1:15pm

The Querying Writer's Playbook: Positioning Yourself for Publica... 11:00am - 12:00pm

Publish Your Work in Literary Magazines: Tips, Strategies, and T... 12:15pm - 1:15pm