Registration forms and List of Agents are available on the Web site at www.aiwriters.org.
30th AIW Writers Conference
THE BUSINESS OF WRITING IN A CHANGING WORLD
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The George Washington University, Cafritz Conference Center
Marvin Center Building
800 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052
REGISTRATION, Third floor, lobby
7:00 – 9:00 a.m.
AGENT BREAKFAST (Advance reservations only), Third floor, Continental Ballroom
7:30 – 8:30 a.m.
OPENING REMARKS, Third floor, Grand Ballroom
9:00 – 9:10 a.m.
Cecilia Sepp is currently serving her second term as president of AIW and was first elected in 2007. An association management consultant and writer based in Silver Spring, Maryland, she joined AIW in 2004, and served as 2007 Conference Co-Chair. She is also an active volunteer with the American Society of Association Executives and the Center for Association Leadership (ASAE & the Center), where she is currently serving as Vice Chair of the Communication Section Council and is Immediate Past Chair of the Gold Circle Awards program that recognizes excellence in association communications. Cecilia is a member of the ASAE & The Center CenterU faculty, facilitating online courses in component relations, marketing, and leadership. Cecilia writes on a variety of issues related to association management and personal/professional development at Association Puzzle (www.associationpuzzle.typepad.com), the blog she launched in 2005. She received her BA in political science, with an adjunct degree in management, from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.
PLENARY SPEECH, Third floor, Grand Ballroom
9:10 – 9:45 a.m.
Michael Shilling is the author of Rock Bottom, a novel recently published by Back Bay Books/Little, Brown and Company. Michael will be discussing the opportunities online media presents in book promotion, from social networking sites to blogging to podcasts. His presentation will center around his web site for the book, www.rockbottomnovel.com, in which he created a virtual band web site for Blood Orphans, the band about which Rock Bottom is centered. Among other things, rockbottomnovel.com contains songs, merchandise, band member bios/member illustrations, and a tour blog. A Lecturer at the University of Michigan, where he received his M.F.A. in creative writing, Michael is currently working on a novel that takes place in 1820's England, and which involves several of the characters from Jane Eyre.
BREAK: 9:45 – 10:00 a.m.
MORNING AGENTS PITCH SESSIONS: 10:00 a.m.—12:45 p.m.
There are more than 15 literary agents signed up already for the Agents breakfast, two 10-minute pitch sessions, and the Fiction and Non-fiction Agent Roundtables. The list to select agents from will be posted on the Web site on Wednesday, April 1, 2009. It is on a “first come—first served” basis and you can register in advance for the conference to be ranked in the order of your registration.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS: 10:00 – 11:15 a.m.
FICTION AGENTS ROUNDTABLE
What are the hot book topics in 2009? How can you boost your chances of getting an agent to represent your project? Here's a chance to ask four top literary agents who represent fiction everything you ever wanted to know.
RESEARCH: BESIDES AND BEYOND THE WEB
Do we depend on the Web for too much of our research? What is out there that you can’t get on your screen at your desk? What other approaches are available and how can you employ them in your work?
Thomas Mann is a reference specialist in the Humanities and Social Sciences Division of the Library of Congress. He is the author of The Oxford Guide to Library Research and Library Research Models, both from Oxford University Press. Mann also worked as a private detective before joining the Library of Congress. He has worked with many of our members over the years on a wide variety of research projects.
A specialist on investigations of organized crime since 1974, best-selling author and investigative journalist Dan E. Moldea has published seven nonfiction books: The Hoffa Wars; The Hunting of Cain: A True Story of Money, Greed, and Fratricide; Dark Victory: Ronald Reagan, MCA, and the Mob; Interference: How Organized Crime Influences Professional Football; The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy: An Investigation of Motive, Means, and Opportunity; Evidence Dismissed: The Inside Story of the Police Investigation of O.J. Simpson; and A Washington Tragedy: How the Death of Vincent Foster Ignited a Political Firestorm. Moldea, a former president of Washington Independent Writers, is currently at work on his eighth and ninth books.
BROKEN BONES, BALLISTICS, AND BURNS: TECHNICAL STUFF THAT WRITERS SHOULD GET RIGHT
Nothing ejects a reader out of a story faster than fumbled details. Drawing on his expertise as a firefighter, EMT, safety engineer and explosives safety expert, bestselling author John Gilstrap will give you the lowdown on how bullets behave, what happens when they impact the body, what everybody gets wrong about fires, and other stuff that all writers should know before they start shooting people on the page.
SPEECHWRITING: TIPS FROM THE TOP
Whether learning the “nuts and bolts” of writing speeches or how to find work as a free lancer, this session will provide insight into one of the most lucrative fields of writing in Washington, DC. Following this interactive discussion, you’ll walk away knowing how to:
· Find common ground with any audience;
· Craft jokes that capitalize on your speaker’s strengths;
· Be fearless in helping CEOs improve their presentations;
· Translate general writing skills into remarks for the ear;
· Manage the lion share of the speech process—far from the keyboard;
· Capitalize on visual support in a great speech;
· Leverage a speech so it reaches beyond those in the room; and
· Find out what the audience really wants to hear.
Whether you’re ready to write for the CEO or you’re just trying to hone your use of tone, rhythm, and cadence, join this veteran speechwriter to learn the tricks of the trade. Or just come by to hear entertaining stories of what it’s like to work in the shadows of power. Among them:
· A flopped joke about nude beaches for remarks in Heidelberg;
· A near-miss at a press conference on missile defense in Moscow; and
· A heart-warming moment about Washington's lovely Tidal Basin in the spring.
Moderator: Acclaimed speechwriter Dr. Rosemary King has written for the Secretary of Defense, two Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and corporate executives. She has taught English at the Air Force Academy and published Border Confluences: Borderland Narratives from the Mexican War to the Present.
Dr. Stanley Dambroski has written speeches for U.S. government officials at the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and State. He won Cicero Speechwriting Awards in 2007 and 2008. He has taught communications and linguistics courses at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University.
Tim Hayes is a nationally-known speechwriter who has earned more than 25 awards at the national and regional level for his writing. His clients include CEOs from Fortune 200 companies, elected officials, professional athletes, and civic leaders. He is the author of the soon-to-be published book on effective speechwriting, "The Sunrise Sentence," available through Amazon Books.
Neil Mansharamani writes speeches for the Chief Operating Officer and several executives at the Federal Aviation Administration. He has taught Advanced Public Speaking and Argumentation and Debate, and is pursuing a doctorate in Communication at the University of Maryland.
BREAK: 11:15—11:30 a.m.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS: 11:30 a.m.—12:45 p.m.
NONFICTION AGENTS ROUNDTABLE
No matter what kind of non-fiction you write-- biography, self-help, memoir, pop culture-- it's important to know what's selling and how you can increase your chances of getting an agent. Ask four top literary agents who represent non-fiction everything you ever wanted to know.
DO’S AND DON’T’S OF WRITERS’ WEB SITES
Join us for a hands-on workshop on how to create a successful website for your writing business. Discuss how-to’s, pitfalls, and best practices, and lead interactive exercises to help you define a strong Web strategy.
Moderator: Kristen King, M.P.S., is a communications consultant who has been writing and editing for business and publication for more than five years. She launched her first business, Kristen King Freelancing, in 2004 and re-launched it in June of this year as Inkthinker Communications, LLC, which provides a full range of writing, editing, and consulting services. Her website www.kristenkingfreelancing.com was a finalist in the 2006 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest. King currently writes four blogs, two of her own (www.inkthinkerblog.com, named one of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers in 2006, and www.meowbarkblog.com) and two for global information network b5media (www.bizchicksrule.com and www.livelywomen.com). She was profiled in the fifth edition of Lucy V. Parker’s How to Start a Home-Based Writing Business (Globe Pequot Press, 2008), and is scheduled to appear in the revised edition of The Well-Fed Writer, by Peter Bowerman. King has spoken on marketing, networking, blogging, and online promotions to the National Writers Union, the Society for Technical Communications, 40plus, and The George Washington University, among others, and is a familiar face at AIW events. She was elected to a two-year term as an AIW Board Member for 2008-2010. King has a BA in English from Mary Washington College and an MPS in publishing from GWU. She lives near Richmond, Virginia, with her husband, an uncoordinated 140-lb English mastiff puppy, a long-suffering 100-lb bull mastiff, an energetic pug, and three very tolerant cats.
Jo Golden, M.S., Ph.D., is a principal at Chaos To Clarity LLC, a woman-owned small business established in 2003, providing education services in the DC Metro area and web presence services to clients across the US. Jo specializes in self-education and communication in the digital world. She has worked with adults from 18–80+ as they change their relationship to education and technology. Jo cares deeply about supporting people who feel left behind by technological change and want to empower themselves by learning new ways of living and working in a digital world. She refined her approach to education, in part, while teaching at Georgetown Universityfor several years, and believes in starting from wherever people are, customizing their approach to education, and establishing the confidence and competence they need to succeed in a digital world. Jo also supports clients by polishing their story for the web, communicating their business or professional identity in writing, and establishing a compelling web presence that allows others to connect with their work in meaningful ways. She is currently writing about self-education strategies and skills, knowledge work, identity, and conflict around learning and change in a digital world.
Tracey Holinka, M.S., began working with the Web more than ten years ago and quickly developed a passion for creating easy-to-use, functional, end-user focused technologies. Before joining Chaos To Clarity LLC full-time, she worked as a Senior Web Developer, creating innovative web development tools and cutting-edge approaches to programming, procedures, and applications. Tracey is our Technology Specialist and Managing Partner who supports clients by developing and implementing their web presence, educating for business success, and supporting technological competence and confidence. She believes that technology ought to be clarified by professionals, not cloaked in mystique to exclude everyone else.
WRITING CORPORATE, ASSOCIATION, AND ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORIES
Companies are always looking for effective ways to portray a positive image of themselves. An effective and unusual means of doing that is through a corporate history. These can be used as promotional tools, as inexpensive "rewards" for employees, even as a "gut check" on where an enterprise has been and where it should be headed. At the same time, corporate histories provide opportunities for writers with experience in history, business, book design, and the industry in question.
Moderator: Ed Moser has recently completed a corporate history of Abbott, the Fortune 100 medical products company. He is the author of seven published books in the fields of history, information technology, politics, and science. His varied background includes stints as a speechwriter for the President of the United States, and as a writer for Jay Leno's "The Tonight Show." He has a B.A. in history from the University of Albany in New York, and a Masters in business, economics, and technology from The George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Sandy Kolman Laycox has authored digital publications for The History Factory's clients, including the history of a diversified, global holding corporation that owns and operates businesses across a range of industries. She has been a contributing writer and lead editor for several educational publications, as well as the corporate history of a leading financial services company. She also covers an annual training conference for a leading global retailer, producing a detailed photojournal of the event. As The History Factory's senior writer and editor, Sandy manages the company's quarterly e-publication and heritage management blog. A former senior editor for The Corporate Executive Board and travel writer/editor, Laycox earned a BA in History and Philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MFA in Writing from the University of New Orleans.
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY CRAFT SESSIONS
EXPLODING A SCENE: ADDING DETAIL, DEPTH, AND SURPRISE TO YOUR FICTION
What makes one scene feel alive and another fall flat? How can your scenes work harder? What constitutes a good scene, anyway? This discussion (with handouts and audience participation) will show you how to wring the most from your scenes through thoughtfully-chosen details, as well as weave in the nuance that will lead you—and your characters—to exciting new discoveries. It would be helpful, but not necessary, if you were to bring with you a few pages of a scene you’ve written.
Mark Farrington is a coordinator and the faculty fiction advisor for the M.A. in Writing Program at Johns Hopkins. He has an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from George Mason University and a B.A. from Colby College. He has published short stories in The New Virginia Review, The Louisville Review, The Potomac Review, and other journals, and he has served as editor-in-chief of Phoebe: The George Mason Review. He also has published numerous articles on the teaching of writing. In 2003 and 2008 he received the Johns Hopkins Writing Program's Outstanding Teaching Award, and in 2004 he received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Advanced Academic Programs at Hopkins.
Leslie Pietrzyk is the author of two novels, Pears on a Willow Tree (Avon Books) and A Year and a Day (William Morrow). Her short fiction has appeared in many journals and magazines, including The Iowa, Review, New England Review, The Sun, TriQuarterly, and Shenandoah. Visit Leslie’s blog at: http://www.workinprogressinprogress.blogspot.com/)
BREAK: 12:45—1:00 p.m.
LUNCHEON, AWARDS, AND KEYNOTE SPEECH, Third floor, Grand Ballroom
1:00—2:15 p.m.
BREAK: 2:15—2:30 p.m.
AFTERNOON AGENTS PITCH SESSIONS: 2:30—5:00 p.m.
WRITING FOR ON-LINE AUDIENCES
Good writing is good writing in print or online, but there are distinct differences between writing for hardcopy or electronic readers. This session will provide an overview of different types of Web audiences at the techniques and tools you need to know to reach them effectively.
HISTORICAL FICTION
BUILDING YOUR BULLY PULPIT: A PLATFORM FROM WHICH TO PEDDLE YOUR WARES
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY CRAFT SESSION
THE PERILS AND PLEASURES OF WRITING FICTION AND NONFICTION What techniques can nonfiction writers learn from fiction writers, and visa versa? What are the dangers of cross-pollination? How can writers ensure that readers discern between fact, fiction, and the varieties of truth in between? Join three writers who practice both forms for a conversation about the rewards and pitfalls of working in fiction and nonfiction.
Bill Loizeaux is Writer in Residence in the Johns Hopkins Writing Program. His stories and essays have appeared in journals such as
TriQuarterly,
The American Scholar, and
The Christian Science Monitor.
He is the author of two memoirs:
The Shooting of Rabbit Wells and
Anna: A Daughter’s Life, a New York Times Notable Book. His children’s novel
Wings received a 2006 ASPCA Henry Bergh Children’s Award and was the 2006 Golden Kite Award Honor Book for Fiction. Another children’s novel,
Clarence Cochran, A Human Boy has just been released by FSG. Currently, he is at work on an adult novel.
Tim Wendel is the author of seven books, including the novels
Castro's Curveball and
Red Rain. His stories have appeared in
Gargoyle and
The Potomac Review, and his articles in
Esquire, The New York Times, GQ and
USA Today, where he is on the op-ed page's board of contributors. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University, he teaches nonfiction and fiction writing there. Visit the author at
www.timwendel.com.
Wendi Kaufman's fiction has appeared in literary journals and magazines including
The New Yorker, Fiction, New York Stories and Other Voices. Her stories have been widely anthologized including
Elements of Literature, Faultlines: Stories of Divorce, and most recently
Enhanced Gravity: more writing by Washington area women. She is a frequent contributor to
The Washington Post and
Washingtonian Magazine. Wendi was a recipient of the Mary Roberts Rhinehart award for short fiction, a Breadloaf Writer's Conference Scholar in Fiction, and has been a designated Scholar for Let’s Talk About It: Jewish Literature, a reading and discussion series with Nextbook (www.nextbook.org) and the American Library Association. Visit her blog at:
www.thehappybooker.net.
BREAK: 3:45—4:00 p.m.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS: 4:00-5:15 p.m.
GETTING PAID: SETTING RATES, BILLING, COLLECTIONS, AND BANKRUPTCY
GENRE FICTION
TECHNOLOGY AND WRITING: THE LATEST IDEAS FOR PUTTING PRINT ON SOMETHING WE CAN READ
BACK TOM BASICS: PROFESSIONAL SKILLS THAT MAKE WRITER’S BLOCK GO AWAY
For many professional writers facing a drop deadline, the overwhelming temptation is to throw some words and phrases at the project. At such times it’s difficult to remember that the fear of deadline can obscure the benefits of writing it right the first time. No patented formulas exist that guarantee you will whip out the copy in a printable form on demand, but Robert Knight offers some pointers that can help you work your way through the dilemma.
Join Knight, a longtime journalist and professor who writes about writing, as he shares his experience and helps hone your communication skills, talents and abilities. Enjoy this fascinating review of effective English and explore how these pillars of good writing can help you take your copy from the mundane to the magical:
Ÿ A strong and enticing introduction that involves the reader and helps you organize the remainder of your project.
Ÿ The essentials of word economy.
Ÿ The importance of word precision.
Ÿ The energy of action verbs.
Ÿ The effective use of active voice.
Ÿ An emphasis on strong nouns and verbs and a reduction of adjective and adverbs.
Ÿ Avoiding clichés.
Ÿ An appreciation of the Anglo-Saxon core of the English language.
This session includes discussion and exercises that emphasize the beauty and history of English. For seasoned professionals, it provides a welcome back to basics. For aspiring writers, it provides a structure that allows them to meet project requirements as it frees up the creativity that lends itself to excellence. For both, it provides a refreshing antidote for the disease known as writer’s block.
Knight’s career has taken him from United Press International to newspapers and broadcast, to freelancing for more than 40 publications and news services. He has been a frequent contributor to The Chicago Tribune and its Sunday magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, Reuters and The
Washington Post.
He taught journalism in the Evening Division of Northwestern University and journalism and English composition at Gettysburg College. In addition, Knight was an editor at the late, greatly lamented City News Bureau of Chicago. He is author of The Journalistic Writer: Building the Skill, Honing the Craft, to be published next spring by the Marion Street Press.
BREAK: 5:15—5:30 p.m.
RECEPTION: 5:30—7:00 p.m.
To register or for more information, visit www.aiwriters.org
