There’s no video game-style announcement to tell us when we’ve leveled up our writing skills. Sometimes it’s hard to know if you’re improving at all–especially when you’re just starting out. We’ll discuss ways that our panelists have leveled up their own skills, from formal workshops to writing groups to exercises and beyond.

Read more about Leveling up: Strategies to Grow as a Writer

Invited to an event to give a live reading of your work? Professional narrators are here to help with tips and tricks to win over your audience, combat the nerves, prepare for your reading.

Read more about Live Readings: So, You’ve Been Asked to Read Your Work in Front of Actual Humans…

Some agents, editors, and publishers advise authors to develop a brand. This branding sets the expectation that an author will stick to one genre, one style, or one format. But there’s a value to being versatile, too. This panel will discuss how and why authors should make and break their own mold.

Read more about The Value of Versatility

You’ve got the contract! Your book is coming out! Congrats. Now, you have to promote it. Truth is, even the “big” houses require writers to do much of the marketing footwork themselves, and there’s lots of info on what to do and when. But, for us introverts, the shy, and the neurodiverse, stumping our own work is, at best, a source of fraught ambivalence, and, at worst, a gauntlet of terror. There are ways to push through, though. Come hear from other introverts who’ve made it through marketing in one piece, more or less.

Read more about Promotion for Introverts

Writers from Oceania, East Asia, and Southeast Asia discuss cyberpunk literature outside of the US, and the storytelling role the genre has in the region.

Read more about Cyberpunk in the Asia Pacific

It’s your book, but it’s their world. How do you follow the rules of the literary universe and still contribute in a creatively fulfilling way? People hosting and writing in shared worlds talk about their experiences and give advice for those wanting to join an established property.

Read more about Writing in a Shared World

What happens when an idea forms between two (or more!) authors? How do you share ideas, build consensus, and manage drafts and revisions? Join us to explore how collaborative writing relationships work and how to build them.

Read more about Collaborative Writing: How to Share Your Brainspace

You’ve sold the book and now they want another—by a certain day. Join us to learn how other mid-career authors acclimated to deadlines, balanced schedules, and got the book done on time—or managed when the deadline slipped.

Read more about Getting It Done On Time

For writers seeking traditional publication the right agent is key. We cover practical querying techniques, time management tactics, and when to call in your support triangle. We cover mindset issues that crop up as you submit to the slush piles, and help you focus on finding the right long-term business partner/agent. This isn’t a class about query letters, or polishing your first five pages. This is a class about navigating the slush piles from a place of empowerment. Walk away with a list of agent author interview questions and more.

Read more about Finding the Right Literary Agent & Maintaining Your Sanity Along the Way

When many popular traditional publishers have New York or otherwise North American roots, “breaking in” from elsewhere in the world can be difficult. In this panel, writers living beyond the US and Canada discuss their publishing experiences.

Read more about Living Overseas and Publishing in the US and CA