CAC18 Faculty Archive

STORY. PRODUCTION. BEYOND.

We have a spectacular line-up of experts in marketing, book publicity, and publishing for the 2018 Chanticleer Authors Conference!

Hashtag:  #CAC18 #BeyondStory

Special Guests:

Robert Scott Steindorff:  Beyond the Book — Entertainment, Film, and TV

Robert Scott Steindorff is an American film and television producer who is known for adapting literary works into film works. He works with some of the top people in the entertainment industry such as Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Will Farrell, Jack Black, and others.

Scott has produced  Chef, Jane Got A Gun, Las Vegas and  Empire Falls (TV Series), The Human Stain, Love in the Time of Cholera, and other works.

Michele Miron, Editor for Press Publications wrote that “When producer Scott Steindorff buys rights to a book, there’s a good chance that story will show up on the big screen.” She continues to report that “he makes two to three movies each year.” 

Known as Hollywood’s bookman – Scott has chosen the books from these authors to adapt into movies include Philip Roth, Richard Russo, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, T.C. Boyle, Nicholas Sparks, as well as Michael Connelly’s The Lincoln Lawyer and Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita.

Special Topics – Scott Steindorff with Daine Sillan – Beyond the Book

• The Art of Developing Books to Film
• Deconstructing a Novel into Three Acts
• The Dangerous Task of Turning Beloved Bestsellers into Film or TV
• The Hook in a Book

Special Event

On Word, a Chanticleer Reviews video series installment with Scott Steindorff.

Join Scott in an Actor’s Studio-style Interview with Daine Sillan for the Chanticleer Reviews video series, On Word.  Friday, April 20th at 1:oo in the afternoon immediately after lunch.

KaffeeKlatsch: Q & A, Friday, immediately following the On Word session. 

Jessica Page Morrell:  Writing Craft Sessions that Will Take Your Work to the Next Level

Jessica Page Morrell

Each year we offer writing craft sessions from the best editors and authors in the publishing industry. This year we are excited to announce that we have Jessica Page Morrell as the teacher of the Master Writing Class Sessions.

Jessica understands both sides of the editorial desk–as a highly-sought after developmental editor and an author. Her work also appears in multiple anthologies and The Writer and Writer’s Digest magazines.  She is known for explaining the hows and whys of what makes for excellent writing and for sharing very clear examples that examines the technical aspects of writing that emphases layering and subtext. Her books on writing craft are considered “a must have” for any serious writer’s toolkit.

CAC18 Writing Craft Sessions and Workshops presented by Jessica Page Morrell

• Learning from the Greats (SED), Sunday, 9:30 am-12:30 pm, Admiral: 3-hour Morning Master Writing Class:
  • Although writers can feel inundated by all the writing advice available in our current times; dissecting, reflecting, and even emulating great writers can be a powerful tool. It’s especially helpful to study the best in the genre you write in. This workshop teaches writers how to deconstruct and analyze elements of craft. It will demonstrate how to study the balance of narrative and dialogue; how POV shifts in an ensemble cast; how figurative and descriptive language are used in varying kinds of scenes; how pace and action are entwined; the benefits of first and third-person viewpoint, and the subtle variations of each. In this workshop, we’ll discuss the techniques used by a variety of authors including Alice Munro, Raymond Carver, Ernest Hemingway, Elmore Leonard, Marilyn Robinson, Ray Bradbury, Anne Patchett, and others. We’ll also cover work habits, language, and sentence potency, and we’ll synthesize the best commandments on writing from the best and brightest.
• The Anchor Scenes of Fiction (SED), Sunday, 1:30-4:30 pm,  Admiral: 3-hour Afternoon Master Writing Class
  • The task of a novelist or screenwriter is to tell a story so riveting that it will hold a reader’s attention for hundreds of pages or a viewer’s attention for several hours in a theater. This requires an intimate knowledge of your characters and thorough understanding of plot, the sequence of events that take readers from beginning to end.  Your structure will reveal the protagonist’s struggles to solve problems and achieve goals. This, in turn, brings emotions to life and explains the importance of what a character is trying to achieve and what stands in his way.These events won’t hang together without a compelling structure that underlies the whole—the essential scenes that every story needs to create drive, tension, conflict, climax, and resolution.  We’ll illustrate and come to understand the anchor scenes needed in fiction and film: Inciting Incident, First Plot Point, and Mid-point Reversal, Point of No Return, Darknight of the Soul, Climax, and Resolution.  We’ll discuss how the protagonist stars in these scenes, how they’re emotionally-charged, build the plot, and illustrate character growth.
• Subtext: The Quiet River Beneath the Story (SED), Saturday, 2:00-3:50 pm, Compass: 1.5 hours hands-on session.  For most writers subtext is the most elusive of all writing techniques. However, life is often lived between the lines, and scenes often simmer with the unspoken beneath dialogue and action. In this workshop, subtext will be explained with examples from various genres. We’ll also discuss nonverbal communication and how to render it onto the page and how to hint at lies and secrets in scenes so that dialogue scenes are enhanced. We’ll cover how metaphor and visual clues create subtext.  Mostly we’ll investigate all the ways to insert subtext—the unspoken, innuendo, gestures, pauses, misdirection, colors, clothing, setting details—in other words, the nuanced moments that are not directly represented.
• KaffeeKlatsch (SED): Informal Q & A – Simple Steps to Solve Story Problems, Saturday, 9:00-9:50 am, Ballroom. 

Ann Charles: Creating Die-Hard Fans with Relationship Marketing and Growing Your Fan Base

Ann Charles, USA Bestselling Author

We are super excited to have Ann Charles, the award-winning author of the USA Today Best-Selling Deadwood Mystery Series to present at CAC18 and to keynote. Ann writes multiple award-winning mystery series that are splashed with humor, spice, suspense, action-adventure, and whatever else sounds fun.  Her books garner thousands of Amazon reviews and are the Top-Rated #1 Kindle Bestseller Women Sleuth Mysteries.

Ann will share her proven and tried marketing secrets to creating, building, maintaining, and growing an enthusiastic fanbase.  www.AnnCharles.com

CAC18 Workshops and Presentation Topics by Ann Charles:

Ann Charles is the CAC18 KEYNOTE PRESENTER for SATURDAY’S LUNCHEON

•  How to Create Die-hard Fans through Relationship Marketing (MPP), Saturday, 2:00-3:50 pm, workshop, Admiral:  There are many ways to find and entice readers, but keeping them as part of your long-term readership base is tricky. Years ago, Ann made the choice to focus much of her non-writing energy on Relationship Marketing, fostering reader loyalty rather than taking the one-time-sale mentality. In this workshop, she’ll explain 5 W’s of Relationship Marketing: WHAT it is, WHY it’s important, WHERE you can develop career-beneficial contacts, WHO benefits from this style of marketing, and WHY this marketing method can be effective. Join Ann and learn the effective techniques of reaching your audience.
• Growing Your Audience (MPP), Sunday, 10:30-12:30 pm, workshop, Ballroom: For Published or Unpublished Authors The publishing industry is morphing every day, and the internet brings a new dimension to the concept of audience. Together, these changes merge into a vastly different and exciting concept of marketing.  The shotgun approach to finding your audience worked for decades, but this technique becomes more expensive and less viable with each passing month.  The bad news: no one will find your readers for you.  The good news: you have more options than ever in history to build your own fan base. In this interactive class, we’ll explore these options and send you on your way to building your own tribe of diehard fans. This class will help you pinpoint your audience—find the readers who want to buy your book—so you can tailor your marketing and promotion techniques to them and stop wasting time and money.The publishing industry is morphing every day, and the internet brings a new dimension to the concept of audience. Together, these changes merge into a vastly different and exciting concept of marketing. Find your readers! Ann Charles and Jacquie Rogers
• Building a World One Book at a Time (MPP), Saturday, 9:00-9:50 am, Admiral: Many readers love crossover books and characters. Creating one world that encompasses multiple series offers a familiarity even though the setting, style, and series are different. For authors, it not only helps to sell backlist books but can also create die-hard fans for life. In this presentation, Ann will explain some of the ways she has used to create crossover elements within her three on-going series. Diane Garland will join Ann and discuss the various ways her role as a World Keeper plays with Ann’s series building. One world that encompasses multiple series offers a familiarity even though the setting, style, and series are different. Diane Garland and Ann Charles
• Working with a World Building Editor (MPP), Sunday, 1:30-2:30 pm, Ballroom: Building a world takes a lot of planning. Readers are smart, so you need all the help you can get making sure your world follows the rules you create along the way. For authors, previous threads and rules can become hazy by book 3 or 4 in a series. In this workshop, Ann and Diane will talk about ways they work as a team to make sure each book in an ongoing series stays true to the world the readers know and love. Ann Charles and Diane Garland 
• Writer’s Life (WL), Friday, 4:10-5:00 pm, Admiral: Living Vicariously through Fiction: Have you ever wondered where authors find the information needed to write stories about historical setting, character careers, or true events from the past, and how they incorporate it all into a single story or series? In this presentation, Ann and Jacquie will discuss how difficult it can be to live vicariously through fiction, and how important it is to be as accurate as possible.  Jacquie Rogers and Ann Charles 

Lake Perriguey:  Copyrights, Trademarks, and Intellectual Property

Lake Perriguey ©aliciajrosephotography.com

We want to extend a special welcome to Lake Perriguey, attorney, to the 2018 Chanticleer Authors Conference.  Lake’s company, Law Works, LLC, handles all aspects of copyright and trademark law, with experience before the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board and the US Copyright Office and multiple cases in the United States District Court. These matters include the initial registration of copyrights and trademarks and claims and defenses of copyright infringement and trademark infringement.

Lake Perriguey owns Law Works LLC, a full-service law firm in downtown Portland which focuses on civil rights, employment, injury, and copyright litigation. Lake brought the lawsuit to the courts that established marriage equality for gay and lesbian Oregonians as well as the first successful action for non-binary legal recognition in the United States. Lake has represented authors and publishers in contract negotiations and in federal court litigation regarding copyrights. Law Works, LLC is based out of Portland, Oregon.

CAC18 Workshops and Presentation Topics by Lake Perriguey, Attorney:

• Copyright 101 and the Publishing Contract in our Digital Age:  An Intellectual Property Primer (CTIP), Friday, 9:10-10:00 am, Compass and  Saturday, 9:00-9:50 am, Boardroom:  A primer coupled with some tips on common terms in publishing contracts that should be considered given the worldwide market and the ease of digital distribution.
• Reversion Rights Consideration (CTIP) will be discussed in the above sessions. 
• KaffeeKlatsch – Quick Coffee with Lake (CTIP): 10-minute session with Lake.  *Sign-up at the Chanticleer Desk in the Ballroom* **Session Times are Strickly Enforced** ***Spaces are limited***

Dawn Groves: Online Presence, Content Development, and Communications Consultant

Dawn Groves

Dawn Groves is a professional consultant who specializes in Online Platform Analysis and Email Marketing. She critiques and advises clients regarding online presence, usability, and analytics. She is a pro at WordPress development and designs  Social Media strategies for specialized entities. She also manages email/newsletter campaigns and on-going content development.  Dawn is also a consultant with Einblau & Associates where she trains and consults on workflow productivity, workplace communications, energy and time management, team building and stress management.

CAC18 Workshops and Presentations by Dawn Groves:

• How to Create a Book Trailer on a Budget (MPP), Saturday, 1:00-1:50 pm, Admiral:
  • The reason why book trailers are important in today’s market.
  • The five characteristics that make a great book trailer.
  •  A tutorial you can use build your own book trailer.
  • A clickable list of the reference tools you’ll need including several free online resources.
• How to Write Online Content that People Will Actually Read (MPP), Saturday, 9:00-9:50 am, Compass:
  • Enjoy an hour of solid, practical advice based on the most current online behavior research and industry trends
  • How to get past “content fatigue”
  • The most important difference between online content and hard copy. (It’s not what you think.)
  • Eight rules essential to the production of content that’s appealing as well as engaging
  • A clickable list of fantastic online resources and tools for developing content.

Beth Bacon: Effective and Proven Techniques to Increase Your Book Sales

Beth Bacon

Beth Bacon is an award-winning author of books for young readers including The Book No One Wants To Read, I Hate Reading, Blank Space, and The Worst Book Ever. Her awards include the Library Media Connection Editor’s Choice Award, the Candlewick Award for Picture Book Writing, and the Marion Dane Bauer Award for Middle-Grade Writing. She has an MFA in Writing For Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is available for school readings, contact her at  www.bethbaconauthor.com.

CAC18 Workshops and Presentations by Beth Bacon:

• 6 No-Cost Things To Do Today to Increase Your Sales on Amazon Tomorrow (STS), Friday, 10:10-11:00 am, Compass, and Saturday, 10:00-10:50 am, Admiral: Is your bookselling as well as it could on Amazon? Do you want to increase your sales without paying a penny in advertising? All you’ve got to do is think about the Amazon search engine.  In this session, author Beth Bacon shares six specific steps you can take to optimize your selling experience on Amazon.  
• Discover The Keywords For Selling Your Book: A Hands-On Workshop (STS), Saturday, 1:00-1:50  pm, Compass: Learn the technique professionals use to produce a list of words that connect bestselling books with actual readers.  The right keywords lead your ideal audience directly to your book. But the most effective keywords often aren’t the first ones you think of. In this workshop, author Beth Bacon will guide you through a clear, methodical process for discovering the search terms that real readers actually use to discover books like yours.
• KaffeeKlatch (STS), Saturday, 2:00-2:50 pm, Ballroom: Beth shares her experience in digital marketing to help you understand the way Amazon thinks so you can take advantage of the processes that are built into the world’s largest bookstore. An informal Q & A session. 

Daine Sillan Isaacs: Film/TV Producer and Executive Creative Director, Luna Design, and founding partner of SillanPaceBrown Publishing + Production + Agency

Daine Sillan

Daine Sillan Isaacs brings more than two decades of experience in film and television industries as an executive film producer, president of production for Don Johnson Productions at Universal and Paramount pictures, president of development and production for Green Moon Productions where she produced films for Antonio Banderas and Emma Thompson.

Diane is also the executive creative director of Luna Design: Design & Branding, Content Strategy, Experimental Marketing, Web & App Development, Photo & Video Production. Clients include Bunker Media, Microsoft China, BLUEPRINT NYC, Prime Pictures, and others. She and Kiffer Brown co-founded SillanPaceBrown Publishing + Production, LLC.

CAC18 Workshops and Presentations by Daine Sillan:

• Special Sessions with Scott Steindorff (H&E): Friday Luncheon, 12:00-2:00 pm in the Ballroom: An insightful conversation with Scott Steindorff, an A-list Hollywood producer who fearlessly adapts many of our favorite books to the big and home screen. Think The Actor’s Studio with James Lipton, we will walk through the process of book to film – how to discover the property, negotiate the rights, recruit financiers, attach talent, develop the script, on set produce and edit the film, and, the most important step- how to ultimately market the project. It’s a long and arduous journey and it takes a person with a lot of passion and multi-talents, like Scott, to pull it off.
• The Pitch & Loglines (H&E), Saturday, 3:00-3:50 pm, Boardroom. Also Sunday, 9:30-10:30 am and 2:30-3:30 pm, Ballroom: Pitching your book begins with the elevator test where you only have 30 seconds (or 33 words) to express your story, tone, genre, character, setting, and twist. If you successfully generate a spark of interest before the doors open, you have to be ready for the next step. Authors, who have freedom of words in space, often struggle to distill their storyline, present a clear snapshot of their protagonist/antagonist, set up the main challenge and build to a climax in a concise and potent way. It literally takes a new mindset and, well, practice. Pitches that seem to just roll out in conversation and completely draw you in are usually the ones the author has diligently refined and practiced. Let’s look at the best practices for pitching your book!
• Author vs. Screenwriter: A Producers POV (H&E),  Saturday, 1:00-1:50 pm, Boardroom: Story is story! Writing is writing!…right? Not entirely true. Book writing is actually a completely different approach to storytelling than screenwriting. It may be the same story but it is executed in two unique disciplines, requires distinct skill sets, and will be experienced in different ways. Many authors feel they could simply write a script version of their novel, and while a great adaptation may happen, it is never simple.
• Nuts and Bolts, Q & A Wrap-Up Sunday,  3:30-4:30 pm, Ballroom Daine Sillan and Kiffer Brown

Presenters & Panelists

Craig Anderson: Thriller Author, and Editor & Reviewer for Chanticleer Reviews

Craig Anderson

Craig Anderson served for twenty-six years in the US Air Force, completed an MFA in Creative Writing for Fiction, and a Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing. He is a professional book reviewer, manuscript evaluator, mentor, and book editor for nonfiction and multiple fiction genres with Chanticleer Reviews and Editorial Services.  An avid writer, he’s authored the forthcoming thriller Grabbed and Gone. He, his wife, and five large dogs dwell in Eastern Washington State.

Special Topics:

• Using Sight and Sound to Revise Your Work (SED), Saturday, 11:00-11:50 am, Boardroom: Fresh off the Chanticleer Blog, Craig will go into depth and walk us through some tried and true editing hacks that will have you sailing through your stack of dreaded W.I.P.
• Panel: MOV/ Editorial Panel (SED) (WL), Saturday, 4:00-4:50 pm, Compass: This panel will walk you through the MOV process from the point of view of the author and the editor. Grab onto your seats – this will be fun! Craig Anderson, Editor,  will moderate Sara Dahmen, Lawrence Verigin, John Yarrow, and Vijay Lakshman 

Pamela Beason: Award-Winning Mystery, YA Author, and Private investigator

Pamela Beason

Pamela Beason is a private investigator by day and a YA and Mystery author by night. She slays in both her chosen professions.

She’s also pretty good at marketing her books online. Don’t miss her joined class with James Wells on how to get your books promoted on the elusive and exclusive BookBub.

Special Topics:

• Successful E-Book Marketing 102: BookBub Declassified, Saturday, 4-4:50 pm, Admiral: How to get your books promoted on the elusive and exclusive BookBub,  Pam Beason and James Wells
• Using Non-fiction to Sell Fiction and Fiction to Sell Non-fiction: Saturday, 11:00-11:50 am, Admiral, Pam Beason,  Kiffer Brown and Sara Dahmen
• Kaffeeklatsch — Creating a Series, Friday, 3:10-4:00 pm, Ballroom.  

Sara Dahmen: Author & Entrepreneur

Sara Dahmen

Sara Dahmen is a metalsmith of vintage and modern kitchenware in tin, copper, and iron. Her debut novel, Doctor Kinney’s Housekeeper, won the Laramie Award Grand Prize for Western Historical Fiction and inspired House Copper & Housekeeper Crockery – American-made cookware. She has published over 100 articles as a contributing editor for multiple magazines, book blogs, review blogs, spoke at TEDx Rapid City at the Historical Writers of America inaugural conference in Williamsburg VA, and has co-chaired the Port Washington Literary Festival since its inception. Prior to her writing gigs, Sara was a print, radio and TV producer in Milwaukee and owns and has operated a nationally award-winning event planning company since 2006. When not writing or sewing authentic clothing for reenactments, she can be found hitting tin and copper at her apprenticeship with a master smith, reading The Economist and reference books, or playing with her three young children.

Special Topics

• Panel  (MPP) (STS), Tips for Commanding Attention in a Crowded Room, Saturday, 10:00-10:50 am, Compass: Special appearances require special preparation!  Janet Shawgo, Joan Acklin, and Janet Oakley and Sara Dahmen
• Using Non-fiction to Sell Fiction and Fiction to Sell Non-fiction: Saturday, 11:00-11:50 am, Admiral, Sarah Dahmen, Kiffer Brown, Pam Beason
• Panel: MOV/ Editorial Panel (SED) (WL), Saturday, 4:00-4:50 pm, Compass: This panel will walk you through the MOV process from the point of view of the author and the editor. Grab onto your seats – this will be fun! Craig Anderson, Editor,  will moderate Sara Dahmen, Lawrence Verigin, John Yarrow, and Vijay Lakshman 

Diane Garland: Continuity Specialist for Fiction Series

Diane Garland

Diane specializes in the world of continuity editing, a systematic way of cataloging all the little-known facts in a book series. USA Today bestselling author, Ann Charles, amongst others, count on her attention to detail and her organizational skills to keep their series on track and their fans coming back. Visit her website at www.YourWorldKeeper.com

Special Topics

• Building a World One Book at a Time (SED): Saturday, 9:00-9:50 am, Admiral: Many readers love crossover books and characters. Creating one world that encompasses multiple series offers a familiarity even though the setting, style, and series are different. For authors, it not only helps to sell backlist books but can also create die-hard fans for life. In this presentation, Ann will explain some of the ways she has used to create crossover elements within her three on-going series. Diane Garland will join Ann and discuss the various ways her role as a World Keeper plays with Ann’s series building. One world that encompasses multiple series offers a familiarity even though the setting, style, and series are different. Diane Garland and Ann Charles
• Working with a World Building Editor (SED), Sunday, 1:30-2:30  pm, Ballroom: Building a world takes a lot of planning. Readers are smart, so you need all the help you can get making sure your world follows the rules you create along the way. For authors, previous threads and rules can become hazy by book 3 or 4 in a series. In this workshop, Ann and Diane will talk about ways they work as a team to make sure each book in an ongoing series stays true to the world the readers know and love. Diane Garland and Ann Charles

Kim Hornsby:  Amazon #1 Bestselling Paranormal/Suspense Novelist

Kim Hornsby

Kim Hornsby is a Bestselling Suspense Author, having shared space on the top five bestseller list with J.D. Robb, Stephen King, and Nicolas Sparks. Also, a screenwriter and movie producer, her DREAM JUMPER series is optioned for film with the first movie, The Dream Jumper’s Promise now in development with 5 x 5 Media. Where she once juggled teaching scuba diving with singing at Maui convention shows, she now juggles writing suspense novels and scripts that will transfer to the screen with contacting actors to read her script.

Special Topics

• Page to Screen: Adapting your Novel to a Script (SED), Saturday, 4:00-4:50 pm, Boardroom: 
  Hollywood LOVES book adaptations.
  Have you thought about adapting your book to a screenplay but didn’t know where to start?
  Learn how to boil down a story to the key scenes to transfer to a script format. Guaranteed pain-free, you’ll learn a method of finding the essence of the story and building on that. Learn the 3-Act structure, script formatting, dialogue, slug lines, and lean narrative. As a sales tool, you are that much closer to your dream of seeing your book on the screen with a script in hand. Find out enough to get you started.

• Amazon Demystified (PPD), Friday, 2:00-3:00 pm, Admiral:

  Ever wondered what Kindle Worlds is and how it might help you? Kindle Scout? Matchbook? Kindle Unlimited? The Lending Library? Kim and Janet will outline the many offerings Amazon has for authors and publishers so you can make an intelligent choice on what works for your books. Janet Oakley and Kim Hornsby
• KaffeeKlatsch (H&E) (STS) (MPP), Friday, 4:10-5:00 pm, Ballroom: How My Work Got Optioned for a Film.

Wendy Kendall: Podcaster, Mystery Author, Social Media Maven & Chanticleer Review & Editing Team

Wendy Kendall is Podcaster, Mystery Author, Editor, Book Reviewer and highly sought after Social Media Educator. She specializes in her love of Mystery and all things related to a crime scene.

Wendy Kendall

Special Topics:

• Smart Social Media (STS) (MPP), Friday, 4:10-5:00 pm, Compass, and Saturday, 10:00-10:50 am, Boardroom: Learn the advantages of different modes of social media, and the ways to select a mix that effectively establishes a productive social media presence. Then apply what you’ve learned to design your personalized social media plan. The presentation will be filled with specific how-to’s, resources and examples.
• Targeting Mystery Readers and Industry Professionals (STS) (MPP), Saturday, 2:00-2:50 pm, Boardroom: The book-selling industry has parsed mystery into so many variations it’s hard to keep track of them: hard-boiled or soft-boiled PI, cozy or traditional, paranormal, suspense, legal, historical, police procedural . . . and some mysteries are a conglomeration of these.  This presentation teaches you what you need to know about what you’re writing so that you can write effectively, pitch successfully, and sell it to the right agent or target market. We’ll also cover how reader expectations differ among the variations of mystery, suspense and thriller fiction, something every writer needs to know.
  

Vijay Lakshman: Co-Creator of the revolutionary video game Elder Scrolls and author of the award-winning Mythborn Fantasy series.

Vijay Lakshman

VJ joined Bethesda Softworks as an Executive Producer and Lead Designer, with a vision to create a new and exciting digital role-playing game system. This resulted in the creation of, The Elder Scrolls franchise, re-envisioning the fantasy role-playing genre and redefining its reach and popularity. The Elder Scrolls and its subsequent iterations like Skyrim quickly became and remains the world’s definitive role-playing games, enjoyed by hundreds of millions of fans. VJ’s is responsible for more than eighty-five well known digital entertainment properties, which have garnered over $1B in lifetime sales. 

While completing the Mythborn saga, a rich and exciting new fantasy series where dreams become reality, he is also working diligently on the design for a ground-breaking new interactive video game, a television pilot, and a graphic novel, all to complement the world of Mythborn and the characters within. 

Special Topics

• Story Development and Gaming: The Conversion of Mythborn to a Video Game (H&E) (MPP), Friday, 10:10-11 am, Admiral: Vijay will walk us through what it takes to move from A to Z along the gaming trail, what the Industry is looking for, and the platform necessary to develop a successful game and a large fan base. Vijay Lakshman
• SciFi and Fantasy Panel Friday 3:10-4:00 pm, Admiral: Vijay Lakshman, Pamela LePage, Alex Paul, and John Yarrow. Moderated by James Wells.
• Panel: MOV/ Editorial Panel (SED) (WL), Saturday, 4:00-4:50 pm, Compass: This panel will walk you through the MOV process from the point of view of the author and the editor. Grab onto your seats – this will be fun! Craig Anderson, Editor,  will moderate Sara Dahmen, Lawrence Verigin, John Yarrow, and Vijay Lakshman 

Janet Oakley: Award-Winning Author and Historian

J.L. Oakley

J. L. Oakley writes historical fiction that spans the mid-19^th century to WW II with characters standing up for something in their own time and place. She is an award-winning author and a recipient of the 2013 Bellingham Mayor’s Arts Award; the 2013 Chanticleer Grand Prize; the 2014 First Place Chaucer Award;  an Everybody Reads and Bellingham. When not writing, she demonstrates 19th-century folkways in the schools and at San Juan Island National Park. She also has a cat who thinks she’s editing.Read pick and the 2015 WILLA Silver Award, Pulpwood Queen Book Club 2016 backlist pick for February 2016.

 Special Topics: Amazon and Historical Fiction Promotions

• Amazon Demystified (PPD), Friday, 2:00-3:00 pm,  Admiral:  Ever wondered what Kindle Worlds is and how it might help you? Kindle Scout? Matchbook? Kindle Unlimited? The Lending Library? Kim and Janet will outline the many offerings Amazon has for authors and publishers so you can make an intelligent choice on what works for your books. Janet Oakley and Kim Hornsby
• Panel  (MPP) (STS): Tips for Commanding Attention in a Crowded Room, Saturday, 10:00-10:50 am, Compass: Special appearances require special preparation! Janet Shawgo, Joan Acklin, and Sara Dahmen

Jacquie Rogers: Award-Winning Author

Jacquie Rogers

Award-winning writer Jacquie Rogers is the author of eleven novels, including five books in the Hearts of Owyhee series, two books in the Honey Beaulieu – Man Hunter series, and others. She’s published over a dozen short stories and novellas in three genres.  Under the house name Ford Fargo, she writes for the Western Fictioneers Wolf Creek series.  She co-wrote Nail It! The Secret to Building a Fiction Writer’s Platform, and Growing Your Audience: Workbook for Published, Unpublished, and Under-published Writers. 

Special Topics

• Writer’s Life (WL), Friday, 4:10-5:00 pm  Admiral: A lively discussion with Ann Charles: Living Vicariously through Fiction. Have you ever wondered where authors find the information needed to write stories about historical setting, character careers, or true events from the past, and how they incorporate it all into a single story or series? In this presentation, Ann and Jacquie will discuss how difficult it can be to live vicariously through fiction, and how important it is to be as accurate as possible.  Jacquie Rogers and Ann Charles 
• Growing Your Audience (MPP), Sunday, 10:30-12:30 pm, Workshop, Ballroom: For Published or Unpublished Authors The publishing industry is morphing every day, and the internet brings a new dimension to the concept of audience. Together, these changes merge into a vastly different and exciting concept of marketing.  The shotgun approach to finding your audience worked for decades, but this technique becomes more expensive and less viable with each passing month.  The bad news: no one will find your readers for you.  The good news: you have more options than ever in history to build your own fan base. In this interactive class, we’ll explore these options and send you on your way to building your own tribe of diehard fans. This class will help you pinpoint your audience—find the readers who want to buy your book—so you can tailor your marketing and promotion techniques to them and stop wasting time and money.The publishing industry is morphing every day, and the internet brings a new dimension to the concept of audience. Together, these changes merge into a vastly different and exciting concept of marketing. Find your readers! Ann Charles and Jacquie Rogers

Janet K. Shawgo: Award-Winning Author, Travel Nurse

Janet K. Shawgo

Janet Shawgo lives in Galveston Texas but over her twenty plus years as a travel nurse, her life has crossed the United States.  Being a nurse for over thirty-three years most of those in Labor and Delivery has assisted in her writing. She starting writing in 2009 and has five books published to date.

Her Look for Me series has some thirty awards and acknowledgments. Janet has added some interest to her stories from her own travels. Research and actually putting feet on the ground brings her stories so vividly to life.

Special Topics

• What Do Books, Grocery Stores, Vineyards, & Bars Have in Common with Your Book? (STS) (MPP), Saturday, 11:00-11:50 am, Compass: Find out how to sell more outside the bookstore.
• Everyone Loves a Winner (STS), Friday, 3:10-4:00 pm, Compass: How Book Contests help sell and promote your books.
• Tips for Commanding Attention in a Crowded Selling Space, Saturday, 10:00-10:50 am, Compass: Special appearances require special preparation! Janet Oakley, Joan Acklin, Sara Dahmen and Janet Shawgo

Allison Vrbova: Building Your Author Brand Through Effective Content Marketing

Allison Vrbova

As marketing communication professional with a Master’s Degree in creative writing, Allison is a storyteller at heart. That’s why she spent the past decade helping tech startups, innovative small businesses and social profit companies create brand loyalty through compelling content. She has written about everything from drones and IoT applications, to mission-centered food products.

In 2016, Allison’s goal is to rid the world of poor-quality content, one blog post at a time.

CAC18 Workshops and Presentations by Allison Vrbova:

• Build Your Brand Through Effective Marketing Content (MPP), Friday, 9:10-10am, Admiral’s Room: She will also discuss identifying your target audience and gearing content for your specific goals.
• KaffeeKlatsch (MPP), Friday, 10:10-11:00 am, Ballroom: Tips on developing and identifying your audience – today!
• Build Your Brand Through Effective Marketing Content (MPP), Friday, 2:00-3:00 pm, Compass: Allison will focus on ways that authors can connect with potential readers and build personal brand awareness through blogs, videos, social media, email marketing, and other content strategies.

James R. Wells:  Contributor to the Daily Kos Page and Whatcom Watch, and Scifi Award-Winning Novelist

James R. Wells

James writes about climate and environmental topics. In his day job, he designs information systems that http://www.thegreatsymmetry.com/support energy efficiency programs for utilities and others who work to save gigawatt-hours every year, reducing costs and emissions. The Great Symmetry, his Cygnus Grand Prize award-winning novel, is set is set three hundred years in the future, it casts a sharp eye on issues of the 21^stcentury. What is the boundary between a genuine info-terrorist – who releases a secret in order to cause harm – with someone who simply reveals an inconvenient fact about a government or a company? What are the acceptable lines defining the relationships between corporations, government, and individuals? When someone appears to agree to a loss of freedom, is that consent in fact given freely?

Special Topics

• Successful E-book Marketing 101 (STS), Friday, 11:10-12 pm, Admiral: This is always a popular session on strategies, search engine, BookBub and more. Learn how to build a successful campaign, ride the wave to greater sales, and reach wider audiences.
• Panel: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Moderator (SED), Friday, 3:10-4:00 pm, Admiral: Alex Paul, Vijay Lakshman, John Yarrow, and Pamela Le Page with James Wells, moderator.
• Successful E-Book Marketing 102: BookBub Declassified Saturday 4-4:50 pm, Admiral: How to get your books promoted on the elusive and exclusive BookBub. Pam Beason and James Wells

 John Yarrow:  He’s published magazine articles and a script adaption that was produced and aired on National Public Radio

John Yarrow

John Yarrow is an award-winning author with two books up for book awards this year at the Chanticleer conference: The Future’s Dark Past in the Cygnus Sci-Fi contest and The Recombinant Theory has been ShortListed in the highly competitive Global Thriller contest. His latest book, The Future’s Dark Past, launched this winter to rave reviews and can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and iBooks.

John infuses his storytelling with insightful observations and humorous wit from his experiences as a technology expert in the corporate world, graduate school professor, secondary educator/sports coach, and dedicated family man. He is fascinated with the struggles of an enduring humanity and futuristic world-building which compels him to create inconceivable, yet believable scenarios. A life-long Texan, he dreams as big as he writes.

SPECIAL TOPICS:

• Death by a Thousand Edits (SED) (WL), Friday, 11:10-12:00 pm, Compass:  An encompassing look at the editing process for serious writers and some basic editing tips to help streamline and improve your writing craft. This is a session on the editing process and how to survive it.

• Panel: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Friday, 3:10-4:oo pm, Admiral. Vijay Lakshman, Pamela LePage, Alex Paul, and John Yarrow. Moderated by James Wells

• Panel: MOV/ Editorial Panel (SED) (WL), Saturday, 4:00-4:50 pm, Compass: This panel will walk you through the MOV process from the point of view of the author and the editor. Grab onto your seats – this will be fun! Craig Anderson, Editor,  will moderate, Sara Dahmen, Lawrence Verigin, John Yarrow, and Vijay Lakshman 

… Kiffer Brown

Kiffer is the founder of Chanticleer Book Reviews and International Writing Competitions, LLC.  She is also a partner in SillanPaceBrown Publishing + Production LLC, which specializes in curating books with the potential to become fully actualized intellectual properties.

Her addiction is finding sparkling gems that will become tomorrow’s bestsellers. She is known for her instinct in picking winners. She also acts as an independent acquisitions editor for publishers and entertainment companies.  Kiffer is known for her marketing talent and networking skills. She truly loves what she does and her passion shows!

Special Topics

• Booksellers Confidential (MPP), Saturday, 3:00-3:50 pm, Ballroom: Are you brave enough to have your book cover critiqued?
• Panels 1 & 2 Moderator: 
• Using Non-fiction to Sell Fiction and Fiction to Sell Non-fiction, Saturday, 11:00-11:50 am, Admiral. Kiffer Brown, Pam Beason and Sara Dahmen
• Nuts and Bolts, Q & A Wrap-Up Sunday,  3:30-4:30 pm, Ballroom. Kiffer Brown and Daine Sillan 

We have the perfect registration packet for you! 

Master Writing Craft Classes on Sunday, April 22nd with Jessica Page Morrell

Friday and Saturday Passes with Scott Steindorff, film producer, and the Awards Banquet

Friday and Saturday Passes with Scott Steindorff on Friday, Lunch, and Saturday Book Room

Saturday and Sunday (all inclusive with Awards Banquet and Master Writing Craft Classes) 

 Saturday and Sunday (includes Master Writing Classes – not Sat. night Awards Banquet)

Three Days with Master Classes and Awards Banquet Ceremony