2025 Breakout Sessions
9:50-10:30 Breakout Sessions 1
Art Factory: Draw a Scene with Ellen T. Crenshaw, Jarad Greene, Emma Hunsinger, & Cara Bean.
Illustrators (and the audience) will choose prompts from character/setting/genre buckets and use them to draw and share their own scenes.
What a Character with Louangie Bou-Montes, Diana Renn, Colleen AF Venable, & David Valdes.
The best characters jump to life on the page as fully-formed humans with faults and passions and problems. How do characters grow and change through the course of a book?
Writing Non-Traditional Structures with James Bird, Kaija Langley, George Jreije, & Kate Fussner.
Did you know there are more ways to tell a story than traditional Western narratives? Learn about less conventional structures and formats like nonlinear timelines, unreliable narrators, verse formats, and more.
Idea Factory: Create a Story with Jennie Wood, Rebecca Caprara, Colby Cedar Smith, & Nicole Lesperance.
Authors and the audience will choose prompts from character/setting/genre buckets and use them to start a story together.
Writing Authentic YA with Annie Cardi, Elizabeth Santiago, Kendall Kulper, & Desmond Hall.
Some of the most appealing YA are authentic stories today's teenagers can relate to. Find out how to get to the heart of YA stories.
10:40-11:20 Breakout Sessions 2
Crafting Natural Dialogue with Kendall Kulper, George Jreije, Emma Hunsinger, & Elizabeth Santiago.
Dialogue draws readers in by providing windows into the lives of characters and their relationships. But how do you make it sound natural?
Now What? Getting Past the Beginning with Diana Renn, Jarad Greene, Kate Fussner, & Nicole Lesperance.
Do you get lost somewhere in the murky middle when drafting a story? Learn how to recapture momentum and propel your story to the end.
Why Under-Represented Characters Are Important with James Bird, Louangie Bou-Montes, Colleen AF Venable, & Kaija Langley.
Everyone deserves to see themselves in a book, but identities are not a monolith. How can you tell your story while also representing your identity?
Book Speed Dating with Jennie Wood, Desmond Hall, David Valdes, & Cara Bean.
Attendees will cycle through tables, where they'll get the chance to ask the panelists questions about themselves and their books. There will be prizes for some attendees!
How to Get Published with Annie Cardi, Rebecca Caprara, Colby Cedar Smith, & Ellen T. Crenshaw.
The nuts and bolts of the book business! How long do all the steps take (and what actually are the steps)? Get some tips and tricks on how to navigate this ever-changing industry.