Long
Island
Romance
Writers
Mariah Ankenman
Booktok & Beyond
Booktok has revitalized the book buying business. Join author Mariah Ankenman as she helps you navigate the ever changing world of TikTok and the booktok community. Learn how to connect with readers, create engaging videos, and cross post to Instagram Reels for maximum exposure. Grab your book crown authors!
Bestselling author Mariah Ankenman lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains with her two rambunctious children and loving spouse who is her own personal spell checker when her dyslexia gets the best of her.
Mariah loves to lose herself in a world of words. Her favorite thing about writing is when she can make someone’s day a little brighter with one of her books. To learn more about Mariah and her books, visit her website https://mariahankenman.com/ follow her on social media or sign up for her newsletter.
Jen Graybeal
Focus on Story Issues
Sometimes it’s the little things that block progress and sometimes there’s a boulder on the path. Whether you are developing big story elements or identifying the small details that make the story special, there’s nothing quite like the frustration of knowing something is missing. Let’s dive into the science of frustration, how to triage a scene that isn’t working and the best way to brainstorm solutions. This session includes time to dissect real issues facing the participants.
Jen Graybeal (she/her) is dedicated to empowering authors through encouraging feedback, collaborative problem solving and gently-applied tough love. In eight years of coaching, workshops, and editing projects, she has helped hundreds of romance authors create stories they are proud of and businesses that align with their individual vision of success. She believes there is no one-size-fits-all solution for anything, and that every author has a unique story to tell. Jen has a degree in English, an ever-expanding TBR pile, and a furball assistant that is usually on her lap. Visit her website for client testimonials at www.jengraybeal.com or follow her on Instagram and TikTok: @JenTheEditor.
Jeannie Lin
How to Write a Bigger Story
Whether your story focuses on “a day in the life of”...or pits two worlds against one another in glorious battle, how do you make it deeper, richer, bigger, BETTER?
Unforgettable stories meld complex elements together seamlessly, while making the end result seem larger than the sum of its parts. The answer is not in expanding the plot, but deepening the THEMES. Bestselling historical author Jeannie Lin discusses using theme to deepen and enhance your story, whether it be 30 pages long or 300.
Jeannie Lin is a USA TODAY bestselling author of historical romance and fantasy. She started writing her first book while working as a high school science teacher in South Central Los Angeles. Her stories are inspired by a lifelong love of melodrama, swordfights, and the rise and fall of empires.
Jeannie’s groundbreaking debut, Butterfly Swords, was hailed as one of the 20 Most Influential Romance Novels of the Last 100 Years by Book Riot and Red Blossom in Snow was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2022. Jeannie also writes an Opium War steampunk series, the Gunpowder Chronicles and a historical erotica series, Princess Shanyin, under the pen name Liliana Lee. Visit Jeannie's website at http://www.jeannielin.com/
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Becca Syme
Market Better-Faster
Are you overwhelmed by all the things you could possibly do to market your book? Did you know there are some easy ways to choose what you should and shouldn’t do? Come to this workshop and find out. Long-time author success coach, Becca Syme, will share patterns among successful writers choice alignment that will help you make better choices about what you should and shouldn’t do when it comes to the plethora of choices. (Spoiler alert: you have to say no to some things… it’ll be painful, but it’s worth it.)
Becca Syme holds a master’s degree in transformational leadership and has been a success coach (primarily utilizing the Gallup Strengthsfinder®) for over fifteen years. She’s coached over 5,000 individual authors and creatives through her Write Better-Faster and Strengths for Writers classes & coaching cohorts: six- and seven-figure authors, major award winners, midlisters, and new authors alike. Becca is the host of QuitCast for Writers and a mystery author. Connect with Becca at betterfasteracademy.com.