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The 37th Annual Western Reserve Writers Conference

The William N. Skirball Writers' Center proudly hosts the Western Reserve Writers Conference IN PERSON for a fifth year, making it free for writers.

9:00-9:30 AM / CHECK-IN; COFFEE & TEA
FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN HAVING THEIR WORK READ ANONYMOUSLY IN THE FIRST PAGE CRITIQUE AT 1:45 PM: Drop off FOUR COPIES of the first page of your work-in-progress (prose only, fiction or nonfiction) at check-in. Submissions must be double-spaced, Times New Roman-12, with Title and Genre written at the top of the page. Do NOT write your name on the page. We'll randomly select First Pages and read them aloud starting at 1:45. Each panelist will raise a hand at the point where they would stop reading and then comment on what stopped them. First Page Critique writers will remain anonymous.

9:30 AM / WELCOME & CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
Deanna R. Adams, Conference Coordinator
Laurie Kincer, William N. Skirball Writers' Center 

9:40-10:20 AM / KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Literary Agent Erin Hosier: The Who, What, When, Where and Why of Literary Agents. 
Veteran agent and author Erin Hosier knows the business of trade publishing from all angles, and will enlighten and inform aspiring authors on this ever-changing industry.

Note: Sessions with an asterisk (*) include a writing exercise.

10:30-11:30 AM / BREAKOUT SESSIONS

1.  The Art of Interviewing Sources for Your Nonfiction Book / Christopher Johnston. Delve into professional interviewing techniques to mine information and colorful stories that are vital to shaping compelling, content-rich books. This workshop will cover how to effectively engage subjects, avoid barriers, and build trust with interview subjects. Also, how to employ compassionate approaches to interviewing individuals who have suffered trauma.

2. What Authors Should Know about the Law: Publishing Law 101 / Jacqueline Lipton. Learn the basics of contract and copyright law as they apply to an author’s career. How and when can you use song lyrics, photographs in your work? What rights should you license to a publisher and which should you retain for yourself? And what about defamation and privacy issues when writing about real people? Find out the answers to all these and more.

3. *The HeArt of Storytelling / Deanna Adams. Whether you’re writing fiction or a memoir, your story must mean something to the reader, get them emotionally involved. Deanna Adams will guide you through the key elements of storytelling by discussing how to create memorable fictional characters, or make real-life ones come alive.

11:30-11:45 AM / BREAK & PREARRANGED EDITING SESSIONS

Individual, prearranged editing sessions with editors, Judy Allen or Amandah T. Blackwell.

11:45 AM-12:45 PM / BREAKOUT SESSIONS

1. *Editing Tips: How to Polish Your Manuscript / Amandah T. Blackwell. You’ve finished your first draft--congratulations! Now it’s time for the self-editing process by reading your manuscript several times to catch formatting errors, clunky dialogue, and more. Amandah T. Blackwell will help you polish your manuscript, whether you’re sending it to professional editors or the printer for self-publishing.

2. Creating Credible Diverse Characters / Abby Vandiver. Diverse characters reflect a diverse world. Learn how to find the voices of your characters to make them authentic and believable. Step out of yourself and into the lives of those not like you to create characters that look and act like real people.

3. *Sensory Imagery in Creative Nonfiction / Ali Black. Learn the benefits of incorporating sensory imagery in creative nonfiction. This session will include examples, tips and a short writing exercise.

12:45-1:45 PM / LUNCH BREAK, BOOK SALE & AUTHOR SIGNINGS
An update: you may bring lunch and eat it in the Writers' Center. You may also picnic outdoors or in your car. Local restaurant map available at check-in table.

1:30-1:45 PM / PREARRANGED EDITING SESSIONS

Individual, prearranged editing sessions with editors, Judy Allen or Amandah T. Blackwell.

1:45-2:45 PM / Q & A PANEL: FIRST PAGE CRITIQUE
Panelists Erin Hosier, Abby Vandiver, Deanna Adams.
For those who dropped off copies of the first page of their work-in-progress at check-in today, we'll randomly select anonymous first pages and read them aloud. Each panelist will raise a hand at the point where they would stop reading and then comment on what stopped them. First Page Critique writers will remain anonymous.

2:45-3:00 PM / BREAK & PREARRANGED EDITING SESSIONS  

Individual, prearranged editing sessions with editors, Judy Allen or Amandah T. Blackwell.

3:00-4:00 PM / BREAKOUT SESSIONS

1. Inside a Publisher's Mind: Understanding Today's Book Business / Brandi Larsen. An inspiring talk for writers to understand the traditional book publishing landscape, from a publishing expert who helped create bestsellers. In this session, Brandi Larsen will discuss the different types of publishing houses, the roles at a traditional publisher, and what really happens inside an editorial meeting at a Big 5 house. She’ll answer questions about how to get your work into the process.

2. Writing & Submitting Your Short Stories / Marie Vibbert. How do you fit a compelling emotional arc in one thousand to five thousand words? This session will cover plot structure, beginnings and endings, and common pitfalls new writers make in crafting story. Learn about the different genres of short stories, the lengths to shoot for, and how follow a story from initial idea to final sale.

3. Writing the Rust Belt: Techniques for Writing about Place and Why It's So Important / David Giffels. Far too often, those of us who live in "flyover country" are ignored or misunderstood. That's why it's so important that our stories--especially in personal nonfiction--are told from within. In this session, author David Giffels will discuss the kinds of stories Ohioans can and should tell about ourselves, and explore techniques for identifying and gathering them. 

4:00-4:15 PM / PREARRANGED EDITING SESSIONS

Individual, prearranged editing sessions with editors, Judy Allen or Amandah T. Blackwell.

4:00-4:30 PM / DOOR PRIZES, BOOK SALE & AUTHOR SIGNINGS

Presenters Bios

Deanna Adams is a writer, speaker, essayist, and author of eight books, both fiction and nonfiction. She is the longtime coordinator of this conference, the “Book Whisperer” for Cuyahoga County Public Library, and teaches online writing courses for the Pennwriters organization. Her book, The Writer’s GPS: A Guide to Writing & Selling Your Book, instructs aspiring writers how to get their book written from beginning to end. 

Judy Allen has worked as a copywriter and freelance writer for 15 years, editing manuscripts for fiction, nonfiction, young adult, children's, and other genres. Her goal is to edit your manuscript with all of the enthusiasm and integrity it deserves. She has been an editor for this conference for many years. 

Ali Black is a writer from Cleveland, Ohio. She is the recipient of the Academy of American Poets University & College Poetry Prize for her poem “Kinsman.” Her work has appeared in december, jubilat, LitHub, The Offing, and elsewhere. Her first book of poetry, If It Heals At All, was selected by Jaki Shelton Green for the New Voices series at Jacar Press and was named a finalist for the 2021 Ohioana Book Awards.

Amandah T. Blackwell is a creative, servant leader, content and digital marketing professional, published author, editor, and screenwriter who provides editing and content and digital marketing consulting services. Additionally, she has written several nonfiction books and screenplays. Amandah is developing children's picture books and painting Sci-Fi, tech, travel, animal, and seasonal-inspired abstract art. 

David Giffels is a professor of English at the University of Akron, where he teaches creative nonfiction in the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts Program. He is also the author of six nonfiction books, most recently Barnstorming Ohio: To Understand America. His awards include the Cleveland Arts Prize for literature, the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, and a General Excellence award from National Society of Newspaper Columnists. He was selected as the Cuyahoga County Public Library Writer in Residence for 2018-2019.

Erin Hosier has more than 20 years of experience as a literary agent and has been with Dunow Carlson & Lerner since 2007. She specializes in narrative nonfiction and select literary and upmarket fiction for adults. She is the author of the memoir, Don’t Let Me Down, and co-author of Patty Schemel’s, Hit So Hard. She is the co-creator of the podcast "Tell Me About Your Father," and is a consultant for writers looking for self-publishing alternatives.

Christopher Johnston is a freelance journalist, playwright, and director. He has published 3,000+ articles in publications including American Theatre, Christian Science Monitor, and Scientific American. He teaches playwriting and creative nonfiction for Cleveland State University, Literary Cleveland, and The Writers’ Center. His book, Shattering Silences: Strategies to Prevent Sexual Assault, Heal Survivors, and Bring Assailants to Justice (Skyhorse) was published in 2018. 

Brandi Larsen is a writer, speaker, and coach building a more inclusive publishing landscape. Her work at Penguin Random House helped create NYT bestsellers and her journalism pieces earned Emmy nominations. Her talks about publishing, leadership, and grief inspire audiences from Zoom to Harvard. She serves as the board president for Literary Cleveland and writes books and essays. She co-wrote the book UNCULTURED, which is forthcoming from St. Martin’s.

Jacqueline Lipton, LL.B. (Hons), M.F.A., Ph.D. is a literary attorney and literary agent (and legal writing instructor) who consults and represents authors and artists. She is the author of Law and Authors: A Legal Handbook for Writers and a regular columnist on legal issues for creatives. She is the founding agent at Raven Quill Literary Agency and a frequent presenter on issues relating to the law and business of publishing.

Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY bestselling author Abby L. Vandiver made the transition from self-publishing to traditional publishing with Secrets, Lies, and Crawfish Pies from Henery Press. Under the pen name Abby Collette, she has published with Penguin Berkley three books in her Ice Cream Parlor Mysteries series and one in her Books and Biscuits series. Abby also edited Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology of Crime Fiction from 20 Authors of Color. 

Marie Vibbert has sold over 70 short stories to professional publications such as Analog Science Fiction & Fact, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vice's Motherboard, Lightspeed, Escape Pod, and more.  Her works have been translated into Chinese and Vietnamese. Her debut novel, Galactic Hellcats, came out in 2021. Publishers Weekly called it “[a] rip-roaring space heist.” By day she is a computer programmer at Case Western Reserve University.