Agent/Editor Panel -
An introduction to attending agents and editors, what genres they represent, how they like submissions, and Q & A time. Writer down your questions and bring them along.

Creating Emotional Depth - Sophie Littlefield and Juliet Blackwell
This workshop offers an overview of emotion's relationship to plot and character, and introduces a variety of ways to add emotional depth to a novel. Learn to avoid common pitfalls and create your character’s "emotion palette." Handouts and exercises included.

Which Comes First, Voice or Plot? - Helen Breitwieser
Lots of times I read manuscripts and think, okay, here the author has found her voice, and then it fades out where the writer has polished too many times often based on feedback from critique partners etc. This workshop helps find one's voice as a writer.

Kill Your Inner Critic. Experience The Joy of Writing - Robin Owens
Practical Exercises to identify and destroy your negative inner critic. Discussion as wished after every exercise. Outline: Brief Introduction: Exercise 1: Identify Negative Beliefs, Pinpoint Where They Came From; Exercise 2: Create an Affirmation tailored to silence your Inner Critic Exercise 3: Create a visualization of your Inner Critic (crayons and paper provided) Exercise 4: Free write your fears about your current work. Exercise 5: Joy of Writing 3 Bottom Line Questions

Demystifying Characterization - Kaki Warner
Need to perk up your characters? Make them memorable and put the zing back in their steps? Award winning author Kaki Warner shares her thoughts on character arcs, conflict, flaws, body language, and the use of description to make characters stand out on the page. This interactive discussion is sure to be lively and informative so bring your questions!

How to Get and Keep The Right Agent - Marissa Corvisiero
Finding, working with and keeping an agent. Agent, Marissa Corvisiero, discusses the best ways to find the right agent, how to approach them, how to research them, how to prep the best query, how to decide on the right one, when to know if there are issues, and how compromise and when to break up. Finish That Book—Passion and Productivity For Writers —Sophie & Juliet Whether you’re stuck in your first chapter or somewhere around the sagging middle, you can go from frustrated to finished faster than you imagined. Handouts and exercises included.

Agent/Editor First Pages Panel -
Agents and editors take turns reading volunteers' first pages out loud as if it was a submission coming across their desk, then the panel briefly comments on it. What worked, what didn’t. How far the agent or editor would read (one paragraph , the whole page, request more) and why? To keep our panel on their toes, there are a few current best-selling authors’ first pages mixed in. Think they can identify them?

Where Does That Story Start? - Sophie and Juliet
Make your first page hook and dazzle the reader by starting your story in the right place. Backstory and character arc are considered to find the best launching point for your novel. Handouts and exercises included.

Survive to Write, How to Hang In There Until You’re Published - Robin Owens
Survive to Write and Write to Survive--How to Hang in There Until You're Published -- Practical Techniques. Group discussion on each topic as participants prefer.

World Building - Mike Braff
The most important (and most frequently overlooked) aspect of genre fiction is the "story world": the historical, geo-political, and cultural environment in which your story takes place. Usually an afterthought, Editor Mike Braff will show why this is the most crucial facet of your genre fiction story, and how to create memorable, original, and awe-inspiring worlds that hold the potential for thousands of stories. Focusing on themes of geography, history, and technology, this workshop offers a cohesive look at methods for building fantastic worlds and insight into how best to showcase those worlds while submitting to agents or publishers

Ask Yourself the Tough Questions - Stephen Barr
This is about really looking your manuscript straight in the eye (no flinching!) and having the nerve to ask the questions that SHOULD be asked, but that might make your novel crumble right in front of you—questions about the logic of the universe the story takes place in, about the character’s motivations and behavior, about the convenience of the plot, etc. It's essentially a workshop about revision, but skewed towards these deeper questions that get at the root of problems that might not even have any superficial symptoms. If you're writing, then you're a writer, but are you writing the right book?

Chat with Editor - Holly Blanck
Ask Holly Blanck—editor at St. Martin's Press, anything about any issue related to publishing itself, or her role as an editor.

Once Upon a Time in SocialMedia Land: The Best, the Worst, and the Ugliest - Ron Heimbecher
Award-winning technology innovator and online-world designer Ron Heimbecher uses real-time online presentations to discuss the ins and outs of Social Media tools like Blogspot, Facebook, Twitter, WordPress and more. How can they help you? How can they hurt you? In a jam-packed hour you'll learn about Tweeting, Liking, Friending, and Posting. See how to get real-time feedback via comments, retweets, and a million other things with pretty silly names. Find out where you can get information from top experts in the field, whether as marketing tools or expansions of social consciousness. Learn about the importance of mobile networking via the iPad, Android tablets, and smart phones, as well as the merged e-reader devices like the Android-powered Nook. The odds are good that you'll walk a way with a better understanding of "What is this social media stuff anyway and how can it help me?" Throughout the weekend, in the magnificent Crested Butte environment, Ron will be available for 1-on-1 followup specialized assistance.

Closing with Theresa Rizzo
Inspiring Closing Remarks from Sandy Writing Contest and Conference Co-coordinator, Theresa Rizzo