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NINC 2019 Schedule of Events
Wednesday, September 25th
1-7 PM: Registration Open (Lobby)
5-5:45 PM: First Timers Orientation (Tarpon Key)
6:00 PM: Industry Guest Reception (Sawyer Key)
7:00 PM: Welcome Reception (Courtyard weather permitting)
8:15-9 PM: Night Owls (Tarpon, Sawyer and Long)
Thursday, September 26th
9:00 AM-12:30 PM: Workshops (Tarpon, Sawyer and Long)
12:30-2:00 PM: Lunch
2:00-5:30 PM: Workshops (Tarpon, Sawyer and Long)
7:15-9:00 PM: Night Owls (Tarpon, Sawyer and Long)
7:00-10:00 PM: Sponsored Night Club (Lobby)
Friday, September 27th
9:00 AM-12:30 PM: Workshops (Tarpon, Sawyer and Long)
12:30-2:00 PM: Lunch
2:00-5:30 PM: Workshops (Tarpon, Sawyer and Long)
7:15-9:00 PM: Night Owls (Tarpon, Sawyer and Long)
7:00-10:00 PM: Sponsored Night Club (Lobby)
Saturday, September 28th
9:00 AM-12:30 PM: Workshops (Tarpon, Sawyer and Long)
12:30-2:00 PM: Lunch on your own
2:00-5:30 PM: Workshops (Tarpon, Sawyer and Long)
7:00-9:00 PM: Beachside Blowout Buffet
Speakers Joining us for the 2019 PLANNING FOR SUCCESS Conference
Alex Newton
Alex Newton is the founder of K-lytics.com, a leading provider of book market research. His Genre Reports and Amazon category performance database have brought the power of "Big Data" to the indie publishing world. Alex's research from analyzing millions of books over the last five years has helped thousands of authors to spot opportunities, sell books in attractive market niches, and optimize their book marketing.
Alex spent more than 20-years in top management consulting for Fortune 500 companies. He lives in the southwest of Germany with his wife and daughter and looks forward to joining us in sunny Florida at NINC to share his latest insights.
Learn more about genre trends, book market analytics, and Alex's tools at: => k-lytics.com and k-lytics.com/blog
Carol Saller
Carol Saller is a longtime contributing editor to The Chicago Manual of Style and author of The Subversive Copy Editor. Her posts on language and writing can be found at The Subversive Copy Editor blog as well as at CMOS Shop Talk and the Lingua Franca blog. As a creative writer, Carol has written books for all ages of children, mostly recently the YA novel Eddie’s War.
Chris Fox
Chris Fox firmly believes that talking about yourself in the 3rd person makes you sound like a giant jackass. He’s written over 20 novels, but is best known among authors for his Write Faster, Write Smarter series. From 5,000 Words Per Hour to Plot Gardening to Write to Market Chris has engineered a road map to take any writer from hobbyist to professional. Chris spent many years in software and data analysis, and has used this model to sell over 300,000 books through Amazon and Audible since 2015. He resides in Marin, California, which can be found by following the scent of entitlement until you reach the town with teens driving Teslas.
Damon Courtney
Damon Courtney is a Fantasy author and creator of BookFunnel.com. Though he spends more time writing code than words these days, he still considers himself an author at heart and is always working to make the indie publishing community more awesome.
Damon Suede
Damon Suede as earned his crust as a model, a messenger, a promoter, a programmer, a sculptor, a singer, a stripper, a bookkeeper, a bartender, a techie, a teacher, a director… but writing has ever been his bread and butter. Though new to romance fiction, Damon has been a full-time writer for print, stage, and screen for over two decades. He has won some awards, but counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year.
Danielle Marshall
Danielle Marshall is the Editorial Director of Lake Union Publishing. Notable acquisitions include the #1 Amazon Charts and USA Today bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan, The first of the million-selling Everything Series, Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale, and the bestselling Leftie and Agatha Award–winning title, In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen. Danielle has held a wide range of book retail and publishing positions, starting as a bookseller. Other positions included book buyer and promotions manager for Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon, and marketing and public relations director at Simon & Schuster. She joined Amazon’s publishing team in 2012 and helped launch the imprint now known as Lake Union.
Dave Chesson
Dave Chesson is the guy behind Kindlepreneur.com, a website devoted to teaching authors about book marketing and the digital world. His works on keywords and sales optimization have been featured and promoted by Amazon itself.
Dave is also the creator of KDP Rocket, a software that helps authors see what's really going on in the book market, and thus pick better keywords and categories to help them sell more books. Having been a consultant for multiple publishing companies and NYT bestselling authors, he’s seen both sides of the writing world.
When he’s not running Kindlepreneur, he’s usually lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, and sipping tea with princesses.
David Gaughran
David Gaughran lives in Dublin, where rain comes up from the ground and everyone has pints for hands. He writes historical fiction and science fiction, and has helped thousands of authors publish their work through his workshops, blog, and writers’ books: Let’s Get Digital, Strangers to Superfans, Amazon Decoded, and BookBub Ads Expert. He has also created marketing campaigns for some of the biggest self-publishers on the planet.
Geoff Symon
Geoff Symon is a 20-year Federal Forensic Investigator. His participation in high-profile cases includes the attacks on September 11, 2001, the War in Iraq, the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion, among countless other cases. He has direct, first-hand experience investigating cases including murder (of all types), suicide, arson, kidnapping, bombings, sexual assault, child exploitation, theft and financial crimes. He has specified and certified training in the collection and preservation of evidence, blood spatter analysis, autopsies and laboratory techniques. His Forensics for Fiction series has become the go-to resource for genre authors. You can reach him at GeoffSymon.com.
Houston Howard
As the Chief Storyteller and Co-Founder of One 3 Creative, Houston Howard is a recognized producer, author, speaker and thought leader in the entertainment and branding communities because of his unique and proprietary transmedia approach to story. Advising entities such as Mattel, Disney Imagineering, Reliance Media Works, West Coast Customs, Samuel Goldwyn Films and Harper Collins Publishing, as well as designing a number of transmedia-focused projects for Fox, the CW, TNT, Slinky and the writers of Toy Story, Houston has an impressive amount of of experience designing projects that are primed for the 21st Century.
Jordyn White
Jordyn White has published over a dozen books under two pen names. She launched her third contemporary romance series with the novel Heart of Glass. Her debut novel, the epic fantasy adventure Gift of the Phoenix, has won several awards.
Jordyn co-founded the Idaho Editor and Writers Association and still leads alongside her co-founders to facilitate the group’s mission to develop and nurture the professional growth of its members.
Every year, Jordyn teaches at several writers events, both big and small, and is known for her engaging, insightful presentations. For info:
contemporary romance novels: JordynWhiteBooks.com
epic fantasy novels, DonnaCookAuthor.com
Kilby Blades
Kilby Blades is a 35-time-award-winning author of Romance and Women's Fiction. Her debut novel, Snapdragon, was a HOLT Medallion finalist, a Publisher’s Weekly BookLife Prize Semi-Finalist, and an IPPY Award medalist.
When she’s not writing fiction, Kilby helps authors overcome marketing barriers by exposing myths and teaching them how to think like pros; she also runs the collaborative advice portal, Six Figure Author. Kilbyholds an MBA from the University of Chicago and managed more than $50 million in ad spend as Media VP with a NYC digital marketing agency during her 15-year career.
At the end of a long day, she loves an evening walk, Netflix and a drink with lots of bourbon.
Liz Pelletier
Coming out of the dot com era, serial entrepreneur Liz Pelletier has more than thirty years of experience in software engineering, systems analysis, and business management. In 2011, Liz channeled her love of romantic fiction and co-founded Entangled Publishing. Over the past eight years, Entangled has gone from a small start-up to a powerhouse romance publisher, with more than 1600 titles released to date. Liz lives in Colorado, is surviving twins in college, and holds an unwavering love of Game of Thrones.
Mark Dawson
Mark Dawson is the bestselling author of the John Milton series and the founder of the Self Publishing Formula.
Sarra Cannon
Sarra Cannon is the indie author of more than twenty-five Young Adult contemporary fantasy novels, including her bestselling Shadow Demons Saga. Her novels often stem from her own experiences growing up in the small town of Hawkinsville, Georgia, where she learned that being popular always comes at a price and relationships are rarely as simple as they seem.
With close to three-quarters of a million books sold, Sarra is also passionate about helping fellow authors learn to self-publish in a way that puts joy and creativity at the forefront. She is the host of the successful YouTube channel and blog Heart Breathings, where she talks about everything from productivity to plotting. Sarra lives in Charleston, South Carolina with her supportive husband and her adorable red-headed son.
Tom Colgan
Tom Colgan is the Vice President, Editorial Director at Berkley. He started his career at Berkley in 1985. In those days he worked on everything from the novelization of the movie ET: The Extraterrestrial to westerns. He then spent six years at Avon/Morrow and returned to Berkley as an Executive Editor in 1996. He has worked with such bestselling authors as Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin, Mark Greaney, and Janet Evanovich. Among the New York Times bestselling titles Tom has edited are Look Alive Twenty-Five, Tom Clancy Oath of Office, and Mission Critical. Follow him on Twitter @TomColgan14
Becca Syme
Becca Syme (MATL) has been a success coach (primarily utilizing the Gallup Strengthsfinder®) for thirteen years. She’s coached 2000+ authors and creatives through her Write Better-Faster and Strengths for Writers classes: six- and seven-figure authors, major award winners, midlisters, and new authors alike. Becca is the co-host of the DBW-nominated Smartypants Book Marketing Podcast and the host of the QuitCast. She is also a NINC member and a mystery author, and lives with her wine-drinking cat in the mountains of Montana. http://betterfasteracademy.com
Caro Begin
Caro Bégin is a French-Canadian writer and web developer with a serious case of wanderlust. Her eclectic background includes an engineering degree, military service, classroom experience, and well over a decade of search engine optimization and website development. She writes fiction under two pen names, so she understands the challenges that authors face while marketing their books online. Her web expertise and teaching experience make her uniquely qualified to help authors with their websites. Visit GoCreate.me to learn more about Parallax for Writers, a powerful, intuitive, and affordable WordPress theme built especially for authors.
Chasity Jenkins-Patrick
Chasity, aka Chas, has been an avid reader all of her life and could often be found sneaking her mom’s Harlequins anytime she could find one left lying around. Combining that passion with her strategic and internet marketing expertise, she turned her favorite things into a business. Over the past decade, Chas has led campaigns for many New York Times and USA Today best selling authors.
Corey Alderin
Corey is the lead developer and co-founder at Book Brush. He is responsible for making the user experience exceptional, implementing new features that authors love, and making it easy for authors to create great graphics. He has been developing websites for 10 years and enjoys the challenge of creating something that solves a user’s pain point but is also easy and fun to use. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and three kids where he enjoys golfing, listening to good podcasts, and watching his kids play softball.
Diane Garland
Diane Garland and her company Your WorldKeeper, specializes in the world of continuity. She has presented at several conferences and her articles have been published on various online sites. Multiple best-selling and award-winning authors in various genres rely on her system of cataloging and organizing the minutiae and rules of their story worlds. Growing up as an AF Brat, Diane traveled extensively as a child, which has fueled her passion for travel and reading. She, along with her husband and two cats, have recently relocated to Columbus, Ohio from the Seattle, Washington area.
Gwen Hernandez
Gwen Hernandez is the author of Scrivener For Dummies. She helps authors all over the world find the joy in Scrivener through her online courses, in-person workshops, and private training. Gwen has been using Scrivener to write romantic suspense (Men of Steele series) since 2009. In her spare time she likes to travel, read, jog, flail on a yoga mat, and explore southern California, where she currently lives with her husband and a lazy golden retriever.
Joe Solari
Joe Solari is the founder of IndeAuthorAlchemy.com. He wants to help authors craft a business that delivers an HEA. Joe helps authors achieve their life goals while doing what they love. He does this by applying his 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship and his fancy MBA from the University of Chicago to the author business issues. As an author himself, he understands that the perils and pleasures of a career as an author can be balanced by using business practices to deliver the results an author desires.
Josh Wiley
Josh is the co-founder of the Book Brush image creation platform. He has had hundreds of phone consulting calls with authors over the last few years and is an expert in all things marketing. Josh has grown email lists and messenger bots totaling over 500,000 subscribers. He is also blessed to work with several publishers on various ad campaigns throughout the year. Josh married his high school sweetheart (Karen) and they live in Tennessee with four amazing kids.
Kathleen Sweeney
Kathleen is the Manager of Customer Service and the Image Creation Specialist at Book Brush. She has over 17 years of client service and business assurance experience across the financial recovery and healthcare industries. She thoroughly enjoys working with authors and helping them create eye-catching images. She lives in central Illinois with her husband and three busy, fun-loving boys. Her hobbies include reading and turning socks right side out in her houseful of boys!
Kathy Williams
Kathy is an innovative marketing professional with extensive experience in communications, social media management, content management, and brand management.
In the romance publishing industry, Kathy has worked directly with both traditional and indie authors, as well as publishing houses, public relations agencies and author content marketing sites.
Before her work in the romance industry, Kathy enjoyed an extensive career digital communications and marketing with national brands such as WebMD, Wounded Warrior Project and iVillage.
Kimberli A. Bindschatel
Kimberli Bindschatel’s a thrill seeker, travel adventurer, passionate animal lover, and author of the Poppy McVie Mystery series.
When she’s not busting bad guys with her pen, she’s out in the wilderness getting an adrenaline fix. She has rappelled down a waterfall in Costa Rica, faced down an Alaskan grizzly bear at ten feet, and white-water kayaked a Norwegian river.
She lives in Michigan where she loves to hike in the woods with her rescue dog, Josee, or sail Lake Michigan with her husband on their boat, Priorities.
Kimberli also co-writes the Charity Styles Caribbean Thriller series with Wayne Stinnett.
Mark Lefebvre
Mark’s experience in publishing and bookselling spans more than three decades and includes creating Kobo Writing Life for Rakuten Kobo, Inc, running one of the world's first Espresso Book Machine (POD) operations at McMaster University, and President of the Canadian Booksellers Association. Mark is the Director of Business Development for the world's premier author-first indie publishing platform Draft2Digital (Ask him how NINC 2018 played a role in that). He thrives on innovation in relation to digital publishing opportunities, and loves to continue learning and sharing insights about writing and publishing via his weekly podcast Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing.
M.L. “Matt” Buchman
M.L. "Matt" Buchman has over 50 novels, 70 short stories, and a fast-growing pile of audiobooks out in the world. M.L. writes romance, thrillers, and SF&F…so far. Three-times Booklist "Top-10 Romance Novel of the Year." NPR and B&N "Best 5 Romance of the Year." RITA finalist. As a 30-year project manager with a geophysics degree who has bicycled solo around the world, he is awed by what's possible. More at: www.mlbuchman.com.
Michael Banner
Michael Banner is an international best-seller, penning eleven novels as ML Banner.
A serial entrepreneur, Michael has formed dozens of businesses over thirty-five years, including SmallBiZ.com, which has helped more than 100,000 to start their own corporation or LLC. He serves on boards of other start-ups and has consulted with thousands, assisting them on how to setup and manage their own enterprises. Recently, he and another NINC member, co-founded Mission Critical Publishing LLC.
Next up, the Self-Publishing Empire Series of books, starting with How to Form Your Publishing Entity. Michael’s wife “forces” him to relax at their Mexican beach or cruise to another foreign port.
Victoria Stone
Formerly writing as bestselling romance novelist Victoria Dahl, Victoria Helen Stone is now embracing the darker side of fiction. She has written the critically acclaimed, bestselling novels Evelyn, After; Half Past; and False Step. Her Amazon Charts bestselling thriller Jane Doe has been optioned by Sony Television, and a follow-up novel, Problem Child, will be published by Lake Union in 2020.
Register and join us at the Tradewinds resort in St. Petersburg, Florida from September 25 - September 29, 2019.
If you want to attend the NINC conference but are not yet a Novelists, Inc. member, the deadline for joining NINC is June 15th.
Speakers will also be announced on our blog, Twitter, and Facebook pages.
