Writer's Digest Conference Speakers

Additionally, she is a popular speaker on topics related to publishing and writing and the regular writing and publishing expert on the Dresser After Dark radio show. The founder of Write Nonfiction in November, Amir writes five blogs, including Write Nonfiction NOW! and How to Blog a Book and has self-published 10 short books. As a popular human potential and spiritual writer and speaker, Amir encourages people to combine their purpose and passion so they “Achieve More Inspired Results.”

Anderson’s roles in newspapers, magazines, network television, and online network news have included critic, reporter, editor, managing editor, news anchor, content coordinator and senior producer. Anderson’s weekly Porter Anderson Meets column appears in the The Bookseller magazine in Lon­don on Fridays.

Margot is also a freelance writer, editor, and book reviewer. Her writing has been published in The Huffington Post, Moviefone.com, Publishing Perspectives, Publishers Weekly, fiveonfive magazine, and Derbylife.com. Her first book, The Insider’s Guide to Book Publishing Success, was published in February 2013.

Originally from the DC area, Beevas has a master’s degree in publishing from George Washington University. She’s a board member of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and is the author of The Indie Author Revolution.

Before joining Free Press, she spent three years at Random House, working on a number of distinguished projects in both fiction and nonfiction, among which were David Remnick's New Yorker anthology series, Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin, Jon Meacham's American Lion, and a forthcoming novel, Enchantments, by Kathryn Harrison. Millicent began her career first at Knopf and then at Ecco, and over the years she's had the honor of working with several of her literary heroes, including Russell Banks, Alice Munro, Joyce Carol Oates, E.L. Doctorow, John Irving, Pete Dexter, and Gay Talese. 

Originally from the Northeast, she has lived in France, Connecticut, Ohio and New Mexico, and now resides in New York City. She has a master’s degree in French literature, which hasn’t really helped with her work as an editor. In addition to editing, her real-life story of editing, romance, and marrying her high school’s popular class clown, Romance Is My Day Job, was published by Dutton in February 2014.

She is a graduate of the Howard University Publishing Institute in Washington DC. Prior to her publishing career she worked as an aerospace engineer for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, and made history as the first African American woman to receive a Bachelors of Science Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Ohio State University. She is also a graduate of The School of the Arts High School in Rochester, NY.

Brooks is the Co-Executive Director of the Y. B. Literary Foundation, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote the reading of literature as a meaningful, lifelong activity and transformative experience for youth. In 2004, she was a finalist for the Stevie Award for Women Entrepreneurs and was honored as the NY Urban Leagues Rising Star. She is listed in International Who’s Who under the categories of Engineering, Technology, Entrepreneurs, and Professional Management. She has been highlighted in several national and international magazines and periodicals, including Forbes, Media Bistro, Writers and Poets, Essence Magazine, Writers Digest Magazine, The Writer, and Sister2Sister magazine and a host of others.  

Ms. Brooks is a member of the Association of Author Representatives (AAR) and has edited over 100 published books, and is the author of Writing Great Books For Young Adults (Sourcebooks) the Essence Magazine 2004 Quick Pick children’s book Never Finished! Never Done!, published by Scholastic Inc. and soon to be published You Really Should Write A Book: How to write, Sell and Market Your Memoir (St. Martin's Press)She has been highlighted in several national and international magazines and periodicals, including Forbes, Media Bistro, Writers and Poets, Publishers Weekly, Essence Magazine, Writers Digest Magazine, The Writer, and Sister2Sister magazine.

In addition to running a professional editorial review service, Kiffer is the president of Whatcom Writers and Publishers, Salish Sea League of Writers board member, Upstart Crows Writers Assoc. founder, and member of Western Washington University’s publishing curriculum’s advisory board. She presents at numerous writers conferences and book conventions.

Winner of the Edgar Award, Shamus Award and Anthony Award – the first author to win all three – international bestselling author Harlan Coben’s critically-acclaimed novels have been called “ingenious” (New York Times), “poignant and insightful” (Los Angeles Times), “consistently entertaining” (Houston Chronicle), “superb” (Chicago Tribune) and “must reading” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Harlan’s novel TELL NO ONE has been turned into the commercial and critical smash hit French film of the same name, starring Francois Cluzet and Kristin Scott Thomas. The movie was the top box office foreign-language film of the year in USA, won the Lumiere (French Golden Globe) for best picture and was nominated for nine Cesars (French Oscar) and won four, including best actor, best director and best music. To see the trailer, click here and for stills and to see Harlan appearing in the film, visit our gallery page. The movie is now available in DVD and Blu-Ray. An American/Hollywood remake is in the works.

Her passion has always been story and she currently works as a story coach helping writers, non-profits, educators and journalists wrangle their story onto the page. Since 2006, she's been an instructor in the UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

At ABA, he works with colleagues on the development of educational programming, information and editorial content, advocacy efforts, strategic initiatives, and communications. He can be reached at dan@bookweb.org and on Twitter at @dancullen.

Seth also holds the same title at Combined Book Exhibit, where he helps usher in new products and initiatives for publishers and authors.  Seth received his degree in creative writing from Hofstra University.

Prior to working for Lulu, Dan has held editorial and marketing roles at a number of content-driven organizations, including McGraw-Hill. He has also served as editor of ContentWise, a publication covering best practices in creating, producing and delivering content and custom media.

A self-described "literary change agent," Eberhardt founded her own agency in order to assist and advise authors as they navigate the increasingly complex world of publishing. As readers and publishers choose among the many ways literature is being delivered in the new millennium, authors need a literary agent who understands both the traditional and electronic marketplaces, along with the evolving options for agent-assisted independent publishing.

Julia’s work has been published, or is forthcoming, in Guernica, Poets & Writers, Glamour, Psychology Today, and other publications, and she has been profiled in the L Magazine, Brooklyn Magazine, The Observer and The Economist. In 2002, ​Julia​ founded The Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop, and what started as eight writers meeting in her Brooklyn kitchen has grown into a creative home for over 2​5​00 writers. She is a graduate of The Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Teaching-Writing Fellow, and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their two children.

​Visit juliafierro.com​ for Julia's upcoming ​book tour ​events.

Prior to joining Amazon.com, he served as VP and Associate General Counsel for Random House, Inc., where he directed legal affairs for the Alfred A. Knopf division as well as for Random House of Canada. Fine previously served as Senior Media Counsel at NBC, handling content and associated issues for NBC News, Saturday Night Live, MSNBC, CNBC and other divisions. Fine also served as counsel at King World Productions for Inside Edition and other “reality-based” programming. He is a graduate of Cornell University and of the University of Virginia School of Law. He is a native New Yorker, who now lives in Seattle.

Other publications include her short-story chapbook collection, The Sheepbreeders Dance (Flume Press, 2006), her debut novel, The Big House (TownHouse/Simon & Schuster, 2003), and the travel book Newburyport: A Photographic Portrait (Twin Light Publishers).

More recently, Aine has published essays in Under the Sun, Boston Globe Magazine, “Salon.com,” Stone Canoe:  A Journal of Arts and Ideas from Upstate New York, The Daily Muse, and many others. Her second novel, Dance Lessons, was published last year by Syracuse University Press and her nonfiction book on writing entitled Writer with a Day Job, was published by Writer’s Digest Books in 2011. As well as working, writing, and teaching, she belongs to PEN New England, the New Hampshire Writers Project, The Cape Cod Writers Center, and the American Conference for Irish Studies.

Aine was raised in County Mayo, Ireland and now lives on Boston’s North Shore.

Jeremy has spent time as a journalist covering magazines, media, marketing, advertising, culture, careers, finance, technology, the economy and, now, digital books. Jeremy lives and works in New York City and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

For his service in the Iraq War, Kosovo conflict, and first Gulf War, Col. Hampton received four Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor, a Purple Heart, eight Air Medals with Valor, five Meritorious Service Medals, and numerous other citations. He is a graduate of the elite USAF Fighter Weapons School, USN Top Gun School, and USAF Special Operations School. Hampton was named his squadron’s Instructor Pilot of the Year six times and pioneered air combat tactics that are now standard. A graduate of Texas A&M University, he has published articles in the Journal of Electronic Defense, Air Force Magazine, and Airpower Magazine, as well as several classified tactical works for the USAF Fighter Weapons Review. Col. Hampton is also the CEO of MVI International LtD, a private military company.

Ms. Harnisch has a degree in economics from Villanova University, and currently resides in Connecticut. Visit her online at www.kristenharnisch.com or follow her on Twitter @KristenHarnisch.

She also acquires narrative nonfiction in categories such as popular history, biography, popular science and technology, and some celebrity memoir. Some of her other recent books include: BEYOND THE SLING, a real-world guide to Attachment Parenting by Mayim Bialik (aka TV’s “Blossom”); OUR BODIES, OURSELVES, the classic women’s health series; WHAT THE DOG KNOWS, an investigation into the science behind man’s best friend; the iconic JOY OF COOKING series; CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVAS, about the dazzling fashion world of the early 1990s; and I AM PUSHEEN THE CAT, based on the internet’s cutest cartoon feline (sorry, Garfield). For Michelle, editing a book is like taking a “master-class” on a new topic … and she’s always looking for new experts to learn from.

His work has also been published in The Believer, Slice Magazine, the Blue Mesa Review, and on The Millions.
Currently, he lives in Brooklyn, where he is a Creative Writing Lecturer at SUNY Purchase College.

His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, Parade, Harper’s Bazaar, Real Simple, and elsewhere. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with his wife, writer Cathi Hanauer, and their two children.

She has sold more than 2,000,000 copies of her novels, and they have frequented numerous bestseller lists, including The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Essence Magazine, Upscale Magazine, Emerge Magazine, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, The Dallas Morning News, and The Austin Chronicle to name a few, and both BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and CASTING THE FIRST STONE were #1 Blackboard bestsellers for four consecutive months in both 1997 and 2000.  BEHIND CLOSED DOORS was the #1 Blackboard Best-selling book for paperback fiction in 1997.  

Kimberla is a 2013 NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction, the recipient of the 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013 Author of the Year – Female award presented by the African-American Literary Award Show in New York, the recipient of the Blackboard Fiction Book of the Year Award in 2001 for CASTING THE FIRST STONE, the recipient of the 1998 First-Time Author Award from Chicago’s Black History Month Book Fair and Conference, and in 2001, Kimberla was inducted into the Rock Valley College (Rockford, IL) Alumni Hall of Fame.

Each of Kimberla’s novels deal with very real issues, including corruption within the church, drug addiction, gambling addiction, infidelity, social status, single motherhood, infertility, sibling rivalry and jealousy, domestic violence, sexual abuse, mental illness, care-giving of a parent, racial and gender discrimination in the workplace, sexual harassment, and overweight issues to name a few.

Kimberla resides in Illinois with her husband, Will.  Her 20Th novel, THE PRODIGAL SON will be released May 13, 2014.

Her clients include New York Times bestselling YA horror author Madeleine Roux, YA and adult fantasy author Delilah S. Dawson, and contemporary YA authors Eric Devine, Caela Carter and Jessica Verdi.

The Deep End of the Ocean was critically acclaimed, a New York Times bestseller, won several awards and was chosen as the first novel in the book club made famous by Oprah Winfrey. It was later transformed into a feature film produced by and starring Michelle Pfeiffer.

All of Mitchard’s novels have been bestsellers, including The Most Wanted, A Theory of Relativity, Twelve Times Blessed, The Breakdown Lane, Cage of Stars, Still Summer, No Time to Wave Goodbye and Second Nature. Mitchard has also written seven novels for young adults, the most recent being What We Saw at Night. Mitchard recently became the Editor in Chief of Merit Press, a new young adult imprint, for which she’ll be taking pitches during the Writer’s Digest Conference Pitch Slam.

A longtime journalist, Mitchard is a contributing editor for More magazine. With an MFA in Creative Writing, she has taught at Fairfield University and Southern New Hampshire University.

She began her career as a journalist, and along the way added editor, acquisitions specialist, digital content manager and publishing executive to her repertoire. She most recently served as the Director of Innovation and Acquisitions for Adams Media, where she headed up the acquisitions team responsible for creating, curating and producing both fiction and nonfiction for print, eBook, eShort, and direct-to-eBook formats. Her specialties include mystery/thriller, SF/fantasy, romance, YA, memoir, humor, pop culture, health & wellness, cooking, self-help, pop psych, New Age, inspirational, technology, science and writing. Munier is very involved with the mystery community, having served four terms as President of the New England chapter of Mystery Writers of America as well as on the MWA board. (She’s currently VP of that organization.)

Munier has also served as both co-chair and Agents and Editors chair on the New England Crime Bake committee for seven years and counting. And she’s an active member of Sisters in Crime. A well-published journalist, author, copywriter and ghostwriter, Munier has penned countless new stories, articles, essays, collateral and blogs. She is also the author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including Fixing Freddie, 5-Minute Mindfulness and A Miscellany of Murder.

Gabriela holds an MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. When she's not teaching or designing learning tools for DIY MFA, she enjoys writing some fiction of her own. She especially loves writing middle grade and teen fiction, with a few "short stories for grown-ups" thrown in for good measure. Visit DIYMFA.com to learn more about Gabriela and DIY MFA.

He is actively looking for narrative nonfiction, especially in music, sports, history, popular science, “big think”, performing arts, health, business, memoir, military history, and humor. He is also interested in commercial men’s fiction—thrillers, mysteries and other “boy books.” On the children’s side, he is keenly interested in middle-grade and young adult fiction, and would love to find the next great picture book author/illustrator.

His Guide to Literary Agents Blog (guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog) is one of the biggest blogs in publishing. In addition, Chuck has written two other writing-related titles, is a freelance editor, and was recently included in a FORBES Top 10 list of "Social Media Influencers: Book Publishing."

 

Her newest memoir Still Writing—a meditation on the artistic process and a searching look at her own creative life—is both a lodestar for aspiring scribes and an eloquent memoir of the writing life. More magazine wrote, "Part passionate primer, part benediction, this is Shapiro's love letter to a discipline, and to the colleagues, students and readers who share its rigors and rewards." In Devotion, Shapiro explores her spirituality—with the help of a rabbi, a yogi, and a Buddhist—prompted by her son's questions about God, mortality and the afterlife, giving us an insightful and penetrating memoir that thousands of readers have identified with. Devotion is the subject of an hour-long conversation between Oprah and Shapiro that aired on Oprah's show Super Soul Sunday (October 2013). Shapiro's first memoir, Slow Motion, details the tumultuous life of her early twenties and the rebirth she experienced in early adulthood. Shapiro’s work has also appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, One Story, Elle, The New York Times Book Review and The Los Angeles Times and has been widely anthologized.

She has taught in the writing programs at Columbia, NYU, The New School and Wesleyan University, and is co-founder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy. She is a contributing editor at Travel + Leisure. She lives with her family in Litchfield County, Connecticut.

For three years, she wrote and hosted the Etiquette Bitch blog & podcast, then went on to create the Chicago Publishes Podcast, where she interviewed authors and publishers from across the country.

Ryan is a faculty member at The Ringling College of Art + Design, as well as Executive Director of C&R Press, a non-profit literary organization. He has taught creative writing and literature at Clemson University, Eckerd College, Florida State University, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was also the 2007-2008 Jenny McKean Moore Writer-in-Washington at George Washington University.