Posted on July 1, 2016 by lavlunabiz

Documentaries: The Writer’s Vision Illuminated

Panel:
DOCUMENTARIES: The Writer’s Vision Illuminated

Monday, July 25, 2016
7:30 to 9:15 p.m. (networking follows the program)

Rounding off our media triumvirate, our July panel will present some fascinating documentary filmmakers.

The journey from concept to production, distribution and sales presents quite the challenge. Documentarians possess the devotion to their subject and a certain single-mindedness that, if the fates allow, lead them to a worthy finished product.

Documentaries can inform, misinform, soothe, infuriate, stimulate, or they can be a yawn. Our panel of experts will address these issues, of course with a decidedly strong focus on the writing.

If you look at the list of documentaries in the past several years, you will find almost every subject, from the political, to health, to the obscure, and more. A unique collaboration is enjoyed with this form.

We will cover, as time permits:
– Concept
– Writing, rewriting
– Collaboration
– Finding information sources
– Permissions and legal hurdles, ownership
– Getting it noticed, promotion
– Why did you do this documentary
– Budget, number of staff needed, money raising
– Distribution
– How ideas morph during the process
– What makes the documentary successful, and how do you define this success? …and more
– plus your questions!

Our panelists:

TOM JENNINGS is an award-winning television and documentary movie producer with more than 400 hours of programming to his credit.

Tom started his career as a journalist, writing for newspapers including the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

After covering the O.J. Simpson criminal trial, he began making non-fiction films as a writer for the Discovery Networks. Writing led to producing, which led to directing for several production companies.

In 2004 Tom founded Tom Jennings Productions and began producing his own television shows and documentary films.

Tom has won and been nominated for many awards including a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative journalism, the News and Documentary Emmy Awards and several New York Festival Awards. In 2013, his new company – 1895 Films – won the prestigious Peabody Award for his documentary about the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. In 2015, The Fidel Castro Tapes was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy.

STEPHANIE HUBBARD has been in the non-fictional trenches making documentaries since she moved to Los Angeles with her Masters in Film and Television writing and Production from The Newhouse School of Communications in 1996.

Moving from editing and writing to producing, directing and story consulting as well as coaching other documentary directors she has been closely involved with over 30 documentary projects, nearly all of which have been won extensive festival awards.

The most recent film she consulted on was sold to Netflix for doc figures, the previous project was named one of the top 25 documentaries on Netflix. The latest documentary she directed is “Improv Death Ice Age” (you can find it at Vimeo on demand) and the doc she directed previously is currently available on time warner, video on demand as “Ride to Heaven: an existential theme park mystery”.

Hubbard consults and teaches documentary and dos memoir consulting world-wide from her base in Los Angeles. You can find her at TheDocumentaryInsider.com where she blogs about documentary making.

KARLA DiBENEDETTO is an award-winning writer, producer, and director who strives to create socially relevant and commercially viable entertainment.

Her short films: “Running Home,” “On the Grind” and “Trophy” have screened in countless film festivals worldwide.

Trophy was an official selection of Outfest, Frameline, Reeling, Philadelphia QFest, Provincetown International Film Festival and the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. “Trophy” aired in 2009 on the MTV Network’s Logo Channel. “Trophy” won several awards including the HBO Shout GLBT Short Film Competition and the MTVN/Logo Best in Shorts.

Karla’s documentary short, “On the Grind,” was an official selection of the Starz Denver Film Festival, San Francisco International Festival of Short Films and the Arizona Black Film Showcase. “On the Grind” won the Studs Terkel Community Media Award, which honors documentarians that take risks in covering social issues.

OUR MODERATOR

SUSAN KARLIN is an award-winning science and technology journalist based in Los Angeles, covering the nexus of science and arts, with a fondness for sci-fi and comics.

Susan’s a regular contributor to Fast Company and IEEE Spectrum, and has written for Newsweek, Forbes, Wired, Scientific American, Discover, The New York Times, NPR, and BBC Radio.

She has also traveled to every continent, reporting from such diverse areas as Vietnam, the Arctic, and the West Bank.

Follow her @SueKarlin.

Posted on July 1, 2016 by lavlunabiz

Documentaries: The Writer’s Vision Illuminated

Panel:
DOCUMENTARIES: The Writer’s Vision Illuminated

Monday, July 25, 2016
7:30 to 9:15 p.m. (networking follows the program)

Rounding off our media triumvirate, our July panel will present some fascinating documentary filmmakers.

Documentaries can inform, misinform, soothe, infuriate, stimulate, or they can be a yawn. Our panel of experts will address these issues, of course with a decidedly strong focus on the writing.

Our panelists:

TOM JENNINGS is an award-winning television and documentary movie producer with more than 400 hours of programming to his credit.

Tom started his career as a journalist, writing for newspapers including the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

In 2004 Tom founded Tom Jennings Productions and began producing his own television shows and documentary films.

Hubbard consults and teaches documentary and dos memoir consulting world-wide from her base in Los Angeles. You can find her at TheDocumentaryInsider.com where she blogs about documentary making.

KARLA DiBENEDETTO is an award-winning writer, producer, and director who strives to create socially relevant and commercially viable entertainment.

Her short films: “Running Home,” “On the Grind” and “Trophy” have screened in countless film festivals worldwide.

OUR MODERATOR

SUSAN KARLIN is an award-winning science and technology journalist based in Los Angeles, covering the nexus of science and arts, with a fondness for sci-fi and comics.

Susan’s a regular contributor to Fast Company and IEEE Spectrum, and has written for Newsweek, Forbes, Wired, Scientific American, Discover, The New York Times, NPR, and BBC Radio.

She has also traveled to every continent, reporting from such diverse areas as Vietnam, the Arctic, and the West Bank.

Follow her @SueKarlin.

Posted on January 20, 2016 by lavlunabiz

Word Processing Prowess: Easy tricks and hints

Seminar
Word Processing Prowess: Easy tricks and hints
presented by Deborah Shadovitz, who wrote the book!

Saturday, February 20, 2016
10:30 am to 1:00 p.m.

Have you ever felt that Word Processing is actually harder than writing by hand or type writing? Do you use Word or another word processor and love it — except when you end up with weird page breaks or make one tiny change and end up with rivers of white instead of columns? Are you frustrated when you edit a word and actually lose the word. Do you “get by” in Word or your writing app, but know you could be more efficient?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions or possibly have other frustrations or questions, please do yourself the favor of coming to this seminar and learning how word processing can make you a superhero-strength writer.

But there’s more to the power of word processing than knowing the mechanics. The word processing app you use on your computer is not just typewriter on a computer. It can actually help you formulate and organize your ideas.

No matter how well you get by in your computer’s writing program, chances are great that you’ll leave this seminar with more word processing power and time-saving efficiency.

Our presenter: Deborah Shadovitz

DEBORAH SHADOVITZ has been teaching and writing about using a computer efficiently since the dawn of the 90’s.

She penned many a book including Clarisworks Office for Dummies, Appleworks for Dummies, the Macworld Office 98 Bible and the Adobe GoLive Bible and contributed key chapters to many other Mac, writing, and web books. She was a Contributing Editor at MacAddict magazine and was called upon to write for Macworld and PC World magazines as well as every other major Mac or design magazine.

As a speaker at Macworld Expo, Internet World and other trade shows and events she was always well-received as a dynamic speaker.

Deborah has been solving people’s ”why does my page do this” queries since 1989 and has often helped exasperated people who felt the computer was not a time-saver at all. We are happy to have finally landed her to teach her fellow LA writers. She will teach us how to save time and end frustration. What you learn can be used on any version of Microsoft Word and with other word processing apps as well.

You can learn more about Deborah at Shadovitz.com or TalesOfTravelAndTech.com.

Posted on May 30, 2014 by lavlunabiz

Marketing Your Writing: Increasing Your Success

Panel
IWOSC’s Annual Marketing Panel!
Marketing Your Writing: Increasing Your Success

Monday, June 30, 2014

Your writing will not sell itself. No marketing, no nothing, nada, zilch. Regardless of the enormous competition, there are numerous, often changing marketing opportunities, if you are savvy, creative, and energetic.

You need to know how.
You need to know where.
You need to know what’s new and creative.
You need to know how to do it inexpensively and time-efficiently.
You need to keep track of the ongoing changes.

For our yearly panel, we have assembled veterans, mentors who are experienced in those matters. Learn from them and resolve to put the time and energy into improving your marketing. Yes, everyone can benefit from improved marketing.

Resolve to put the time and energy into exposing your work to a larger market. We will cover as time allows: Blogging; Social Media; Press releases; Radio; Website management; Traditional methods; Hints, tricks, shortcuts, cost-savers; and more, including your questions.

Panelists:

CARLA KING has written seven books and produced dozens of online magazines and web-books.

A technical-turned-adventure travel writer, she self-published her first book in 1994. She was also one of the early bloggers with her “Motorcycle Misadventures” real-time reports from the road in 1995.

Carla founded the Self-Publishing Boot Camp educational program of books and workshops in 2010, runs the San Diego Self-Publishers group, writes about self-publishing for PBS MediaShift and presents on the topic at conferences and events on the West coast.

She recently launched IndieBookSchool.com to provide virtual self-publishing seminars and coaching to authors worldwide.

DOMINIK RAUSCH As Founder/CEO of United Motion Entertainment, an entertainment production company that fuses digital with traditional media business models, Dominik has recently launched the online magazine LuminaryDaily.com, producing uplifting and meaningful news stories from all around the world to provide an alternative to over-dramatized and gossipy news media.

Rausch is an award-winning producer of Digital and Branded Entertainment, best known for his work on IKEA’s scripted Online series “Easy To Assemble” starring Illeana Douglas and Jeff Goldblum, which, with over 17 million views world-wide, is publicly acclaimed as one of the most successful digital Branded Entertainment series to date. Dominik’s producing work in feature film includes a forthcoming documentary starring Keanu Reeves, the Warner Brothers indie “April Showers” with Tom Arnold, and “Speed-Dating” with Chris Elliot.

He is a member of the Producers Guild of America, was nominated for “Variety’s Digital 25 of 2011,” and enjoys sharing his experience in digital content creation, monetization, and marketing through his LA-based consulting agency D. For Discover, which counts The Walt Becker Company (known for producing/directing “Van Wilder,” “Wild Hogs,” “Old Dogs”) as one of its clients. Project website: LuminaryDaily.com. Company website: UnitedMotionEntertainment.com.

JULIA DRAKE is the founder and owner of Julia Drake Public Relations (JDPR), a Los Angeles-based boutique literary publicity company that represents authors and publishers across the globe.

JDPR specializes in tailored press campaigns, social media marketing, innovative book tours, author websites and promotional videos.

Julia has appeared as a speaker on many literary industry panels, including IWOSC, UCLA, PALA, the Women’s National Book Association, Lambda Literary Foundation, and Writers and Publishers of San Diego.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in film from UCLA and a Master’s Degree in Screenwriting from The American Film Institute. For more information, please visit: JuliaDrakePRcom

Moderator

STEVEN SANCHEZ helps people build the right platforms for their businesses. For over 20 years he developed and managed integrated web marketing solutions for industry-leading companies. Steven has conducted numerous workshops on all aspects of internet marketing, from social media management to website development. He has also contributed to several best-selling books including “Homepage Usability,” “Web Design on a Shoestring,” “The Unusually Useful Web Book” and the sequel to “The Expert Success Solution.”

Currently, Steven is preparing to launch his upcoming book, “Better Book Marketing” (BetterBookMarketing.com), as well as his latest project, WordPressForWriters.com, a video training site designed to help authors develop their platforms, connect with their audience and sell more books.

You can reach him at the above websites or at Steven at BetterBookMarketing dot com or Steven at WordPressForWriters dot com.

Posted on May 30, 2014 by lavlunabiz

Marketing Your Writing: Increasing Your Success

Panel
IWOSC’s Annual Marketing Panel!
Marketing Your Writing: Increasing Your Success

Monday, June 30, 2014

Panelists:

CARLA KING has written seven books and produced dozens of online magazines and web-books.

She recently launched IndieBookSchool.com to provide virtual self-publishing seminars and coaching to authors worldwide.

JULIA DRAKE is the founder and owner of Julia Drake Public Relations (JDPR), a Los Angeles-based boutique literary publicity company that represents authors and publishers across the globe.

JDPR specializes in tailored press campaigns, social media marketing, innovative book tours, author websites and promotional videos.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in film from UCLA and a Master’s Degree in Screenwriting from The American Film Institute. For more information, please visit: JuliaDrakePRcom

Moderator

You can reach him at the above websites or at Steven at BetterBookMarketing dot com or Steven at WordPressForWriters dot com.

Posted on February 15, 2014 by lavlunabiz

Method Writing: An Organic Approach to Writing” with Presenter Jack Grapes

Seminar
Method Writing: An Organic Approach to Writing”
with Presenter Jack Grapes

Saturday, March 15, 2014

“Method Writing” is an organic approach to writing, much as method acting is an organic approach to acting, stressing inner process and deep voice. “Method Writing” consists of various concepts that take the writer through techniques designed to make the writing more compelling and more effective, publishable and productive.

Back by popular demand, Jack Grapes will present this overview of the writer’s creative process,
focusing on his book “METHOD WRITING,” a technique he’s developed and used in his writing workshops over the last 35 years. Jack will discuss the nature of the creative process, and how that applies to “Method Writing.” So bring something to write on: paper and pen, parchment and quill, stone and chisel — whatever works.
He will lead the group in a writing prompt, time permitting.

Our writing presenter:

JACK GRAPES, an award-winning poet, playwright, actor, teacher, and the editor and publisher of “ONTHEBUS,” one of the top literary journals in the country. He has received three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and nine artist-in-residence grants from the California Arts Council to teach writing in various schools throughout Los Angeles. Grapes is the author of 13 books of poetry, including “The Naked Eye: New and Selected Poems, 1989-2012.” His book “Method Writing” is based on concepts he’s developed over the last 35 years teaching writing workshops.

His recent books, available on Amazon are: “The Naked Eye;” “Poems So Far;” “The Tender Agonies of Charles Bukowski;” based on his long time friendship and literary correspondence; and “How to Read Like a Writer,” a unique approach to discovering the deep elements of a writer’s style.

Jack Grapes was featured on the cover of the Directory of American Poets and Writers, along with Robert Creeley and Tobias Wolff. Over the last 30 years, he has taught over two thousand poets and writers. He was a board member for PEN Center USA West. His website is JackGrapes.com.

Posted on October 25, 2013 by lavlunabiz

Writing History: Bringing It To Life

Panel
Writing History: Bringing it to life

Monday, November 25, 2013

According to polls taken in the mid-1990s 25% of college seniors could not pinpoint the date of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus; 40% couldn’t say when the American Civil War occurred, and fewer than 2% of American teenagers could name the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court—but for all this seeming historical ignorance, works of history often show up on non-fiction best-seller lists. Either the polls aren’t telling the whole story, or there is a fanatic minority out there who voraciously eats up anything to do with the past.

This month’s panel on writing history will look at what’s happening now about the unpredictable past and explore the motivation, research, writing and publishing that go into creating the chronicle of who we have come to be.

Our panel of writers:

Cari Beauchamp is the author of Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and The Powerful Women of Early Hollywood and Joseph P. Kennedy Presents: His Hollywood Years. She edited and annotated Anita Loos Rediscovered: Film Treatments and Fiction by the Creator of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary: Her Private Letters from Inside the Studios of the 1920s. Beauchamp’s works have made New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Amazon “Best of the Year” lists. She wrote the Emmy-nominated The Day My God Died and received a Writers Guild Award nomination for the Turner Classic Movies adaptation of Without Lying Down, which she wrote and coproduced. Cari has written for Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and has twice been named Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Scholar. Currently she is the Mary Pickford Foundation’s resident scholar. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a private investigator, a campaign manager, and served as Press Secretary to California Governor Jerry Brown.

Jim Dawson documents American pop culture—especially early rock ‘n roll and the history of flatulence. He wrote the best-selling Who Cut the Cheese? Other books include What Was the First Rock ‘n’ Roll Record? co-written with Steve Propes, cited by Mojo magazine as “one of the most impressive musical reads of the year,” and which remains a valuable resource for music critics and rock historians. His 1980 Richie Valens cover story in the Los Angeles Times Calendar led to the Rhino Records reissue of the entire Valens catalog (with Jim’s liner notes) and the 1987 biopic La Bamba, which utilized his research. Jim has written liner notes for roughly 150 albums and CDs, including Rhino’s Central Avenue Sounds, celebrating the history of jazz and early R&B in Los Angeles. His most recent book is Los Angeles’s Bunker Hill: Pulp Fiction’s Mean Streets and Film Noir’s Ground Zero. He’s currently working on a novel about a 1920 coal mine war in his native West Virginia.

Steven J. Ross is Professor of History at USC, and has written extensively about working-class, social, and film history. His first book, Workers On the Edge: Work, Leisure, and Politics in Industrializing Cincinnati, 1788-1890, was adapted by Cincinnati unionists as the filmed documentary They Build the City: The Working People of Cincinnati. His second book, Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America (1998), received the prestigious Theater Library Association Book Award for 1999, named one of the “Best Books of 1998” by the Los Angeles Times, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award in History. His latest book, Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics, received a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a Film Scholars Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Ross is now working on a book titled Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews and their Spies Foiled Nazi and Fascist Plots Against America (to be published by Bloomsbury Press).

Jon Wilkman began his career working with Walter Cronkite on the award-winning Twentieth Century and 21st Century television series with the CBS News documentary unit. He also worked on Of Black America, hosted by Bill Cosby, and wrote the book, Black Americans: From Colonial Days to the Present. In 1971 Jon formed Wilkman Productions, Inc. He worked as a program producer on the Emmy Award-winning Great American Dream Machine and the Sigma Delta Chi Award-winning documentary Attica for PBS. Recent projects include Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood for Turner Classic Movies; Chicano Rock! The Sounds of East Los Angeles; The Port of Los Angeles: A History; With Heart and Hand: The Restoration of the Gamble House, and At Issue: Immigration. Jon is co-author, with his wife Nancy, of Picturing Los Angeles, and Los Angeles: A Pictorial Celebration.

He was a three-term president of the International Documentary Association, and founded the First Congress in association with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Moderator:
Robert S. Birchard is an award-winning film editor who brings to his chronicles of the movies an insider’s perspective and a great affection for the people who work in the picture business. He is the author of Cecil B. DeMille’s Hollywood, Silent-era Filmmaking in Santa Barbara, Early Universal City, King Cowboy: Tom Mix and the Movies and is a contributing writer to the omnibus volumes M-G-M When the Lion Roars, Don Miller’s Hollywood Corral, The Encyclopedia of Early Film, and Hollywood: The Movie Factory. His articles on Hollywood filmmakers have appeared in American Cinematographer, Statement, Film History, The Moving Image, Griffithiana, Daily Variety, the Los Angeles Times Calendar, and others. He is a past president and board member of the preservation organization Hollywood Heritage, Inc., and is current president of The Cinecon Classic Film Festival, which has screened classic films over Labor Day Weekend for nearly half a century. He is currently editor of the AFI Catalog of Feature Films.

Posted on September 26, 2013 by lavlunabiz

Writin’ Funny: Interactive, informative, and ticklish

Seminar
Writin’ Funny: Interactive, Informative, And Ticklish

Saturday, October 26, 2013

In keeping with this year’s theme exploring the writing process, we cannot ignore humor, nor do we want to.

There are methods, tricks, turns of phrase, and surprises that elicit a laughter response. The two presenters have all of this, plus the instinct and a distinct ability and personality to clearly communicate how you can apply this to your own writing.

We will discuss how to open up to the absurdities and vagaries of life, and how to enjoy them. If you want to bring something that you have written, we will work with that as time permits, and we may also throw a few easy exercises your way.

Our writing instructors:
Mark Miller has sold movie projects to Warner Brothers, been a writer/producer on numerous network and syndicated TV sit-com staffs, a humor columnist for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, a current humor blogger for The Huffington Post, and is a part of the Los Angeles storytelling community.

He has also performed stand-up comedy in nightclubs and on TV. His first book, a collection of his humor essays on dating and romance, is scheduled to be published by Skyhorse Publishing in the Fall of 2014. Its title: “500 Coffee Dates: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Dating Wars.”

But he says he’d trade all his success in a minute for immortality, inner peace, and limitless wealth.

Mark’s website is MarkMillerHumorist.com.

David Samson is FunnyGuy.com and the founder of FunnyEBooks.com.

The author of 47 books, he’s a professional speaker, media personality and Creative Director of AdVille.com.

He has written books for Random House, Simon & Schuster, St. Martin’s Press, Signet, and Penguin, among other major houses. His books have been seen on “David Letterman,” “The Today Show,”” Politically Incorrect,” “Comedy Central,” “Entertainment Tonight,” “Donahue,” and “Larry King Live.” They’ve been featured in People, Penthouse, Cosmopolitan, The New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Magazine, USA Today, and The New York Times.

He believes the best years of his life are still behind him.

Posted on September 26, 2013 by lavlunabiz

Writin’ Funny: Interactive, informative, and ticklish

Seminar
Writin’ Funny: Interactive, Informative, And Ticklish

Saturday, October 26, 2013

In keeping with this year’s theme exploring the writing process, we cannot ignore humor, nor do we want to.

But he says he’d trade all his success in a minute for immortality, inner peace, and limitless wealth.

Mark’s website is MarkMillerHumorist.com.

David Samson is FunnyGuy.com and the founder of FunnyEBooks.com.

The author of 47 books, he’s a professional speaker, media personality and Creative Director of AdVille.com.

He believes the best years of his life are still behind him.

Posted on April 20, 2013 by lavlunabiz

Marketing for the Writer: How To Get The Biggest Bang For Your Buck — And Your Time

Panel
Marketing for the Writer: How To Get The Biggest Bang For Your Buck -And Your Time

Monday, May 20, 2013

Your work will not sell itself. No marketing, no nothing, nada, zilch. Regardless of the enormous competition out there, if you are savvy, creative, and energetic, your work will have an edge. But you need to know how, you need to know where, you need to know what’s new and creative, and you need to know how to do it inexpensively and time-efficiently.

What has changed recently? What is all of this new buzz about Amazon and short stories?

For our yearly panel, we have assembled veterans who are very experienced in those matters. Learn from them and resolve to put the time and energy into improving your marketing. Yes, everyone can benefit from improved marketing.

Our Marketing Panelists

PENNY C. SANSEVIERI, Founder and CEO Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. She is an Adjunct Professor teaching Self-Publishing for NYU. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most innovative Social Media/Internet book marketing campaigns. She is the author of five books, including Red Hot Internet Publicity, which has been called the “leading guide to everything Internet.” AME is the first book marketing and publicity firm to use Internet promotion to its full impact through The Virtual Author Tour™, which strategically harnesses social networking sites, Twitter, blogs, book videos, and relevant sites in order to push an author’s message into the online community at sites related to the book’s topic and thereby position the author in his or her market. AME has had eleven recent books top bestseller lists, including those of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal. To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at AMarketingExpert.com.

DONNA M. THOMAS is an Author, Life & Empowerment Coach, Ad executive and Copywriter, and Mother. She has worked in the field of marketing and advertising since 1994. Her clients include Miss Grace Lemon Cake Company, Gaviña Gourmet Coffee, Don Francisco’s Gourmet Coffee, Gioia Apparel, Ivory Records, Andrea Woolf and IgniteYourLifeBook.com, and now Sage House Publishing. Nowadays, she’s focused her presence on Google and Social Media, and on “consciously” marketing her new memoir, “From Pebbles to Pathways: A Journey of Healing the Heart One Insight at a Time”. Even being relatively unknown, for the past 3 years, Donna has maintained 5k friends and over 900 followers on Facebook, and almost 2,800 Google friends. Her name, Donna M Thomas, dominates the first two pages in Google, and her face, book and blog site (donna-thomas.com) dominate the first window of Google images.

TAMMY BLECK is a ghostwriter, proficient columnist, and author of the award-winning book “Single Past 50 Now What?” and the award winning blog “Witty Woman Writing.” She is known for her humor and has often been compared to Erma Bombeck and dubbed the female Andy Rooney. Her writing has been published in countless magazines and newspapers such as the “Los Angeles Daily News,” “The Denver Post,” “The Rocky Mountain News,” “The Portland Post,” “The Jewish Writing Project,” and “Jewish Journal.” Tammy is a recipient of the Certificate of Commendation from the mayor of Los Angeles for her work in educating the public. You can contact Tammy at Tammy-at-WittyWomanWrting.com and enjoy her weekly blog at WittyWomanWriting.com/blog/

MELODY JACKSON, Ph.D., founder of Smart Girls Productions, has worked with over 3000 screenwriters and has critiqued thousands of screenplays in depth. Three times named a Top 5 Script Analyst in the country, Melody is a frequent guest speaker at screenwriting events, and and her work has appeared in such industry publications as Script Magazine and the Television Academy’s Emmy Magazine. In 2012 Final Draft Software invited Melody to deliver a webinar on Marketing Your Screenplay to Hollywood to a huge success. Smart Girls offers a unique, comprehensive range of script marketing services, including writing query letters, email queries, and targeting literary agents, managers and producers by genre. For more information on writer services, go to: SmartG.com/writers. Also claim your free, first-rate articles on marketing scripts and developing screenplays, at: SmartG.com/screenwritertips.

Moderator:
STEVEN SANCHEZ is founder and CEO of the Los Angeles-based internet agency, INEXUS. For the past 20 years, Steven has helped large and small companies start web sites and get discovered. He has taught numerous workshops on starting web businesses and using social media to promote one’s visibility. He has also worked on several web design books such as “Homepage Usability,” “Web Design on a Shoestring,” and “The Unusually Useful Web Book.” Steven is currently developing BookPlatform101 , a web community to help authors build successful platforms for growing full businesses out of their books. He can be reached at steven-at-bookplatform101.com.

Panel: DOCUMENTARIES: The Writer’s Vision Illuminated

Panel: DOCUMENTARIES: The Writer’s Vision Illuminated

Seminar Word Processing Prowess: Easy tricks and hints presented by Deborah Shadovitz, who wrote the book!

Our presenter: Deborah Shadovitz

Panel IWOSC’s Annual Marketing Panel! Marketing Your Writing: Increasing Your Success

Panel IWOSC’s Annual Marketing Panel! Marketing Your Writing: Increasing Your Success

Seminar Method Writing: An Organic Approach to Writing” with Presenter Jack Grapes

Panel Writing History: Bringing it to life

Seminar Writin’ Funny: Interactive, Informative, And Ticklish

Seminar Writin’ Funny: Interactive, Informative, And Ticklish

Panel Marketing for the Writer: How To Get The Biggest Bang For Your Buck -And Your Time

Panel:
DOCUMENTARIES: The Writer’s Vision Illuminated

Panel:
DOCUMENTARIES: The Writer’s Vision Illuminated

Seminar
Word Processing Prowess: Easy tricks and hints
presented by Deborah Shadovitz, who wrote the book!

Panel
IWOSC’s Annual Marketing Panel!
Marketing Your Writing: Increasing Your Success

Panel
IWOSC’s Annual Marketing Panel!
Marketing Your Writing: Increasing Your Success

Seminar
Method Writing: An Organic Approach to Writing”
with Presenter Jack Grapes

Panel
Writing History: Bringing it to life

Seminar
Writin’ Funny: Interactive, Informative, And Ticklish

Seminar
Writin’ Funny: Interactive, Informative, And Ticklish

Panel
Marketing for the Writer: How To Get The Biggest Bang For Your Buck -And Your Time