After months, maybe even years, your book is finally published. “The hard but fruitful labor is over,” you think. “Now all I have to do is sell it!!! Piece of cake!!!” You begin selling a few copies here and there, but much to your dismay, there’s nothing spectacular.  Some months might bring a few sales, but in others, there isn’t one single sale!!!  When your royalty check arrives, you can’t believe its paltry amount. “Why aren’t more books selling???” you wonder. “What am I doing wrong???

It’s not necessarily what you’re doing wrong – it’s more about what you’re not doing effectively enough when it comes to increasing interest in your book.  But don’t fret – you’re not the only one who doesn’t know!!! It’s common for authors to be unaware of profitable selling methods and it’s even more common to become frightened at the thought of dwindling sales. Fear of poor sales is a downer that will keep your sales total low – low as in less than 100 books sold during the first 6 months. The best way to overcome the apprehension about selling your book is to become more educated about the basics of salesmanship. We can’t all be professional marketers, but learning to successfully sell yourself and your book can work wonders. It’s this knowledge that results in a steady increase of sales.

Teaching you cost-effective techniques to persistently promote and masterfully market your book is what our annual Authors’ Conference is all about.  We bring together several of the leading publicity and book marketing experts to deliver keynotes speeches and participate on panels. Melanie Rigney, Penny C. Sansavieri, John Kremer, Dan Poynter, and Brian Jud are presenters who have taken part in past conferences.  Year after year, they present fresh ideas and provide informed insight into developing trends in book publishing.

Other author conferences sell vendor tables to companies and individuals who have products and services that would be of interest to the attending writers and authors.  We don’t sell space at our conference.  Our presenters and participating professionals are authors who share freely what has worked in selling their books and what hasn’t work.  We selectively invite publishing professionals with expertise in areas that provide benefits to authors.  Freed from being behind a table, the participating professionals are able to mix and mingle with everyone.  Naturally, networking is encouraged.

Last year, the Saturday evening keynoter was Jerry Simmons, recently-retired VP of Marketing for Warner Books.  His insider perspective about the perilous plight of mainstream publishing captivated the audience.  Jerry is on a mission to educate aspiring authors about the in’s and out’s of book publishing.  He will be back this year to deliver the opening presentation.

We’ll have a panel of regular but above-average authors explaining their more rewarding efforts to promote their books.  Another authors’ panel will explore how they measure the success of their books.  The concluding session on Sunday morning is our celebrated Ask The Experts panel, moderated by Melanie Rigney.  Melanie expertly puts a dozen of our experts through the paces of answering your wrap-up questions.  

Infinity Publishing is the sole sponsor and producer of our annual Express Yourself…TM Authors’ Conference which is operated as a not-for-profit event.  However, there are no sales pitches or commercial messages from Infinity – we’re only interested in teaching you how to sell your book.  A full conference registration is the author-friendly price of $699 and that includes all conference events; a one-on-one consultation with the presenter of your choice; 2 nights lodging at the Valley Forge Sheraton; and all meals. Discounts are available if you are an AARP member and/or have attended a previous conference.  There’s also a special rate if you come to the conference with a friend and share a room.  Our conference is open to any author or aspiring author; however, Infinity authors will receive free copies of their books with their early conference registration.

Award-winning Columnist To Keynote Authors’ Conference

We are pleased to announce that self-published author and founder of Yankee Cowboy Publishing Dave Lieber has accepted our invitation to keynote our special Writers’ Day program on Thursday evening, Dave will also deliver a separate keynote on Saturday evening at the Authors’ Conference banquet. 

For nearly 30 years, Dave Lieber, humorist, storyteller, and award-winning columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has used stories to change the world.  Nothing motivates people more, Dave believes, than stories about positive change that help people change positively.  His stories of wrongdoing and right-doing in newspapers and magazines have led to countless changes in governments, schools, and communities.  In his speeches, he delights his audiences with stories that bring laughter and tears.

Because of his ability to combine real-life experiences with outstanding storytelling skills, Dave is consistently rated by audiences as one of their favorite speakers. He is a member of the National Speakers Association.  The winner of the coveted Will Rogers Humanitarian Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists for his good deeds in the community, Dave was named Best Columnist in the American Southwest by the Press Club of Dallas.

On a personal note, I had the good fortune to hear Dave speak at the 31st Annual Conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, held in June in Philadelphia.  He was by far the best of the bunch.  I also had the honor to be on an author’s panel with Dave and was impressed with his shameless ways for promoting his books.  What most impressed me occurred after the panel was over.  He took the time to talk with all of the waiting attendees who had publishing questions.

Heads-Up and a Head-Start

If you’re registered for Thursday’s Writers’ Day, lunch and dinner are included. However, if you’re registered for the conference only and are arriving at the Sheraton before 6pm on Thursday, you can join us for dinner, hear Dave’s dynamic keynote address, and get a head-start on meeting folks who will be participating in the conference.  The cost of this dinner event is just $35.00 per person. And here’s the heads-up – if you register for the full conference (with or without lodging) by August 15th, 10 complimentary copies of your Infinity-published book will be waiting for you at the hotel.  Register by September 15th and get 5 free copies.

Special Writers’ Day Program - Becoming a Better Writer

Since our Writers’ Day program was so well-received last year, we are again preceding our annual Authors’ Conference with this special pre-conference event on Thursday, September 27th, aimed at helping you become a more effective and productive writer. 

Sure, you know how to write – after all, you’ve written and published a book.  However, is your book really the best it can be???  Does your book have some rough parts that just don’t have the expressive sparkle you’re striving to achieve???  Are you pondering the possibilities of doing a second edition or writing a sequel to your novel???  Or maybe you simply want to improve your creative writing skills and you don’t have the time or the desire to enroll in an adult education class.  Then this special one-day program is perfect for you.

We’ve gathered together an assortment of content editors, copy editors, proofreaders, and writing coaches to be presenters and panelists.  They will all be available throughout the day Thursday for you to network with during breaks and meals.  Because part of Thursday is a travel day for some of our participants, we have scheduled this program to start at noon with lunch.  During lunch, Jane M. Martin, Authors’ Conference co-director, will welcome you and introduce you to Bonnie Neubauer, who’ll amaze you with an array of techniques that will help you to break free of the dreaded writer’s block.  Lauren Hidden will help you learn how to think like an editor and “write it right.”  Professional editors Caryn Search and Emily Lawless will talk about 10 Commonly Made Writing Mistakes and teach you how to avoid them.

There will be a panel of experts who will provide constructive critiques of your submitted work.  Learn from the experts and your peers where there’s expressive strength in your wordsmithing skills and how you improve upon your weaknesses to make a more compelling read.  This won’t be your typical writer’s group critique where everything is just wonderful, nor will it be a slash and cut session.  The take-away here will be to point out positive ways for you to express yourself better and improve the quality of your writing.

For more information, a Writers’ Day tentative schedule, and to register for this special program, please visit: www.authorsconference.com.  Early registration assures that your submission will be available for critique by our guest panel of experts.

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