Barbara Link

Winner of the Bazzanella Prize for Fiction

“Love your characters!” says Barbara Link, award-winning California author and poet, Barbara Link. She would know, having produced numerous successful works, including three stories aired on KVPR, a National Public Radio Affiliate. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in literary magazines and small presses. She received the CSUS Bazzanella Prize for fiction. Her memoir, BLUE SHY was published in 2010 and awarded First Prize in the Sacramento Friends of the Library First Chapter contest. She co-authored Coffee and Ink, a handbook for writing groups and was a past editor of Sacramento’s Poetry Now. Publication credits include American River Review, Poetry Now, Earth’s Daughters, Mindprint Review, Anima, Whitefish Review, Missouri Review, Women’s Compendium, Hardpan, Dead Snakes, and Earth’s Daughters.

Amy Rogers

Inside Publications Columnist, Novelist, Blogger, and and Science-Thrillers Publisher

Building a marketing buzz around your book should begin long before release day. Indie publisher Amy Rogers of ScienceThrillers Media will share tips and checklists to guide your launch preparation whether you have 12 months, 12 weeks, or 12 days until your book is published.

Amy Rogers, MD, PhD, is a Harvard-educated scientist, novelist, journalist, educator, critic, and publisher who specializes in all things science-y. Her novels Petroplague,  Reversion, and The Han Agent (release date: September 5) use real science and medicine to create plausible, frightening scenarios in the style of Michael Crichton. Amy is the founder of ScienceThrillers Media publishing company and is an Active member of International Thriller Writers. Formerly a microbiology professor, she runs the ScienceThrillers.com book review website, named a “Best Book Blog of 2017” by Reedsy.com. She writes a monthly science column for Sacramento’s Inside Publications.

Amy also serves as Treasurer for Northern California Publishers and Authors.

Scott Evans

University Writing Teacher, Conference Director

Author of Short Stories and Mysteries

Good, crisp, clean dialogue allows a story or novel to flow smoothly and keep readers engaged. This workshop provides advice on ways to make your dialogue relevant to your plot and interesting to readers, while also fleshing out characterization. Tips on techniques to hide the mechanics of clear attributions and the conventions of dialogue will also be discussed, as well as some practice editing and revising dialogue.

Bill Pieper

Novelist, Turned Short-Story Writer

Andrew Benzie

Publisher, Designer, Marketer, Andrew Benzie Books

A popular go-to publisher for writers with questions on publishing their own books, Bay Area native Andrew Benzie is returning is Sacramento to answer more questions about publishing!

A presenter full of ideas and solutions, Andrew promises to tell us the important elements of a good published book. His resume includes more than 25 years of experience in the design industry. He has worked for both corporate art departments and for himself as a freelance designer for Andrew Benzie Creative Design (ABCD). In 2010 he established his own publishing company, Andrew Benzie Books to help authors design, publish, and market their books in both softcover and eBook formats.