Author Conference
May 25-26, 2024
Join us for an immersive experience at the Author's Conference! Over two enriching days, ten esteemed authors will lead engaging craft courses, each packed into one hour sessions. From mastering character development to honing plot twists, immerse yourself in a world of literary wisdom and expertise. Don't miss this unique opportunity to refine your writing skills and connect with fellow authors. Get ready to elevate your craft to new heights!
Get access to 10 craft courses taught by award-winning and best-selling authors in speculative fiction.
The 2024 Conference Authors
Writing is REwriting! Self-Editing for Fiction Authors
M.K. England
Learn a variety of strategies for analyzing what you’ve written and planning a strong and productive revision.
Elizabeth Bear
Building Fantastic Economies
What do people eat? Where do their clothes come from? How do they find shelter? What's the source of transportation? How do magic or advanced technology affect those basic needs? How does trade and commerce affect the narrative tensions and drive conflict in this made-up world? Join Hugo Award winning author Elizabeth Bear to learn how to build just enough economic reality into your fantastical settings!
Mike Chen
Crafting Compelling Characters in Speculative Fiction
Learn strategies for quickly building realistic and engaging characters that fit into speculative worlds.
John Wiswell
What Are The Stakes?
This class will explore how stakes operate in different kinds of stories, and how authors deploy them for richer stories. Topics will include how stakes affect characters and audiences differently, how to make stakes believable, how to keep stakes in focus so the story does not meander and lose steam, and how multiple sets of stakes within a single story can affect each other.
Fran Wilde
Food! (The good, the bad, the sensory details, the plot movers…)
This course contains food.
Learn strategies for using food as a tool in your writing. From sensory details in worldbuilding to the plot, food can be the detail to take your writing to the next level.
Natania Barron
Weaving Fashion into Your Storytelling
Everyone needs clothing. At least at some point in your story. But how do you determine who wears what? How do you weave fabric into your world? How do your characters feel about what they wear, and what does it say about them? Let's delve into the essential worldbuilding pillar of fashion, fabric, and textiles, to see how it can support and expand your storytelling.
Kathryn Purdie
Maximizing Character Agency
Some writers have trouble adding enough conflict in their stories while others add too much. Conflict is necessary for good storytelling. Too little and you have no tension. Too much and your characters lose agency—the capability to choose a course of action that can change their outcome. Without character agency, your reader loses hope that the protagonist can achieve the main story goal. He or she becomes a victim to the plot, rather than the driver of it, and consequently loses reader interest and appeal. In this class, you’ll learn tips to enhance and troubleshoot the critical element of agency in your stories.
Marvellous Michael Anson
To Prologue Or Not To Prologue?
Exploring the history of prologues, the technical requirements, i.e. what makes a good prologue, what makes a bad prologue, why you need a prologue, when to keep or cut, and how prologues and epilogues can elevate or break a story.
Moses Ose Utomi
The STAR Method
In this workshop, students will learn a method for creating compelling, interconnected casts of characters from a core of basic principles and characteristics.
Rose Ciesla
Level Up Through Critique
Critiquing is one of the best ways to level up your craft. Learn strategies to deliver higher level feedback, interpret criticism (even if you don't agree), see your own writing with fresh eyes, and find critique partners.
Pricing
Get access to 10 craft courses taught by award-winning and best-selling authors in speculative fiction.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The Authors Conference is a 2-day intensive featuring 10 authors. Both days will be packed with craft classes.
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The Authors Conference will take place on May XX & XX online.
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In 2024, the topics are as follows:
1. Fashion and Fabrics in SFF with Natania Barron
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Each session will be approximately one hour.