NINC2025 Day Four

Saturday at the #NINC2025 (Novelists, Inc.) writers’ conference consisted of Solution Sessions, which were roundtables where seasoned authors could discuss different topics. None of the sessions at the Ninc conference are recorded, but reporters attend so summaries can be written for the monthly newsletter. However, none attended the roundtables so authors could talk freely. The topics I joined were on Social Media Advertising and Audiobooks. Basically, I listened and scribbled notes. We were on our own for lunch today, so I ate my leftovers from dinner the other evening.

That afternoon, I went to another Solution Session on Organic Social Media. Then there wasn’t much to do until the Beachside Buffet at 7:00 pm. We helped ourselves to the food, met some new writers at our table, and then watched the glorious sunset. Neither Janice nor I cared to go to the late night Karaoke, so we retired for the evening.

We left the next morning, stopping at Parkesdale Market in Plant City off I-4 on the way home. I bought a few loaves of strawberry bread and a bunch of fresh vegetables. This is a fun place with a farmer’s market, snacks for sale, garden decorations and plants… and their famous strawberry bread.

Now that I’m home, I can comb through my notes from the conference, organize them by topic and then put some of the tips to use. I just need time to get caught up….

NINC2025 Day Three

Friday at NINC2025 (Novelists, Inc.) writers conference offered numerous workshops for published authors. First, I attended a talk on TikTok for Authors with Kate Hall. Kate spoke about how to approach videos for TikTok and demonstrated a live one right there. She gave suggestions for topics and suggested the book promotion be subtle. These were all good tips should I dip my toes into this social media site.

Next, I went to Finding Success with Wide & Direct Audio with Rebecca Hefner. Rebecca runs several promotional sites for audiobooks that I need to try, so it was invaluable hearing her advice. She also spoke about audio promo on other sites such as Chirp, Kobo Plus, Google Play and YouTube.

Buffet Lunch today was Italian food. I stuffed myself with a good meal.

Afterward, I went to Wide & Promo: How D2D’s Promo Team Increases Visibility with Mark Lefebvre. Here I learned more tips from Draft2Digital, where my books are uploaded for wide distribution.

My last workshop of the day was Global by Design: How Kobo Powers Wide Publishing Growth with Tara Cremin. I realized I need to upload my audiobooks there directly rather than through InAudio. This was another informative discussion. Also, I’d never known “Kobo” was an anagram of “Book.”

This evening, I went to dinner with my editor, Marsha Zinberg from The Write Touch. I was pleased to also greet my formatter, Judi Fennel from formatting4u.com who was at the conference. We had a chance to chat briefly on our way to MOSHH yesterday. Overall, my brain is overwhelmed by all the info it’s absorbing. Thankfully, I’ve been taking notes that can guide me once I’m home.

NINC2025 Day Two

Thursday at the #NINC2025 (Novelists, Inc.) writers conference began with a hearty breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Needing to walk off the calories, my roommate, Janice Hardy, and I headed to the beach for a stroll and to collect seashells for my grandson. It was relaxing to squish our feet in the sand and to listen to the waves swishing onshore.

We cleaned up and headed to the two-hour MOSHH event in The Pavilion. This was like speed-dating with industry sponsors. We had a passport booklet to fill with stamps from each vendor and then to exchange for raffle tickets. This frenzy didn’t allow us a lot of time to speak with each person, but it was enough to learn what each site offered for authors. I learned about new programs and met relevant contacts. Specifically, I wanted to learn more from InAudio, Spotify, Chirp and Kobo regarding audiobook promotion.

Many more sponsors were available to discuss their sites such as ACX, Audio Sorceress, BookBub, BookFunnel, Bookvault, Curios, Draft2Digital, Dreamscape, IngramSpark, Podium, Reedsy, Tantor, Written Word Media and more. We could also make individual appointments with these reps. In my opinion, meeting these key industry personnel made the entire conference worthwhile. This was my prime purpose in coming, aside from learning the latest marketing tips and tricks from other multi-published authors.

We had to stand in place while the raffle winners were called, which would have been more tolerable with chairs. The items in the baskets were donated by the sponsors. Mimosas were complimentary along with a selection of sliced cake and wrapped candy bars. Overall, it was a fun albeit frantic event that left me exhausted.

I plopped my bag of swag in our room and then went to lunch, which was a Mexican-style buffet.

Then it was off to a series of workshops and more meetups with industry reps. I attended a session by Chirp on Maximizing Your Audiobook Revenue, met with one of the reps above, and hung out to meet people. Not familiar with Chirp? Owned by BookBub, it’s a similar concept but with Audiobooks. Sign up free for their daily newsletter and get a list of bargain audiobook titles sent to your Inbox.

In the networking suite off the main hall, Happy Hour every evening included a free daily drink and a selection of bagged pretzels or peanuts. An open bar was also available. This evening, Janice and I headed to dinner at Snapper’s Sea Grill. Janice had the coconut curry snapper, and I had coconut-cashew crusted mahi mahi. It was delicious but too much for me to eat. I took leftovers back to the hotel to eat for lunch on Saturday. How nice that we have a kitchen with a fridge and microwave. It’s also fully stocked with dishes and flatware. Then we went back to our room to unwind for the evening.

NINC2025 Day One

On Day One of the Novelists, Inc. (#NINC2025) 2025 conference, my friend Janice Hardy and I checked into the Tradewinds Island Grand Resort at St. Pete Beach. I’d attended this writers’ conference many years before and remembered this resort with fondness. The Grand Colonnade main hall is still impressive and was the site for many of our workshops and networking. After registering and receiving our name badges, we mingled for a social hour and enjoyed complimentary ice cream novelties from a food cart.

I greeted Neil Plakcy, a mystery writer friend whom I’ve known for many years and met some new faces. Most everyone else I encountered were romance writers. Janice and I filled out a bingo card that was a good icebreaker and then wandered off to inspect the facilities.

Sadly, many of the hotel’s amenities were damaged by hurricanes. The seaside restaurant was closed as were some other areas. But our suite more than made up for any deficits. We had a twin bedroom but also an entire other room with a fully-equipped kitchenette, table and chairs, tv and sofa, and an armchair. We’d opted for a gulf-side view and had a balcony with a broad view of the ocean. The suite couldn’t have been more perfect. This was room 7211 in the Island Grande.

We ambled toward Salty’s Tiki Hut on the beach for cocktails, sat and chilled for a while, then headed back to the room to rest.

Dinner was a buffet with barbecued chicken and ribs, baked beans and potato salad, rolls and butter, corn on the cob and salad. A choice of desserts followed. I had the warm peach cobbler. I am liking the networking opportunities that this conference provides. Everything was super well organized, thanks to the #NINC2025 conference coordinators.

Florida WritersCon 2023 – Day Two

This continues my recap of the Florida Writers Association Conference with a report on Day Two. After a buffet breakfast on Saturday, bestselling author Lisa Black gave her keynote address. Then we dispersed to various workshops.

As a faculty member, I had a booksigning slot that morning. This meant I couldn’t attend the morning breakout session. I hung around until lunch, which was a buffet barbecue meal. Awards were presented to members of the youth group in attendance.

Since I’d had computer issues the day before, I sat in the workshop before mine that afternoon to get my program up and running. I’d updated Office 365 that morning at home and hooked into the hotel’s WiFi. Whatever I did had worked, because this time I was able to bring up my file. I spoke on Book Marketing on a Budget to a rapt audience.

That evening’s social mixer came next, followed by the Royal Palm Literary Awards banquet, which I’d won previously for Writing a Cozy Mystery. The dinner was very good and the service by the hotel was excellent. Congrats to all the award winners! This is a great contest for writers to enter because you get feedback on your work. First picture below shows me with my critique partners, Janice Hardy and Ann Meier.

And so ended a full day on a high note.

Join me at my next appearance on Nov. 4, 2023, 10:30 am EDT, Indie Author Day, Ponte Vedra Beach Library, 101 Library Blvd, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082. I’m proud to be a panelist and keynote speaker at this event. Free registration: https://sjcpls.org/event/indie-author-showcase/

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Florida WritersCon 2023 – Day One

I had a great time at the Florida Writers Association Conference this past weekend. Giving presentations, meeting new/old friends, attending workshops, and eating too much … it all made for a productive and meaningful event.

On Friday, I attended a talk on newsletters. I’ve already heard that drip campaigns can be effective, and I have been following what other authors do in this regard. This speaker gave some useful tips on content regarding these automated email sequences. Aside from a welcome letter, these included product launches, behind-the-scenes peeks, post-purchase follow up, bonus content, and sales discounts. Pop up newsletter signups are effective, too.

Segmented lists bring higher open rates and lower unsubs. And don’t forget to add at the end, Please Forward to a Friend. My takeaway? I need to work on a newsletter drip campaign and bolster my landing page. As for a popup sign-in form, I find these annoying and prefer where I have mine in the sidebar. What do you think?

I also gave a presentation on Self-Publishing Made Simple. This was a step-by-step guide on how to get started for original works or for reissued backlist titles. I posted some of this info in earlier blogs. The only snafu was that my computer wouldn’t open my PowerPoint file, and I had to borrow a laptop from the tech guy.

Disclaimer: These summaries are my interpretation of what I heard. Any errors are mine alone.

That night was a social mixer where I got to hang out with friends and meet new people. Networking is the best part of any writers conference.

Florida Writers Conference 2022

The Florida Writers Conference 2022 took place on Oct. 28-30 at the Hilton Orlando/Altamonte Springs. It’s a great event for meeting other Florida writers from around the state and for exchanging writing and marketing tips.

Since this was a relatively pared down conference compared to previous years, I didn’t attend every session. The booming attendance this year hopefully will encourage conference planners to resume their multi-tract format from previous years. I admit to skipping certain topics in this case that didn’t interest me with no alternative sessions available.

The first thing I attended was the Friday evening cocktail party. This got quite a crowd and I met a lot of interesting people. It was fun to run into some familiar faces, including fellow FWMA members. The Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America has their own annual conference, SleuthFest, held in July in Deerfield Beach.

Here I am with my husband Richard, then Sarah N. Fisk, Marlene Stringer, Al Pessin, and Elaine Viets.

Screenwriting Workshop

Saturday morning after a hot buffet breakfast, I went to a session on Screenwriting with speaker Jaimie Engle.

Here are some things I gleaned in summary. Any errors are my own:

Follow industry people on LinkedIn.

Enter screenwriting contests.

Action & Dialogue make up a screenplay. Story & Character are the focus of novels.

Specify isolated visual moments for action in a screenplay. Cut on an action and resume on an action. Go from Point A to Point B and let the viewer discern what happened in between. Story is told in between the shots.

Dialogue should have layered character nuances.

Have people say what they want to find out what they need.

Scene changes are location changes, and this costs money.

Start by figuring out:

Character needs or wish song
Theme
What’s the win?
Give it, take it away, then watch what happens.

What’s the win for the character if they get what they want? What happens if you take it away? Or if they get what they want, what else are they going to need next?

Workshop on Dialogue with Julie G. Murphy

Julie discussed how dialogue comes from the writer’s subconscious. It should be invisible, create tension and reveal character.

Royal Palm Literary Awards

The gala cocktail party and dinner took place on Saturday evening. My husband and I joined friends Al Pessin, Elaine Viets, and Daphne Nikolopoulos at a table. We had a delicious dinner while waiting for the ceremony to begin. Congratulations to Al, Elaine, and Daphne who all won awards. I am relegated to Finalist status for the third time in the mystery category.

Agent Panel

Sunday morning’s agent panel included Arielle Haughee, Marilyn Allen, Marlene Stringer, Sarah N. Fisk, Jae Worthy Johnson, and Stephanie Katz. I liked their advice that they look for “The Hook, The Book, and the Cook.” The hook is obvious. The Book is about the story and the writing mechanics. And the Cook is about the author. Why are you qualified to write this book and how do you plan to market it? If it’s nonfiction, have a one-liner tagline and offer comp titles that are recent and get good ratings on Amazon. Make the proposal interesting to read. Submission guidelines are on their sites.

Florida Writers Conference 2002 Highlights #FWACon2022 #writingcommunity Share on X

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FAPA Conference – Day Two

I continued to meet new people on Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Florida Authors and Publishers Association (FAPA) conference. Here I had a separate table to sell books in between workshops. Everyone was in the same room, and there was one track per hour, so nobody had to worry about choosing which panel to attend or running to another location.

Michael Joy and Raquel Reyes represented Florida Chapter of MWA at the conference.

First speaker of the day was Ava Doppelt, an intellectual property attorney, who spoke about copyright and trademark issues. She was followed by Tiffany Padgett from Ingram Content Group who told us about the different programs Ingram offers publishers and authors.

I particularly enjoyed Robert Macomber’s talk on Keeping Fans Engaged. He suggested authors bring readers inside the story by sharing your writing experiences, mistakes, and research adventures. Let them meet you in person via your author newsletter, Facebook page, and local reader events. Make your newsletter about your readers, too, such as showing a photo of a fan reading your book or getting your autograph at a signing. The goal, from what I gathered, is to engage your readers as much as possible.

Lunch was a buffet with Italian food and a delicious tiramisu for dessert.

Next it was my turn to speak on “First Class Marketing on a Coach Budget.” This consisted of a Power Point presentation and a 10-page handout.

The last session was by Tara Alemany on Road Map for Success. Then we divided into tables for an “Ask the Experts” Roundtable.

The awards banquet followed, beginning with a cocktail hour. After another buffet meal, we watched the mounted screens displaying the book covers for each award finalist. As our names were called, we went on stage to receive our medal. I received a gold medal for Writing the Cozy Mystery: Expanded Second Edition.

Below I am with my husband in photo one, and with Angelina Assanti, former FAPA president, in photo two.

See all my conference photos at https://www.facebook.com/NancyJCohenAuthor/

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FAPA Conference – Day One

Last weekend, I attended the Florida Authors and Publishers Association (FAPA) annual conference. It was held at the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace across from Disney Springs in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Outdoors is a beautiful pool area with a covered poolside restaurant and a lazy winding waterway for tube rafts. If you follow the paths, you can find the pedestrian overpass crossing to Disney Springs.

The hotel has a pleasant lobby on the third floor with a large bar/lounge area where you can get drinks and appetizers starting in late afternoon. Our first evening, we enjoyed glasses of wine and a crab cake appetizer. I skipped the Friday workshops so we could settle into our room and explore the environs.

Downstairs on the first floor is a sundry shop, a quick-service café offering coffee, sandwiches, ice cream and other snacks, and another small gift boutique. On this level is also a full service restaurant. Friday night, we ate here with the gang from the conference. I had a tasty pasta dish with shredded beef short ribs and mushrooms.

That evening was a welcome cocktail party for conference attendees with a cash bar. We met new friends and greeted authors we already knew, such as Melody and Barry Dimick, Robert N. Macomber, Jane R. Wood, Raquel Reyes and Michael Joy. Angelina Assanti, outgoing FAPA president, did a great job along with the conference committee of organizing the entire weekend event.

Below: Nancy with Michael Joy in first photo and Robert N. Macomber in second photo. See all my conference photos at https://www.facebook.com/NancyJCohenAuthor/

Coming Next: Day Two

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Malice Domestic 2019 – Day 2

Saturday at Malice Domestic mystery conference in Rockville, MD began early with the Sisters in Crime Breakfast at 7:30 am on May 4th. This is always a fun event with friends where we hear about what SinC is doing regarding its various programs. It’s a great organization to join for like minds and peer support.

Panels started at 9, but after sitting for a couple of hours, I needed to walk around. So I waited for my own panel at 10 am with the Agatha nominees for Best Nonfiction. Not all our candidates were present, but we had a nice discussion with Jane Cleland, myself, and Jane Ann Turzillo, with Judy Cater as moderator.

SinC breakfast — Maggie Toussaint and Nancy J. Cohen

nonfiction nominees — Nonfiction Nominees

More panels followed after lunch. Then it was time to get ready for the formal Agatha Awards banquet. It was fun to dress up for this momentous occasion. Unfortunately, I didn’t win, but Jane Cleland is very deserving of the award. I am happy to be forever an Agatha Award nominee, which is a great honor in itself. I am humbled to think how many friends voted to nominate Writing the Cozy Mystery, and I am grateful for their support. Here are some of us in our fancy outfits:

Banquet Table — Maggie Toussaint, Nancy & Richard Cohen

Nancy Cohen and Laura Durham — Laura Durham and Nancy J. Cohen

With Maggie Toussaint — Nancy J. Cohen and Maggie Toussaint

View All Photos on my Facebook page.

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