A Day with
Jane Friedman,
Publishing Expert

 (General meeting begins at 9 AM, speaker presentation is at 11 AM, after Q&A, networking time, introductions & announcements). Then afternoon workshop from 1-3 PM. Scroll down for details and to register.

(Click here for the schedule for the day)

Current BAIPA members must log in first to get a free ticket to the morning session and a discounted ticket for the afternoon workshop. Then come back to this page.

MORNING PRESENTATION:
Learn how to better design and optimize your author website to support both book sales and your long-term career

Whether your website is one day old or ten years old, you want to make sure the resources you’ve put into your site will pay off with more sales and more opportunities for your career. Learn about best practices for design and content, the most important areas to focus on (what do visitors see first or most often—and how can you take advantage of that?), and valuable search engine optimization strategies to help grow readership.

1. Learn how to improve the design and impact of your website’s homepage—do you have the key elements accounted for?
2. Avoid the biggest website mistakes that sabotage effectiveness.
3. Understand the basics of search engine optimization (no technical knowledge required) and how SEO can help your visibility to your target audience.

AFTERNOON WORKSHOP (1-3 PM):
The Magical Marketing Trifecta: Author Website + Email Newsletter + Social Media

Most published authors have some kind of online presence, including a website and email newsletter or Facebook page, but they don’t have a clue what it means to develop a cohesive content strategy that uses them all. For writers who want to see their online activity pay off, then it requires some high-level and strategic thinking about who that writing is meant to reach and who you want to attract over the long term. This session will look at key strategies and principles for using your website, online writing (blogging), email, and social media in concert with each other to better reach and engage readers, both new and old.

1.  Learn how to better optimize your branding and messaging in an online environment, and use the language of readers to help your efforts.
2. Gain insight into the best practices of online writing, especially headline writing, and how to get attention for what you write and post online.
3. Learn how to quantify your activity on social media, analyze its impact, and make the best choices for the short term and long term.
4. Avoid common email marketing mistakes and how to better engage the subscribers you have (and get new ones).

About the Speaker

Jane Friedman has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in digital media strategy for authors and publishers. She’s the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and has previously worked for F+W Media and the Virginia Quarterly Review. She has been interviewed and featured by NPR, PBS, CBS, The Washington Post, the National Press Club and many other outlets; and her speaking engagements have taken her around the world to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Dubai, and the Caribbean.

In addition to being a columnist with Publishers Weekly and a professor with The Great Courses, Jane maintains an award-winning blog for writers at JaneFriedman.com. Jane has delivered keynotes and presentations on the digital era of authorship at major industry events, including the Writer’s Digest annual conference, The Muse & The Marketplace, Frankfurt Book Fair, BookExpo America and Digital Book World. She’s also served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, and has held positions as a professor of writing, media, and publishing at the University of Cincinnati and University of Virginia. In collaboration with The Authors Guild, she wrote The Authors Guild Guide to E-Publishing.

Jane’s newest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press, 2018).

Questions about registration: Please reach out to [email protected]g.