Event Description
According to Andre Schiffrin, former head of Pantheon Books, “The publishing world has been through more changes in the past 10 to 15 years than it had in the 100 years before that.” And that’s putting it mildly.
Today, E-books, Kindle, and iPad literature apps are poised to “take over” hardcover book publishing as we know it. What new opportunities – and pitfalls – does this present? How has the change from emphasizing professional career authors (e.g., Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates) to “overnight superstar” reality-TV and celebrity authors changed what – and WHO – editors and agents are looking for? How have the new electronic platforms affected self- and small-press publishing – and how will authors and writers make their living in this brave new world?
With the demise of Borders and Blockbuster, the continued downsizing and “rebootings” of iconic magazines like Newsweek, Variety, and US News & World Report, and turmoil at the remaining major publishing houses – even as the four-year-old Great Recession finally shows signs of beginning to lift – it is more important than ever to find out how to advocate for yourself, how writers will be able to make a living, and how to navigate these game-changers in the
24-hour spin cycle that is today’s publishing world.
This panel includes top names from every aspect of the industry, from literary agents and booksellers to publicists and social-media coaches and self-publishing gurus (and we’ll be following up on April 29th, of course, with our annual AGENTS PANEL!).
Panelists
Top literary agent TONI LOPOPOLO has a book publishing resume that began in 1970 in the publicity dept of Bantam Books where she helped publicize such authors as Philip Roth, Barbara Cartland, Louis L’Amour, and Isaac Asimov. As paperback marketing director at Houghton Mifflin, Toni supervised campaigns including “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” by Tom Robbins. As Executive Editor at both Macmillan and later St. Martins, she published Judy Mazel’s “Beverly Hills Diet and “Elvis ’56,” memoirs by Hollywood legends Elsa Lanchester and Fay Wray, and popular best-selling women’s fiction by Barbara Raskin and Kate Coscarelli. Her literary agency founded in 1991, Toni Lopopolo Literary Management, has made deals for authors such as Sol Stein, Shelly Lowenkopf, Lee Silber, Nancy Baer and Steve Duno; gritty Chicano noir mystery-writer Manuel Ramos; and romance authors Jeannette Baker and Flo Fitzgerald. Toni conducts “Fiction Bootcamp Intensives” for first-time novelists, and memoir workshops using creative nonfiction writing techniques. She coaches clients to create irresistible pitches and book proposals, has lectured on “The Ten Most Common Mistakes First Novelists Make,” and hosts the exclusive “Tea With Toni” master classes. She is a regular panelist at the Santa Barbara International Writers Conference.
Her website is lopopololiterary.com.
CLIFF CARLE IWOSC’s resident “Zen Master of Words,” has taken books deemed “unmarketable” by agents and publishers and helped transform them into moneymakers, in both fiction and nonfiction. His track record includes supervising over 400 books as a publishing consultant and freelance editor, placing many at prestigious houses like Rodale and Hay House. His former publishing firm, CCC Publications, specialized in self-help and humor, generating several bestsellers. He has also written over 20 books of hi s own; and maintains the WordPress.com blog, “Serious Comedy.” Cliff specializes in assisting authors through all aspects of the editorial process and marketing, for both traditionally published and self-published/small press titles, and has referred author clients to agents and trade publishers. He offers a free 15-minute phone consultation for all IWOSC members and guests to answer questions about a particular project or the publishing process. He recently self-published two e-books: “Brilliant Answers for Everyday Questions” and “Killer Voicemail: Funny, Clever & Laugh-Out-Loud Messages.”
His website is cliffcarle.
MONICA FAULKNER has been an editor and publishing consultant for more than 20 years. Her clients have included authors in virtually all genres of fiction, nonfiction, and screenwriting, and she regularly works with top literary agents and publishers on fine-tuning books and proposals. Monica specializes in providing a full range of consulting services, from manuscript development and editing to production management, marketing and promotion, to writers who prefer to take the independent publishing route. She works with corporate and business clients on sales and marketing materials (especially books for promotional purposes), Web content, and the development of speaking and consulting careers. A published journalist and writer herself, Monica coauthored “The Ideal Entrepreneurial Business for You” (Wiley) and is the former executive editor of Writers Lifeline, a division of the LA–based literary management firm AEI. A frequent presenter at writers groups and conferences, she is a long-time IWOSC member.
You can learn about her here and see her recent post on what makes agents tick at in this post, stalking-the-elusive-literary-agent.
SHANE PANGBURN is Publicity and Community Relations Manager at Barnes & Noble on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, in charge of in-store signings and events and outside sales. Originally from Illinois, he has worked at Barnes & Noble for over six years. The prolific Pangburn has completed several plays and screenplays, a novel, and hundreds of comics and published illustrations.
His website is shanepang.
ELLEN REID, President & CEO of Ellen Reid’s Book Shepherding™, is an expert on the art of self- and independent-publishing excellence. With over 15 years of in-the-trenches experience, she specializes in working with authors who want to start their own publishing companies and want to produce outstanding books that stand proudly next to those from mainstream houses. Thanks to her background in the film industry, advertising, and marketing, she has developed key insights that allow her to guide her creative teams in creating books that consistently exceed client expectations. In addition to amassing a faithful following of more-than-satisfied clients, Ellen has published her own award-winning book, “Putting Your Best Book Forward: Book Shepherd’s secrets to producing award-winning books that sell,” and has been recognized with the prestigious Beverly Hills Premier Book Consultant award four years running.
Her website is indiebookexpert.
Moderator TELLY DAVIDSON is author of the acclaimed media tie-in book “TV’s Grooviest Variety Shows,” cited as a Book of the Year by the TV Academy, and the forthcoming satirical novel “Pop Culture.” For two years he was senior “Culture Columnist” for David Frum’s enormously popular FrumForum.com, and his writing has appeared in over a dozen commercial publications and websites including AllAboutJazz, FilmStew, YahooMovies, the Los Angeles Daily News, Entertainment Today, and on the TV specials “Pioneers of Television,” “Most Outrageous Game Show Moments,” and as associate producer for KCET’s “The WRITE Environment.” Currently Telly is working with veteran film producers’ representative Jeff Porter in acquisitions and research for his company, Porter Pictures. Telly is a proud and active member of IWOSC and PEN-USA, having hosted or served on several IWOSC panels including “Books-to-Film,” “Biographies & Memoirs,” and earlier “Future of Publishing” programs.