Join us on Zoom for Getting the Best Bang for Your Book, an all-day book workshop hosted by Sisters in Crime Northern California and emceed by author Mariella Krause (AKA Marla Cooper). All registered attendees will receive access to the video recordings after the workshop!
The workshop will include:
- 9 AM: Introduction
- 9:15 AM: Book Promotion 101 – Insights from writing coach and marketing practitioner Anne Janzer
- 10:30 AM: How I Succeeded at Book Promotion – Panel discussion featuring traditionally and independently-published authors Rhys Bowen, Heather Haven, Naomi Hirahara, and Sheldon Siegel
- 11:45 AM: Author Newsletters – Deep dive with Gigi Pandian and Michelle Chouinard
- 1 PM: Ads for Writers – learn how to create an ad on BookBub, Facebook, and Amazon platforms – Deep dive with Alec Peche
- 2:15 PM: How to Build a Book Trailer – Deep dive with Lisa Towles
There will be time for breaks and questions.
COST: $35 for members and non-members.
Panelists (in alphabetical order):
Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of both historical mysteries and historical novels. She writes the Molly Murphy novels, set in early nineteen hundreds New York City, the Royal Spyness stories featuring a minor royal in the 1930s and several internationally bestselling stand alone novels, including the latest, The Venice Sketchbook. Her work has been translated into twenty-nine languages to date and she has won twenty awards, including several Agathas, Anthonys and Macavities. Rhys is a transplanted Brit who divides her time between California and Arizona.
M.M. Chouinard is the USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon Charts bestselling author behind The Vacation, a standalone psychological thriller, and the Detective Jo Fournier series, featuring The Dancing Girls, Taken to the Grave, and Her Daughter’s Cry. She has a Ph.D in research psychology from Stanford, and was one of the founding faculty members of the University of California, Merced. She loves coffee, chocolate, bullet journaling, crafting, genealogy, tarot cards, and anything to do with Halloween and the zombie apocalypse.
Back in the Punic Wars, Heather Haven wrote ad copy, comedy acts, and had several plays performed in NYC. Her novels include the Silicon Valley-based Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, Manhattan-based Persephone Cole Vintage Mysteries, Love Can Be Murder Mysteries, Snow Lake Romantic Suspense, and standalone Murder under the Big Top, inspired by her mother’s stint as a performer with Ringling Brothers’ Circus. Just to break up the monotony, her short stories are featured in Corliss and Other Award-Winning Stories. She and her husband are allowed to live in the foothills of San Jose, California, with their cat, Ellie.
Naomi Hirahara is the Edgar Award-winning author of both traditional mystery series and the historical novel Clark and Division, which was published in August by Soho Crime. The Japanese translation of her final Mas Arai book, Hiroshima Boy, was also released in August in Japan.
Anne Janzer is the author of several award-winning books about writing and marketing, including The Writer’s Process, Subscription Marketing, and Writing to Be Understood. She also brings her marketing experience to the world of authorship, offering advice and webinars for authors on building their platforms and promoting their works. Find her blog posts, books, and webinars at AnneJanzer.com. She’s an avid mystery reader and lives on the Central Coast of California.
Mariella Krause is a part-time mystery author, full-time advertising copywriter, and freshly minted adjunct professor. It was while ghostwriting a guide to destination weddings that she found inspiration for the Kelsey McKenna Destination Wedding Mysteries. Mariella lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and three cats, and when she isn’t teaching advertising copy and layout at Texas State University, you can find her working on her young adult horror novel. Thanks to the pandemic, Mariella no longer looks like her bio picture.
Gigi Pandian is the USA Today bestselling and multiple award-winning author of the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries, the Accidental Alchemist mysteries, and locked-room mystery short stories. Her works have won Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Derringer awards, and her debut novel was awarded the Malice Domestic Grant. She’s the child of professors from New Mexico and the southern tip of India, and spent her childhood traveling around the world on their research trips. She now lives in Northern California. Under Lock & Skeleton Key is the first in her new series coming soon from St. Martin’s Minotaur.
Alec Peche is the Indie author of 18 books split across three series. Alec just completed three years of service with the Sisters in Crime National Board as Chapter Liaison. She’s a member of the Coastal Cruisers and NorCal Chapters.
Sheldon Siegel is the New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon best-selling author of twelve legal thrillers featuring San Francisco criminal defense attorneys Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez. His books have been translated into a dozen languages and sold millions of copies. After publishing seven books traditionally, Sheldon reacquired the rights to his backlist and re-edited and republished them himself in print, e-book, and audio. He has subsequently published six more titles independently and is one of the biggest selling authors in the indie space. Sheldon is a past President of the Northern California chapter of the Mystery Writers of America and an active member of Sisters in Crime. He lives in Marin with his wife, Linda, and a tabby cat named Betty. His twelfth novel, Final Out, was released in January. He is working on his next novel.
Lisa Towles has six mystery/thrillers in print and 95, her latest, will be published in November 2021. Her 2019 thriller, The Unseen, was the winner of the NYC Big Book Awards in Crime Fiction, and was a finalist in the Thriller category of the Best Book Awards by American Book Fest. Her 2017 thriller Choke won a 2017 IPPY and a 2018 NYC Big Book Award for Thriller. Lisa is an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She has an MBA in IT Management and works full-time in the tech industry in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lisa is also a passionate graphic designer and video creator.