Our objective:  give authors a social media promotion plan. Today, authors and writers are expected to promote themselves, regardless of the means by which they publish. We will review primary social media strategies such as blogging, Facebook, Twitter, as well as more specialized communities such as Goodreads, to educate authors on the ways these tools can be used to gain momentum, develop a loyal following, and increase book sales. We will bring in successful authors, book publicists, and social media experts. Our panel will evaluate the importance of social media in creating and maintaining a successful career in the rapidly changing publishing landscape.

The event will be hosted at the Wix Lounge, run by Wix.com. Wix is a free tool for small business owners, photographers, artists, entrepreneurs and other professionals who make or need high-quality websites. The experts at Wix will present different examples of free websites and Facebook pages that have been specifically designed for authors in the promotion of their work.

Panel Speakers Include:

• An Executive from GoodReads.com
• Ron Hogan, author and founder of Beatrice.com
• Rachel Fershleiser, Tumblr and Six-Word Memoirs 
• Amanda Pritzker, Senior Publicist at Penguin Group
• Emma Straub, Author of Other People We Married
• Kristin Gdula, Blogger turned Author