Panel

Panel
Monday, September 29, 2021

With the economy only beginning to recover from its worst moments since the Great Recession a decade ago, and with never-ending changes in technology and business models in both publishing and Hollywood, it’s more important than ever now for writers to know what agents want, and how they (and the industry) want it.

This month, TheWGroup will be presenting a stellar bi-coastal panel of top New York and Beverly Hills literary agents seeking writers.

Topics will include…

Moderator: Telly Davidson
Dara Hyde
Lynn Johnston
Alec Shane

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, June 28, 2021

Ghostwriting books for the business, academic, self-help, and biographical/memoir markets can be a lucrative way for someone with a firm skill set as a writer to establish their writing business, or just add an extra stream of income to fall back on. And almost every emerging journalist or movie/TV critic hopes to get a job as a “written with” on a celebrity or politician’s memoirs or book of ideas. So how do you go about it and get started? What’s involved, and how do you make your best impression?

This TheWGroup Panel of top experts will address all that and more, as some of America’s top “ghosts” come out into the open, and share some of their top trade secrets. Some of the topics we’ll be discussing include…

Moderator: Telly Davidson
Claudia Suzanne
Roberta Edgar
Michael Levin

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, May 19, 2021

Getting ready to take your book out to the world? Wonderful! Got questions about how to go about getting published? Such as whether to publish yourself or try for a traditional publisher, and what the steps are for each? Our experts will talk about these questions and more, and provide a number of handouts to help you take concrete steps to get your unique voice heard.

Specifics include…

Speakers:
Gerald Everett Jones
Ina Hillebrandt

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Wednesday, February 24, 2021 

Have your creative juices and energies dried up this past year? This month, we bring you a special program, starring the eminent Oakland-based career and personal coach and bestselling author, Dr Marty Nemko.

Marty Nemko has written 13 books — half for major publishers and half self-published, plus over 4,000 well-published articles.

How does he do it? He’ll tell all, and try to answer all your questions.

Our goal is for each of you to leave with at least one new idea for becoming more productive.

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Wednesday, January 27, 2021

For years, new writers of novels, biographies & memoirs, and nonfiction advice books have had to do a cost/benefit analysis — should we self-publish or partner with a small or specialty press to get our work out there — or should we try for an agent and a shot at the majors?

Now, with the rise of digital and streaming platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Vimeo, and the continued expansion of indie film and film festivals, aspiring filmmakers and TV content creators are faced with similar issues and opportunities:

• What are the pros and cons of going the independent, “self-published” route in indie film and digital TV?

• More

Moderator: Telly Davidson
Maggie Viale
Joel Eisenberg
Chris Redish
Matt Stoner
Jeff Porter

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Tuesday, October 27, 2020

“Dying is easy; comedy is difficult,” especially these days. 

But we persist because we can. From the farces of Feydeau, Baudelaire, and Wilde, on to George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Larry Gelbart, Terry Southern, Paddy Chayefsky, and Norman Lear, right on through to Dave Chappelle, Mindy Kaling, and Stephen Colbert today, blistering social satire and, yes, even a few organic laughs are necessary for our sanity.

How do we incorporate humor and zest to spice up our memoirs, novels, and screenplays (especially if they AREN’T straight up comedies)?

And more

Moderator: Gary Young

[To read more, click the title!]

Online Panel
Monday, May 18, 2020

Taking notes … doing homework … wading through reference books and endless websites … Research and fact-checking for writers has gotten a reputation for being the most boring and tedious part of writing  books and articles. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

This month we bring you and online panel about how to make “playing detective” interesting and exciting, and how to get the most useful information with the least wasted time.

Moderator and Panelist: Telly Davidson
Dr. Kelly Gardiner
Gerald Everett Jones

[To read more, click the title!]

Webinar
Monday, April 27, 2020

This month we present this online Webinar via Zoom as our monthly Seminar.

Best-selling author Lisa See has generously accepted our invitation to speak with us and answer our questions. She is a supremely gifted writer with a brilliant wealth of involving, enduring, and memorable stories.

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, February 24, 2020

Podcasting is not new, but 2019 was the year this medium really took off! In 2020, the number of podcasts are expected to grow even faster. According to PodcastHosting.org, January 2020 statistics show that there are over 820,000 podcasts and over 28 million episodes. 50% of American homes are podcast fans.

What is a podcast?
Basically it’s a series of audio files placed on the Internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device. While this sounds simple, there are a lot of steps involved in creating a quality podcast, making it available, and getting people to listen.

This month, we will present a panel of podcasters who have taken this new path to content delivery. They’ll share their experiences, tips, missteps and the secrets to creating a killer podcast series.

Moderator: Robin Quinn
A.G. Billig
Desireé Duffy
Herbie J Pilato
Gerald Everett Jones

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, January 27, 2020

To kick off the new year of 2020, TheWGroup/PALA is presenting a program to deal with taxes, starring a top Los Angeles area CPA and an attorney, to give advice on conducting our business as writers and publishers. And this year, California writers have a lot more on their plates than merely planning for their annual appointment with the IRS in April.

Moderator: Telly Davidson
Dmitriy Veli
Michael S. Klein

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, November 4, 2019

It’s time to tell the world about your book. The writing and publishing are done, or nearly so, and now your thinking is shifting towards publicity. What should you start doing? Is your vision 2020 for the coming year?

Moderator: Steven Sanchez
Emanuela Cariolagian
Kathleen Kaiser
Lee Wind
Desireé Duffy

[To read more, click the title!]

Monday, September 23, 2019

Jonathan Kirsch, a publishing and intellectual property attorney based in Los Angeles, updates LA publishers on the profound changes that are taking place in the publishing industry and what they mean for your publishing business.

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, July 29, 2019

Public radio veteran Kitty Felde will moderate and join a panel of professionals talk about writing for young audiences — picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and Young Adult (YA)

Moderator: Kitty Felde
Sherri L. Smith

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, June 24, 2019

What to know about creating an audiobook version of your book?

Have you wondered about the viability or value of creating an audio version of your book? Does your book lend itself to an audio version? Could it?

Whether you’ve already written and published your book or are still writing it, whether your words are fiction or nonfiction, the insights from our panel of professional voice actors can be of great benefit as you contemplate the possibility of turning it into an audio book.

Our panel, composed of professional and experienced voice actors and producers, will discuss

• The economics of producing an audio book
• How adding sound, music and studio tricks can make your audiobook pop
• If the voice in your mind is the voice heard on your audiobook

And, top voice actors will read some of your words so you can hear how gender, age and style can affect your written words

Bring your books and your questions so our great panel can provide information and answers that you need to know.

Moderator: Andre Stojka
Diane Michelle
Brenny Bravos
Marc Graue

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, April 29, 2019

For writers who wonder how to write a book that can be adapted to film, we bring you a panel of four experienced women to help you out.

What storytelling qualities help make a novel, biography/memoir, or news article a must-see for the screen, and how do you “boil down” your book to something movie-appropriate?

How a writer can best position his or her work for a screen option and get it read by Hollywood gatekeepers and decision makers?

Do self-published and small press authors carry professional credibility —  and if not, how do they establish it?

Our panel:
Nancy Ellen DoddWendy Kram
Wendy Kram

Sam Shaw
Tinker Lindsay

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, March 25, 2019

Everybody loves a mystery — but NOT everybody knows how to write one. That’s not a surprise since there are almost as many kinds of mystery novels as there are novels themselves.

From plot pacing to story structure to the eternal choice between plot-driven and character-driven fiction, our next panel for writers will address mystery novels.

Looking for clues on how to get started writing mysteries? Have a who-done-it in the trunk eager to escape?

Some of the topics our psychological autopsy will be focusing on…

Moderator: For now we’ll leave that as a mystery for you
April Smith
Patricia Smiley
David Putnam
Betty Hechtman

[To read more, click the title!]

Panel
Monday, January 28, 2019

Our writers’ group kicks off 2019 with a program designed specifically to help writers determine which path is the best (and the most profitable) for them in today’s world of traditional publishing, self-publishing, small presses, and online and E-books.

There will be plenty of lively discussion, questions taken from the audience, and a chance to network and connect after the program.

Moderator: Ina Hillebrandt
Colleen Dunn Bates
Sharon Goldinger

[To read more, click the title!]