The Purpose
- Practical training for you to learn to properly pitch and present your project to book publishing industry professionals, Hollywood, the media and others.
Who Is It For
- It's designed for Writers & Authors, Screenwriters & Scriptwriters like you.
What It Provides
- A safe space for you to develop the pitch and presentation for your project with the support of industry professionals. You will learn by doing it. You will give the presentations. The professionals will sit in the seats and listen and look. They will then provide guidance, feedback and direction for your pitch.
Why Take It
- To accomplish and live your vision, dream and goal of becoming a bestselling published and produced Author, Screenwriter or Playwright.
What's The Result?
- As a writer, you will be equipped to pitch your project to get published, turn it into a film or TV series, and be able to talk about it confidently with the media, during a sudden meeting with an agent, publisher or producer or in any conversation with anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Who are the professionals you get to work with?
The Next Bestseller™ Workshop provides access to seasoned industry experts who will train you to pitch your project and how to fashion your hooks to engage the attention of the decision makers.
The Next Bestseller™ Workshop was created as a response to something that is missing in the vast publishing and entertainment industry conferences, festivals, seminars, trainings and resources we're all providing. It is something that has been repeated over and over again by agents, producers and publishers and reiterated by professionals across the book and entertainment industries.
The time has come to provide a specific resource that is focused on training writers to present their projects properly and professionally to the decision makers so everyone can succeed.
Agents, publishers and producers are still hungry for good books, scripts and screenplays to publish, sell and produce. Writers want to get published with their carefully crafted books that they've spent quality time writing. Similarly, screen/script writers want to have their works produced.
If the only thing standing between you and the agents, publishers and producers who want your book or project is your pitch and presentation, doesn't it make sense then that we as professionals can help you gain a tremendous advantage by perfecting your pitch and presentation with us during The Next Bestseller™ Workshop?
Schedule
FRIDAY
6:00PM-6:30PM - Welcome + Registration
6:30-9:30PM - Introducing Yourself
This is a mini-workshop about introducing yourself and also learning how to be present and attentive during the very few minutes a writer has when talking with industry professionals and others during different types of opportunities to talk about your project such as a wedding, funeral, special event or networking meet up.
SATURDAY
9:30–10:30AM - Mini-Workshop: Why Should They Listen to You?
Learn to speak about your project, your qualifications and yourself with clarity, authenticity and purpose. Connect with your audience so they listen to your message and feel the importance of it that you want them to feel. Find out how to use your posture, gestures, facial expressions and voice to enhance your message and hold your audience’s attention. Techniques for remembering what you want to say and managing nervousness will also be discussed.
11:00AM-3:00PM - Practice Your Pitch With the Pros
Each participant will give the trainers a 1-minute dissertation about their project. You will be timed, and you will be cut off at 1 minute. The training industry panel will then provide feedback for each individual participant following their 1-minute presentation about their project — identifying what worked and what didn’t and tips to help the participant adjust it. We will work through all participants on Saturday with a 1-hour lunch break.
3:00-4:00PM - How to Catch a Literary Agent’s Eye
Learn literary do’s and don’ts when dialoging with a literary agent about your project. Techniques for having a conversation beyond the pitch will also be discussed.
4:00-5:00PM - The Secrets to a Successful Hollywood Pitch
Hob-nobbing with the Hollywood set? Discover how to make a fast impression with a well-developed pitch for producers and developers of film and television projects. Understand how to engage the short attention spans of these industry pros and set your project apart from the zillions they are bombarded with each day. Includes tips for how to sell your project in a single sentence.
5:15-6:15pm - Mini-Workshop: Demystifying Social Media: Creating Your Social Calendar
Social media can be overwhelming. Really overwhelming. But it can also bring your book and project marketing to the next level – the level of the next bestseller. Think your 14-year old can manage your social media presence? Think again.
In this 60-minute workshop, evaluate the major social media platforms (think Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and a blog) through an interactive discussion and discover what you should post about, how often you should post, how to track and measure success, and how to make the most of your time. Gain the social media know-how to get you on the right path by learning simple tips and tricks to get you working smarter, not harder, on your social media.
6:45-8:30PM - Best-Selling Author/Scriptwriter Roundtable Discussion
This evening event will be after a short dinner break (45 minutes) and will start around 7 pm for 90 minutes. It will include 3–4 best-selling authors, screenplay or scriptwriters from various genres with nonfiction, fiction and children’s books or projects. This will include a 10-minute interview with each writer about how they became a best-selling writer, how they maintain their bestseller status, and 2 tips they can share with the participants from their journeys of being a bestseller. The roundtable will then open for participants to have an open discussion with these writers where you will be able to ask questions and learn more about a best-selling writing career from these authors.
SUNDAY
9:30–10:30AM - Mini-Workshop: Online PR, Press Kits + Publicity: How to Create Buzz for Your Book or Project
Discover how to motivate the media to create buzz for your book and project! In this session filled with actionable tips and techniques, you’ll learn why PR is one of the quickest, most effective, and enduring tools for accelerating your visibility in the market. Find out how agencies and publicists work, when you need one – and when you don’t. Learn about the latest tools writers need to get the media’s attention, how to position yourself or your story for media coverage, and how to create your online Press Room, press releases and social media campaigns. A special guest trainer will be online for this session you won’t want to miss!
10:45–11:45AM - Television: Pitches for Scripted & Unscripted Projects
Demystify the protocol for pitching scripted and unscripted projects for television. Gain insights into what a television producer/developer really wants to hear about your project and what materials you need to prepare in order to properly pitch it.
11:45AM–1:00PM - Peer-to-Peer Pitch Session/VIP Sessions/Lunch
After hearing the feedback from Saturday’s session with the trainers, having the discussion with the best-selling authors and writers on Saturday night, and going through the mini-workshops with Jennifer and the other trainers, this is the participants’ opportunity to revise and practice their 1-minute pitch with their peers. It gives participants a chance to coach each other and listen to how the pitches are changing based on what each of you has learned (core trainers will be in the room to assist participants).
1:15–2:00PM - Mini-Workshop: Search Engine Optimization: How to Make Google® Work For You
Master the art of visibility by understanding how to leverage search engine optimization techniques. Learn how to appear on the first page of Google®, how to breakthrough the clutter on Facebook, and why it pays for you as an author and writer to grasp the insights required for you to drive readers, Hollywood and the media to your books and projects.
2:00-6:30PM - Industry Guest Session
This is a unique opportunity for participants to address a group of up to 20 professionals from the book publishing, film, television, Broadway, speaking and media industries including literary agents, publishers, publicists, editors, booksellers, speaker bureau reps, media interviewers, Hollywood film and television producers and others who will listen to each participant's 1-minute answer to the question “So what’s your book or project about?” and provide feedback for the participants (at least 5 or more will give feedback for each participant) about what worked and what didn’t. Each participant’s 1-minute presentation will be videotaped. At the end of all participants' 1-minute presentations and feedback, we will have a roundtable discussion with the industry professionals, with each one sharing their tips for how participants can best approach them with their projects and anything each professional would like to offer participants as a next step (based on what they’ve just heard from them). Participants will also have an opportunity to ask questions during this time.
6:30-7:00PM - Wrap Up
