Serena regularly speaks at local and national writer’s conferences. If you are interested in Serena speaking at your group or conference, contact her here. Current workshops include:

The Long Tail of Publishing:
Why does Nora Robert get three shelves (or more) at the local Barnes and Noble and they barely carry your new release for a month? Why won’t they carry your backlist? They follow the brick and mortar sales model that dictates 80% of the sales comes from 20% of the inventory (better known as the bestseller list). Did you know that model of sales is losing relevance? Going the way of the dinosaur? Have you heard of The Long Tail in economics? Do you understand what filters and niches are? If you want to know how to compete in today’s changing market, then this workshop is a MUST for any writer wanting to be competitive in today’s landscape. (Serena presented this workshop in October 2009 for Emerald City Writer’s Conference.) and will be presenting it in July 2010 for the National RWA conference in Nashville, TN.

Marketing and Promo 201:
Before you can create an effective promotional plan, it’s important to know what kind of promoter you will be. Are you homey and hands-on? Do you live to troll the internet and comment on everyone’s blog? This workshop helps differentiate what tools of promotion will work for you, based on your personality and skill set. Also, learn to identify people HUB’s and networks to promote within, getting the most out of your time and attention.

Writing YA: Hollywood Style:
Why do teens act the way they do? How are they wired? This workshop reviews how the teenage brain develops to offer YA writers extra insight into writing for teens. Also reviewed are common YA plot goals with examples from teen movies followed by common character goals.