Workshop key: (B) = Business, (C) = Craft
Bringing your Author Brand to Life (B)
Eileen Mueller
Keep your readers coming back for more! Create a brand that resonates with your readers and makes you and your books irresistible. You are unique. There are readers searching for the escape you provide. Identify your voice and the emotional connection you want with your readers. Integrate that into your reader’s experience. A dynamic workshop with audience participation. Worksheets provided. Come ready to dig deep and explore. Applicable to authors who write in one genre or many genres.
Kindle Trends 2025–2026 (B)
Nat Connors
Using Kindletrends data, this talk will show which tropes, settings, characters and themes have been popular in bestselling romance titles, month-by-month, for 2025/2026. We’ll go into detail about some different romance subgenres, and look at tropes indicated in cover art, as well as in blurbs and titles. This data shows something surprising and maybe controversial: romance genres aren’t as ‘trendy’ as we think, and popular elements tend to stay popular. I argue that it’s the ‘micro’ level of how a popular trope is implemented within a romance genre/subgenre that changes – so instead of asking ‘what’s the next big trend?’, we should frame the question as ‘how are classic story elements going to be interpreted next?’ Answering this question will be of interest both to new authors, and to experienced authors looking to keep the presentation of their backlist current and appealing to readers.
Writing for $uccess (B)
Sarah Williams
Dialog with Snap, Sizzle and Pop (C)
Amy Blythe
Great dialogue serves characterisation, pacing, plot and voice, but how do authors turn plodding conversations into effective and surprising banter? Make your character’s words do double (or even triple duty) in this practical workshop.
Covers and Comp Titles: Maximising Market Success (B)
Holly Dunn
Getting your cover right in this day and age is part art, part science. Yes, it needs to be beautiful, but it also has to fit within the market so that when the right reader sees it, they know it’s the book for them. Finding comparative titles for book design is so important, yet many authors struggle with it. This workshop aims to demystify that process and give you a step-by-step guide to finding comps so that you and your book designer can create a cover that won’t just look pretty, but will sell your book.
The Aligned Author, Designing Your Writing Life (B)
Rosie Evelyn
As writers, we wear many hats. We balance writing, editing, publishing, and marketing, alongside day-jobs, caregiving, and personal lives. It’s easy to feel pulled in a million different directions and to lose sight of what really matters.
This interactive workshop introduces the VIP (Values, Identities, Priorities) framework to help turn chaos into clarity. Participants will identify what matters most in the current season of life, align their writing and publishing goals with their wider responsibilities, and learn how to prioritise the mahi that will genuinely move them forward.
Includes guided exercises and a practical workbook.
Creating an Immersive Reader Experience (C)
Eileen Mueller
Create superfans by turning your books into an immersive reading experience. Strengthen your voice and cut out unwanted barriers to your reader living your books as adventures. Eileen’s reviewers often make similar statements: “Played like a movie in my mind.” “You’ll find yourself wanting to grab a sword or bow and fight alongside the characters.” Eileen shares her best editing tips so your readers will become immersed in your stories.
Business Basics for New Authors (B)
Lynda Tomalin
Being an independent author is much more than just writing the books. It’s running a business. This workshop is an introduction for authors into the business side of indie publishing. Ideal for indie authors in the early stages of their careers (or prepublication) who want to get more organised and streamlined in their publishing business. We’ll discuss record keeping, task lists and templates, financial records, sales tracking, marketing assets and metadata along with some tools to help you on your author journey.
The Successful Author Mindset (B)
SPA Girls (Panel with Susan Sims)
Success as an independent author requires more than writing a great book. It demands resilience, adaptability, confidence, and the ability to think like both a creator and an entrepreneur. In this engaging panel we’ll discuss practical strategies for staying motivated, navigating setbacks, making confident publishing decisions, and balancing creativity with business. Whether you’re preparing to publish your first book or looking to grow your author career, this session will help you develop the habits, perspective, and confidence needed to thrive in today’s publishing landscape.
Love Without Borders: A Practical Guide to Foreign Translations (B)
Bronwen Evans
Ever wondered how to take your romance novel global? 🌍 Foreign translations explained.
This practical, myth-busting workshop demystifies foreign translations and shows romance authors how to expand into international markets with confidence. Learn how to find and vet reliable translators and proofers, the ins and outs of AI in translations, understand realistic costs and budgets, marketing and choosing the right approach for the best financial payoff.
We’ll cover what works for foreign covers and titles, which romance markets perform best internationally, and how to match books and subgenres to the right languages. Honest, actionable, and business-focused, this session gives you a clear roadmap to take your stories global — professionally, strategically, and profitably.
Use Theme Like A Queen (C)
Shannon Curtis
You’ll learn:
- How to decode what your story’s theme is;
- How to use theme to develop plot;
- How to enhance it by threading it through secondary plot lines with subtlety and precision;
- How to use secondary characters as theme foils and theme magnifiers;
- How to use theme foils and theme magnifiers to further develop internal conflict and transformation for heroic characters;
- How to deliver an emotionally-justified, swoon-worthy read by pulling those theme threads together.
From Sketch to Soul: Developing Characters and Settings that Feel Real (C)
Vianne Max
Bring your stories to life in this creative workshop designed for writers who want richer characters and immersive settings. Through guided exercises, sensory mapping, character exploration, and real-world observation techniques, learn how to craft motivations, flaws, backstories, and environments that feel authentic and lived-in. Explore how place shapes personality, how history influences behaviour, and how small, specific details create emotional truth. Leave with practical tools, fresh inspiration, and story-ready sketches you can immediately expand into compelling fiction that readers will fall in love with.