The market for stories is much bigger than books as we view them in their traditional sense. Just as ebooks disrupted the print market, the storytelling industry has new disruptors. This session will introduce some of the newer formats that authors are using to distribute their work (e.g, chat, interactive and gamified stories) and will analyze the trajectories of several platforms that have been around for a few years or more (e.g., Radish, Tap by Wattpad, Hooked, Choice of Games, etc.). This session will be part commentary and emerging industry analysis, part overview of the submission process, and intel culled from interviewing current authors.

Marketing can be a publisher’s biggest strength or weakness—with some books seemingly pre-destined for bestseller status, while others disappear into mid-list obscurity. In this session, Guy LeCharles Gonzalez—Writer’s Digest‘s former publisher and marketing director—moderates an interactive panel discussion featuring professional marketers who will discuss what they really do—and don’t do—for their books and authors; identify the most effective aspects of an author’s platform; and highlight some of their favorite success stories.