Ask-A-Pro Sessions

Registration for our popular Ask-a-Pro sessions will open again four to six weeks prior to our next event. Want to get first access to pro sessions? Make sure you register for NFWC early and reserve your consults before they’re all booked up!

About Ask-a-Pro Sessions

Many conferences of all kinds allow attendees to sign up for brief consultations with event speakers and experts. The pros are there to answer attendee questions and give as much guidance as possible in a short amount of time.

For the NFWC, we round up some top publishing industry experts including book editors, PR pros, marketing consultants and literary agents to offer complimentary consults to Gold and Platinum access attendees.


These sessions are a HUGE HIT with our attendees and pros alike!

“The presentations were packed full of practical, monetize-able writing ideas and “maps.” My eyes were opened to new worlds of online writing publications and resources that I’m confident will increase my income. The Ask-a-Pro sessions were worth the cost of admission alone! I received high-level, actionable feedback and advice for my books, speaking engagements, online courses, and website. The Nonfiction Writers Conference has set my writing business on a new trajectory!” – Lynn Hare, The Quest for Self-Forgiveness

“I thoroughly enjoyed the 8th annual Nonfiction Writers Conference. It exceeded my expectations. The sessions covered so much valuable information. I especially appreciated the Ask-A-Pro sessions. Before this I didn’t realize how badly I needed a conference like this one. Now I know what I’ve been missing. Thank you!” – Lucy Brummett

Excellent conference! No travel, fair price, and most important: Valuable info for writers in all aspects of writing and the business of writing at all stages of their careers. This is not a bunch of people just peddling their own businesses and services under the guise of a writers’ conference. I also highly recommend the private ask-a-pro sessions.” – Lori Shandle-Fox, Laughing IS Conceivable


How does it work?

Ask-a-Pro sessions last just 15-minutes and are conducted one-on-one between you and the pro—delivered via phone or Skype (the pro will call you during your scheduled time). This is not a sales pitch for either party. It’s an opportunity for NFWC attendees to ask questions and receive guidance from industry professionals.

What does it cost?

Ask-a-Pro is completely FREE for Gold, Platinum, and VIP attendees of NFWC! (Sorry, Live-access attendees are not allowed to participate.)

How many sessions are available?

Space is absolutely limited for our Ask-a-Pro sessions and they fill up fast. Most of our consultants have just a handful of appointment times available. So, if there is someone in particular you really want to meet with, be sure to sign up right away. Once the sessions are full, registration for Ask-a-Pro will be closed.

When do consults happen?

Consultations happen during the week of the conference. Some consults may happen concurrently during conference hours so plan accordingly.

REGISTRATION FOR ASK-A-PRO SESSIONS OPENS OCTOBER 2020

Gold, Platinum and VIP attendees receive instructions via email to reserve up to three consultation sessions with the pros. Make sure your register for the conference early since once the consulting sessions fill up, they’re gone for good!

Register for the Nonfiction Writers Conference

Meet the Past Pros – NFWC May 2020


Peter Bowerman, veteran commercial writer, is the self-published author of the three award-winning Well-Fed Writer titles (www.wellfedwriter.com), how-to “standards” on lucrative “commercial” freelancing. He chronicled his self-publishing success (100,000 copies of his books/ebooks in print and a full-time living for 10+ years) in the 2007 release (and its 2014 update—both multiple-award-winners): The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living. www.wellfedsp.com.

Since 2002, he has been a coach for commercial-writing startup and self-publishing ventures. In 2010, he launched the Title Tailor, providing publishers and self-publishing authors with help in creating book titles and back-cover copy (www.titletailor.com).

To maximize your 15-minute session with me, please visit http://www.wellfedsp.com/NFWC-Coach.html.


Stephanie Chandler - Tribe-Building for AuthorsStephanie Chandler is the author of several books including The Nonfiction Book Marketing Plan: Online and Offline Promotion Strategies to Build Your Audience and Sell More Books and Own your Niche: Hype-Free Internet Marketing Tactics to Establish Authority in Your Field and Promote Your Service-Based Business. Stephanie is also founder and CEO of the Nonfiction Authors Association, a vibrant educational community for experienced and aspiring writers, and the Nonfiction Writers Conference, an annual event conducted entirely online. A frequent speaker at business events and on the radio, she has been featured in Entrepreneur, BusinessWeek, and Wired magazine.


Writing doesn’t have to be that thing you’re always putting off and struggling with. Melinda Copp started The Writer’s Sherpa, LLC, to help nonfiction and memoir writers improve their craft and live their best writing life. Melinda has ghostwritten fifteen books and consulted on many others. She has an MFA in creative writing, and her work has been published in magazines, newspapers, and literary journals. As a developmental editor, Melinda helps her clients clarify their ideas, strengthen their writing, finish their projects, and feel good about the writing process. She offers free writing tips here:

https://www.writerssherparetreats.com/free-creative-writing-course/


Casey Demchak is an award-winning copywriter and a recognized expert at crafting engaging marketing materials for dozens of authors who have earned Amazon bestseller and international bestseller status. Casey helps his clients achieve these milestones by employing conversational copywriting techniques that use benefit-driven statements, emotion, and storytelling to motivate readers to buy books.

Casey is best known for his innovative approach to creating Core Message Platforms that serve as the “master messaging document” for your book. He is also author of the book, Essential Sales Writing Secrets.


Henry DeVries is the CEO (chief encouragement officer) of Indie Books International. Prior to that he helped double revenues as president of an Ad Age 500 marketing agency and was a vice president of marketing communications that doubled awareness for a $5 billion insurance company. After serving as adjunct marketing faculty and the assistant dean of continuing education at the University of California San Diego, he has been a ghostwriter, co-author, and publisher of more than 300 business books including his international best-selling book from McGraw-Hill, How to Close a Deal Like Warren Buffett, now in Chinese.


Teresa R. Funke is the embodiment of the modern artist/entrepreneur. She has authored and published seven award-winning books for adults and children set in World War II, including Dancing in Combat Boots and War on a Sunday Morning. And recently published her eighth book, Bursts of Brilliance for a Creative Life, based on her popular inspirational blog of the same name. Teresa is the owner of Victory House Press and Bursts of Brilliance® and has been a nationwide writer’s coach since 2005. She is also the creator of Self-Publishing Blueprint, the only tool you’ll need to self-publish successfully. Visit www.teresafunke.com to access additional writing resources or learn more about Teresa’s books, speaking, and coaching.


Cathy Fyock is The Business Book Strategist, and works with professionals and thought leaders who want to write a book as a business growth strategy. She is the author of nine books, including On Your Mark, Blog2Book, and her most recent, The Speaker Author: Sell More Books and Book More Speeches. Since starting her coaching practice in 2014 she’s helped more than 170 professionals become published authors.


Anne Janzer is an award-winning author, business writing coach, armchair cognitive science geek, marketing practitioner, and blogger. She’s on a mission to help people spread important ideas through writing. She’s author of four books, including The Writer’s Process and Writing to Be Understood. You can find her writing and online classes at annejanzer.com.


Mike Larsen is an author coach who loves helping writers understand and achieve their goals. Mike cofounded Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents, which sold books to more than a hundred publishers and imprints. Books: How to Write a Book Proposal, now in its fifth edition, coauthored by Jody Rein; How to Get a Literary Agent; Guerrilla Marketing for Writers (coauthor). His next book: Writing Success Guaranteed: How to Deal Yourself Five Hearts to Win the Publishing Game. You’ll get helpful info when you sign up. www.michaellarsenauthorcoaching.com


Dana Manciagli is the author of “Cut the Crap, Get a Job!” published by Authority Publishing in 2013 and available in paperback and an audiobook. Before the last seven years as a solopreneur, Dana spent 30 years in corporate America as a senior sales and marketing executive at IBM, Kodak, and, most recently, 12 years at Microsoft as general manager of worldwide sales.

Dana leveraged her background to build her “work of compassion” by helping hundreds of thousands to find their dream employment.


Joanne McCall helps nonfiction authors become Media Darlings so that media calls them. Her secret sauce is positioning, securing, and helping authors to deliver compelling interviews and capture media attention through the various media channels now available. On a first-name basis with hundreds of top-rung producers, editors, writers, and journalists, she secures coverage for clients including Brian Tracy, Ken Blanchard, Dave Ramsey, Geneen Roth, Dr. Donna Stoneham, The Deepak Chopra Center for Wellbeing, and the founder of NLP, Dr. Richard Bandler, and many others. Her Media Strategy Sessions help authors to become Media Darlings and her Media Finishing School gets them visible. www.joannemccall.com


An audiobook producer and narrator with 37+ years of experience in the industry and a passion to help great stories come alive, Becky Parker Geist is the owner of Pro Audio Voices. Typically working with passionate authors who are challenged in reaching their widest audience, the Pro Audio Voices team provides audiobook production, including complex and unusual projects, and the Audiobook Marketing Program. Committed to leadership, Becky serves as President of BAIPA and is a member of IBPA, APA (Audio Publishers Assn), NFAA, and SCBWI. Becky is the author of 5 titles, including Audiobook Toolkit for Authors.


Paula Rizzo is an Emmy-award winning television producer, best-selling author, and a media trainer and strategist. As a former senior health producer for Fox News Channel for more than a decade, she produced segments with a range of top experts, including JJ Virgin, Jillian Michaels, and Deepak Chopra. A media veteran for nearly 20 years, she also worked in local news in New York City as a producer for WCBS, WPIX, and WLNY. She coaches experts and executives to perform better on camera and produce their own videos.

She’s the founder of ListProducer.com and author of  Listful Thinking: Using Lists to be More  Productive, Highly Successful and Less Stressed and Listful Living: A List-Making Journey to a  Less Stressed You  . She’s also co-creator of Lights Camera Expert – an online course geared towards helping entrepreneurs, authors, and experts get media attention. She also teaches Become A Video Star– a virtual workshop that empowers experts to create their own compelling videos.


In 2000 Julie Schoerke founded JKS Communications, a book marketing and publicity firm. The firm with offices in Nashville, New Orleans and New York, has represented more than 1,200 book and more than 700 authors in all 50 US states and seven foreign countries. From New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors to debut authors and books in every fiction and non-fiction genre. The JKS team of (mainly) former journalists reach on average an audience of 3 million for fiction and 10 million for non-fiction authors through media placement. She is a frequent speaker around the country. She has served on the faculty for programs and retreats at University of Chicago, Sarah Lawrence College MFA program, from Virginia, Arizona, and Mississippi to the Poconos. She is committed to helping the industry become more transparent and accessible to authors and small publishers.


Rusty Shelton first spoke at Harvard on the changing world of PR and marketing at the age of 23. He is the Founder & Chairman of Zilker Media, publisher of ForbesBooks and co-author (alongside Adam Witty) of Authority Marketing: How to Leverage 7 Pillars of Thought Leadership to Make Competition Irrelevant (ForbesBooks, 2018) and co-author (alongside Barbara Cave Henricks) of Mastering the New Media Landscape: Embrace the Micromedia Mindset (Berrett-Koehler, 2016). An active keynote speaker, Rusty’s commentary on the changing world of PR and marketing has been featured in ForbesInc. MagazineWhartonHuff Post and many other top media outlets. Learn more at www.RustyShelton.comwww.ZilkerMedia.com or www.ForbesBooks.com.


Author Expert and Book Writing Coach Lisa Tener specializes in helping experts and enlightened entrepreneurs write and publish a compelling how-to book, self-help book or memoir—taking them step-by-step through her unique process. She teaches on the faculty of Harvard Medical School’s CME publishing course, at popular writers conferences and in her own private book writing courses. You’ve seen Lisa Tener’s clients on the Today Show, Oprah, CBS Early Show, Good Morning America, Fox News, CNN and in national publications. Her clients have signed 5- and 6-figure publishing deals with Random House, Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster, Scribner, Yale University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press and many other publishers, as well as self-publishing. She has been on ABC World News, PBS TV and been quoted in The New York Times, Glamour, USA Weekend, The Boston Globe, Providence Journal and so much more. She blogs on writing and publishing for the Huffington Post.

Lisa is a published author and creator of the American Business Award-winning Bring Your Book to Life® Program. She received her B.S. from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her and M.S. from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and studied writing under Frank Conroy, A.R. Gurney, Jr., Jean Valentine and other luminaries. Visit Lisa online where you can sign up for your free author toolkit and read her book writing blog.


Matt Ziranek is the Director of Author Website Design Agency– Rocket Expansion. He’s designed websites and delivered marketing services for Grammy Award winners and bestselling authors, as well as many other businesses in widely varying industries.

His agency has produced almost instant 7X daily growth in subscribers on their author client websites, thereby rapidly accelerating exposure and sales.


Register for the Nonfiction Writers Conference