The BlogU blog conference taking place from June 6-8th, 2014 has a great selection of sessions to choose from. Here are the details on the two sessions I am a part of. To see detailed descriptions of all the courses offered, CLICK HERE. For full conference information, CLICK HERE.

Session Name:
From Blog to Book

An interactive discussion that guides you through three main factors in transitioning from blogger to published author, followed by an extended Q&A period.

Building Your Platform: Setting goals, creating an online presence that appeals to readers as well as literary agents and publishing houses, cultivating a loyal audience, and staying engaged with your blog fan base while working on your manuscript.
Getting Published: How to decide whether self-publishing or traditional publishing is right for you, what literary agents and publishers are looking for, how to query a literary agent, how to choose your agent, and understanding the steps to being self- and traditionally published.
Marketing: The marketing responsibilities of the author in both self-published and traditionally published scenarios, creative ways to market your book, and keeping your book in the limelight without wearing out your welcome.
Q&A

Panelists:

Karen Alpert of Baby Sideburns made the New York Times Best-Seller’s list with her first self-published book, I Heart My Little A-Holes, in the first week it was out. Her book has recently been bought by HarperCollins and will be reissued in April 2014. Karen has over 158,000 Facebook fans, won multiple humor and parenting blog awards, and is filled with both charm and terrible, terrible curse words. She lives with her two amazing kiddos and a very forgiving husband who is kind enough not to call her Cousin It when she undresses for bed every night.

Jen of People I Want to Punch in the Throat is the author of Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat, and the publisher, editor, and contributor to I Just Want to Pee Alone and I Just Want to Be Alone. She has two books coming out from Random House in 2014 and 2015. She has been featured on The Huffington Post, Babble, and Headline News. The various awards that she’s received include such keepers as BlogHer 2012 & 2013 Voice of the Year, Circle of Moms Top 25 Funniest Mom Blogs 2012 & 2013, Circle of Moms Top 25 Book Author Moms, and Cutest Blog Award (this one was sent to her accidentally and has since been rescinded, since her blog looks like crap). Find her on Facebook.

Kim Bongiorno of Let Me Start By Saying writes for In The Powder Room, NickMom, The Huffington Post, Mamalode, plus various other websites; is the author of a 5-star rated fiction collection, Part of My World: Short Stories; has been published in multiple anthologies, including I Just Want to Be Alone, “You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth” and Other Things You’ll Only Hear from Your Friends in The Powder Room, I Just Want to Pee Alone, and Fifty Shades of Funny; recently completed her first YA manuscript; and is a 2013 BlogHer Voice of the Year. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and more.

Session Name: How to Be a Better Writer

The best blog posts, articles, and essays are more than just written; they are crafted. This panel will review the mechanics of writing well, honing your unique voice, and editing your work into the best it can be. Attendees will see step-by-step how one panelist’s scratched-down idea was worked into post that went viral.

1. Mechanics: Grammar, structure, and composition are the tools you use to make your message clear. Great resources for writers online, in print, and in communities. 2. Voice: Finding your voice and allowing your personality to shine in your work, no matter the venue; using phrasing and style to your advantage; finding writing inspiration that brings out the best in you. 3. Editing: The process of self-editing; the world of constructive criticism; turning an idea into a crafted piece. 4. Q&A: Attendees are encouraged to bring in any questions related to the session topic. Panelists: Nicole Leigh Shaw consistently wonders, “Why did I come into this room?” Once upon a time she was a mostly serious news journalist, an accidental magazine columnist, and a mediocre editor. Now she funnels an enthusiasm for meeting minimum requirements into her blog, Ninja Mom, and finding pairs of socks for her kids that kind of match. With four kids under age eight (two are twins), she can say with confidence that she’s finally gotten the hang of this birth control thing: Facebook. Because one cannot procreate and update statuses at the same time. Like her Facebook page and follow her on her back-up birth control, Twitter. If that’s not enough, add her Google profile, or her Ninja Mom Blog Google Page, to your circles!

Allison Hart writes the humorous and (sometimes brutally) honest blog Motherhood, WTF? She’s “the mom who makes you feel better about your parenting.” She does this by saying the things that other moms have the good sense to only think. Allison recently made her print debut in the much lauded and hilarious anthology “You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth.” When not banging her head against the wall and repeating herself to her children, she can be found making people feel better about their parenting on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Alicia Steffann is best known for her blog Naps Happen, where she curates an ever-expanding selection of hilarious children’s nap photos. Proving the popularity of a good snooze, her blog has been featured online in publications such as the Huffington Post and Parade and on parenting websites, including Babble, Babycenter, and Nickmom and she also was voted into the Circle of Moms Top 25 Funny Mom Blogs in 2011 and 2012 and Babble named her a Top 20 Baby Photo Blog in 2013. When she’s not blogging, Alicia spends her time wrangling two small boys and teaching college writing in the suburbs of Washington D.C. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.