These practical, in-depth seminars let you really dig deep into the subject that interests you. Each 3-hour workshop provides invaluable insights that will make a real difference in your writing career.

(S1) Write For Children!

Want to write books for children but it seems like foreign territory? Come learn the navigation tips you need for this market. Because writers, agents and editors will be speaking and guiding the sessions, you may even come away with the contact that makes your book happen! This three-hour workshop will be broken into three sections.

In the first hour, working writers will share how they broke in, built careers and continue to find ideas. In the second hour, agents and editors will tell how they work and answer questions. The last hour will allow participants to pitch book/story ideas to the panel. Come with 1-2 possible story ideas that can be discussed.

Moderator: Tim O'Shei, ASJA, managing editor with Buffalo Business First and a former teacher, has written 20 nonfiction books for children. His articles appear in Rinkside, Courtside, Runner's World, New Family Magazine, and others.

Judy Burke, managing editor, Highlights for Children.

David Dilkes, managing editor, Enslow Publishers Inc.

Barbara Krasner, ASJA, children's magazine writer

(S2) Promoting Your Book, Promoting You: Ya Oughta Be in Pictures (and on TV, Online, in Print!)

You've written a fabulous book, or you're in the process of writing it. Why haven't you heard from Diane Sawyer? What can you do to let the world know about your work without mortgaging the house to pay for a publicist or getting adopted by a network CEO? This program is designed to offer you real help in the real world on a real person's budget. Expect to learn:

• What you need to know about publicity today (if your last book came out 5 years ago, everything is different now)
• What you can realistically do on your own and how to get competent, affordable help where you need it
• Ways to use publicity to further not just the sales of one book but your overall "brand," career, and reputation

Moderator: Victoria Moran, ASJA, is a two-time Oprah veteran and the author of 10 books, including the international bestseller Creating a Charmed Life, now in 29 languages and quoted on Celestial Seasonings teas!

Laura Allen is a master marketer, mentor to entrepreneurs of all stripes, and founder of 15secondpitch.com, a celebrated formula for getting your message across quickly and efficiently.

Karen Kelly is an author, editor, ghost writer and marketing expert. Her most recent book is The Secret of the Secret: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Runaway Bestseller.

Martin Rowe is director of publishing at Lantern Books and vice president of Booklight Inc. He is the author of Nicaea: A Book of Correspondences and editor of The Way of Compassion. He also co-founded the monthly magazine Satya.

Daylle Deanna Schwartz, ASJA, is the best-selling, Oprah-featured author of All Men Are Jerks Until Proven Otherwise and Straight Talk from Gay Guys. She was one of the first authors to do a YouTube film for book promotion.

(S3) Make Your Next Book a Really Big Deal

Back by popular demand! Top agents will start by dissecting five book proposals, while explaining what brings in big advances and great author concessions. Want to know what topics are "hot" just now and what is beginning to be old hat? An in-depth question-and answer session will follow the presentation. Then, in roundtable discussions, agents will critique your pre-submitted proposals, which they've had time to study -- first five pages only, please -- so you'll have the best possible help in scoring your own Really Big Deal.

For proposal submission instructions click here.

Moderator: Janine Latus, ASJA board member; author of the international bestseller If I Am Missing or Dead: A Sister's Story of Love, Murder and Liberation, will share how she got her own Really Big Deal.

Laney Katz Becker, Folio Literary Management, a former journalist and author, handles narrative & prescriptive nonfiction, memoirs, "book club" fiction and smart thrillers.

Katherine Fasset of Curtis Brown is seeking narrative nonfiction, journalism, current events, lifestyle, health, humor, cooking and art, and fiction.

Stacey Glick of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management is interested in narrative nonfiction, cooking and food, memoir, psychology, self-help, health/fitness, lifestyle, current events, pop culture, and contemporary fiction.

Amanda Mecke, A. Mecke Co. founder; former Director of Subsidiary Rights for Bantam Dell Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., is especially interested in nonfiction books on social justice issues and in the sciences.

(S4) Sree's Back! 10 Tech Things Every Writer Should Know

In this fast-paced, hands-on session tech guru and journalist Sree Sreenivasan will demonstrate at least 10 cutting-edge yet practical "tech things." Sree will introduce what he calls "media-changing" technologies, techniques, ideas and Internet offerings. As always, he'll minimize the geek factor, focusing on what's most valuable to freelance writers, journalists and authors. Among the things he'll cover: what the emerging second-generation Web means for writers; ways to effectively participate in communities such as LinkedIn, MySpace, etc., using content-sharing sites such as Digg.com and others; and what writers need to know about multimedia reporting.

Moderator: Anne Stuart, ASJA, a former newspaper reporter and senior writer for Inc., and editor at Harvard Magazine, writes for magazines, newsletters and websites. Her work has appeared in Inc., Inc.com, Business.com, Boston, CFO, CIO, Harvard Magazine, American Way, and many others.

Presenter: Sree Sreenivasan, dean of students and director of the new-media program, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, is also the technology reporter for WNBC-TV, New York, and a frequent speaker at conferences.