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I’m excited to announce that tickets are now for sale for the 2025 Novel Marketing Conference. The conference will be held in Austin, Texas, on January 17 and 18. This event is not a typical writer’s conference where you learn how to write and publish a book.

This article first appeared on Novel Marketing, so if you follow both blogs, this will be a repeat for you.

What makes the Novel Marketing Conference different from other writers conferences?

Three special ingredients make the Novel Marketing Conference unique:

#1: Professional Training

The focus of the conference is on marketing your book. Many conferences focus on writing or publishing, with a session or two on marketing offered as an add-on. But the Novel Marketing Conference is all about helping you sell more books. You will learn a book-marketing strategy that actually works.

The key to low-stress success is knowing what to do, when to do it, and what you don’t need to worry about. You will leave this conference with a written plan to help you attract readers and sell more books.

You will also learn:

how to craft a sales pitch for your book,
how to quickly get more email newsletter subscribers,
how to recruit a motivated launch team for your book,
and so much more!

#2: Writers Groups

Each author who attends the conference is put into a writers group of about eight other authors. That group of similar authors will be your team throughout the conference. They’ll help you hone your pitch, define your brand, and help you network.

You’ll have many chances to meet everyone at the conference, but your group will be your home base from the start.

We experimented with this last year, and it was a smashing success. Authors loved being in a writers group and making new writer friends. Many groups went out to dinner during the conference and have stayed in touch since.

We manually place authors in groups based on commonalities and who attends the conference.

The writers groups are the secret sauce of this conference. It’s the most innovative thing we do. Other conferences have good training and speakers, but I don’t know of any other conference that uses this team-based approach.

#3: Interactive Workshops

Our sessions are packed with fun and interactive elements. One factor that makes this interaction possible is that nothing is recorded. You’re free to speak and engage without worrying about being recorded.

The interactive workshops also allow us to pause and apply the training immediately. You’ll receive a workbook where you can take notes, fill in blanks, and put together your strategy. You’ll be making your marketing plan right in your workbook. At the end of the conference, that workbook will be full of precious notes that will be your guide for the rest of the year.

January is a great time to plan your year, and that’s only one reason we host the conference early in the new year. The plan you create at the conference will help you make 2025 your best year ever as an author.

Conference Schedule

Friday

Opening Keynote (Thomas Umstattd)

How to Craft an Irresistible Sales Pitch for Your Book (Thomas Umstattd)

This is the only session repeated from 2024. I plan to present this information each year because it’s so impactful. You’ll be creating your own sales pitch during this interactive session.

Sales Pitch Group Exercise (Thomas Umstattd)

The 2024 students loved this exercise. You’ll pair off in your group and pitch your book to your partner. Then, your partner will pitch your book to the group based on what you told them; and you’re not allowed to say anything. You can only take notes, and you’ll hear which elements of your pitch stuck in their head and which didn’t.

This in-person live pitch practice is a powerful way to help you hone your pitch. It’s also a great way to get acquainted with your group members.

Lunch (Torchy’s Tacos)

Torchy’s will ruin you for all other fast-food tacos.

How to Grow Your Platform Without Using Social Media (Sandy Cooper & Mary K. Tiller, hosts of the Writing Off Social Podcast)

Sandy Cooper is an award-winning author, podcaster, and a professionally certified home chef. She podcasts weekly at The Balanced MomCast and Writing Off Social Podcast. Mary K. Tiller is a speaker, freelance writer, and adjunct professor. She co-hosts the Writing Off Social Podcast.

Sandy and Mary have refined and honed the technique of building a massive platform of readers without using social media. Their method really does work, and I’m excited to have them at the conference this year.

How to Rapidly Grow Your Email List (Thomas Umstattd)

In this session, I’ll show you how to rapidly grow your email list into the thousands. I’ll share proven techniques I’ve been teaching for a long time, which can take you from only a few subscribers to hundreds or even thousands, often within weeks or months.

For many authors, this can be a game-changer. Starting from nothing is challenging; but once you build an initial following, you can leverage it to grow even further.

Email Onboarding Sequence Workshop (Thomas Umstattd)

In this interactive session, we’ll focus on email onboarding sequences and how to set up a drip sequence. If you’re unfamiliar with what that is, don’t worry. By the time we’re done, you’ll understand it and know how to create one. You’ll leave the conference with a clear plan to build your own onboarding sequence.

How to Kickstart a Debut Book (CJ Millaci)

CJ has successfully run three Kickstarter campaigns for her novels, so I’ve interviewed her about crowdfunding. As a crowdfunding consultant, she helps authors run their own successful campaigns. She’s passionate about crafting stories of good overcoming evil, hope, and true acceptance.

If you want to crowdfund your book and raise a lot of money very quickly for an upcoming novel, CJ will teach you how.

Saturday

Marketing Psychology (Thomas Umstattd)

In this session, I’ll teach you how to tap into the psychology already at play in your readers’ minds to get them excited about your book and ready to buy it now, not later. You’ll also learn how to motivate them to start reading immediately, which is crucial. If someone buys your book but never reads it, they’re far less likely to purchase any of your future books, especially within the same series.

Bestselling Book Covers (Jamie Foley)

Jamie Foley is the former creative director at Enclave Publishing, an award-winning author, and the founder of Fayette Press. In her free time, she loves strategy games, gardening, and making lembas bread.

Even traditionally published authors need to understand the thought process behind a book cover. Your publisher will ask for your feedback, but most authors don’t understand what makes a book cover effective. As a result, their feedback to the design team often makes the cover worse.

Indie authors need to understand book covers because the cover is the most important element of your marketing. If it’s weak, then all your marketing will be weak.

Book Cover Design Brief Workshop (Thomas Umstattd)

I will lead a workshop where you’ll create a book cover design brief for your book. Whether your book is finished or not, you’ll leave the conference with a complete design brief to give to a cover designer or your publisher, ensuring you get an outstanding and effective book cover.

Lunch (Rudy’s BBQ)

Best barbeque in Texas, possibly best in the world. We served Rudy’s last year, and people loved it.

The Art of a Bestselling Book Launch (Thomas Umstattd)

This year, we hosted the final cohort of the Book Launch Blueprint; but this session will be a distillation of what I’ve been teaching authors in that course for years. You’ll learn the highlights of how you can have a successful book launch.

Seven Secrets for Successful Street Teams (Kara Swanson)

A street team is similar to a book-launch team; but Kara Swanson has a specific strategy to teach you, and she is an expert.

Kara writes stories about fairytales and fiery souls. She is also the cofounder of the Author Conservatory, where she has the honor of teaching young writers to craft sustainable author careers.

Book-Launch Plan Group Workshop (Thomas Umstattd)

I will host a book-launch plan workshop where you’ll create a comprehensive plan for launching your book. By the end of the conference, you’ll have a pitch, a design brief for your book cover, and a written book-launch plan. Whether your launch is in a month or a year, having a solid plan will make all the difference.

Super-Powered Productivity in 2025 (Thomas Umstattd)

I like to wrap up the conference with a practical, productivity-focused session. Since this is a January conference, the goal is to set you up for success in 2025. In this session, I’ll share tools and techniques to help you achieve more with less effort so you feel less exhausted and more creative. Having the right strategy in place makes all the difference.

What makes the Novel Marketing Conference weird?

No recordings.
No pitch appointments.

Why No Recordings?

A lot of conferences are only content-creation events. The attendees mostly chat in the halls, and the sessions are poorly attended. Attendees tell themselves they will listen to the recordings later, but they never do. Plus, the recording is never as good as the live event.

Something magical happens when nothing is recorded. People start taking notes and listening. The sessions become more interactive, fun, and implementable. We pause often to give everyone a chance to apply what they just learned; and while those pauses are life-changing for folks in the room, they make for a very boring recording.

If you want a recording of my teaching, I recommend the Novel Marketing Podcast.

Why No Pitches or Appointments?

Faculty Appointments Add Complexity & Cost

You pay for those agents’ time in your ticket price. Each one must be flown in, housed, and often paid to be there.

Faculty Appointments Favor Traditional Authors

Indie authors have to pay for agents they have no intention of pitching.

Pitch appointments only serve a narrow slice of the conference attendees. Many of last year’s attendees were well along in their writing careers and were not searching for an agent.

I want this to be a conference that advanced authors are happy to attend. If you’re a beginning author, you want to be around those advanced authors.

When we don’t offer pitch appointments, we actually attract more advanced authors.

Faculty Appointments Create a Class System

The fundamental issue is that faculty appointments create a caste system. Attendees tend to focus on networking with the faculty, rather than networking with one another. Authors at pitch-free conferences tend to thrive more in the long run.

The real value at a writers conference is making friends with other authors. Don’t look for a faculty member to make you a success. You’re the one who will make you a success.

Faculty Appointments Lead to Poor Teaching

Faculty appointments tend to lead to poor teaching. At a traditional writers conference, faculty members are invited based on how many authors they can attract to the conference, not based on how well they teach. Agents and editors with little to say are platformed at these conferences, and much bad advice is spread by these industry professionals.

By contrast, I have handpicked the faculty for the Novel Marketing Conference because they are great teachers and experts in their topics. They’ve all been guests on the podcast.

This approach dramatically improves the quality of the education you receive. These teachers really know what they’re talking about.

Faculty Appointments Change the Vibe

That top agent’s time is limited. Signing up for a time slot means you’ve taken a slot from another author. This creates competition and rivalry between authors.

Faculty Appointments Attract Unteachable Attendees

Some authors believe they have written a masterpiece and have nothing more to learn. This kind of author will buy a ticket for a typical conference so they can pitch that one agent. When the pitch does not go well, they often spend the rest of the conference grumbling because the person they pitched was not enthused about their book.

Last year’s faculty was stunned by the caliber of our attendees. I chalk that up to the lack of appointments. We attract attendees who see themselves as responsible for their own success.

Preconference Workshop, Thursday, January 16

Reach New Readers With Advertising

Don’t let your book get trapped in your social circle.

If you want hands-on help creating Amazon and Facebook ads, purchase a Super Ticket and arrive early for the Thursday preconference workshop.

This hands-on workshop is limited to 20 attendees. Renowned ads expert Alana Terry will help you create powerful ads to run on Amazon and Facebook. This will be a step-by-step experience; and by the end of the day, you will have live ads running, bringing brand-new readers to your book.

You will also have the opportunity throughout the day to have a new author photo taken by a professional photographer from Sweet Bay Media.

Requirements for Preconference Workshop

To get the most out of the preconference workshop, we recommend that you:

bring a laptop,
have a book for sale on Amazon,
be willing to spend a bit of money to get your ads running.

During the workshop, you can pop out to get professional headshots from Sweet Bay Media.

Tickets & Cost

Hotel

The Hilton Garden Inn, within walking distance from the conference center, has given us a special price of $99 per night, including breakfast.

Many conferences look cheap, but the hotel ends up running $250 per night. By scheduling this conference during the slow season, I got an amazing deal.

Tickets

The following early-bird pricing is in effect until November 1, 2024, when all prices will increase.

Standard Ticket: $499

Full Access + Writers Group
Get full access to the conference, including lunch on both days.
Only 73 seats left.

Super Ticket: $899

Standard Ticket + Thursday Advertising Workshop + Professional Headshot
Extend the conference to three days by adding the Thursday Author Advertising Workshop. This also includes a professional author portrait by Sweet Bay Media.
Only 19 seats left.

Gallery Ticket $299

A seat in the back. DOES NOT include a writers group or a table to sit at. Last year, we called this the “spouse ticket,” which became awkward when people wanted to bring a sibling or assistant.
Only 22 seats left.

The Novel Marketing Conference Is Special

Our conference is special because it is the gathering of a community. You interact with me and other authors on the live, patrons-only calls and on AuthorMedia.social, but meeting in real life is special. I want the training to be transformational, but I also want to help authors make lifelong friends.

Bonus: We will also have the Patrons Appreciation Ice Cream Social on Thursday evening before the conference starts. If you’re a patron who can’t attend the conference, you’re still welcome to attend the ice cream social.

You can become a Novel Marketing Patron here.

Featured Patrons

Debra Rainey, author of Bridges.

Tess Everett’s life is thrown into a tailspin with the arrival of J.W. McCree, a former resident of Winterset, Iowa, and the ex-husband of Tessa’s late friend. Sparks fly as Tess and J.W. clash over his past abandonment of his son, Wynn, whom Tess and her late husband, Dan, took under their wings.

In the famous covered bridges of Madison County, Iowa, Tess must face the struggles of an empty nest for the first time in three years while navigating the resurfacing of J.W. and the consequences of his return. If you enjoyed The Bridges of Madison County, you’ll also love this story of heartache redemption and the power of love.