Ink it When You Think It. Bullet Points from Central Coast Writer's Conference 2016 Opening Address

First off, I have to say this conference blew away all of my expectations and shifted my career goals in truly unexpected ways. I felt like I was a little house in Kansas and the conference was the tornado that picked me up and dropped me in Oz. I'm a little hesitant to talk about my own new goals because I don't want to jinx them, so here are the bullet points of just a few of the things I learned.

Most of the workshops I attended were on marketing. They had lots of classes on craft, screenwriting, how to get an agent, etc, but those aren't the classes I took. I can assume that they were just as earth-shattering as the classes I took, but I wasn't there so I don't know for sure.

Sam Horn was the opening Keynote speaker. Here's some soundbites:
Ink it when you think it. Draft then craft.
We're all in a race to be relevant.
Stories in our heads help no one.
Ditch infobesity and strive for intrigue.
Use the 5 Ws when talking of your book:
What: novel, YA novel
Who: who are my readers? (I actually have an idea of this because I look up the profiles of my Amazon readers who leave reviews. I can say with some certainty that most of my readers--even for my YA books are middle-aged. I have stay at moms and dads, retired veterans, disabled folk, senior citizens. These are the people who are picking up my freebies and staying on to read the others.)
Where and When: Do I want this book to come out?
Why: will it be a good use of my reader's time? Think of three reasons:

Competitive Edge: Show how you are one of kind.
Market Promotional Plan:
         Always take entrepreneurial responsibility
         Be prepared to generate sales for years
         Consider speaking engagements