The Houston Writers Guild will be hosting their annual Authorpalooza
conference the weekend of October 6th to 8th 2023 in the Hilton Houston Plaza Medical Center.
The hotel is located at 6633 Travis Street in Houston, Texas. The event brings vetted professionals to
Houston’s writing community.
The conference will kick off on Friday evening with a session on strategies for building an author
platform by Fern Brady, a local publisher, and award-winning author. The evening festivities will
include the celebration of the book launch for Journey Into Art, an anthology collection of
contest winners and honorable mentions published by the Houston Writers Guild in
collaboration with Women in the Visual and Literary Arts as well as local publishing houses,
Inklings Publishing.
The Saturday main day event will have keynote speaker Kevin J Anderson sharing on the
Popcorn Theory of Success, as well as presentations on writing for radio, various types of
editing, legal issues for authors, and creating a vibrant freelance writing career among other
topics. A special panel discussing the effective integration of diversity into the writing process,
as well as a session by Anderson on creating effective Kickstarter campaigns, will also be part of the
offerings. Professionals scheduled to speak include: Doug Williams, Rachel Connelly, Amy
Megill, Mack LiUle, Patrick Fant, Kim-Ling Sun, Melanie Bragg, Mary Ann Faremouth, Ronel
Golden, Brenda K Preuss, and Saborna Roychowdry. The day will close with participants having
an opportunity to engage in a Renga Poetry competition
Participants will have the opportunity to meet with agents and editors in one-on-one sessions
to pitch their manuscripts. Additionally, a local social media expert, Aimee Ravichandran of
Abundantly Social, will be hosting individual conversations with participants reviewing their
social media and web presence and providing specific feedback for improving these elements.
The conference closes on Sunday with a hands-on session by Kevin J Anderson. Anderson will
provide specific Ips for improving a writer’s productivity. For more information on the
Authorpalooza Conference is sponsored by the Houston Writers Guild, please visit the Guild’s
Writer’s Room page at www.houstonwritersguild.org
