Spring Conference 2006 was held at Peace College in Raleigh, NC. The conference is over, but we have left this conference information on the site so that you can refer to it as a model of what our Spring Conference is like.

Spring Conference 2006
Saturday, May 20

Session III, 2:00 - 3:00 pm

PUBLISHING PANEL: Taking Care of Business, with Publishing Professionals -- SIBA consultant Nicki Leone, agent/publicist Katharine Walton, publisher Barbara Brannon, and bookseller Pete Mock

The panel will tell you what you need to know about the current climate in publishing, getting an agent, taking your book on the road, getting readings, and getting press. If you have a book in print or about to be published -- or if your Writer's Life plan includes publishing a book! -- this panel is for you.

Nicki Leone, in her role as an independent consultant for the Southeast Independent Booksellers' Alliance, handles marketing, outreach, and educational programming. In recent years she was buyer and manager at Bristol Books in Wilmington. She is the current president of the North Carolina Writers' Network.
Katharine Walton is the proprietor of Katharine Walton Represents, both a literary agency and a promotions agency, providing creative representation for writers and arts organizations. Her strength is representing southern writers and arts organizations to the media and publishers. Previous clients have included Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist and SEBA Best Book Award winner Doug Marlette (The Bridge) and Algonquin founder and NBCC winner Louis Rubin.
Pete Mock is buyer/bookseller for McIntyre's Fine Books in Fearrington Village, Pittsboro, NC. He runs two open mikes in the Triangle area and also finds time to write fiction.
Barbara Brannon is director of the Publishing Laboratory at UNC-Wilmington, whose goal is to help students find their ideal readers and prepare their work to connect with them, whether it's by self-publishing from the kitchen table or landing a commercial book deal.