One of the most fun aspects of my role as an observer of the book industry is the invitations I receive to speak to audiences about blogs and their impact on writers and publishers. I’m excited to have two such opportunities coming up in the next month. First, in just two weeks, I’ll be traveling down to East Texas for my second consecutive year at the Pulpwood Queens Girlfriends Weekend where I’ll be conducting a workshop on blogging. It’s largely a “why and how” conversation, but I’m fascinated as much by the creative opportunities for aspiring writers as I am by the marketing opportunities for those with book deals, so I’m hoping everybody will get something out of the talk.
Then, in mid-February, I’ll be participating in O’Reilly‘s second “Tools of Change” conference, as a contributor to a panel discussion called “Literary Bloggers: The New Online Insiders.” This one should be fun—Jeff Gomez, the senior director of online consumer sales and marketing at Penguin Group, has put together a really stellar lineup reflecting the absolute best that bookblogs have to offer: Maud Newton, Mark Sarvas, and Kassia Krozser. I expect to learn a lot from this conversation, along with all the other great-sounding sessions that will be going on at the conference.