The 2018 San Francisco Writers Conference will be held on February 15-18 at the historical Mark Hopkins Hotel. Meet keynoters:  

• Robert Dugoni – New York Times, Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon Bestselling Author.
• Dana Gioia – California Poet Laureate. Former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
• Shanthi Sekaran – Author of the critically acclaimed novels,
  Luck Boy and The Prayer Room.
• Mitali Perkins – Author of ten novels for young readers, including Rickshaw Girl 

But the SFWC presenters list also includes many more bestselling authors, literary agents, editors, and publishers from major publishing houses.  There are experts on self-publishing, book promotion, platform building, social media, and author websites.

PRESENTERS:
Nina Amir, author and writing coach
Marilyn R. Atlas, film producer/personal manager
Jim Azevedo, marketing director at Smashwords
Angela Bole, CEO of IBPA
Andrew Burleson, BetaBooks
Frances Caballo, SFWC Social Media Director, author, social media strategist for writers
Stephanie Chandler, is an author and CEO of the NonfictionAuthors Association
Melissa Cistaro, author, bookseller and event coordinator at Book Passage
Mark Coker, author and founder of major eBook publisher Smashwords
Martha Conway, author of The Underground River and Sugarland
Robin Cutler, director of IngramSpark
Jared Drake, film director and co-founder of Wildbound PR
Julia Drake, co-founder of Wildbound PR
Aya de Leon, novelist, poet and theater artist.
Eric Elfman, author and writing coach
Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, author, coach and speaker
Grant Faulkner, executive director of National Novel Writing Month
Diane Frank, author and poet
Joel Friedlander, is an award-winning book designer, blogger, and author
Constance Hale, journalist and author
Tanya Hall, CEO Greenleaf Books
Andy Jones, author, poet, professor at UC Davis; “Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour”
Mike Jung, author of Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities
Carla King, author and self publishing expert, founder of Self-Publishing Boot Camp
Bharti Kirchner, the prolific author of 11 books. her latest novel is Season of Sacrifice: A Maya Mallick Mystery is out in hardcover and as a Kindle edition.
Brenda Knight, author and marketing expert
Mary E. Knipple, writing mentor and speaker
Adair Lara, author, teacher and writing coach
Michael Larsen, author, co-founder/co-director of the SFWC
Linda Lee, web site designer and WordPress expert
Donna Levin, author
Mary Mackey, author
Tim McCanna, children’s picture book author and Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI
Isabella Michon, president/founder of ImMedia, a publicity company
Tyler Moss, managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine
Anne Perry, international bestselling historical novelist
Lissa Provost, poet and author
David Rasch, lecturer with Stanford University’s Continuing Education program
Olivia Rivers, award-winning YA novelist of Tone Deaf & movie-optioned In The Hope of Memories
Barbara Santos, author of Practice Aloha and Marketing Director for SFWC
Penny Sansevieri, founder of Author Marketing Experts
Helen Sedwick, lawyer and author of Self-Publishers Legal Handbook
Naheed Senzai, author
Rusty Shelton,  founder and CEO of Zilker Media
Evelyn Skye, bestselling YA author of The Crown’s Game series
Ransom Stephens, physicist, author, award winning technologist, speaker
Wendy Nelson Tokunaga, author and manuscript consultant
Cathy Turney, author of Get 10,000 Twitter Followers Easily, Quickly, Ethically
Lyzette Wanzer, San Francisco writer, editor, and creative writing workshop instructor.
Penny Warner, award winning author
Alex White, author of The Salvagers series (Orbit, 2018)
Victoria Zackheim, author, editor and screenwriter

The lists for attending agents and editors looks topnotch! Some of the agents will even be accepting pitches during the Speed Dating For Agents. You can see a list of those participating here. But for an idea of the many agents and editors that will be in attendance, here is a list:

AGENTS:
Lisa Abellera, Kimberley Cameron & Assoc.
Peter Beren, Peter Beren Agency
Amy Cloughley, Kimberley Cameron & Assoc.
Laurie Fox, Linda Chester Literary Agency
Dawn Frederick, Red Sofa Literary
Taylor Martindale Kean, Full Circle Literary
Laurie McLean, Fuse Literary
Mary C. Moore, Kimberley Cameron & Assoc.
Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Monica Odom, Liza Dawson Associates
Jody Rein, Jody Rein Books
Nicki Richesin, Wendy Sherman Associates, Inc.
Andy Ross, Andy Ross Agency
Ken Sherman, Ken Sherman & Associates
Jennifer March Soloway, Andrea Brown Literary Agency
Gordon Warnock, Fuse Literary
Carlisle Webber, Fuse Literary

EDITORS:
Mary E. Knippel, Independent editor, writing mentor and author
Tory Hartmann, Sand Hill Review Press
Georgia Hughes, Editorial Director at New World Library
Brenda Knight, Author, President of the Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter
Hilary Lawson, HarperCollins
Karla Olson, Editorial Director at Patagonia Books
Daniela Rapp, St. Martins Press
Meghan Stevenson, Independent Editor
Weslie Turner, Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint at Scholastic
Jennifer Ung, Simon Pulse, an imprint at Simon and Schuster
Brooke Warner, Publisher at She Writes Press
Hannah Wood, Independent Editor

For those attending, this sounds like a great four days of learning and marketing yourself!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.