Receive legal and/or book marketing and publicity advice from industry professionals
Many authors have questions about legal issues and/or marketing, so we are offering you the chance to meet with 1-2 professionals you can help you. You can register for Beth Moore (“Ask a Lawyer”) for a 15-minute consultation and/or Jenn Vance (“Ask a Book Publicist”) for a 15-minute consultation. If you register for both, these will be separate meetings of 15 minutes apiece.
For either or both of these sessions, submit up to five questions to Conference Director George Weinstein at awconference@gmail.com by October 30, 2026 to give the consultant(s) time to prepare for their meeting with you.
Professional consultation sessions are available for both in-person and virtual participants. If you participate virtually, you will be sent a Zoom link to access the virtual meeting room(s) with your consultant(s).
The cost of each consulting session is $60. During the registration process, you will see which consultant has spots remaining. If the individual(s) you want is/are full, you can add yourself to their waitlist. There is no charge for waitlist spots; if a spot opens for you due to another participant’s cancellation, you will be informed by e-mail and will pay for the activity at that time.
What questions to ask? Here is just a sample of questions to consider for our legal consultant:
· Do I need to copyright my manuscript before submitting it to an agent or publisher or a freelance editor for review?
· Hypothetically, if a publisher offered me a contract by they want the rights to my book forever, what is some alternative language I could propose?
· What are some common legal mistakes writers make and how can I avoid them?
For our book marketing and publicity consultant, here are some sample questions you probably want answers to (see Jenn’s profile below for more examples):
· How do I start preparing to market a book that hasn’t been published yet?
· What publicity mistakes do you see authors make, and how can I avoid them?
· How can I get on TV locally and nationally to promote my book?
This will be a verbal exchange, and you’re not limited to 5 questions. You’re welcome to continue to seek advice from the consultant as long as time allows, so be sure to have more questions ready, to make the best use of your 15 minutes.
Professional Consultants
Ask a Lawyer (Informational Sessions Only)
Beth B. Moore is an entertainment attorney with Founders Legal in Atlanta, Georgia, whose practice focuses on copyright law, contract negotiation, and business counsel for authors, artists, and creative professionals in the entertainment industry. A trusted advocate for creatives at every stage of their careers, Attorney Moore is dedicated to helping authors protect their intellectual property and negotiate agreements that honor the value of their work.
Meet with entertainment attorney Beth B. Moore of Founders Legal for a 15-minute, one-on-one informational discussion about general legal topics affecting writers and the literary industry. These sessions are for educational purposes only and do not create an attorney-client relationship or include legal advice. However, using the questions you submit in advance, Beth will conduct an intake analysis of your needs and point you to the appropriate resources. If you wish, this may include an offer to represent you upon the signing of an engagement offer (which would occur after the conference).
To keep Beth ethically compliant with the State Bar but address your real-world questions, you can present them in terms of hypotheticals. For example: “Hypothetically, if a publisher sent me a contract that requires me to permanently give up my copyright to my manuscript, what kind of alternative contractual language could I propose?”
Beth has open spots available
Ask a Book Marketer & Publicist
Jenn Vance is the marketing director for Books Forward, a literary marketing and publicity firm. Her interest in a wide variety of genres benefits authors, as she thinks creatively about everything from true crime to powerful memoirs to nostalgic young adult fiction. She spends time personally connecting with each author’s story and thinking about the best way to make their particular work sparkle.
A former newspaper copy editor and page designer, she knows how to best capture the attention of journalists and news staff for authors, with her tenacious outreach and innovative approaches. Her talent for design also translates to her love of creating unique materials for custom book swag boxes, book club kits and beyond.
Meet with Jenn Vance, of Books Forward, to discuss all things book marketing and publicity in one-on-one, 15-minute sessions tailored to your specific book promotion needs. Using the questions you submit in advance, Jenn will review your current marketing efforts and plans and provide suggestions and resources to help you attain your goals.
These questions can include (but are not limited to) things like:
- Do I need to be on social media?
- How much should I be spending on advertising?
- Is it okay to use AI in content creation?
- What should my timeline look like leading up to a launch?
- How do I find influencers to review my book?
All participants will also receive a S.M.A.R.T. goals worksheet to help further define their author goals, as well as a book promotion timeline.
Jenn has open spots available.
Questions?
Please contact George Weinstein at awconference@gmail.com.
Ready to register?
View the Registration page for instructions.