Ready to get an agent or editor, but worried about your lack of publishing credentials? In this presentation, E.A. Aymar will discuss how you can build up your writing portfolio with reviews, short stories, essays, and more to enhance your CV. Not only will this session provide you with ideas, but Aymar will also discuss ways to find and secure those opportunities.

In addition to his bestselling novels, E.A. Aymar reviews crime fiction for the Washington Post, has written celebrated short fiction, and published essays in a variety of noteworthy publications. He also hosts D.C.'s Noir at the Bar series, served on the board of the International Thriller Writers, and writes Crime Fiction Works, a monthly newsletter that reaches an audience of approximately 5,000.

Carrie Callaghan is the author of the historical novels A Light of Her Own (2018) and Salt the Snow (2020). Her short stories have been published in multiple literary journals, and she is a senior editor with the Washington Independent Review of Books. She lives in Maryland with her family and four ridiculous cats. She loves seasons of all kinds, history, and tea.

Pam Clark loves peanut M&Ms and margaritas, but not at the same time. She drives a sensible SUV but pretends it's a DeLorean. Professionally, she is the author of SHOOT IF YOU MUST, a mystery with a smattering of romance. It is the first in a series featuring a widowed Frederick City detective who relocated from Baltimore to build a new life for him and his fifteen-year-old daughter, as well as a community college professor with a penchant for adventure. Her bestie provides snarky comic relief. The series is set in Frederick, MD, a town full of charm and Civil War history.
 

For twenty-six years Pam taught community college English but always wanted to be a writer. After earning a Master of Arts in Writing from Johns Hopkins University, she started writing in earnest. In 2016, she won the Book Doctors’ Pitchapalooza contest (the American Idol for authors) at UNM’s Summer Writers’ Conference and was signed by an agent. SHOOT was published in 2020. For the past three years she has taught memoir writing at the Lifelong Learning program at Shepherd University. Currently, she is working on her sequel and a memoir, as well as writing short stories.

Lee W. Doty is the author of the Norma Bergen mystery series, which includes Tidal Kin, Last Casualty, and An Equal Piece of Justice. She is currently working on her fourth novel. Her short stories appear in numerous journals and anthologies, and her story “Tough Enough” was a finalist in the 2023 West Virginia Appalachian Heritage Fiction Competition. Lee leads the semiannual Wild Writers Retreat for Shepherd University’s Lifelong Learning Program and is Co-director of the Manuscript to Marketplace Writers Conference at Shepherd University. She received her BS from Duke University, her JD from Georgetown University Law Center, and her MFA in Creative Writing from Rosemont College School of Graduate Studies.

Ginny Fite is the author of nine traditionally published novels, three collections of poetry, and a book of humorous essays on aging. A graduate of Rutgers University and Johns Hopkins University, she also completed the Novel Year program at the Writer's Center and studied at the Maryland Poetry Therapy Institute. For several years, she taught creative writing using an approach titled "Writercizing" while pursuing a 40-year career in communications that included posts in journalism, politics, higher education, and a robotics R&D company. Pushcart Prize nominated, shortlisted for the SFWP prize, a finalist for the Bakwin Prize, winner of the FAPA gold medal in fiction for the collaborative novel Thoughts & Prayers, her short stories have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Writing about ordinary people who grapple with extraordinary circumstances, her writing spans the genres of mystery, thriller, adventure, speculative, literary, and women’s fiction. Her newest release is SANCTUARY, a fast-paced, thought-provoking novel that draws the reader into one family’s quest for safety in a world ravaged by a deadly virus. Find her on social media at https://x.com/unwrinkledbrain, https://www.facebook.com/ginnyfiteauthor/, https://www.instagram.com/ginnyfite/, and https://www.threads.net/@ginnyfite.

With over four decades in the advertising business, Alan has written and produced television, radio, print, and digital commercials and built his reputation as one of the most creative players in entertainment advertising. 
 

Not content with writing in thirty and sixty-second formats, he took to long form writing and published three best-selling thrillers, The Dead of Winter, High Voltage, and Tracked to Kill; Through LMBPN Worldwide Publishing, he wrote the 5-star four-volume fantasy romance series, Magic at Myers Beach. "Killing Time," his short story written under the pen name of A.B. Gibson, appears in Ghost Stories of Shepherdstown, Volume 1, which he also edited. He has recently signed a three-book contract with Level Best Books. 

Kendra Goldborough, an independent bookstore owner with two decades of experience and has the inside scoop on how emerging authors can get their books on the shelves. She and the staff at Four Seasons Books support and encourage community, creativity, and literacy in Shepherdstown, WV and beyond.

D.W. Gregory is an award-winning writer who frequently explores political issues through a personal lens. The New York Times called her “a playwright with a talent to enlighten and provoke” for her most produced work, RADIUM GIRLS, about the famous case of industrial poisoning. Other plays include MEMOIRS OF A FORGOTTEN MAN, a National New Play Network rolling world premiere (Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Shadowland Stages, New Jersey Rep); MOLUMBY’S MILLION (Iron Age Theatre), nominated for a Barrymore Award by Philadelphia Theatre Alliance; THE GOOD DAUGHTER, OCTOBER 1962, and THE OTHER AMERICAN (New Jersey Rep). THE YELLOW STOCKING PLAY, a new musical comedy with composer Steven M. Alper and lyricist Sarah Knapp, will premiere in 2025. Gregory also writes for youth theatre and makes occasional appearances as a teaching artist. For five years in a row, RADIUM GIRLS was among Dramatics Magazine’s Ten Most Produced Plays in American High School Theatre. She also writes short fiction. Her story “Mr. Kindness,” which won the West Virginia Fiction Competition in 2021, appears in the Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Vol. XIV and Coolest American Stories 2024. It was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. “Moving Day” won the 2024 West Virginia Fiction Competition and will be published in the upcoming anthology.

Hannah Grieco is the author of First Kicking, Then Not, forthcoming from Stanchion in 2025. She writes a literary column for Washington City Paper, edits prose at a variety of small presses and literary journals, and teaches literature at Marymount University. She also works 1:1 with writers as an editor and book coach, helping with manuscript development, agent and publishing house searches, essay and short story placement, and more. Read her work in The Washington Post, The Independent, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post, Brevity, Craft Literary, Poet Lore, Shenandoah, Fairy Tale Review, and more. Find her online at www.hgrieco.com and on most social media @writesloud.

Gabrielle "Ace" Hersey (they/them) is a multifaceted writer, freelance editor, website manager, and community marketing specialist with a B.A. in English (Creative Writing), and double minors in Communications and Gender & Women’s Studies from Shepherd University. Their work spans numerous genres and mediums, with contributions to literary magazines, anthologies, festivals, websites, and conferences. Their writing has been featured in publications such as The Good Shepherdstown Newspaper and Equality & Justice: An Engaged Generation, A Troubled World.

When not face-first in professional endeavors, they're a storyteller and artist. Residing in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia with their four-year-old German Shepherd, Ace is a self-proclaimed hermit fueled by an I.V. drip of espresso and music. An introverted feminist and activist, they strive to uplift others, always seeking to channel creativity and art into providing a platform for voices that are ordinarily silenced.

Natalie/Nat Kimber (she/her) is a senior literary agent working with The Rights Factory, based in New York City. She represents adult and young adult fiction, and an eclectic list of creative/literary nonfiction and lifestyle nonfiction. She previously worked with the Georgetown University Booklab and Literary and Creative Artists in Washington, DC. She is an associate editor for Monologging.org and organizer of the NYC Writers Circle. She takes pride in guiding authors through the strategy and practical process of publishing, and yet she acknowledges that a wondrous magic is at work when books come into form. Follow Nat on Bluesky (@Natkimber.bsky.social) and Instagram (@Zsunita).

James Pate teaches creative writing, composition, and literature at Shepherd University. He is the author of four books: the crime novel Speed of Life (Fahrenheit Books), a collection of essays titled Flowers Among the Carrion (Action Books Salvo Series), and the poetry collections The Fassbiner Diaries (CCM) and Mineral Planet (Schism Neuronics). He is a graduate of the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, and holds a Ph.D. in creative writing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is currently working on a novel set in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia.