Grace Snoke
Although there’s a lot to learn at writing conferences, there are two things that only in-person conferences can provide: the energy found from being among other authors and networking opportunities.
20Books Sevilla took the energy and networking found at most 20BooksTo50K® conferences to a new level. Heidi Heinz, Lola Parrilla Heinz, Enrique Parrilla, and the team at Lantia Publishing put countless hours and effort into making this conference memorable.
Held at the movie theater in Plaza de Armas in the heart of Seville, the two-day conference on March 8 and 9 provided ample opportunities for learning, networking, and enjoying good food and drinks. The conference provided breakfast and lunch each day, and a cash bar was available at the end of the day. Whether you were enjoying food and drinks at the conference or venturing a few blocks away to try different restaurants, see the flamenco dancers, visit the stunning cathedrals, or enjoy an amazing view of the city from on top of Setas de Sevilla, the city of Seville has something for everyone. I enjoyed the food, the smell of the orange trees along the sidewalks, and the friendship of fellow authors.
As for the 20Books event that took place there, the front of the program had the words “The how-to for indie authors from around the world: English and Spanish,” and it became an accurate description of the conference. I met people from all over Europe and even Canada and the United States at the event. Whether you were in sessions, networking between sessions, or eating and drinking with newfound friends after the conference was done, there was a lot of how-to learning happening. Sessions covered how to use AI tools as part of your author business, writing your marketing into your books, how to use video marketing to increase sales and reach, how to keep your creativity flowing after writing one hundred books, and more. Each session was designed for thirty minutes of speaking and fifteen minutes of questions and answers, with many attendees asking helpful questions that built on what was taught in the session.
But what I found most delightful was the emphasis Parrilla and Heinz put on networking between sessions. Based on feedback from last year’s event, they built thirty-minute networking breaks into the schedule between each session, as well as a two-hour lunch, and set up time afterward for networking in the theater. There was plenty of space to spread out and talk in quieter locations if desired, or you could stay with the big group of people. Of course, that continued into the hotel after the conference ended.
With two hundred to three hundred people at this conference, I felt I could meet and get to know people a bit better at the conference than I did at 20Books Vegas events. There were always so many people in Las Vegas who wanted to meet so many of the same people that sometimes it could be overwhelming. However, I never felt overwhelmed by the smaller crowd in Seville. As both a speaker and an attendee, I found the atmosphere to be very welcoming. People were quick to introduce themselves and make friends. Of course, it was good to see faces I already knew, including well-known names in the industry like 20BooksTo50K® co-founder Michael Anderle, bestselling author Adam Beswick, host of the Rebel Author Podcast Sacha Black, Sci-Fi author Craig Falconer, author and IAM columnist Steve Higgs, bestselling Urban Fantasy author Sarah Noffke, speaker and self-improvement author Marc Reklau, host of The Creative Penn podcast Joanna Penn, and others, at the conference as well.
Three tracks were held in three theaters each day, two in English and one in Spanish. While a few of the sessions were panels, most featured individual speakers on topics that appealed to all levels of authors.
I can’t speak to the Spanish track, but the English tracks offered attendees some important takeaways:
- Don’t run from your problems, go through them. This was the second time I heard this talk by Noffke, and just like the first time in Las Vegas last year, it struck a chord with me. Far too often, we run from our problems, and this was a good reminder for me to start facing them and defeating them.
- If at first you don’t succeed, keep trying. I listened to several authors who talked about how their first books didn’t work out, or advertising didn’t work out the first or even the fifth time they tried, but they kept working on it until they found what worked for them. Now they’re teaching what they learned to everyone else.
- Know your market. Know why certain marketing tactics work better than others depending on genre, tropes, and your audience. It’s more than just writing to market; it’s about attracting that audience as well.
- Experiment. If something doesn’t work, try something new. If it works, don’t hesitate to reuse it until it no longer performs.
- Learn from others. Just because you are still learning doesn’t mean you won’t one day be on the stage teaching others what you’ve learned on your journey.
With this event in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look forward to other events in Europe and the United Kingdom, including The Self Publishing Show Live June 25-26 in London and the Author Sustainability Conference April 3-6, 2025, in Dublin, Ireland. Visit https://selfpublishing.lpages.co/sps-live-2024 or https://authorsustainability.com, respectively, to learn more or register, or check out IAM’s list of top indie author events for 2024 at https://indieauthormagazine.com/whats-in-store-for-2024.
Grace Snoke
Michael Anderle, founder of 20BooksTo50K®, and Enrique Parrilla, event organizer, welcome everyone to the conference Friday, March 8.
An image of the crowd during the welcome speech March 8.
From left, Steve Higgs, Sarah Noffke, and Sean McLachlan before their panel talk on being part of The Century Club, having written one hundred or more books.
From left, Judith Anderle, Francesco Vitellini, and Jens Schultze answer questions about translating books into other languages.
