Building a readership online can seem daunting. In this special event, fiction and nonfiction authors come together with two publishing marketers to help demystify this challenge. This panel of seasoned experts share their failures and successes, how they’ve gone about developing a loyal reader base by engaging inventively using the various social media platforms, and what they’ve learned from readers that has informed their work. They will address Who to target - from readers to librarians to bookstores and more - What to do to stand out in a crowded marketplace - Where to participate, helping identify appropriate platforms and maximize the experience there - and When to engage, from pre-book launch to back list visibility. Come with a notepad and your questions. The panelists are Mateo Askaripour, Jessica Lahey, Claire McKinney, Hannah Orenstein, and Miral Sattar, with moderator Jane Murphy.

New York Times bestselling author Mateo Askaripour's first novel, Black Buck, takes on racism in corporate America with humor and wit. Askaripour was chosen as one of Entertainment Weekly’s “10 rising stars to make waves,” and Black Buck was a Read With Jenna Today Show book club pick. Most recently, Askaripour was named as a recipient of the National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35" prize, which was established "to recognize young, debut fiction writers whose work promised to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape.” He’s currently working on his second novel, which will be published in 2024.

Jessica Lahey is the author of the New York Times bestselling book The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed and The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence. Jess was awarded the Research Society on Alcohol’s Media Award for “outstanding journalistic efforts of writers who cover empirical research on alcohol” […] “for her book The Addiction Inoculation and advocacy for the recovery community.” Over twenty years, Jess has taught every grade from sixth to twelfth in both public and private schools, spent five years teaching in a drug and alcohol rehab for adolescents in Vermont, and serves as a prevention and recovery coach at Sana, a medical detox and recovery center in Stowe, Vermont. She has written about education, parenting, and child welfare for The Washington Post and The Atlantic, and her biweekly column “The Parent Teacher Conference” ran for three years at the New York Times. She designed and wrote the educational curriculum for Amazon Kids’ award-winning animated series The Stinky and Dirty Show, and was a 2019 Pushcart Prize nominee. Jess holds the dubious honor of having written an article that was later adapted as a writing prompt for the 2018 SAT. She co-hosts the #AmWriting podcast from her empty nest in Vermont.

Claire McKinney has been working in public relations for over 25 years. She is the founder of McKinney Media Group, which includes her book marketing, publishing, and digital marketing divisions. She has appeared on the Today show and CSPAN as an expert on publishing and she travels regularly to speak to audiences about Digital and Traditional PR. She started her work in publishing at Hyperion Books for Children, where she launched their imprint featuring African-American authors and books. Her career has included senior level positions in NYC at Putnam, Bloomsbury (USA), Little, Brown, Miramax, and Henry Holt and Company. She received her M.S. in Digital Marketing in May 2022 from Rutgers Business School. She is also the author of Do You Know What A Book Publicist Does: A Guide To Creating Your Own Campaigns.

Hannah Orenstein is the author of four novels: Meant to Be Mine, Head Over Heels, Love at First Like, and Playing with Matches. Her books have been featured on several “Best Of” lists by Vogue, O, the Oprah Magazine, Goodreads, and many more. She's also the deputy editor of lifestyle and wellness at Bustle, where she leads coverage of dating, fitness, mental health, food, home, travel, and more. Previously, she held editorial roles at Seventeen and Elite Daily, and once had a brief stint as a matchmaker.

Miral Sattar uses data and analytics to help authors publish and promote their books, as well as social media tools to reach audiences through such platforms as her widely popular viral BookToks. Most recently, she has been devoting her time to her fiction podcast for kids, Bearily Bear Stories, which was named Best Podcast of 2022 by Common Sense Media, Best Story Podcast by Romper, and was promoted in Apple’s Podcast homepage. Fans can also find her on TikTok and Instagram (@miralreads), where she raises awareness about diversity in kids’ publishing. Miral is also the founder of Bibliocrunch, an award-winning platform that connects authors with editorial services. She has lectured at Yale, NYU, CUNY, Pace, and other universities across America and has helped numerous books become bestsellers; thousands of publishing professionals have benefitted from her tech training courses for writers. She has been featured in Time, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the New York Daily News, among other media publications. She holds an M.S. in Publishing (Digital + Print Media) from NYU and a B.S. from Columbia University in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Jane Murphy (moderator) has been a principal and co-founder of two publishing ventures: KIDVIDZ, which won numerous awards for its special-interest videos for children, and Giraffe LLC, publishing/consulting firm that designs custom solutions for corporate management and leadership development. Jane has authored and co-authored several books, including a parenting book for Doubleday, a children’s book, a cookbook for The Harvard Common Press, an award-winning business book, and five novels recently taken under representation. Two of her book blog sites can be found at coachingmojoformanagers.com and snoutzadventures.com. Jane has received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Rockefeller Foundation and has spoken at many conferences and to many groups, including the American Film Institute, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, the Women’s National Book Association, and Women in Film and Video, among others.

Diana Altman (event organizer) is an Authors Guild Ambassador, short story writer, and author of the books Hollywood East, In Theda Bara's Tent, and We Never Told. DianaAltman.com

This event is co-sponsored by the Library and the Authors Guild. Writing Life events in 2023 are generously underwritten by Jenny Lawrence.