The SECRETS OF PUBLISHING PANEL, moderated by Manhattan-based author and writing teacher Susan Shapiro, who just published SPEED SHRINKING, and who’s probably helped more aspiring journalists and authors sell their work than any agent out there. (Sue’s bio below.) Sue and her panel will cover all the bases, from how to make your work publishable to how to actually get it published, taking into account what is and isn't selling in this economy, and all the new challenges of journalism and the book business.

JOINING SUE ON THE PANEL: L.A. Times Magazine editor Annie Gilbar; Los Angeles agent Betsy Amster (a former book editor, then editorial director of Globe-Pequot Press); New York agent Ryan Fischer-Harbage; and  Amy Alkon, syndicated advice columnist, blogger, and author of the upcoming book I SEE RUDE PEOPLE: One woman's battle to beat some manners into impolite society (Nov. 27, 2009, McGraw-Hill).

Sue usually charges big bucks for her courses, but this special L.A. Press Club event is FREE! to members and only $10 to non-members with pre-payment. ($20 at the door, RSVP is still a must)

WHERE AND WHEN: Friday, August 21, 6 PM cocktail hour; 7 PM program starts. -- UPSTAIRS at the L.A. Press Club's Steve Allen Theater, 4773 Hollywood Blvd. (two blocks west of Vermont) in the Hollywood/Los Feliz neighborhood. Free parking in lot. 323-669-8081



MORE ABOUT SUE: Susan Shapiro, a Manhattan journalism professor, has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, Newsweek, Salon.com, Daily Beast, The Forward, Village Voice, People, More, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. She's co-editor of Food for the Soul and author of the nonfiction books Only as Good as Your Word, Lighting Up, Secrets of a Fix-Up Fanatic and Five Men Who Broke My Heart, which was optioned for a feature film. She’s sold two novels Overexposed and Speed Shrinking which debuts August 3, 2009. She lives with her husband, a TV/film writer, in Greenwich Village, where she teaches her own "instant gratification takes too long" writing method at the New School, NYU and in private workshops and seminars.