Public Speaking

Recent & Upcoming appearances

Do You Need A Speaker?

If you need a speaker who understands writers, has a deep and long-term knowledge of the revolutions shaking the world of publishing, and the ability to inspire everyday creativity in people who are looking for a fulfilling writing life, contact Julie, using the form below

About

Julie Duffy is the founder of StoryADay.org and a experienced public speaker on topics such as creativity, productivity for writers, self-publishing – with an emphasis on ebooks and print on-demand, and short stories. Her first ebook, 21st Century Publishing, grew out of her popular newsletter and website of the same name (a Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers pick the early 2000s). She has been sharing tools and insights with authors ever since, in publications such as Writer’s Digest and Writers‘ Journal.

Julie has hosted StoryADay May since 2010 and StoryADay September since 2012. StoryADay.org was a Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers pick in 2017.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Julie was Director of Author Services at Xlibris, the first company to offer print on-demand services directly to authors. In this role she frequently spoke at writers’ conferences about the new age of publishing that was dawning and is now shaking apart the publishing world. She personally worked with a couple of thousand authors from first-time writers to best-selling authors such as Piers Anthony and Daniel Pinkwater.

She knows writers. She knows about a life of creative success . She is happy to introduce them to each other.

More About Julie

Keynote Talks | Workshops | Contact Form

Keynote Talks

Unleashing Your Creativity – How To Build A Creative Lifestyle That Leaves You Fulfilled, Energized, and More Fun To Be Around.

Dodging Zombies: How To Thrive In The Post-Apocalyptic World Of Publishing (or: Self-Publishing: Is It Right For You?)

A Month Of Extremes – How To Prepare for A Creative Challenge (StoryADay, NaNoWriMo, etc.)

Workshops

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I.  StoryADay Live! Draft In A Day – A fun, illustrated presentation about short story structure, followed by a timed writing exercise. Everyone leaves with a new short story draft! (Ideally 90 mins). Read the reviews

II. StoryADay Live! Hook Your Readers With Conflict – An interactive workshop where writers work on 3 (and a half) writing exercises to practice writing stories bristling with Inner Conflict, Outer Conflict and a combination of the two. Your group members leave KNOWING they can write, even in short periods of time, and that they can hook readers in each and every scene. Read the reviews

III. StoryADay Live! Creating Compelling Characters – In this workshop we discuss ways to create compelling characters and you’ll leave with a short story draft featuring a fully-fleshed out protagonist.Read the reviews

IV. StoryADay Live! Un-Dreadful Dialogue – In this interactive workshop your writers get to play with some terrible dialogue and, along the way, learn how to make their own dialogue fit their story’s genre, tone and setting. Read the reviews

V. StoryADay Live! – Fiction in a Flash –  By the end of this workshop, everyone will have a firm understanding of the limits and opportunities of Flash Fiction, including some ideas about where they can submit their pieces. They will go home with completed flash stories, and an opportunity to hear what other attendees wrote, based on the same prompts. Read the reviews

VI. StoryADay Live! – Openings & Endings – Bring a story, chapter or creative non-fiction piece to this workshop, and leave with a piece that has a strong opening and ending. We’ll examine the MICE quotient and other ways to shape your story, then look at some of the year’s best stories to see how their authors craft excellent opening and ending lines. Read the reviews

What people are saying about StoryADay Live! Draft In A Day

“Julie was an amazing and engaging presenter. She both educated and challenged people during the writing session with fantastic results!”
-Gary Zenker, Founder, Main Line Writers’ Group, PA

“Thank you Julie Duffy for the fun workshop this evening. I am inspired by how little time it takes (30 minutes) to begin the creative process.”
-Bob Sybesma

“So much fun”
-Elizabeth Stolar

“Julie gave a great presentation. Very enjoyable and definitely stirred the creative juices.”
-Susanna Reilly

“Another great meeting! Fun and informative.”
-Suzanne Warfield

“Awesome night! Very informative.”
-J.B.

“Thanks for the fun last evening!”
-Joyce Cole

“Really interesting and fun meeting with a great presentation by Julie Duffy on the art of short stories.”
-Sarah Cain

What People Are Saying About StoryADay Live! Hook Your Readers With Conflict

“Julie’s presentation was a perfect mixture of information, exercise practice, and discussion. Her explanation of conflict was easy to understand and the examples out of the box and not your standard “explosions/people fighting etc” that many people might think of when discussing conflict. Listening to other writers and what they wrote for the exercises was also a lot of fun.”
-Krista

” Julie kept the presentation interesting and thought-provoking.
-Greg Wright

“Julie’s focus on conflict was really useful, and on top of that, she had some great insights into the current dynamics of the publishing industry. It was a very worthwhile evening.”
-Peter Muller

“An interesting meeting. The speaker was knowledgeable and positive.”
-Robert

“Great session on the craft.”
-Dan Levin

“Great way to flex the writing muscles. Interactive writing exercise session. Julie Duffy did a great job leading. She is a good instructor and very engaging and supportive.”
-Mike Clake

“Excellent interactive writing session with Julie Duffy. A much needed jump start to my novel, which has been napping lately. Loved the prompts and enjoyed hearing others read what they came up with. Lots of talent in our group. Hope Julie comes back again.”
-Ellie V. Searle

What People Are Saying About StoryADay Live! Creating Compelling Characters

“Julie always does an amazing job of helping us to think of our writing in an analytical way and providing tools to help us achieve our writing goals in different ways. We are SOOOO lucky to have her as an annual presenter.”
-Gary Zenker

“Terrific presentation by Julie Duffy. Her knowledge, insights, and practical tips were so clear and compelling that the only thing left to do is use them. Immediately!”
-Ella Remmings

“A wonderful learning experience. As someone just starting out, an evening like this one was greatly appreciated.”
-Bob McW.

“I always enjoy Julie’s presentations. She is smart, funny, knowledgeable and personable. Her insights on character development were very helpful and useful.”
-Susanna Reilly

“Another amazing evening. Julie Duffy is always informative, entertaining, and thoughtful in her presentations. Her character development session helped us think deeper about who our characters are and how they change throughout our story. Her lessons are always immediately applicable to our writing.”
Leslie Stack

“Julie never ever disappoints with her presentations. Years ago I re-wrote a major part of a short story I’d been working on all because of Julie’s (very timely) presentation about dialogue. Now she’s got me thinking about how I need to add flavor and depth to my character’s backgrounds.”
-Vince Dowdle

“Julie put on a great presentation. Character development is the heart of most stories including flash fiction. No characters usually mean no story. Julie’s advice, examples and insights always help my writing!”
-Christopher Alden

What People Are Saying About StoryADay Live! Un-Dreadful Dialogue

Julie is funny and a joy to listen to! It was great breaking down into small groups to work on dialogue. It was especially helpful to see how 4 people could take the assignment in four very different directions.
-F.M.
Another great meeting – Julie Duffy’s workshop was outstanding, useful and fun at the same time.
-Walter Lawn

Just as I had expected another one of Julie Duffy’s expertly prepared presentations. When it comes to all aspects of writing, the lady certainly knows what she is talking about.
-Gary Buehler, Sr.

Excellent meeting. Julie’s presentation was terrific.
-Vince Dowdle

Thank you Julie. This was a fantastic meeting!
-June Munson

What an informative presentation. Thanks Julie
-Nikki Keach

We have been lucky enough to have Julie lead the group on several sessions of writing. This one was one of my personal favorites: Dialog. She got everyone involved and writing. She is a great session leader. And the things people wrote on the spot….such a talented group!
-Gary Zenker (Organizer)

Julie does an excellent job of exploring issues of craft. She organized the workshop on the 6 traps of dialogue-writing as explanation, example, exercise — let us active employ what she was discussing. So useful!
-Greta Ham

Julie, it was a pleasure sharing in your writing exercises. Good dialog is so vital, and you’ve helped raise my awareness of what makes it so. Thank you.
-bob sybesma

Julie’s talk on dialogue was very informative and idea generating. I appreciate her generous gift of time and effort she gives to the group and subject matter.
-Christopher Alden

Julie did a fabulous job with her presentation. I’m looking forward to Story a Day May!
-Susanna Reilly

As usual Julie put on great program from which I learned a lot.
-Douglas Smith

I’m glad I attended this meeting. Julie Duffy’s dialogue presentation tonight was interesting and informational. It was concise, easy to understand and the practice dialogues were very helpful.
-Maria Haag

What an amazing workshop this evening! Julie knows so much about the craft of writing, and presents it expertly. I’m so looking forward to STaDay.org in May! Thank you!
-Carol

What People Are Saying About StoryADay Live! Fiction In A Flash

Julie Duffy is great at leading these workshops. I particularly appreciate the research she puts into every one of them. The examples she presented were perfectly on topic, illustrative, and also good enough to keep resonating.
-Walter Lawn

Julie did a phenomenal job yesterday. Very informative and insightful presentation with application well beyond flash fiction. And the exercises afterward were so much fun.
-Steve Schafer

I’ve never written flash fiction. It was liberating to be so spontaneous.
-Bob Sybesma

Julie Duffy’s presentation on Flash Fiction was an inspiration. It opened up new possibilities for combining unusual parts of a story. It brought clarity and focus.
Leslie Stack

What People Are Saying About StoryADay Live! Openings & Endings

Once again, Julie knocked her presentation out of the park! The MICE Quotient will help me put in place better story arcs that are solid and well connected. I enjoyed the active lesson she gave on starting a story off with certain key elements in place. A great meeting.
-Christopher Alden

Masterful! Julie has the special ability to take important information and present it in an easily understandable and impactful way. Also love the fact that all she needs is a blank wall to give her presentation life!
-Gary Zenker, Mainline Writers’ Group President

Julie was great, as usual. She always has information to assist writers with the process and we always have a great time with the writing prompts.
-Jen M.

Julie’s session was especially helpful. Her ideas helped me figure out how to get through a rough spot in my current writing regarding time/word length.
-Mike Clarke

An excellent presentation that helped me figure out some things about my work in progress, including a new opening paragraph.
-Paul P

What a informative and creative evening. Julie Duffy was as always such a treat!
-Joanette McGeoch

Julie is very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and very giving. By tying her principles in with concrete, familiar contexts, I could easily remember her talk/workshop. I especially enjoyed getting feedback on a piece of writing I did in the session. I highly recommend Julie.
-Chris Lepine

Thanks so much! Informative and enjoyable evening!
-Greg Wright

Great presentation by Julie Duffy on troubleshooting and punching up beginnings and endings. She tied in examples from literature and film.
Todd Harra

Julie’s tips on keeping major story threads untangled are a huge help! I’ll never look at MICE in quite the same way!
-Jeanne Klaver

We are so lucky to get Julie to come back year after year to present to our group. Her sessions are well organized and help us understand the craft of writing and storytelling. Loved the fact that she used the movies Die Hard 1, 2 and 3 (and the differences between them) to explain the lesson. EVERYONE: Join the Story A Day movement!
-Gary Zenker

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