I've just accepted an invitation to join Kevin Smokler and M.J. Rose to speak on a BookExpo America panel called "The Author-preneur: Balancing Authorship and the New Business of Brand-building," which will take place Thursday, May 29, at 4 p.m. If there's one question that could sum up what this hour-long discussion could entail, it's probably: "How should an author balance authoring a business with the business of being an author?" This is something I've thought a lot about, and I hope I'll have something useful to say, but I'm prepared to learn a lot from the examples that Smokler and Rose have set through their extra-literary careers.

This panel follows directly on the heels of "Strategies for New Publicity Opportunities in an Expanding Media Universe," the panel at which I'll be surrounded by marketing directors from major publishers and literary agencies. I hope I'll have some useful insights into how to create effective "content marketing," or maybe about pitching story ideas to bookblogs, but it's another case where I'm prepared to spend a lot of time listening.