North Georgia College & State University will hold its first-ever conference on New Directions in Writing & Publishing Nov. 10-11.

Held in conjunction with university's visiting author series and the Dahlonega Literary Festival, the conference will focus on the transition from print publishing to digital publishing and is open to the public.

The New Directions Conference will feature experts and authors, including nationally renowned author Sonya Huber, who will speak from 12:45-1:45 p.m. today in the Gloria Shott Auditorium.

Huber is author of "Cover Me: A Health Insurance Memoir," which was a finalist for the ForeWord magazine Book of the Year, and "Opa Nobody," which was shortlisted for the biannual Saroyan Prize for new authors from around the world.

Huber's visit will also include community workshops and readings in partnership with the Chestatee Regional Library and the Dahlonega Arts Council. These opportunities will focus on helping community members connect their own family stories with broader historical contexts through memoir writing.

Other keynote speakers will include Ahmad Meradji, CEO and president of Booklogix, and Robert Williams, the senior curator of the Bentley Rare Book Gallery, assistant vice president for library systems at Kennesaw State University.

Meredith Morris-Babbs, director of the University of Florida Press, and a nationally recognized leader in open access publishing will also speak.

Other conference sessions to be presented over the course of the two-day event will include: "Ebooks: From Fiction to Scholarship," "How Media Helps Writers Write," "The Book as Art" and more.

The New Directions Conference will be held at various locations on North Georgia's campus. To see the full schedule of events or to register, visit www.northgeorgia.edu.

Registration for the conference is $40 per day; free for students with North Georgia students with a valid ID. There are additional, optional fees for other events associated with the conference.