Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - The rules of writing have changed, Texas author Caleb Pirtle plans to tell participants at the upcoming Puerto Vallarta International Writers' Conference, and success will only come by embracing the digital age.

"For the first time, authors are in charge of their own destiny," he says. "They need to take advantage of it. They need to understand how to take advantage of it. I hope they are ready to meet a very realistic challenge."

Pirtle, author of more than 55 books, will be keynote speaker at the March 6-8, 2015 conference at Biblioteca Los Mangos, organized jointly by the library and Puerto Vallarta Writers' Group.

"My talk will be built around the foundation that aspiring writers need to consider as they begin the development of a story. It doesn't make any difference whether they are writing a novel, a nonfiction, book, a short story, or a magazine article, the approach is always the same. I will, and I hope in a humorous way, discuss these touchstones for writers to remember. Where do you find stories? How do you birth new ideas for stories? And what makes a good story? I will also visit the idea that old formulas for stories no longer work, and how do you write for the digital age, which is changing all of the rules."

Along with Pirtle, Puerto Vallarta writer Maurice Monette, author of Confessions of a Gay Married Priest, will be offering tips on memoir writing. Other presenters - Sarah Cortez, James Callan, Donna Dahl, Melissa Frost and Thomas Pulley - will offer an inspiring mix of seminars, workshops and interaction on the theme Leaving Our Mark ... Awakening More than Memoir. Evelyn Byrne of White Bird Publishing and literary agent Elise Capron, representing the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, will be on hand to consider manuscripts.

"It is my hope that writers who attend the conference will walk away with a new understanding of the writing process and a burning desire to run home, sit down, and begin a new story or a new book," Pirtle says. "I don't want writers to hear a lot of vague abstractions about writing. When they leave, I want them to have in hand the nuts and bolts of storytelling."

Registration for the 3-day conference is $125 USD. Registration forms and information are available by email at drjane121@msn.com. Payment can be made via Paypal.