I have run more writing tracks than I can remember, and have given panels in even more. That said…
I’ve always claimed that running a writing track is the easiest job on a con’s staff. All you have to do is schedule a handful of panels, then attend them to see how well they’re accepted. It’s just not that hard.
Part of what makes it so easy is that there are so few writers genuinely qualified to give panels at any given convention. (Rain Furrest is to my knowledge the sole exception, where there’s more talent than room-hours avaialble.) Only the larger events generally attract more than one or two willing authors/editors/publishers, so there’s no difficulties in choosing who your panelists will be-- indeed, one of the biggest problems is being stuck with the same people year after year. Such panelists will often have only one or two panels they really want to give. Since you’re only going to schedule four or five hours of programming regardless, that’s just about perfect. The bad news is that if you’re not careful you’ll get exactly the same panels given exactly the same way year after year.
Another problem you may have is that quite often the best writers are poor speakers. While we’re fortunate in that many furry writers make excellent panelists, some do in fact simply suck at it. Skill in writing doesn’t always equate to skill in public speaking, and one problem the track-giver may have is a would-be panelist who simply isn’t up to the job.
Another issue to look our for is that sometimes writers violently disagree on even the basics. One year at Anthrocon two panelists-- of which I was one-- were due to an error asked to host panels on precisely the same subject, almost exactly 24 hours apart. I’m a self-taught, past-his-prime southern redneck bar-fighter of an author, an autoworker by profession with no degree of any kind. The other panelist was a young northeastern English major working on a doctorate in a literary specialty so narrow and obscure I still can’t believe it actually truly exists. He was unpublished but had tons of class work to call on. The short version is that our panels were vastly different affairs in both style and substance; he wore a suit and I wore road-weary motorcycle gear. We didn’t even remotely agree on a single key point, and I’m reasonably certain that we’d have utterly failed if placed on the rostrum together. Indeed, we might even have used foul language at each other-- we were so totally oil and water that it wasn’t funny. Yet separately we both got nice rounds of applause. So, in regards to single panelists versus multiple… I’d advise using common sense. If I’ve done a hundred panels with author xyz and we work well together, (s)he and I can get away with doing things like shuffling around at the last minute and sharing a table without prior notice. If panelists haven’t worked together, use more caution.
All of that said…
Usually the first thing I do is figure out who my target audience is. Am I putting together programming for serious writers seeking to improve their craft, or for brand-new beginners and casual walk-ins who are mostly at the con to look at the cool suiters? The answer matters; if I want to help current writers I’ll set up panels on more advanced topics like “Literary Theme” or “Narrative Hooks”. If I’m aiming at the more casual crowd, the subjects will be along the lines of “How to Get Published”. There’s a hidden trap here, in that if you do beginning topics there are only just so many. I’ve done “How to Get Published” so many times now that my gorge rises a little at the very idea of doing it again, and at cons where the leadership has asked me to keep things at a beginning level attendance falls off rapidly in two or three years because, well… There’s only so much beginner-level advice a man can give so the panels are identical year after year. For what it’s worth, I’ve found the “advanced” approach to be a lot better-- generating more attendance and active questions and such-- than the “beginner” syllabus overall. The topics themselves are just so much more interesting… But upper con staff rarely agrees.
On another front… I’ve seen some serious writing track fails. Two were really memorable for me. Once I attended a con that truly prides itself on its writing track. And they kept priding themselves on it right up until the moment when the Track Coordinator, who was scheduled to give a dozen hours of programming or so, decided he couldn’t make it to most of the Con. This was on Con Thursday. I volunteered at the last moment and took it all over, in addition to about another ten hours of prgramming I was already scheduled for myself. I know you’re not in the least like that, but sickness and stuffs can and does happen so it helps it you have an understudy. The other thing I see happen-- far more than it should!-- is for track heads to not show up at their own track’s panels. This happened one year at a con where a panelist had far too much to drink and missed a full day (or perhaps two, I don’t remember for sure) of giving panels. I again stepped in and took over, this time without telling anyone because I hadn’t planned to give panels at this con and therefore had no idea of who to tell-- after all, I figgered, the Track Coordinator would show up soon after I began. As things worked out, it was over two years before the con staff learned that I’d given about 6-10 hours of panels in their rooms that they’d paid for and spoken in their names without anything even slightly resembling authorization. For all the track coordinator did to monitor things, I could’ve spent every minute of that time selling kiddie porn.
Regarding other events… It’s almost become a running joke that I’m always scheduled opposite the Fursuit Parade, no matter what con I go to. At one point, I’d not seen a fursuit parade in four years! Indeed, in recent times people often actively ask me to do a panel opposite the Parade on the grounds that some people are creeped out by or just don’t like fursuits and need somewhere else to go. I’ve found that it’s best not to try and do a panel with the resulting audience of three or so-- if you’re going to do something like this make it a reading instead. Just be sure not to hold the small crowd against the panelist. It’s not his or her fault. You should also warn the panelist not to expect much, so their feelings aren’t hurt.
At any rate… I suggest being bold and taking on the tougher topics like “Writing Narrative Hooks” as opposed to “How to Get Published”. Aim high, sez I, and it usually works out well. A writer’s “Meet and Greet” can work well as the first event, but in my experience it takes a panelist of a certain level of speaking skill to make it a success. Your first panel is crucial-- people will skip the rest if it sucks. A “Writer Guest of Honor” is a tremendous help in generating programming-- IMO if the convention is serious about supporting furry writing they’ll get you one at least every second or third year. And all panels are best-attended if held between about two and six PM.
Finally… Make sure your panelists understand that the panel is about the congoers, not selling their own books. Most long-time furries don’t need to be told this, but… If they’re not there to advance the craft and put the needs of the con attendees ahead of their own, well… I’d make sure they never came back. Not as panelists, at least. But then, I’m a crochety, uneducated old redneck.