Imagine you’re traveling down your own yellow-brick
road to publication when suddenly before looms a gleaming building filled with
other writers, classes on topics that will help your writing with agents and editors
waiting to hear from you! It’s as if you been transported to the wonderful city
of Oz!
Attending a writers’ event is one of the best ways
to build up your writing life and well worth the expense. Conferences, retreats
and workshops not only increase your knowledge and technical skills, it sorta
acts as a support group. Imagine being surrounded by others that are just as
excited about writing as you! You can’t beat the feeling.
This week, I decided to let you know about some
upcoming conferences throughout the country. This is not an exhaustive list. Be
sure and check your local writers’ groups to find out about other conferences
that may be available.
October 28
– 29, 2011; East Texas Christian Writing
Conference; East Texas Baptist University, Marshall, Texas. (Registration
until the 21st is only $80!) Presenters include
Becca Anderson, freelance writer and published novelist; Terry Burns,
award-winning novelist and literary agent; and Mike Farris, literary agent,
entertainment attorney and award-winning screenwriter.
November 2 – 6, 2011; CLASS Christian Writers
Conference; Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico. Workshops include Fiction A
to Z with DiAnn Mills, Writing to Reach the Unbeliever with Terry Burns,
Plotting not Plodding with Eddie Jones, and Writing for Children with Sheila
Seifert.
February 16 – 19, 2012; Writing for the Soul
sponsored by Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild; Grand Hyatt, Denver
Colorado. Keynote speakers include Anne Graham Lotz, T. Davis Bunn and Todd
Starnes. Classes include Building Your Platform with Randy Ingermanson, Jesus
in the Newsroom with Todd Starnes, and the Thick-Skinned Manuscript Clinic with
Jerry B. Jenkins.
March 30 – April 3, 2012; Mount
Hermon Writers Conference; Mount Hermon, California. More information will
be available on the website after November 1, 2011. There will be major morning
tracks, afternoon workshops and specialized morning career tracks available for
published authors by application.
May 20 – 24, 2012; Blue
Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference; Ridgecrest Conference Center,
Black Mountain, North Carolina. Information will be online at a later date.
Past conferences have included Alton Gansky, DiAnn Mills, Yvonne Lehman and
Caleb Jenning Breakey as faculty.
June 6 – 9, 2012; Write to Publish Conference; Wheaton
College, Wheaton, Illinois. Keynote speaker will be Dr. Dennis Hensley,
director of the professional writing department at Taylor University and
prolific author.
Conferences and workshops are the best way to
jump-start your new career or break-through your writer’s block. Prices range
from less than $100 to several hundred dollars, but if you plan far enough in
advance, you can squirrel away enough to cover the registration and hotel fees.
But don’t forget to take some spending money because most conferences offer
book-signings and CD’s of the individual workshops. And don't forget to enjoy the trip!
