For writers of all genre who want to write, and the readers who love them. Find what you want to know.
Writer’s Conferences Do You Really Need To Attend?
By Shelle Castles
You may moan and groan at the prospect of going to a writer’s conference. It’s too much money, you may complain. It’s too far away, you mumble to yourself. I don’t need to go to a writer’s conference, you may try to convince yourself.
If you have not attended a writer’s conference before, you are missing out on a wealth of information and contact with people that you wouldn’t have otherwise. If you are serious about your writing career and want to propel yourself forward in knowledge, information, and contacts, a writer’s conference is a perfect place to start.
By attending a writer’s conference, you meet other writers, just like you, who are just beginning their careers or are already published. You can share ideas, garner information from one another, establish friendships, and form camaraderie with other writers. We all know that the writer’s life seems to be an isolated one. A writer’s conference can be your opportunity to communicate with like-minded people, other writers, to encourage and help each other. If you are an established writer, you can help beginning writers with your insights and meet writers who are established in other markets.
The potential to make new business contacts, whether through other writers, editors, publishers, or agents, are big incentives to attending writer’s conferences. You may meet the agent of your dreams; you may strike up a conversation with a publisher who is interested in your genre. You may build a relationship with a published author who can put you in touch with editors who can help you.
By taking advantage of the information provided at a writer’s conference through free newsletters, writer’s guidelines, free magazines, and classes, you can come home full of fresh ideas and a mountain of information that will have you writing for weeks on end. You can garner new information about your writing career that you never thought to ask about. You can ask questions and get answers to get you well on your way to stop getting those dreaded rejection slips and turn downs.
When you attend a writer’s conference, be prepared. Be professional. Have clips ready, if you have any, to show people when they ask what you write. Have your book proposal neat and clean on hand for any publishers or agents that you may meet. Bring business cards with your website address so that the contacts you make can read your writing later. Do not complain about your writing or the amount of rejection slips that you have been getting to other writers, you could be discouraging to a beginner.
Be courteous to the speakers at the conference. You don’t want to monopolize their time. It’s okay to be brief about your writing and what you’re working towards. You may get lucky and that speaker could have a contact person that they could put you in touch with. But no speaker wants to spend thirty minutes listening to your monologue about the pile of rejection letters you have received from the “stupid” publishers about your Great American Novel.
The power of attending a writer’s conference is in your hands. Do you really want to refuse an opportunity to jump-start your career? Do you really want to miss out on meeting people who can help you get where you want to be? Do you really think that getting the motivation and inspiration you may need is too costly? Are you really too busy?
AGENTS & EDITORS
- 60 Calls for Submissions in June 2021 – Paying markets
- Agents: Knowing When To Hold One and When To Fold
- Getting Offers from Multiple Literary Agents
- Literary Agents List
- Preditors and Editors
- Publishing, Writing Terms, Acronyms
- Tips for a Successful Editor Appointment
- Want More? Here’s How to Get It
- What NOT to Do When Beginning Your Novel
- Windup for the (Story) Pitch
- Write the Perfect Book Proposal
CALLS FOR SUBMISSION
- 2023 MAR Calls for Submissions
- 2023 FEB Calls for Submissions
- 2023 JAN Calls for Submissions
- 2022 DEC Calls for Submission
- 2022 NOV Calls for Submission
- 2022 OCT Calls for Submission
- 2022 SEP Calls for Submission
- 2022 AUG Calls for Submission
- 2022 JUL Calls for Submission
- 2022 JUN Calls for Submission
- 2022 MAY Calls for Submission
- 2022 APR Calls for Submission
- 2022 MAR Calls for Submission
COMPUTER TIPS
- ASCII Characters
- Building Your Web Site and Doing It Right
- Don’t Be a Victim-Scams, Identity Theft, Urban Legends
- Don’t Spread Scams
- How to Annoy Your Website Visitors
- Knowing Your Target Audience
- Stopping Viruses from Propagating Through Your Email
- The Top 10 Email Errors
- Word Processors Through Time: Before MS Word & Google Docs
FORMATTING & GRAMMAR
- Achieving 250 Words / 25 Lines Per Page
- And Sammy, too? Oh, No!
- Changing Double Hyphens to EM Dashes in Word
- Edit Easier
- High Hopes–Avoiding Common Mistakes
- Misused Words
- Navigating In Your Novel
- Proofreaders Marks
- Research Links
- Rules for Writers
- Slang and Jargon Souces
- Tightening Your Manuscript and Trimming the Word Count
INSPIRATION-MOTIVATION
- A Dream Realized
- Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work
- Finding Time to Write
- Five Ways to Promote Yourself
- Fun Inspirations 1
- Fun Inspirations 2
- Fun Inspirations 3
- Fun Inspirations 4
- How Not to Procrastinate
- How to Quit Writing and End up on the Bestseller Lists
- Love to Write: Here Is How You Can Build Your Career
- Making Time for Self-Care While Running a Business
- Moving Up the Rejection Ladder
- Pop Quiz: Who Are You?
- Rules for Writers
- The Art of Being Rejected–475 Words
- The Juggling Act
- The Literary Food Chain
- Write Better Naked
- Writer’s Conferences Do You Really Need To Attend?
- Writing By Moonlight
MARKETS
- 35 Online Work Ideas to Earn Good Money Whilst Studying
- Copyright Primer, Know Your Rights
- EBooks-Fears to Possibilities
- Finding Markets Fiction and Nonfiction
- Freelance Writing 101
- How To Be a (Shiver) Reporter
- How To Market Your Book After You’ve Written It
- Love to Write: Here Is How You Can Build Your Career
- Magazine Links
- Making Money As a Corporate Freelancer
- Market News–All Genres
- Newspaper Writing Resources
- Path to Self-Publishing Success
- Publishing, Writing Terms, Acronyms
- Science Writing Organizations
- Selling to Children’s Markets
- Submission Tracking
- Submitting to UK Markets
- Syndication 101
- To Specialize, or Not to Specialize?
- Why E-Books?
- Writing Groups List
- Youth Writing Markets
PUBLISHING
- 60 Calls for Submissions in June 2021 – Paying markets
- Copyright Primer, Know Your Rights
- How To Market Your Book After You’ve Written It
- Love to Write: Here Is How You Can Build Your Career
- Making Money As a Corporate Freelancer
- Path to Self-Publishing Success
- Publishers Websites
- Publishing, Writing Terms, Acronyms
- Submission Tracking
- The Great Limbo Mystery Question
VIDEO & STREAMING LINKS
WRITING TOOLS - APPS
- Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work
- Free AI Tools That Can Be Used In Business Writing
- Helpful Books
- Knowing Your Target Audience
- Magazine Links
- Newspaper Writing Resources
- Reconsider Hand Writing
- Research Links
- Slang and Jargon Souces
- Unblocking Your Muze
- Word Processors Through Time: Before MS Word & Google Docs
- Writing Groups List
WRITER'S LIFE
WRITING CONTESTS
WRITING CONTESTS
.
• ALL WRITING CONTESTS
- 2023 MAR Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2023 FEB Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2023 JAN Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 DEC Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 NOV Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 OCT Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 SEP Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 AUG Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 JUL Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 JUN Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 MAY Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 APR Contests, Workshops, Webinars
ABOUT WRITING CONTESTS