Going to conferences is an excellent way for a beginning writer to establish contacts in the publishing world. Where else can you go and rub elbows with agents, editors, and award winning writers? Where else might you have the potential to compose a list of questions and have them answered by an highly respected agent, or have an influential editor read part of your work and tell you if you've mastered the steps to effective writing?
I won’t belabor the benefit of attending conferences; every writer must decide for himself whether the expense and time are worth the potential contacts and helpful hints. I can honestly say, however, that I have not regretted a single conference I have been to (for a variety of reasons).
Below is a very brief list of some conferences that some may find interesting:
- Blue Ridge Christian Writers Conference
- Romance Writers of America Conference
- South Carolina Writers' Workshop
- Writers' Retreat Workshop
- Southern California Writers' Conference
- Backspace Writers' Conference
This is far from an exhaustive list of available conferences throughout the year; truthfully, there are so many more that I gave up looking through all of them. And let it also be known that we, at The Writers’ Pointe, are in no way endorsing any of the above sites; they were simply randomly chosen. My best advice is to go somewhere like Google, type in “writers’ conference” along with your location and see what comes up.
Whatever your decision, make sure to plan ahead. Some can be costly, and some require travel arrangements. I believe, from numerous personal experiences, you will find most to be inspiring and entertaining . . . perhaps in ways you had not even imagined.
--Mandy
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