What to Expect at a Writer’s Conference?

This month I attended my first Writer’s Conference, the Arkansas Writer’s Conference on the invitation of a writer I knew, who was the keynote speaker.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but had heard it was important to attend one to advance your career in writing.

Attending one is a good idea – but it’s important to know what you’re getting yourself into.

There were over twenty Contests to enter – write a Short Story using certain words or of a certain genre, write a poem with a particular rhyme scheme – that sort of thing. I entered ten of them, along with hundreds of other writers. It stretched my skills quite a bit to write in those different genres.

I was thrilled to find out I’d won Honorable Mention in a couple of them, one of which was a Historical Fiction short story. The research I did for that gave me a love for writing Historical Fiction, and I have a project to write a novel along that genre later.

I also discovered recently that I’ll be able to attend the American Christian Fiction Writer’s conference, the premier conference for christian fiction of all genres.

Here’s a recap of my experience at the AWC, and what to expect at a Conference, for anyone interested in attending…

At the AWC, we had:
F-Fellowship
Hundreds of writers from the area attended, at all levels of experience. They were friendly, interesting people. We talked about the craft of writing, how to improve it, and our various experiences getting published. What our stories were about, and what inspired us to write them.

R-Readings
Each of us got a chance to read something short from one of our current projects or published works. There were some very entertaining or moving poems and excerpts read.

I-Instruction
There were many lectures and classes on improving the craft, getting published, writing articles, poetry, memoirs, mysteries, or historical fiction. Published authors shared their path to publication.

E-Encouragement
Many authors further along the road encouraged those of us just starting out not to quit, to keep up the fight, to keep writing. For many of us, that’s like asking a fish to keep swimming. Not a problem; giving up writing would be like giving up breathing.

D-Distribution
Authors had the opportunity to set up tables and booths around the conference center, where we could line up and buy their books (autographed, of course!). My friend, Roland Mann, also set up a table and sold quite a few copies of his first book, Buying time. Here’s a picture of him at his book table.

Gee, what’s that spell? FRIED. Yeah, after it was over, my brain was fried. But one thing I brought away from the conference was the resolve to not give up. To Keep Moving Forward.

In addition to these things, at the AFCW Conference, I expect to also find:
P-Photographer
One of the important things in marketing yourself is a good headshot. There will be a professional photographer on staff there to take your picture for a blog or book cover. Really, the best picture of me is the one you see here, with the dots. Multicolored acne. 🙂

I-Inspiration
There will be workshops at this conference that will help inspire you to create, and hone your skills. Continuing Ed classes on plots, character development, point of view, pacing, making characters believable, and how to vault over that last hurdle to publication.

E-Exposure
The chance to sit down with an editor or agent for 15 minutes to pitch my story to them, and possibly get a request for a partial. (I’ll tell you guys about the publication steps in a later post…) It will be exciting to sit in front of a representative of Thomas Nelson or Zondervan to talk about my books. Who knows? My elevator pitch might turn into a contract…

S-Support
Many of my online friends who have already supported me, helped critique my work, and encouraged me to continue in this path, will be at this conference too. I’ll finally get to meet them. Man, I’m excited!

So. FRIED PIES. Odd that I should come up with an acronym like that…
Down here in the South we are all about fried pies. I used to sell them with my Scout Troop, and eat one for every ten I sold. That’s one of the reasons I’m a big fat guy… 😉

You might not expect to find any FRIED PIES at a writer’s conference, but you should expect to find something just as yummy – fellow writers who will teach you the craft, help you to succeed, and encourage you to Do Your Best, and to Never Give Up.

Chris Solaas