By
K. L. Bridgewater
I
have been asked by a number of people why do I attend writer’s conference.
Having only attended two in my life, I don’t have a lot of experience, but the
two writing conferences I went to were pretty great. I suggest researching the
type of conference you want to go to, and glance at the reviews to see if it is
well worth the investment. Most conferences cost a pretty penny. Tie in room
and expenses to drive or fly there, it can become quite expensive. But I have
three reasons that might make the money and time worth it.
1.)
You meet and
make friends with like-minded people.
At my first ACFW conference last
September, I attended the First Time Orientation where Brandilyn Collins answered
questions and discussed what we could expect. After the Q & A session,
Collins asked us to divide into our different genres to meet someone who writes
in the same type of plot line. Since I write in suspense, I joined the suspense
group, which sadly, was mostly populated with guys. Most of the woman grouped
in romance or historical romance groups. After talking for a couple of minutes
with the guys, a young woman about my age with shorter dark hair and black rim
glasses with a camera around her neck approached me. We started talking about
our writing and love of suspense. Instant friend. We talked a lot that weekend
and still keep in touch. We plan to room at the 2014 ACFW conference in a
couple of weeks. I can’t wait to see my friend, Emilie Hendryx again.
2.)
You meet
accomplished writers.
As an avid reader and writer, I become
excited when I meet an author who I have enjoyed their books. At the ACFW
conference, I took writing classes from Tosca Lee, Karen Witemeyer, Jeff Gerke,
Susan May Warren, Rachel Hauck . . .
Additionally, I took a picture with Colleen Coble, Brandilyn Collins, Rachel
Hauck, Susan May Warren, and Robin Jones Gunn (pictured with a not so great picture of me) after they autographed their books for me. One of my
favorite, and most valuable experiences, was meeting with mentors. I met with
Ronie Kendig who looked at the first two pages of my chapter and scribbled all
over the page to improve my writing. She actually enjoyed my beginning. It was
nice to see these established writers as normal people who didn’t mind meeting
with you. At the Writer’s Advance Boot Camp, I met Steven James and Lynette
Eason, two of my favorite suspense writers.
3.)
You network with
the right people.
At the ACFW conference, at every meal I
attended, an agent sat at our table and asked questions. Steve Laube, of Steve
Laube agency, sat at the same table as me for lunch one day. He asked the table
about our writing and if anyone had an agent take a bite on their pitch yet.
After a while he asked a grammatical question to the table. While everyone else
declared yes to the answer (sorry, I don’t remember the exact question, but
something to do with a title of a book), I kept repeating, “no, you don’t.”
Laube asked me to explain my reasoning while he smiled in my direction. After
lunch, he approached me and handed me his personal business card. He told me to
keep in touch. It was awesome. At the Writer’s Advance Boot Camp, Lynette Eason
wanted to see the first couple of chapters of book and wanted to help me write
better since I looked like someone who was teachable.
I
hope these suggestions inspire you to find a conference to attend. Personally,
I had a blast at both conferences and can’t wait to return this year to the
ACFW conference in St. Louis.
If
you have attended a writer’s conference, do you have any other reasons for
attending? Do you have any memorable moments that fall under my three
categories that you want to share? Please do, I would love to read your funny
conference stories.
*This blog featured on my personal blog site (justicethroughsuspense.blogspot.com) yesterday, but I thought it was important enough of a topic to share on both sites, especially with the ACFW conference in one week.
I try to attend at least one major conference every year. In addition to the reasons you mentioned, I sold my first article and my first book at writers' conferences and made the connections that have led to assignments from several devotional magazines.
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