We promised to talk about writing conferences and here it is. Typically a really professional conference has a good ROI for indie and traditionally published authors. The information feast and networking is important no matter which career route you take. But finding the right conference can be overwhelming in terms of concerns over time, fuel, and cash investment. Because advancing your publishing career in any way takes serious time and effort, we’ve decided to save you a lot of legwork on this one.
Today’s blog is a list of done-for-you resources to grow your career—whether for finding agents, editors, publishers, writing partners, ghostwriters, critique partners, people with promotion secrets, or anyone else who can help your writing career take off.
Writers’ conferences are a career must for most writers. We can’t recommend them enough. They provide:
- Premier opportunities for you to meet agents and editors (who are far more likely to give your manuscript a chance after having met you).
- Chances to network with and learn from other authors—who can introduce you to their agents or publishers; help you get farther along the publishing path by sharing their experiences; or who can even end up being part of that much-needed support and/or critique group.
- Help getting a grip on how the publishing industry works and what’s most likely to sell (or how to make your own story more marketable if it’s already written).
- Insights on self-publishing vs. traditional publishing.
- Great classes and panels that can help improve your craft.
- A reminder about why you’re excited about writing!
The conferences listed below are obviously just a sampling of what’s out there. Many are sponsored by national organizations and “tour” different cities annually, and some are annual conferences held locally. If you can’t find a conference for your genre (categorized by genre/type), simply do an Internet search to see what you can find—though most conferences have classes that will help improve your craft and industry savvy no matter your genre.
General Writing/Publishing
League of Utah Writers Conference
American Night Writers Association (ANWA) Writers Conference
Latter-day Saint Publishing and Media Association (LDSPMA)
Writers Digest Annual Conference
Colorado Gold Writers Conference
Timpanogos Storytelling Conference
Inspired Writer Retreats with Bridget Cook Burch
Nonfiction
Business Aspects of Writing and Publishing
20 Books Vegas (20 Books to 50K)
Especially for Editors
Thriller
International Thriller Writer’s Conference “ThrillerFest”
Romance
Romance Writers of America Conferences
Children’s
Writing and Illustrating For Young Readers Conference (WIFYR)
BYU Symposium on Books for Young Readers
Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators Conference (SCBWI)
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention
Life, the Universe, & Everything Writer’s Conference —“LTUE”
Worldcon (More fan-based because it usually hosts the Hugo Awards. But there are many good panels and most major science fiction/fantasy publishing houses attend)
Dragon Con (Largest sci-fi/fantasy multimedia and pop culture convention; includes gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film)
Mystery
Bouchercon World Mystery Convention
Local History, Religious, and Academic Writing and Networking
Family History and Genealogy Conference
For the Love of Reading—UVU Forum on Engaged Reading
Sidney B. Sperry Symposium (religious education/academic)
BYU Church History Symposium (religious/academic)
One More Tip
Local libraries also host writers or publishing panels (publishers, editors, etc.), so add a few of those to your own list of resources. And if you live on a raft in the middle of the ocean and can’t get anywhere, there are writing and publishing blogs aplenty (which you obviously have access to if you’re reading this post)!
Chime in! We know there are a lot of fantasy/sci-fi options above, but speculative fiction is really big right now, so that’s our excuse. If you think we’ve left a genre underrepresented or ignored a critical conference, tells us your most favorite conference and why. Please share!
Thanks so much for sharing this list, Angela. I have been looking into conferences lately in an attempt to expand my horizons a little bit 🙂
I love Writing for Charity and LTUE. Both are inexpensive and have a great atmosphere about them! I went to WorldCon a few years ago and would love to go again! Hmmmmmm maybe London 2014? No matter what, conferences are great! Thanks for the list.
Wow, I had no idea that there were so many conferences. Thanks for the list!
Fyrecon is also held in June and is for SciFi and Fantasy creators. It has master classes and a slate of classes that come with general admission. Here is the link – http://www.fyrecon.com
Thanks, Kenny! We added it to the post. It’s on our events page, so I’m glad you noted it wasn’t here. Nice catch!