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The Benefits of Attending a Writers Conference

A couple of weeks ago,  I attended the San Francisco Writers Conference.  It was a great experience.  I had been to the Maui Writers Conference several times before.  I always came  back from those trips refreshed and renewed and having learned a lot about the craft of writing.  

I didn't have high expectations for the San Francisco Writers Conference.  I doubted that  it would be able to compete with the wonderful experiences I had in Hawaii.  Boy was I wrong.  I don't know if its because I have now written three novels and I am at a different stage in my writing  journey (the godforsaken land of  editing), but  I got so much out of the San Francisco Writers Conference that I came back fired up and with an action plan that I have already started to set in motion. 

I learned about the need to have a platform (an audience who would look forward to reading your work) and how to go about developing one.  I learned how to best to pitch my work to agents and editors.  I learned how to find the agents and editors who would be most receptive to the type of books I write.  I even learned that my romance novel would be difficult to place because it is short (57,000 words) and that if I want it to have a greater chance of getting published, I need to expand it to at least 75,000 and preferably 90,000 words. 

I got very helpful feedback on the first few pages of my suspense novel – Dreams Deferred – from an independent editor and invitations from six well-known and respected agents to send them my manuscripts for consideration.  Now if I could just finish editing the darn things and get them out the door . . .  But that is a topic for another day.

The point is, there are numerous benefits to attending a well run, well attended and very well put together writers conference – from the writing seminars to the ability to consult with independent editors to the ability to network with and pitch to top agents and editors, to the fellowship and inspiration one gets from mingling with other creative minds.   I will definitely be back next year – not to find an agent, but to learn more from the seminars and to pitch my next book.

Peace.

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2 thoughts on “The Benefits of Attending a Writers Conference

  1. Very informative; at present not able to attend events for writers
    but such information always useful. Happy to read of your plans
    to keep on writing.

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