Exciting News!! FREE Online Writing Conference!!

http://www.themuseonlinewritersconference.com/


Exciting news! This announcement is for all writers.

FREE ONLINE WRITERS CONFERENCE!!


October 13-19. Write these dates down on your calendar. In ink. Seriously. Carve it in stone, clear your calendar. You will thank me for this, I promise you. Why am I so fired up about a writers’ conference in October that I start blogging about it in July? This conference is amazing. It will change your life. Bold statement? Yes, but you can be bold when it’s true.

As anyone in the writing community can tell you, writing conferences are one of the best resources for having the opportunity to work with industry professionals and to learn from experts in the field; they also provide an amazing platform for networking. If there is only one conference you can attend during the year, this one is it. Trust me. Registration is now open for the 2008 Muse OnLine Writers Conference. The conference is October 13-19. This conference is an amazing opportunity for writers at all stages of their careers. It is a tremendous resource that goes WAY beyond any other conference you may have experienced. Last year there were over 2000 participants from all over the world. One of the things I really like about the writing community is, as a rule, they are a very giving group. They learn something and share their experience and expertise with other writers. This conference is the creation of award winning author and editor Lea Schizas. And, did I mention, this entire week of knowledge sharing is absolutely FREE! How generous is that?!

What is so different about this writers’ conference? First of all, it is interactive. There are a plethora of workshops you can participate in AND you get immediate feedback from the facilitator. Learn the secrets for writing attention getting blurbs about your books, how to write a query that will catch the eye of that elusive publisher, marketing your book, the list of workshops goes on and on, there is something for everyone. Seriously. Everyone. There are general classes that benefit anyone in the industry and classes that are genre/market specific. Learn how to find more freelancing opportunities. Learn about press releases. Do you need help in organization and time management so you have TIME to write? Thinking about self publishing – learn the ins and outs from a pro. Show don’t tell…how many times have you heard that as a writer…sharpen these essential storytelling skills. Whet our curiosity for your novel with that killer opening line that grabs you and won’t let go. There are worldbuilding classes and how to create and use a magic system for fantasy writers, classes in poetry, horror and romance. Do you write nonfiction? There are classes for you too. There is great representation for virtually all genres.

Secondly, it is online, therefore, it is open 24-7. Granted, there are some classes that are real time chats that you must be pre-registered for (and class size was limited in these last year) so you definitely want to register and select classes early. Since these are real time chats, you do need to attend these at their designated times, but the open forums are available 24-7. The facilitator will post the lesson, you post your response (this is the interactive part) and you will get feedback on your post. This is your opportunity to get your query and blurb polished before you submit.


I highly recommend this to all writers. I was fortunate enough to discover this wonderful conference literally on the last day of registration last year. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but this surpassed any expectations I could have possibly had. My only regret was there were not more hours in the day to participate in more classes! Another great plus, once your register for the conference you can participate in their year round forum…again, an amazing group of very helpful writers sharing resources and encouraging each other in every attempt and milestone! You can be as active as you like, or simply lurk in the background and read all the boards. Personally, I think you would be missing out not to do the interactive classes.

Don’t hesitate. Run, don't walk. Go sign up now to reserve your spot. Registration closes September 1, so don’t delay. Click the link to the Muse website either under the 2008 Confernece logo above and follow the link to the registration page. See you at the conference!

Catholic Writers Conference Online

Wow! What a week this has been. The Catholic Writers Conference Online was awesome! Major kudos go out to the administrators Ann Lewis and Karina Fabian for a very informative and well organized conference.

There were many industry professionals there offering wonderful classes on blogging, book modeling, branding, character development, dialogue, contract basics and they even offered a class on pitching and working with agents. It was extremely beneficial. All of this was offered as a free online conference. There was no application fee or charge for the classes. There was a link to Paypal for any donations, at the attendees’ discretion. There was also an e-book made available for purchase.

I cannot emphasize enough how this pay it forward attitude of writers, agents, and publishers alike benefit those of us in the writing community. It affords a writing forum with opportunities to share with one another areas of expertise we have learned from working in this market. It offers many opportunities for networking and marketing through the network. For example, you may meet a writer at a conference such as this that is having a book release in the immediate (or maybe not so immediate) future. Through networking you may decide to help get the word out about her book in the form of participating in a promotional blog tour by posting an author interview or book review on your blog. In return the other author places a link from her blog to yours to encourage some of her audience to visit your site. You now have new readers coming to your site to meet you and get to know your work. Then, when your book is coming out, you have picked up some additional audience members who have enjoyed your work and are anxious for your book release. It’s a win-win concept.

I applaud these ladies for this very successful conference. Many thanks go out to each and every one of the presenters, the moderators, the administrators and attendees for their valuable contributions. I can hardly wait for next year’s symposium! You may want to hold some time on your calendar for this too, it is definitely a conference you won't want to miss! Just a thought...