Are Writing Conferences Worth It?

I've often heard writers question the value of writing conferences. Are they worth the time, money, travel, inconvenience to attend? My answer to all of the above is a resounding yes! Let me explain.

I have been active in the online writing community for about five years, especially on goodreads. I thought I was doing everything I could to connect with writers and advance my writing career. When a neighbor mentioned the Storymakers conference, I thought it would be fun, but had no real expectations.

Me, Sheralyn Pratt & Kimberley Little

The 2010 Storymakers conference, in Provo Utah, rocked my world. I met awesome writers whose books I'd already read like Jessica Day George, James Dashner, Dan Wells, David Farland, Aprilynne Pike, Anita Stansfield, Stephanie Black, and loads more.

Me with Don Carey & Tamera H. Heiner
(with red eye, *sigh*)

I also made connections with the publishing side of things. I had lunch with Krista Marino, the editor for Random House Delacorte Press, and in 2011, I became friends with Lisa Mangum, author of the Hourglass Door trilogy and editor for Deseret Book.

The classes were helpful and extremely relevant to my needs as a writer. They have breakouts to address every stage, published or aspiring, because no matter who we are, we always have room to learn.

Me with Lisa Mangum
(People say we look alike.
What do you think?)

Me laughing with Melissa Cunningham,
Jordan McCollum (across)
& Cathy Witbeck

Another HUGE plus for attending is that all attendees are invited to become a part of Authors Incognito, a sister group to Storymakers. Now I am a part of a whole online community that I didn't know existed. Now when there are contests, workshops, conferences, and other writerly things happening, I hear about it. I have editor friends who can beta read my manuscripts, people to comiserate when my muse flies the coop, or when I get one rejection too many on any given day.
How can you attend Storymakers this year? Check out their registration here for details. You meet some of the writers who are going on this blog.

If you live too far from Provo to make the drive, I suggest you find a writers conference near you and go for it. Your writing career will thank you for it.

Have you ever gone to a conference? Or wanted to? What did you take away from the experience?

Meet Aprilynne Pike, Best-Selling YA Author

A visit with Aprilynne Pike, part 3 of a discussion panel from Storymakers writer’s conference. (Our first two were with Dan Wells and Stephanie Black)

Aprilynne Pike, author of New York Times best sellers Wings and Spells, added a fresh voice to the discussion. I was impressed with her no-nonsense point of view both times I came to hear her speak.

Aprilynne doesn’t edit as she writes except for typos. Instead, she rereads what she just wrote the next day for 20 minutes and makes minor changes then.

She says “I swear by outlines,” referring to a 60 point outline that incorporates pacing. She jokes about having to put two child gates across the door to get her writing time in because there is always more laundry, dishes, and kids to fill your time. “You have to make (writing) a priority. Most authors give up T.V. to make time.”

“Writing is work, even when it’s fun. A manuscript becomes a novel with work!” She explained that in order for books to be best sellers, agents must be able to classify them. In other words, it’s a bad idea to put “my work transcends classification” on your query. Know your genre and be sure your book can be classified. She notes,“a marketable book gets you an agent faster than a beautiful one.”

When asked about agents, Aprilynne replied, “I wanted to be a best selling author. For that I needed to be in the top 6 publishing houses.” An agent was vital to that plan. She wrote 3 ½ books, and spent 2 ½ years querying agents—not publishers. In the end her persistence paid off and with the help of her agent, she has achieved her goal of being a best seller. She said, “your agent should be buying into you, not just your book. You need to find someone like that.” She recommended following Agent Kristen Nelson’s Pub Rants blog to get a good feel for the agent side of the industry.

She cautions against being scammed by a bad agent. “A bad agent is way worse than no agent. You should look up the predators and editors website.”

I visited with Aprilynne in the bookstore as she put out some more copies. She signed my copies of Wings and Spells—great reads, both of them. I’m happy to report that in person, she is very nice with a quick sense of humor.

Keep an eye out for her third book, Illusions which is due out May 3rd, 2011.

If you follow her blog then you might have heard her good news. She had her baby at home (she was a doula in her pre-bestseller life) on November 27th. Cute little thing too. You should drop in and wish her well!

Have any of you read her books? What did you think?

New Set Of Posts About Writing On The Way!

First of all, supremely awesome readers, I beg your pardon for not posting more frequently this month. Farming season has me in its clutches. You can see what I’ve been doing on the farm here. I’ll be more regular now that I’ve settled into the routine again. Eat, sleep, work like a dog…and write late into the night so my brain gets its fix. Then get up and do it all again.


I’m working on another round of blog posts that are from my notes from the writer’s conference, Storymakers 2010. So, stay tuned for a panel discussion with Dan Wells, Aprilynne Pike, David Wolverton, Anita Stansfield, and Stephanie Black. I visited with some of these authors outside of the workshop time and let me say, they are really cool people.

I always send blog posts to the authors first so they have the opportunity to check any quotes I took of them for accuracy, but I’ll have the first couple up in a few days.