Sean Ferrell emailed me the other day to say he'd signed up for a writing conference.
I thought he was kidding. After all, Sean's pants have been known to phone me...perhaps this was another set up for a joke.
It wasn't.
The conference Sean signed up for isn't really about how to get published, although there is valuable info for people who don't have deals yet. The 2009 Center for Fiction Writers' Conference is chockablock full of sessions for writers who have a deal and now wonder what to do next. People like Sean Ferrell whose book NUMB will be published by Harper in 2010. That seems like next year, but in terms of publishing it's tomorrow.
Here are some examples:
1:00-2:00 Beyond the Desk: Finding Your Community of Writers
Panelist: Ken Chen
1:00-2:00 What Good Are Book Reviews, Anyway?
Panelist: Jennifer Weiner
Panelist: Jim Mustich
Panelist: Albert Mobilio
2:15-3:15 Promoting Your Book 101
Panelist: Kathy Daneman
Panelist: Touré
Panelist: Ben Greenman
Panelist: Lauren Cerand
3:30-4:30 After the Book Deal
Panelist: Stefan Merrill Block
4:45-6:00 What Happens Next?
Panelist: Jon Karp
Panelist: Peter Cameron
Panelist: Marlon James
And get this: registration for the conference also gets you a month of free writing space at the Mercantile Library. This might be just the thing you need to finish your novel, or work on revisions from your sharkly agent, or perhaps just get to all those books you've meant to read and haven't.
There's online registration and I hear it's filling up so if you're thinking of attending, don't dawdle around!
5 comments:
Thanks, Janet! I should point out that we're still adding guest speakers: For example, Amanda Stern of the Happy Ending reading series will be joining Ken Chen on the panel about literary communities. And Sigrid Nunez will be on the closing panel, too. Plus a few other names we're in the process of pinning down.
I'm really looking forward to this event; heck, I'm planning on taking plenty of notes myself all day!
Now I'm worried. I have horrible penmanship. How will I ever be able to read all the notes I'll be taking?
Janet, I expect you to be there as stenographer.
Sean, my wife records all her classes, and then I get to listen to them through the ceiling above me as she replays, stops, types, backs up, replays, types a bit more, again and again and again and again. You could do the same thing at the conference. Your family will love listening the transcription process. Trust me. I should know.
There's also, for those of you in California, the California Crime Writers Conference - June 13-14, sponsored by Sisters in Crime Los Angeles and MWA SoCal. It's got a lot of great speakers and workshops, meetings with editors and agents - and even me, conducting a workshop on How to Book Tour.
You can get more information here: http://www.sistersincrimela.com/ccwc.htm
I don't think it's a joke that an almost-published or newly published writer wants to attend a writer's conference. Beyond what he may learn there, the other attendees are valuable cohorts. It is wonderful to talk shop for a weekend. It is also wonderful to find your tribe.
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