Blogger: Mary Keeley
Sometimes life interferes, and you can’t get to a writers conference for the foreseeable future. Does that mean stunted growth of your writing craft and dashed hopes of getting an agent? Here are some suggestions to keep you moving forward.
1. Above all, remember God is the author of your life. So trust him to be the ultimate author of your “authoring.” Conferences are great and can be enormously helpful paths to publication. However, if God knows you need to be at one, he’ll provide a way for you. Talk to him about your desire to attend a conference, and ask him specifically to show you more of his presence and direction for you. Whatever answer God impresses on you, trust—with child-like faith—that this is exactly where you should be at this time. If you choose to trust him this way, your heart will be open to better see what he has planned for you.
2. That said, one cost-efficient way to glean information from conference classes is to purchase a few workshop or general session CDs. Many conferences sell them on their websites at reasonable prices.
3. Study who’s who on the lists of agents, editors, and authors attending the conference(s) you’re interested in. Google their names to find out if they have blogs; study those blog entries in the weeks following the conference(s). Many will comment on what they learned. Some will share insights for those who were unable to attend. Learn as much as you can about agents, editors, and authors who write in your genre from their Facebook pages and by following them on Twitter. Go to publishers’ websites and collect information about which genres they are successfully publishing and save their submission guidelines for future reference. Soak up information on literary agency websites to get a sense of which agents you want to meet with when you can get to a conference, and visit conference websites to find out which ones those agents will attend.
4. If a financial burden is your reason for not attending, find out if the conference offers scholarships.
5. If scheduling or other commitments are the reasons you can’t get to a conference, look forward to refining your work in the waiting time until the next conference rolls around. Waiting times are difficult, but they never need to be wasted. Remember, God is in control of the waiting time as well.
How do you decide which conferences to attend? Have you ever used a scholarship to attend a conference? Did you ever have to stay at home when you longed to go to a conference? How did God use that time in unexpected ways?
Lindsay Harrel
I’ve only attended one conference so far, and it was local. I’m planning to attend ACFW this year, which is exciting. I’ve decided to attend that one because so many of my blogging buddies will be there, as are several agents I’m interested in meeting with. There are so many others I’d love to attend, but obviously I want to be sure I attend the most beneficial ones.
And I love what you said about trusting God. I’ve had to constantly give him back my dream of being a published author. I’m a WIP myself. 🙂
Cynthia Ruchti
I look forward to meeting you at the ACFW conference in Dallas this year!
Lindsay Harrel
Same to you, Cynthia! 🙂
Mary Keeley
I’m sure you’ll receive a warm welcome there, Lindsay.
Kate
Mary,
I needed this post today! Thanks. I hoped to attend the Mount Hermon conference, but as you mentioned, “life interferes” and it isn’t possible this year.
When I decided to pursue writing once again I attended a delightful and helpful local conference sponsored by our Quills of Faith writing group. Last summer I attended the Oregon Christian Writers Summer Coaching Conference…an engaging and productive gathering of inspirational Christian writers, agents, and editors. Hoping to go this summer too, Lord willing.
Your encouragement to trust God is like my “writers devotional” for today! Thank you again.
Mary Keeley
In our business and hard work, it’s easy to overlook His desire to be involved in what we want to do for Him.
Mary Keeley
I’ll miss seeing you at OCWS this year, Kate. I hope you are able to attend, though.
Cindy R. Wilson
Mary, thank you for this post today! I can’t go to ACFW this year because my sister is getting married the same weekend. A great reason not to go to a conference, of course, but it is hard knowing I’m going to miss out on something I planned on doing before, as you said, “life interfered”. I’m definitely keeping my trust in God that this is all part of His plan and trying to seek His guidance on how to be productive with my writing in the meantime. It helps, too, to have great support from writer friends who have been in the same position before and keep encouraging me 🙂 Thanks again!
Mary Keeley
Cindy, you are blessed to have your supportive writer friends. When you discover what God has planned for you in lieu of ACFW this year, you’ll have to let us know. It will provide insight for all of us.
Sally Bradley
Thanks, Mary. Conferences have been few and far between because of the cost. I’m hoping to attend one this year, and I’m taking your first point to heart.
I have bought the CDs in the past, and that’s worth it even if you do go. There’s nothing like listening to a great class a few times and learning something each time.
Mary Keeley
Great point, Sally. Having the CDs allows you to hear and absorb what’s being taught over and over. It’s still true: repetition is the mother of learning.
Cheryl Malandrinos
What encouragement you have brought to me today, Mary. There are so many conferences I would attend if my life were a bit different, but you’re right, God is in control and if he feels I need to be at one, he’ll provide a way.
I’m a creature of habit, so I usually attend the same two each year, but neither of them is specific to Christian fiction or children’s books, which is what I write. I’ll have to look into CDs.
Thanks for the wonderful post.
Mary Keeley
I hope you find CDs that are specific to your current needs, Cheryl. Be selective about writers conferences. It might be better to wait and save to attend a conference where agents and editors of children’s books will be on faculty. Those are the people it will be most beneficial to meet with face to face.
Pat Simmons
When the timing is right, God will open the door no matter how forceful the devil tries to shut it.
As a Christian author, I have to keep reminding myself “This is not about me or my work, but God’s,”
Amen sisters!
Mary Keeley
Amen indeed, Pat. And trusting in Him this way pleases Him and brings honor to Him. What a blessed place of rest.
Stephanie Grace Whitson
I had never been to a writer’s conference when Thomas Nelson offered my first contract. That was back in the 1990s. I still haven’t been able to work out ACFW or Mt. Hermon or any of the other main conferences. Thought I’d just mention this as an encouragement to others. It is possible to have a writing career without the conferences. God has His ways.
Mary Keeley
Thanks for sharing that, Stephanie. What resources did you use to develop your craft to a publishable writing level?
Janet Ann Collins
I’m sad because I won’t be able to attend Mount Hermon this year and I’ve felt bombarded with messages on Facebook and writer’s groups reminding me of what I’ll be missing. Thank you for posting something positive for those of us who can’t make it to conferences.
Mary Keeley
So glad you were encouraged, Janet. I hope you can find some CDs after the conference or on other conference websites that will be helpful to you.
Cynthia Ruchti
Thanks, Mary. All great suggestions! Another is to closely follow the Books & Such blog! A daily education. Daily encouragement. And insights into the hearts and minds of the Books & Such agents, their personalities, their strengths, their gifts, and why they’re each a vital part of this amazing agency.
Mary Keeley
Thanks for your kind, encouraging words, Cynthia. We share this passion.
Cynthia Herron
Cynthia, Pssst… I have to admit, I’m a semi-reformed Books & Such Blog “stalker.” But don’t tell anyone, okay? (Because I still do it!) 🙂
Connected with sooo many wonderful friends here, and learned so much! (And I loved running into you at ACFW in the elevator…remember? Your smile is contagious!)
Mary Keeley
So is your smile, Cynthia! I suspect you make friends wherever you go with your sunny outlook.
sally apokedak
I’m a conference junkie. If I could afford to go to one a month I would. Money, or lack thereof, helps me decide which conferences to go to. I go to two smaller conferences (a couple of hundred of attendees) each year because they are within two hours of me and I can go without paying for a hotel and airfare.
And I try to go to one big conference (Mount Hermon, SCBWI National, ACFW, or Chautauqua) every year. I choose which big conference to attend by looking at the faculty and seeing which one has editors and speakers I most want to meet.
I have gotten scholarships to three of big conferences. They are not hard to get, and they are good training for putting proposal packages together, because you usually have to send a sample of your writing and a bio.
The scholarships are great, but each one has still cost me at least a thousand dollars in airfare and/or hotel rooms.
Mary Keeley
Great strategy, Sally. Thanks for sharing that you found scholarships not hard to get. Many who read your comment will find it encouraging!
David Todd
No conference for me this year, due to costs. I’m not going to ask for a scholarship two years in a row. But if something local and inexpensive pops up, I might be persuaded.