Writers Conferences to Attend in 2020
Note: Be sure to check out the 2024 writing conferences list!
Being a published writer is no easy task, as it goes beyond the writing process to so many other stages until your work is officially out there. That cycle can sometimes be confusing and overwhelming, especially for new writers. But fear not, there’s a way to make sense of it all: attending writers conferences.
Writers conferences are literary events all around the world that cater to writers from all walks of life. It doesn’t matter what genre you’re writing in or where you are in your writing journey and experience, there’s bound to be an event out there for you. These events are full of workshops, keynote speakers, agent and editor meetings as well as Q&A sessions and more.
That’s why we’ve compiled this list, to help you find the perfect conference for you.
Under the Volcano
$1,995
Under the Volcano is an international program of writing masterclasses that convenes every January. Their award-winning faculty spans the English-speaking and Hispanic worlds. The core writing program is open to poets, novelists, short story writers, investigative journalists, memoirists, essayists and screenwriters. It’s also open to those working on projects that challenge traditional genre forms.
January Colrain Intensive
$1,675
The Colrain Manuscript Intensive is a very small (maximum 8), select, highly focused, three-and-a-half-day conference. It’s designed for the evaluation and discussion of book-length (or chapbook-length) manuscripts by editors and publishers. The Intensive is open only to those who have attended a previous Colrain conference and/or those whose manuscript is close to publication (semi-finalist, finalist or publisher feedback). They also consider those with previous book/chapbook publication.
Writers in Paradise Conference
$25–$875
The Writers in Paradise Conference features professional writers at the top of their form spending quality time with motivated and talented participants seeking an intimate, unhurried climate for learning…in paradise.
Todos Santos Writers Workshop
$1200–$1500
TSWW offers craft workshops in the art of fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, and stage and screenwriting for writers at all levels led by noted authors, editors, and publishing professionals.
The San Miguel Writers’ Conference & Literary Festival is the largest and most prestigious cross-cultural, bi-lingual literary gathering in the Americas. It attracts distinguished authors, established and emerging writers, industry experts, teaching professionals, and avid readers from the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe.
The conference offers a unique and intimate creative writing experience. It meets people wherever they are, creating a warm, welcoming and supportive environment where writers learn from each other as they work towards their goals.
WriteOnCon
$5
WriteOnCon is a three-day online children’s book conference for writers and illustrators of picture, middle grade, and young adult books.
Algonkian Writers Conference
$1,095
The goal of this conference is to make your novel as commercially competitive as it needs to be on all levels. It helps you avoid critical missteps, bad advice, and exorbitant prices for classes and mentorship. It doesn’t matter what stage your novel is currently in, or where you are in your writing life. The program steps and methodology, as well as the faculty, enable you to learn and grow as a writer together with your novel, and at your own pace.
Frankfurt Writers Conference
€84,00–€135,00
The Frankfurt Writers Conference offers a diverse line-up in both English and German eager to teach a group of aspiring writers. Overloading them with anecdotes, knowledge, and secrets of the craft, there are workshops on how to find the right literary agent, as well as motivational and inspirational talks. The workshops will be interactive. You’ll get to ask as many questions as you want, so you’ll be leaving the workshop with all kinds of tips and tricks for literary success.
Bay to Ocean Writer’s Conference
$60–$154
The Bay to Ocean Writer’s Conference offers something for writers at all levels, with special tracks in poetry, beginning fiction, advanced fiction, nonfiction and publishing, marketing and editing.
The Write Stuff Writer’s Conference
$119–$369
The Writer Stuff Writer’s Conference includes a sterling faculty of twelve writing and publishing professionals offering 30 events to enhance your writing skills and advance your marketing expertise.
Each year, nearly 200 undergraduate writers and poets throughout North America, and sometimes beyond, come to Weber State University. They present their work and learn from some of the most important writers in contemporary literature. From student sessions to keynote speeches, readings, open mics, and Q&A sessions with bestselling authors.
This bi-lingual (English/French) festival features programming for adults and children. Attendees enjoy workshops, readings, and lectures from speakers across genres of writing and art. The festival is free to attend, but you’ll have to pay a fee for select activities.
SleuthFest
$360–$450
Sleuthfest features sessions on the craft of writing, marketing, and promoting your work. There are social events to mingle with agents, editors and your favorite authors. There’s also an auction to purchase great writing stuff from bestselling authors and editors.
The 15th National Black Writers Conference: “Activism, Identity, and Race: Playwrights and Screenwriters at the Crossroads,” will continue conversations generated at the 2019 National Black Writers Conference Biennial Symposium. Black playwrights, screenwriters, and filmmakers will examine contemporary trends in theater and film and the ways race, politics, and popular culture shape the plays and films produced. There will be roundtable discussions, author readings, films, workshops, and more.
Teen Author Boot Camp
$89–$99
Teen Author Boot Camp is a great opportunity for teens who want to be writers. Nearly a thousand aspiring teen writers come to the conference to work with bestselling authors to amp up their writing skills.
Las Vegas Writers Conference
$199–$449
The Las Vegas Writers Conference is dedicated to helping writers of all genres improve their craft, sharpen their business skills and network with publishing professionals.
Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference
$350–$600
The Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference’s goal is to educate, inform, and inspire writers. No matter the level of expertise, the conference provides a venue for professional writers, editors, and agents. There they can give honest and accurate feedback to the aspiring writer in how to craft that first novel. It helps writers learn how to sell a magazine article, market themselves in the literary world, or find inspiration for your poetry.
The Muse & the Marketplace
$415–$559
The Muse & the Marketplace is a three-day literary conference that educates aspiring and emerging writers on the craft of fiction and nonfiction. It prepares them for the ever-changing world of publishing and promotion and creates opportunities for meaningful networking.
The Kentucky Writing Workshop
$189–$376
This is a special one-day “How to Get Published” writing workshop. It’s a day full of classes and advice designed to give you the best instruction concerning how to get your work published. You’ll discuss your publishing opportunities, how to write queries and pitches and how to market yourself and your books. You’ll also learn what makes an agent/editor stop reading your manuscript, and more. No matter what you’re writing — fiction or nonfiction — the day’s classes will help point you in the right direction. Writers of all genres are welcome.
The Liberty States Fiction Writers’ 11th Annual Conference features a line-up of more than a dozen authors and industry professionals who will share their expertise and experience. It’s a full day of education and networking for those who are published or want to be published. Workshops will focus on craft, business, promotion, and indie-publishing.
A Rally of Writers Conference
$90–$105
A Rally of Writers features up to 16 sessions of Michigan writers, poets, teachers, editors and publishers discussing every aspect of writing and the publishing business.
gritLIT
$25
gritLIT brings together diverse voices – the biggest Canadian authors, up and coming talent, and local Hamilton writers – in a series of readings and themed events. The festival’s mandate is one of accessibility for both authors and audiences. gritLIT puts a focus on local authors, giving them the exposure to readers that they richly deserve.
Chanticleer Authors Conference
$198–$279
The Chanticleer Authors Conference is a unique and progressive authors conference. It’s designed to share insight and knowledge about the marketing and business side of being an author and/or a publisher. It’s dedicated to professional authors, offering them a chance to learn everything about the industry.
A full day of instruction and camaraderie on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Small classes, top writing faculty, and intensive Master Classes and breakout sessions in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and the business of books. Other features include faculty readings, on-site “lunch with an author,” publisher exhibits, Slush Pile Live!, and an open mic for conference participants.
ASJA’s 2020 Annual Conference offers writers an extraordinary opportunity to navigate the world of independent journalism. With more than 50 writing workshops, panel discussions, training sessions and other events. You’ll be introduced to editors, learn valuable skills, as well as how to fight back against the threats facing journalists today.
The Self-Publishing Conference
£65–£75.
The Self-Publishing Conference is the only conference in the UK dedicated to self-published authors. They offer sessions on a variety of topics, including writing, production, marketing and distribution.
The Ottawa International Writers Festival celebrates ideas and imagination! From politics to poetry, science to music, history to thrillers, the festival celebrates the full diversity of the word. It also celebrates the gifted writers who guide us in our exploration of the world. The program includes a poetry cabaret, town-hall style discussion, and fiction and nonfiction readings. To celebrate writing “outside the pages of books,” the festival often includes staged play readings, feature films, documentaries, CD launches, and songwriter circles.
May Colrain Classic
$1,575
Colrain is the original, one-of-a-kind manuscript conference. Faculty includes nationally renowned poet-editors and publishers. Work with the best for the best results! Their unique, realistic method of manuscript evaluation sets poets with a manuscript-in-progress on a path toward publication. Poets also get a look into the publication world and make important contacts with leading editors, teachers, and publishers.
Storymakers Conference
$125–$245
The Storymakers Conference is full of literary events. From Thursday workshops to breakout sessions, intensive classes, workshops with agents and editors, the First Chapter contest, social activities, and author signings.
Word on the Lake Writers’ Festival’s sessions will include both skill development workshops and open forums with authors based on questions and answers in an intimate setting.
Welcome to a weekend of workshops and panels led by authors, agents, editors, and publishers from around the world. The Geneva Writers’ Conference’s goal is to bring together English-language writers for high-level instruction, support, and community through workshops, discussions, and readings. Conference instructors are experienced in teaching creative writing and committed to sharing their knowledge, skills, and perspectives on writing as an art and as a profession.
The Creative Ink Festival is a three-day event full of inspiring panels, presentations, and workshops. Designed to be inclusive for all levels of writing, the festival is a chance to hone your craft while gaining new motivation. You have the opportunity to chat with industry insiders in a relaxed and supportive environment. Readers have the chance to find out about the process authors go through to write some of your favorite stories. The Creative Ink Festival has something for everyone.
Reclaim Your Curiosity
$275–$325
Join the Writers’ Guild of Alberta and the Alexandra Writer’s Centre Society for a weekend of inspiration, professional development, and networking opportunities! This year they’ll explore themes of wonder, curiosity, and retrospection. They’ll offer sessions that delve into topics such as discovering truth in an era of fake news, what makes an exceptional memoir, writing suspense, historical fiction, and speculative fiction. We’ll explore digital approaches to modern poetry, magazines, getting published and working with agents. Hints of magic realism sprinkled throughout.
Listowel Writers’ Week
€45–€150
The annual Listowel Writers’ Week Festival includes writing workshops, readings, interviews, forums, book launches, and masterclasses. The festival also includes several writing competitions for novel, short story, humor, and playwriting. Awards even exist for sports journalism, writing for readers with special needs and writing in prisons.
Bear River Writers’ Conference
$645–$ 905
For new writers, the Bear River Writers Conference offers workshops, and the conference provides assistance and discussions in terms of genres and writing ideas. Bear River is dedicated to producing new work at the workshops – work that you can take back home with you and revise for publication.
The Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story stages an annual literary festival that honors Alice Munro and nurtures emerging writers through workshops and onstage presentations that celebrate the short story.
Milford is a gathering of authors who write speculative fiction (in its widest sense). It is not a school for beginners; there are no “teachers” or “students.” It is not an elitist in-group. Invitations are extended to any SF author – from relative newcomers to those who may only dimly recall what rejection slips look like. Generally, the workshop includes some writers who have not attended a previous Milford event, and they are particularly welcome. The main language for the conference is English, so all work must be submitted for critique in English.
The 7th annual Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference is a week-long writers’ conference. It’s designed to hone the skills of people interested in producing literary writing about the environment and the natural world. The conference is co-sponsored by the Middlebury College Environmental Studies Program and the Franklin Environmental Center.
The DFW Writers Conference
$15–$379
The DFW Writers Conference is a great opportunity for you to meet professionals from the publishing industry and build on your mastery of the craft and business of writing.
Dublin Writers’ Conference
€42–€132
From open mic readings to illuminating presentations, this conference will help you improve your writing craft and publish your book successfully. It will also help you plan the marketing necessary to achieve success whether traditionally published or self-published. This conference provides practical support, valuable training and an opportunity to meet and get to know fellow writers in one of the world’s great literary cities. You’ll have the opportunity to attend training sessions led by renowned authors and industry experts, where you’ll learn about the craft and business of writing.
Chesapeake Writers’ Conference
$170–$1200
Chesapeake Writers’ Conference is a week of craft talks, lectures, panel discussions, and readings, as well as daily workshops in fiction, poetry, screenwriting, translation, songwriting, or creative nonfiction.
Colgate Writers Conference
$1000–$1800
The CWC nourishes writers at every level, from novice to expert, with a week of workshops, craft lectures, shop talks, and readings. Colgate’s own creative writing faculty and a slate of special guests lead daily workshops in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. The CWC welcomes people looking to jump-start a project they’ve been dreaming about as well as writers who’ve finished an entire manuscript.
Jackson Hole Writers Conference
$50–$410
The Jackson Hole Writers Conference takes place in Jackson Hole’s Center for the Arts where writers can meet each other, faculty writers, agents, and editors. You can share ideas over a glass of wine or beer, and make new contacts while attending the variety of workshops offered.
Chuckanut Writers Conference
$99–$285
At the Chuckanut Writers Conference, you’ll find the resources and encouragement you need to turn inspiration into action. The conference includes two days of breakout sessions, author panels, keynote addresses and readings, as well as additional options pre and post-conference.
The Ledbury Poetry Festival is known as the world’s most diverse poetry festival. The festival features an array of community events to celebrate the writing and performance of poetry. You can attend readings, writing workshops, panel discussions, musical performances, craft seminars and open mics in the lively and picturesque market town of Ledbury. It also includes programs for new writers and a poetry competition.
This evolving research network brings writers, readers, publishers, emerging scholars together to discuss investigations on the nature and forms of information and publishing practices as distinctive modes of social knowledge and cultural production. Conference attendees have a range of session types and presentation options that allow opportunities for networking and learning more about key issues in the industry.
Thrillerfest XIV
$75–$1,260
A hub for all mystery and thriller authors, Thrillerfest includes sessions on marketing, publishing, and honing your craft. They even have a Master Craftfest – specialized small sessions in which successful, published authors work with you on your manuscript.
Canterbury Arts Conference
£32.93
The Canterbury Arts Conference welcomes artists in all disciplines and media, academics and students, historians and other professionals. Participants have the opportunity to share and publish research and network with peers. The conference includes creative writing and visual art workshops, as well as presentations of art in a variety of media.
The July Colrain Intensive
$1,200
The Colrain Manuscript Intensive is a small, select, highly focused, 3-day conference designed for the evaluation and discussion of book-length manuscripts by poets, editors and publishers. The intensive is open only to either those who have attended a previous Colrain conference and/or those whose manuscript is close to publication (semi-finalist, finalist or publisher feedback), and/or those with previous book publication.
Looking to inspire the writer within? Come write with us at our second annual Fairfield University Summer Conference for Writers, July 17 – July 21, 2020, on the scenic, inspirational, and serene Enders Island, off the coast of Mystic, Connecticut.
The Leopardi Writing conference will consist of writing workshops, as well as lectures, readings and panel discussions. There will be a free day to explore the City of Recanati and the surrounding region of Le Marche.
This conference stresses tools and tips for getting your writing into print. You’ll learn from professional writers and network with agents and editors who can take you to the next level in your writing.
7th Annual Catamaran Writing Conference
Up to $25
Join this conference for a series of virtual readings, lectures, and craft talks. These events will be held via Crowdcast and are open to the public. To learn more about our speakers scroll down the page. We are offering signed books for sale at our conference online book fair.
The Napa Valley Writers’ Conference has provided literary fellowship and a craft-focused experience among the foothills and vineyards that have made this region famous. It features a faculty as renowned for the quality of their teaching as for their work. Small workshops foster an unusual rapport between faculty writers and conference participants, who find the Napa Valley experience nurturing and challenging. The conference is suited to experienced writers, but enthusiastic beginners are also encouraged to apply.
Writers at all levels come to Willamette Writers to connect with their communities, develop their craft, and advance their careers.
Virtual North Words Conference
$35–$98
This online writing conference will help you write during the pandemic. With panels on topics such as ‘Writing While the World Burns” and “Making Science Stick Among Skeptics”, as well as other writing workshops, you’ll get the most out of this online experience.
August Colrain Classic
$1,000
The Colrain Manuscript Classic is a highly focused, 3-day conference designed for poets with manuscripts in progress. The Classic features in-depth pre-conference work and candid, realistic evaluation and feedback from nationally-known poets, editors and publishers.
Greater Los Angeles Writers Conference
$299–$599
West Coast Writers Conferences is committed to providing writers of all genres and levels with information, education, and consultation in the craft and business of writing. Each event features educators, industry professionals, agents, publishers and experts in various disciplines.
Managed by, Chuck Sambuchino, longtime Writer’s Digest editor, Writing Day Workshops are full-day “How to Get Published” writing events that happen all around the United States throughout the year. Read below to learn more about our conferences, and important FAQ information. These one-day writers conferences are a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent or editor (optional), and get your questions answered.
Swanwick Writers’ summer school
£95–£495
The Writers’ Summer School — known simply as ‘Swanwick’ to writers the world over— is legendary for the warmth of its welcome. If you love writing, then Swanwick offers you the opportunity to learn new skills and hone existing ones. You’ll explore your creativity, make new friends, perform your poetry, sing, act, dance, laugh and write.
Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference is a rich literary and intellectual tradition. The conference’s rural and scenic setting provides an ideal environment for discussing manuscripts and sharing insights. You can get to know agents and editors and become acquainted with the next generation of significant writers. For 10 days, the 220 participants attend 10-person workshops, where their writing is assessed by the faculty and others in the workshop. Numerous readings, craft classes, events, and agent meetings are also included.
When Words Collide
$20–$100 CAD
Readers, writers, editors, publishers, agents, and other artists attend the When Words Collide Festival, which highlights commercial and literary fiction. When Words Collide welcomes writers of most genre fiction, YA, children’s books, nonfiction, and poetry.
Tupelo’s online conference model offers an intimate group of poets the chance to meet with faculty in small groups and build a writing community with one another. Your faculty are three of the most experienced editors, mentors, poets, publisher, and spirit guides in the country: Jeffrey Levine, Publisher & Artistic Director of Tupelo Press, Kristina Marie Darling, Editor-in-Chief of Tupelo Press and Tupelo Quarterly, and Veronica Golos, Editor of 3:A Taos Press.
Wild Threads Literary Festival is a four-day celebration of creative writing, taking place in historic Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, August 26th-30th, 2020.
The 2020 White County Creative Writers Conference will be held September 5, 2020 in Searcy Arkansas. Conference speakers will be announced in Spring 2020. Plus, we’ll announce all the winners of the 2020 Writing Competition.
Tupelo’s online conference model offers an intimate group of poets the chance to meet with faculty in small groups and build a writing community with one another. Your faculty are three of the most experienced editors, mentors, poets, publisher, and spirit guides in the country: Jeffrey Levine, Publisher & Artistic Director of Tupelo Press, Kristina Marie Darling, Editor-in-Chief of Tupelo Press and Tupelo Quarterly, and Veronica Golos, Editor of 3:A Taos Press.
Managed by, Chuck Sambuchino, longtime Writer’s Digest editor, Writing Day Workshops are full-day “How to Get Published” writing events that happen all around the United States throughout the year. Read below to learn more about our conferences, and important FAQ information. These one-day writers conferences are a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent or editor (optional), and get your questions answered.
The Slice Literary Writers’ Conference
$225–$375
Slice’s 10th annual writers’ conference will draw more than 100 agents, authors, editors, and publishing pros. Our panels, roundtable discussions, and workshops will cover topics from the craft of writing (plotting, dialogue, characterization, poetry, and more) to the business of writing (pitch letters, landing a book deal, and beyond).
Penned Con
$10–$325
Penned Con is a three-day book convention hosted annually in St. Louis, MO. The organizers invite one hundred and fifty authors together along with industry professionals and over 1,000 readers for a chance to mingle, have fun, and raise money for Autism. Each year they host education day workshops, inspiring keynotes, panels, and a two-day book signing. Along with this they host VIP Parties, the Red Coat PR Lip Sync Battle and round the event off with a themed awards night.
The New York Pitch Conference and writers workshop is held four times a year and features publishing house editors from major houses such as Penguin, Random House, St. Martins, Harper Collins, Tor and Del Rey, Kensington Books and many more who are looking for new novels in a variety of genres, as well as narrative non-fiction. The event focuses on the art of the novel pitch as the best method not only for communicating your work, but for having you and your work taken seriously by industry professionals.
Every year, Phoenix’s Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter brings together a sensational line-up of bestselling authors, experienced editors and qualified agents for an informative and exciting day, filled with presentations, panel discussions and workshops. Whether you’re a published author, an aspiring writer or a dedicated book fan, no matter what genre you write, you will find what you’re looking for at WriteNow!
A Weekend for Words
$325–$450
The SCWC is devoted to writers of all levels working to become both exceptional authors and entrepreneurial self-advocates. Through their uniquely tailored, inclusive programs, the SCWC empowers writers with the vital recognition, encouragement, and understanding to better succeed in today’s ever-changing transmedia marketplace.
Southern California Writers’ Conference
$325–$450
The SCWC provides veteran and emerging talent with authoritative feedback to help distinguish those manuscripts that are ready for market consideration. It facilitates well over $4 million worth of first-time authors’ book and screen deals. Offering extended one-on-one evaluation of material and dozens of interactive workshops, the SCWC is among the only conferences specifically tailored to provide comprehensive feedback on your work.
The Kabam Annual Writer’s Conference
$65–$120
The Kabam Annual Writer’s Conference is provided by the Workplace Education and Literacy Coalition of Mohave Count (WELCOME)
A one-day virtual event that features FIVE breakout sessions, each consisting of two one-hour writer workshops/classes. Each class will be recorded and available for attendees to access for 2 months following the Convergence
The Annual Flathead Writers Conference brings together inspiring speakers from different genres. They’ll provide information on the e-publishing industry, including formatting your manuscript and guidelines for choosing the right cover to represent your book.
Bread Loaf in Sicily
$3,365
The 10th annual Bread Loaf in Sicily conference offers intensive, six-person workshops focused on the craft of writing. Held in Erice, an ancient, hilltop town on the western coast of Sicily, the seven-day conference offers an inspired community for those who enjoy travel and those living abroad.
Imaginarium
$75
The Imaginarium Convention made its debut in 2014 and is now heading into its 7th year with a central focus on providing creative writers and other creative talents educational, networking, professional, and mentoring opportunities. In 2019, The Writer Magazine named the Imaginarium Convention the best writing conference in Kentucky and the 2nd best writing conference in the Southeast USA.
Kingston WritersFest
$185
Writers and readers in attendance will get to participate in thought-provoking discussions and unique events that champion artistic expression and development. Hosted in a notably literary city, this festival is all about “the power of the written word to create a strong, engaged community.”
Central Coast Writers Conference
$225–$400
The Central Coast Writers Conference returns once more, marking 36 years of insightful dialogue, networking, and unrivaled access to our staff. Named the “Best Conference In the West” by Writers Magazine, we aim to produce success and a rewarding learning experience for all.
Author Advantage Live
$497–$1547
At Author Advantage Live, you’ll be rubbing shoulders and collaborating with some of the top Self Publishing School coaches, the entire Self-Publishing School team, and your fellow authors and community members so that you can see what it actually takes to write and publish a bestselling book, build a six and seven-figure business, and create a platform that allows you to scale your income, influence, and impact.
Pacific Northwest Writers Conference
$375–$475
The Pacific Northwest Writers Conference provides opportunities for you to meet other writers, attend classes focused on the different aspects within the industry (craft, business, marketing), and pitch your ideas to agents and editors if you’re ready.
The Ridgefield Writers Conference pioneers the writers conference and event field with its innovative format and breakout sessions, aimed at inspiring writers in varied genres to grow their skills and talents.
Alaska Writers Conference
$105–$150
Alaska Writers Conference is an all-day event of keynotes and panels. It has tracks specifically designed for the writing craft, author marketing, traditional publishing, self-publishing. There are workshops on romance, children’s literature, memoir, and nonfiction writing.
Wordsmith
$250–$500
Wordsmith, the Loft’s craft, career, and connection conference for writers. The workshops help writers find their way through the writing process as well as the publishing industry. There’s information on becoming writers, what agents want, and a chance to ask other authors anything you’d like to know.
Write on the Sound writers’ conference (WOTS) is a small, affordable conference focused on the craft of writing. A broad variety of sessions, workshops and panel discussions are available for all levels and interests, including valuable information regarding today’s writing and publishing industry.
Gunn Center Conference 2020
$50–$120
This year’s Gunn Center Conference is a collaborative science fiction conference with the University of Nebraska English Department, where “Imaginative Reasoning” is the signature idea of the department’s mission statement.
Join us for the 15th annual Gold Rush Writers Conference, October 2-4, 2020, in the picturesque town of Mokelumne Hill. Writing professionals will guide you through a bonanza of presentations, workshops and open-mic readings. This intimate event includes successful poets, novelists, screen and play writers, memoirists & short story writers.
Kansas Authors Club Convention
$155–$185
Since 1904, the club has offered the opportunity to writers to share experiences and problems unique to their profession, not only to novices but also to authors of national reputation. 2020 Convention theme is Writing Across Kansas: A Sense of Place
The Ottawa International Writers Festival celebrates ideas and imagination! From politics to poetry, science to music, history to thrillers, the festival celebrates the full diversity of the word. It also celebrates the gifted writers who guide us in our exploration of the world. The program includes a poetry cabaret, town-hall style discussion, and fiction and nonfiction readings. To celebrate writing “outside the pages of books,” the festival often includes staged play readings, feature films, documentaries, CD launches, and songwriter circles.
Managed by, Chuck Sambuchino, longtime Writer’s Digest editor, Writing Day Workshops are full-day “How to Get Published” writing events that happen all around the United States throughout the year. Read below to learn more about our conferences, and important FAQ information. These one-day writers conferences are a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent or editor (optional), and get your questions answered.
Indie Romance Convention
$55–$150
If you are an indie, hybrid or small press romance author, then this conference is perfect for you. With workshops and panels during the day and fun events at night, participants will be more than happy they took part in it. They also offer a two-hour open to the public book signing on Saturday. Both readers and authors can get to know each other on a more personal note.
Nebraska Writers Guild Conference
$79–$259
The Nebraska Writers Guild offers a three day conference filled with consultations, Publishing panel discussion and much more.
Whether you’ve attended one of our in-person conferences or you’re just getting acquainted with us, the WCCW Online Conference is a low-stress opportunity to learn from seasoned industry pros and level-up your writing skills. The inaugural WCCW online conference offers the same high-quality teaching as our in-person conferences, but in digital format. Meet our faculty, and check out the fantastic array of workshops! All online conference presentations, workshops, and interviews will be pre-recorded, so you can view them – with the click of a button – at a time that’s convenient for you. No traffic jams or long-distance travel to contend with!
The Emerald City Writers’ Conference celebrates the diversity of stories and writers. Whether you’re published many times over or just starting out, there’s something at ECWC for everyone. From keynote speeches to workshops and agent and editor meet and greets. Join in for the “booktail” party of the year.
The 2020 conference theme, “Prospecting: Uncovering New Veins and Voices in Identity, Genre, and Place” will explore important issues of place, form and representation. The theme (“Prospecting”) refers to the search for new avenues of expression for authors. The conference panel sessions and public readings will address these and other overlapping concerns.
The Colrain Manuscript Classic is a highly focused, 3-day conference designed for poets with manuscripts in progress. The Classic features in-depth pre-conference work and candid, realistic evaluation and feedback from nationally-known poets, editors and publishers.
This annual one-day publishing conference has become a popular networking opportunity for writers of all experience levels.
The James River Writers Conference is an annual gathering that usually takes place in Richmond, Virginia, and attracts prize-winning authors and highly regarded editors and literary agents from around the country to share their wisdom about writing and publishing.
The Writers’ Hotel
$3,250
The Writer’s Hotel “Mini MFA” is a one-of-a-kind conference. It includes workshops, lectures, and agent pitch sessions. Each writer will read their own original work at landmark NYC venues. Faculty readings are another wonderful feature. From virtual pre-reading processes through to the NYC writers conference, TWH takes writers and their writing to the next level. Writers bring their work from desk to marketplace at the heart of the publishing industry. It’s an extraordinary opportunity.
The florida writers conference is a four-day event from the comfort of your home to learn about queries that worked, and get the inside info from agents themselves, experience new and advanced writing techniques to boost your prose, get cutting-edge marketing strategies from successful authors and make new connections with writers, editors, and industry professionals in the lounge and so much more!
The Gotham Writers Conference
$145–$495
This writing conference works in a unique way. On Day 1 and 2, there are six panels and presentations, just one at a time, each one a gem, each designed to give you a peek behind the publishing curtain. You’ll hear from agents and writers, all offering their insight into the process of getting a book out to the world. On Day 3, there are Pitching Roundtables where pre-selected writers spend the day at a table with two agents who specialize in the field that matches the writers’ book projects.
The Rocky Mountain Literary Festival is the gathering of authors, readers, and books to celebrate the importance of literature in our culture and education. A passion for reading, the love of literature, and a sense of community has inspired a group of mountain-area residents to launch this endeavor. Evergreen has long supported artists in many different categories such as fine art, music and theatre. Now with the founding of this new event, the art of the written word will be highlighted.
The conference will include special talks with the following confirmed guest speakers:
Stephen Graham Jones, novelist and WLA 2020 DAA recipient
Rebecca Roanhorse, novelist
Arigon Starr, graphic novelist, playwright, and singer/songwriter
Stephen Graham Jones, novelist and WLA 2020 DAA recipient
Rebecca Roanhorse, novelist
Arigon Starr, graphic novelist, playwright, and singer/songwriter
La Jolla Writers Conference
$55–$395
The La Jolla Writer’s Conference is the perfect place for writers in every stage of their writing journey. It’s the perfect place for aspiring authors or writers on the verge of submitting their manuscripts to agents. It’s also for those who want to know more about the different and ever-evolving methods of publication.
The Surrey International Writers’ Conference is a workshop-based conference with a focus on the development of skills and industry-based knowledge. From beginner writers to published writers, this is the place to hone your skills, learn more about publishing markets and network for future sales.
Writer’s Digest Conference
$349–548
The Writer’s Digest Annual Conference offers everything you need to advance your writing career creatively and professionally. Gain invaluable tips to improve your craft, explore publishing options and learn how to establish a sustainable career—all while being inspired by successful authors and your fellow attendees.
This year, the FUSE conference travels to SUNY Geneseo and will take place over three days—November 5, 6, and 7, 2020. As the scholar Robert Scholes has said, “The culture of the past is more alive in its magazines than in any other textual form, because it is all there, the art and the lice, the truth and the lies.” At this conference, we will look at how undergraduate literary journals create conversation and offer writers and readers a community.
Participants at all stages of development—from notebook scribblers to published novelists—are invited to attend a variety of workshops in fiction, poetry, songwriting, children’s literature, journalism, screenwriting, and creative nonfiction; panels on publishing and editing; and readings, keynote addresses, and concerts.
Atlanta Writers Conference
$50–$650
The goal of the Atlanta Writers Conference is to give you the opportunity to meet eight top publishing acquisitions editors and eight literary agents actively seeking new clients. It also helps you get your work ready for them and educate you with workshops and talks by experienced authors and other industry professionals.
The 805 Writers Conference is produced by Kathleen Kaiser & Associates (KKA) for the Small Publishers, Artists & Writers Network (SPAWN). It was established in 2011 and has been held in different parts of Ventura CountY.
The Fall Conference attracts hundreds of writers from around the country. It provides a weekend full of activities that include lunch and dinner banquets with readings, keynotes, tracks in several genres, open mic sessions. In addition, participants have the opportunity for one-on-one manuscript critiques with editors or agents. Conference faculty include professional writers from North Carolina and beyond. Held every year in a major hotel, the conference rotates annually.
Philadelphia Writing Workshop
$189–$350
This writing event is a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent or editor, get your questions answered, and more.
Managed by, Chuck Sambuchino, longtime Writer’s Digest editor, Writing Day Workshops are full-day “How to Get Published” writing events that happen all around the United States throughout the year. Read below to learn more about our conferences, and important FAQ information. These one-day writers conferences are a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent or editor (optional), and get your questions answered.
The New York Pitch Conference and writers workshop is held four times a year and features publishing house editors from major houses such as Penguin, Random House, St. Martins, Harper Collins, Tor and Del Rey, Kensington Books and many more who are looking for new novels in a variety of genres, as well as narrative non-fiction. The event focuses on the art of the novel pitch as the best method not only for communicating your work, but for having you and your work taken seriously by industry professionals.
Learn how to maneuver in the marketplace as an informed, empowered, professional writer. Our two-day publishing conference features panels, Agent Pitch Sessions, Query Letter Clinics, and more—specifically designed to deliver insider tips on finding a literary agent, working with an editor, publishing in literary magazines, and other valuable information about building your career as a writer.
Managed by, Chuck Sambuchino, longtime Writer’s Digest editor, Writing Day Workshops are full-day “How to Get Published” writing events that happen all around the United States throughout the year. Read below to learn more about our conferences, and important FAQ information. These one-day writers conferences are a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent or editor (optional), and get your questions answered.
Conclusion
There’s so much to being a writer than just writing a book. Learning all you need to know about the writing process as well as the publishing industry is important as well. Take a chance and attend one of these conferences, you’ll surely feel yourself grow in confidence as you wade your way through the publishing world. You’ll also be able to meet up with other writers, find critique partners, and find out what agents and editors are looking for. What are you waiting for? Sign up now!
Read more here.
The 2024 International Book Fairs Calendar
