Last year I attended 3 writing conferences—LDSPMA, Storymakers, and ANWA—and have to say that they were very beneficial for an aspiring writer like myself. As you plan out your 2025, I recommend checking out registration times/dates for possible writing conferences you may want to attend in-person or virtually as you work on your next writing project!
Some benefits in attending include:
- Meet with Literary Agents and/or Publishing Company Reps. Many conferences have literary representatives for you to practice pitching your story ideas or have manuscript consults with.
- Network with other writers. It can be beneficial to network with other writers in your specific genre so that you can possibly form an online writing group, find critique partners, or offer to review or promote each other’s work on social media.
- Opportunity to teach classes. While not every class pitch is accepted, this would be a good chance for you to plan out and pitch a class to teach at the conference based off of your own expertise in writing. Some examples of classes have titles that include: “How to…”, “What you need to know…”, “Beware of…”.
- Book prizes. Many conferences, especially the larger ones, have regular drawings that attendees may participate in and earn prizes like books, gift certificates, or other book swag.
- Book signings. This can be an opportunity for readers to find new material, writers to help support fellow authors, and attendees to showcase their work for others.
To-Bring List:
- Business cards
- Copies of manuscripts/pitches
- Fun writing-themed shirts or clothing
- Comfy shoes
- Cash (for books or other book swag to buy at bookstore)
- Book bag
- Notebook and pencil
I hope that 2025 is the year you branch out of your comfort zone and meet fellow writers and readers in the community!
Below are some conferences that will be occurring this year in the USA. Many of the registration dates have or will pass soon, so plan accordingly:
- San Francisco Writers Conference, February 6-9
- Storymakers Conference, Provo, UT, May 10-12
- Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference,Homer, AK, May 17-20
- The Writer’s Hotel Maine All-Genre “Mini MFA” Writers Conference, Phippsburg, ME, June 1-10
- Juniper Summer Writing Institute, Amherst, MA, June 15-21
- Community of Writers, Olympic Valley, CA,July 7-14
- Tin House Summer Workshop, Portland, OR, July 13-20
- Macondo Writers Workshop, San Antonio, TX, July 21-27
- WriterCon Conference, Oklahoma City, OK, August 29-September 1
- ANWA Writers Conference, Mesa, AZ, Sept. 18-20
