If you went to the ACFW Conference in Dallas, I'd love to hear about it. I've never been to a writer' conference. I've read about what you do, such as meet with publishers and editors and, of course, write. And I've heard enough to know that they are invaluable for forging relationships and gaining information about the publishing world. I'd like to know about some of the actual conferences. What did you learn that helped you?
I also keep hearing great things about Mt. Hermon. If you've been to that one, I'd like to hear about it too. Don't be shy. I want to know details, girls and guys. Details. You all are writers. Put me there. Pretend I'm your best girlfriend hearing about your last date. I've got coffee and cinnamon rolls!
Sunday, September 24, 2006
I WANT TO KNOW--
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5 comments:
The ACFW conference is like a family reunion. Through the ACFWsite and forums, I had gotten to know so many people. It was great to finally put the names with the faces.
Glorietta (my first conference) felt like a spiritual retreat set in the mountains of Santa Fe, NM. I've only heard about Mt. Hermon, but I wouldn't choose it as my first conference. It's very competitive.
My experience this year at ACFW was more like a spiritual journey than a means to publicaion. But you can read all about that on my blog.
My advice. Join the ACFW family. Start saving your pennies now. And plan on attending next year. You don't have to be close to finishing your WIP to be blessed by this amazing group of writers!
I have never done a conference either, but I have read from publishers etc not to go there with a manuscript expecting a to get a writing contract.
The conference is for making contacts, etc.
There be my two cents.
Take a look at what I did here, and see if that is starting to look like what you have in mind for your blog:
http://davethefictionwriter.blogspot.com/
I will keep diddling with it
I loooooove the ACFW conference. If I went to only one a year, it would be that one. Partly because of the all-fiction focus, but also it's a more spiritual retreat than any other conferences I've been to.
This year, I learned that I need to SLOW DOWN. I rush around too much, don't read enough, don't relax enough. It's stressing me out.
As for Mount Hermon, I really do enjoy it. It's a little too non-fiction focused for my taste--last year, the majority of the workshops were geared toward non-fiction writers--but the people are very nice and it's a beautiful campground. The atmosphere is a bit more relaxed because it's out in the woods and dress is also more casual as a result.
I have seen people get very competitive over the seating at lunch and dinner, because they don't quite have enough faculty for the number of attendees. ACFW had a better ratio of faculty to attendees, in my opinion, so it was always easy to find a table to sit at.
Some people at Mount Hermon get downright crabby when they can't get a seat at a table they wanted to. It's rather discouraging to see. But not everyone is like that--most people are pretty nice about it.
On a whole, Mount Hermon is good, but I prefer the networking at ACFW because there are more fiction writers there.
Camy
Thanks for the great insight.
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