The Writer’s Workshop

I had the opportunity this past week-end to attend the 16th annual “Bay to Ocean” writers conference which is organized and presented by a large writer’s group here on the Eastern Shore area.    This was the first such conference I had attended, and while excited, I tried to approach it without expectation.

I was delighted with the conference, and felt it was a great value for the money.   I attended five workshops on the following topics:

–   Using Social Media to Promote Your Writing

–  Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission (query letters, book proposals)

–  The Pros and Cons of Using a Literary Agent

–  Marketing Your Book as an E-book

–  Making Your Writing More Effective and Efficient

All of the presenters were well qualified, successfully published authors with the exception of the workshop about agents which was, in fact, presented by an agent.   There were approximately 300 participants and I could certainly feel the energy of being together with so many other people who feel compelled to create with words and have a common dream that someone will want to read those words.

I met some interesting people along the way, including a woman who, like me, had lost her husband to a sudden heart attack at a young age.   She took her experience of loss and the subsequent scattering of his ashes in locations around the world and turned it into a work of fiction.    I found it fascinating how we had a similar experience, but chose different approaches on how to “document” our grief journey.

All in all it was an interesting, informative, and illuminating experience.   I have, however, concluded that WRITING the book was the easy part.    Now the hard task of attempting to get it published begins.