Why Attend the Catholic Writers' Conference Online?

This post is for Catholics and writers.  If that's not you, you're welcome to read on and please share with your Catholic writing friends.

The Catholic Writers Conference Live is Aug 7-9 in Sommerset, NJ.  It's an awesome opportunity to learn from other writers, share your faith, and even pitch your Catholic book. A friend asked for some more information about what the conference is like, so I thought I'd share my response:

The conference has two great aspects: First, it does run like a standard conference, with panels, speakers, workshops, etc. There's a crit group usually (I think you register separate, but that's free with admission), and a chance to pitch your book to Catholic publishers (again, a separate registration, but free with admission.) The speakers are all Catholic and faithful, though not every discussion is necessarily Catholic focused so much as writing and marketing focused.

The second great thing is we share with the Catholic Marketing Network, which means with the conference, you get admission to the trade show. There you can meet Catholic vendors of all kinds from all over the world. They are there mostly to cater to bookstore/gift shop owners, but some sell the stock there (on the last day, they cut prices of their stuff so they don't have to take it home, and some even give things away.) However, you have the perfect chance to talk to publishers informally, plus religious orders, producers of education programs and audio books, and other wonderful people who may need a writer. We've had several folks find writing jobs just by chatting to folks on the show floor. Also, CWG members with SOA approved books can do signings and there are interview opportunities. EWTN is there, as are other radio and tv stations, and they sometimes have empty time to fill--just go up and ask.


Registration costs $80 for CWG members, $85 for non-members and $45 for students. It's worht every penny!  There's also a discounted combined membership. To register or for more information, go to http://www.catholicwritersconference.com.

Catholic Writers to Convene August Conference in Valley Forge

Valley Forge, PA--The third annual Catholic Writers’ Conference LIVE will take place August 3-5, 2011, at the Scanticon Hotel Valley Forge in King of Prussia, PA. Sponsored by the Catholic Writer’s Guild (CWG) and the Catholic Marketing Network (CMN), it will be held in conjunction with CMN’s annual retailer trade show. The Catholic Writers Conference LIVE provides Catholic authors with a prime opportunity to meet and share their faith with editors, publishers, fellow writers, and bookstore owners from across the globe.

CWG President Ann Margaret Lewis said this year's conference will, “focus on marketing and selling one’s written work.” Highlights of the conference include:

• Over 30 sessions taught by professionals in writing, marketing, blogging and publishing
• Pitch Sessions where writers may meet privately with representatives from four publishers
• One-on-one coaching sessions. For $35 an author can have a 30 minute private consultation with a specialist who will review their manuscript and guide them toward publication.
• Rapid-fire readings. Published authors will each have five minutes to read a selection from one of their books. A mass book sale and signing will follow.

Lewis says the conference comes at a modest cost. “Registration for the jam packed three days is only $90 for CWG members or $100 for non-members. And we have a special price of $42 for students. Our conference allows you to connect personally with Catholic publishers and retailers, to show your work, learn the craft and network.” Priests and religious are invited free of charge, but must register at the email address: http://www.catholicwritersconference.com.

This year’s conference speakers include:

• Catholic publishing representatives Claudia Volkman of Servant Books/St.Anthony Messenger Press,
• Regina Doman, author of numerous young adult and children’s books and acquisitions editor for Sophia Institute Press,
• Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, EWTN TV host of "Everyday Blessings for Catholic Moms" and author of numerous Catholic books including “Mother Teresa and Me,”
• Michelle Buckman, author of the young adult novel “Maggie Come Lately” and the adult drama “Rachel’s Contrition,”
• Angela Breidenbach, author of “Gems of Wisdom” and
• Patti Armstrong, co-author of the best-selling Amazing Grace book series and author of “Catholic Truths for Our Children, Stories for the Homeschool Heart.”

Past attendees gave glowing accounts of their experiences at the conference:

• Carol Bannon, author of the children’s book “Handshake from Heaven,” said, “Attending this conference has been the best thing I have done for myself professionally.”
• Writer Melanie Cameron concurs, “I recommend this conference as a resource for any author (or wannabe) at any stage. You will walk away empowered!”
• Maureen Martin, a consultant and trainer said she attended to connect with other professional Catholics. “It was such a wonderful, nurturing environment where we could share our faith and our love for literature.”

The Catholic Writers Guild, a religious non-profit organization, sponsors both this live conference in August and an online conference in February to further its mission of promoting Catholic literature. “Our conferences are totally focused on encouraging faithful Catholics to share genuine Catholic culture and faith in their writing no matter what genre,” says Lewis. “These events are integral to our mission of ‘creating a rebirth of Catholic arts and letters.”

Also at this year’s conference, the CWG will be presenting its first ever Catholic Arts and Letters Awards (called the “Lilies”) for the best in Catholic fiction. This award will recognize one book in the adult market and one in the children’s market for its literary merit.

Information for the Catholic Writer’s Conference can be found on the conference web site: http://www.catholicwritersconference.com.

The CWG is a professional group of writers, artists, editors, illustrators, and allies whose mission is to build a vibrant Catholic literary culture. The organization is loyal to the teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church.

Top Ten Reasons the Catholic Writers Conference Rocks

There have been a lot of blogs about the Catholic Writers Conference Live. I'll be having a few more here and there myself. Here, in a nutshell, is why I love it.

1. Talking about papal encyclicals, getting published and the Cleopatra's Boudoir fantasy suite in the same conversation.
2. Starting the day with Mass, being able to go to Confession during the day, and having a dedicated place to spend time in adoration, pray the rosary, or spend time in quiet spiritual contemplation.
3. Laughing so hard that people come from the other side of the trade show to ask what's so funny. (And it's an NFP cartoon!)
4. Finding out that you are not alone or crazy to want to write Catholic fiction.
5. Taking that workshop that teaches you that you can do something you previously thought beyond your talents.
6. Telling that vendor on the last day how much you like their samples--and having it presented to you as a gift.
7. Discovering the "catholic" in Catholic: meeting people from all walks of life from the rural Southern writer of women's lit to the intellectual North England apologeticist to the soft-spoken article writer from Cameroon, and finding out you all share common ground, common morals, common goals.
8. Being able to talk pitch to publishers on the exhibitor's floor as well as in pitch sessions.
9. Hearing someone talk not just about the mechanics of storytelling, but the theology and philosophy of the creative process.
10. Knowing that when it's done, it's not really the end.

It's Coming! The Catholic Writers' Conference Live!

I'll be there--will you?

To Register, Go to www.catholicwritersconference.com

For Immediate Release

Catholic Writers to Hold Online Conference

World Wide Web--The second annual Catholic Writers’ Conference LIVE will be held August 4-6, 2010, at King of Prussia, PA. Sponsored by the Catholic Writer’s Guild and the Catholic Marketing Network (CMN), and held in conjunction with CMN’s annual retailer trade show, the Catholic Writers Conference LIVE provides Catholic authors with a prime opportunity to meet and share their faith with editors, publishers, fellow writers, and bookstore owners from across the globe.

This year's conference will feature presentations on such topics as market tips and time management for busy writers, poetry, creating evil characters, working with an editor, creating winning proposals, journaling and much more.

Michelle Buckman, author of the young adult novels Maggie Come Lately and My Beautiful Disaster will present the keynote address on “The Wonder of Expressing Catholicism in Fiction” and the Catholic Writers Guild will present its first-ever achievement award for excellence in Catholic Arts and Letters. In addition, writers will have a chance to pitch their books to Catholic publishers, including Ignatius Press, Circle Media Press and Sophia Institute Press.

“Attending this conference has been the best thing I have done for myself professionally,” Carol Bannon, author of the children’s book Handshake from Heaven, said of the 2009 conference. Her fellow writer Melanie Cameron agreed, saying she left the last conference re-energized. “I recommend [this] conference as a resource for any author (or wannabe) at any stage. You will walk away empowered!”

The Catholic Writers Guild sponsors both this live conference in August and an online conference in February to further its mission of promoting Catholic literature. “Our conferences are totally focused on encouraging faithful Catholics to share genuine Catholic culture and faith in their writing no matter what genre,” says CWG President Ann Margaret Lewis. “These events are integral to our mission of ‘creating a rebirth of Catholic arts and letters.”

Registration costs $85 for CWG members, and $95 for non-members. There's also a discounted combined membership-registration. To register or for more information, go to http://www.catholicwritersconference.com.

Conference Renews My Enthusiasm

This past week, I attended the Catholic Marketing Network Conference as president of the Catholic Writers' Guild. This is a trade show of vendors of everything form Catholic books to rosaries and icons. I and several others went to promote our books and the CWG in general.

Lisa Mladinich, an officer in the Guild, made all the arrangements, set the booth up the first day, then picked several of us at the airport and ferried us to the conference and hotel. If there's anything better than having a Lady Friday for a conference, it's having one who's positive, enthusiastic and a joy to be around. Thanks, Lisa!

I could blog for days about the conference--and did for the CWG website. I'm also writing an tips article that will feature on The Writers' Chatroom Newsletter and in Faith-Filled Fiction's next issues. Today, I'd like to tell you what the conference did for me personally.

The CMN had given us a terrific opportunity to have a booth and meet iwth other publsihers and booksellers. Plus, six other Guild members would be at the conference for a book signing. Through some help of a dear friend and the support of my husband and parents, I was able to attend. However, I'd been feeling a bit low lately about the CWG, my book Infinite Space, Infinite God, and my writing in general. Objectively, I know I'm suffering from impatience: the CWG has a lot of great projects that are moving forward at a snail's pace; my book isn't selling like I'd hoped (despite the great reviews in popular targeted magazines), and I'd thought by now I'd have an agent or a contract with a major publisher. So I boarded the airplane enthusiastic about the conference and ready to give it my most energetic efforts, but wondering if it was worth the expense I--and my friends and family--were paying.

Oh, it was!

The vendors and the book sellers who came to the conference were so enthusiastic about the Guild. We as authors knew some kind of organization like ours was needed, but to hear that publishers and store owners wanted it, too, gave me a renewed optimism for the Guild. It also helped to hear how amazed they were at how much we accomplished in just 8 months. Sometimes, it's hard to see progress when you're involved in the project. Even more, the gratitude I heard from other members for the work I (and Ann Lewis, our webmistress and VP) have done touched my heart. I'm inspired to do even more for these wonderful people.

Also inspiring was the response my book got. Too often have I heard that Catholic SF has no good market--it's too Catholic for the secular and too SF for the Catholic bookstore. Plenty of book reviews and four secular awards (or finalists in awards) has disabused me of the "too Catholic" notion. At the conference, when I said "Catholic sci-fi," vendors grew thoughtful--and excited. "I have a nephew..." "There's a customer who..." were comments I heard. One person asked about it for a book club. I gave away about 15 books at the signing--which was what all of us did, give them to vendors--and I'm pretty sure I'll see some sales.

By the end, I was working the conference like a chipmunk on caffeine. (Yeah, baby!) People asked me how I was managing such energy, especially at the 6 p.m. Thursday meeting about the Guild. the answer was simple: they'd energized me.

Alas, no agent or large publisher there would be interested in what I have, but that's okay. This conference gave me a much needed boost of enthusiasm for my writing. No matter where I publish, there are people whose lives I will touch.

So, yeah. It was worth the effort and expense, not just for me personally, but for the members of the Guild who will see a happier more enthusiastic leader with a renewed sense of direction, and for the family and friends who will not hear me whining about my writing career. (For a while, anyway--no guarantees!)