Fall writers’ conferences in very different locations

NYCThe Slice Literary Writers’ Fifth Annual Conference will take place September 12-13 at Saint Francis College in Brooklyn, New York. The Conference was established by editors Maria Gagliano and Celia Johnson who are also the powers behind Slice Literary Magazine.

The conference, they say, “walks writers through the professional publishing process, from the writer’s desk to the bookstore shelf. Panels, craft workshops, and one-on-one agent meetings offer writers an insider view of the industry that is rarely seen by those outside of book publishing.”

Panels include A Day in the Life, in which agents from major firms discuss their methods for finding a publisher for a client’s project;
Social Consciousness in YA Literature; Where They’re Looking For You: Literary Magazines and Indie Presses; Don’t Be Creepy, in which agents give pointers for getting noticed by agents and publishers; Unconventional Paths to Publishing, and eleven others.

Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop Craft Classes will be offered and literary agents Kate McKean and Michelle Brower will each host a ninety minute Query Letter Boot Camp. Attendees will receive written line edits on their query letter and several will be workshopped in class.

One-on-one agent meetings will be on three levels, each suited for different stages of the writer’s project.

Conference attendees are also invited to submit their work to the Bridging the Gap competition. Agents and editors will pick one fiction and one nonfiction winner to be announced at the conference.

Tuition for the conference is $350 which entitles the participant to attend all panels on both days. Agent meetings begin at $50/session and craft workshops are $50/class.

For details on agents and editors attending, panel members and moderators, craft classes, Query Letter Boot Camp, agents participating in one-on-one meetings, and guidelines/deadline for the Bridging the Gap competition, see slicemagazine.org.

VTThe Northern Woodlands Writers & Readers Conference will be held October 16-18 at the Hulbert Outdoor Center in Fairlee, Vermont. Sponsored by The Trust for Public Land, the event will include writing workshops, readings, a nature illustration class, special workshops for educators, and woods walks.

According to their website (northernwoodlands.org): “the conference explores how writers, artists and educators express the rich forest heritage of the Northeast: both the natural history of our region, and the interactions of people and place.”

Participants will stay in shared cabins. In addition to the workshops, there will be social hours, dinners, campfire hangouts with s’mores and Appalachian music, sunrise yoga, and an open mic party in the barn. To register, go to alohafoundation.org.