Registration is now open for the thirteenth annual James River Writers Conference in Richmond

Registration is now open for the thirteenth annual James River Writers Conference to be held October 16-18, 2015 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Va.

Pre-conference Master Classes will be offered on Friday, October 15. They include:

“Nuts and Bolts: Editing Your Work Like a Pro,” with editor Kris Spisak

“Surviving Self-Publishing: Patience and Perseverance,” with writers Mary Chris Escobar and Alexis Anne

“Life in 10 Minutes: Writing the Personal Essay” with writing teacher Valley Haggard

“Say Something: Speaking gigs, book signings, and appearances for even the most introverted writer” with public speaking expert Chris Long

“Welcome to the JRW Crime Lab: Learning the Ropes from Crime-Fighting Pros,” with retired police lieutenant Robert Tomes

“The Art of Slam: Adding Spoken Word to Your Performance Repertoire: with John S. Blake

Saturday and Sunday sessions will follow five tracks: The Pillars of Story, Diversity in Writing, Poetry, Writing for Kids/YA, and Writing as a Career. Also on Sunday, three agents and an editor will listen to and critique first pages read aloud (anonymously) and then offer comments on the spot. That afternoon, at “Pitchapalooza,” attendees will be selected at random to do one-minute pitches of their books to “Book Doctors” and literary agent Rebecca Podos.

Longer one-on-one sessions with agents will be available on a first-come-first-served basis. Participating agents are Helen Heller (The Helen Heller Agency), Rebecca Podos (The Rees Literary Agency), Linda Camacho (Prospect Agency), Heather Flaherty and Beth Phelan (The Bent Agency). An 8 minute one-on-one session with novelist David L. Robbins and a 7 minute session with Book Doctor David Henry Sterry are also available.

For more information, the full program and to register: jamesriverwriters.org.