Don't miss the 29th Washington Writers Conference! Highlights of this year's program are featured in this post, and complete information can be found at www.washwriter.org.
THE WRITING LIFE: Where We Are and Where We Are Going
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The George Washington University
Cafritz Conference Center
Marvin Center Building
800 21st Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20052
AGENT BREAKFAST (Advance reservations only), Third floor, Continental Ballroom
7:30 – 8:30 a.m.
PLENARY SPEECH: PETER BOWERMAN
9:10 – 9:45 a.m.
Peter Bowerman is the Plenary speaker, brought back by popular demand from last year’s conference, and is the author of The Well-Fed Writer and TWFW: Back For Seconds, how-to “standards” in the lucrative field of commercial freelancing. In 1993, after a 15-year career in sales and marketing, Bowerman turned to freelance commercial writing. With no industry experience, no previous paid writing experience and no writing background, he built a commercial freelancing business in Atlanta, Georgia from fantasy to full-time in less than four months. His corporate client list has included The Coca-Cola Company, MCI, BellSouth, IBM, UPS, Holiday Inn, Cingular Wireless, DuPont, American Express, Mercedes-Benz, The Discovery Channel, Junior Achievement, Georgia-Pacific, The Cartoon Network, the CDC, The American Heart Association and many others. He has published over 250 articles and editorials, leads seminars on writing and is a professional coach on both commercial freelancing business start-up and self-publishing. In 2006, he released The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living. This eagerly anticipated how-to guide to making your book a commercial success – minus the big publisher or hefty marketing budget – chronicles his own successful self-publishing path, where he indeed created a full-time living for more than five years (and counting).
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
10:00 – 11:15 a.m.
1--RESEARCH IN FOUR CENTURIES
One professional state-of-the-art librarian who is a former private detective, one writer experienced in doing 18th and 19th century research and one writer experienced in doing 20th and 21st century research. All very well organized and full of great tips for writers of fiction and non-fiction.
2--FICTION AGENTS ROUNDTABLE
What are the hot book topics in 2008? How can you boost your chances of getting an agent to represent your project? Here's a chance to ask four top literary agents who represent fiction everything you ever wanted to know.
3--NONFICTION AGENTS ROUNDTABLE
No matter what kind of non-fiction you write-- biography, self-help, memoir, pop culture-- it's important to know what's selling and how you can increase your chances of getting an agent. Ask four top literary agents who represent non-fiction everything you ever wanted to know.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.
1--WRITING FOR A GOOD CAUSE
The nonprofit sector offers opportunities for freelance writers at all levels of experience. There are more than 7,600 charitable groups in the greater Washington area and many thousands more across the country. These groups (known as 501(c)(3)s because of their IRS classification as tax-exempt organizations) include universities, nonprofit hospitals, think tanks, theaters, museums, and national nonprofits; all require the services of writers for their fundraising, public relations, and publications programs. This panel’s main focus will be on writing for nonprofit fundraising offices—the market, the writing skills required, and how to break in.
2--WRITING FOR AND SELLING TO MAGAZINES
How to market your work to the variety of DC-area trade and special interest magazines, membership publications, and well-known journalistic icons.
3--FICTION WRITING—WORKING TO WRITE, WORKING AND WRITING?
The creative demands of fiction writing is hard on the writer in many ways, especially finding the time and place to do it while there is also the need for gainful employment to support the habit of generating fictional worlds and characters. Learn how some outstanding writers have managed to make those accommodations and succeed at both the fiction and the real world.
4--YOU TOO CAN REVIEW, JHU CRAFT SESSION
Reviews require writing skills and knowledge of the subject, but it’s one of the best ways to combine craft with personal expertise or interest. If athletes can become sportswriters, why can’t dancers become dance critics? This session by the M.A. in Writing Program at Hopkins covers the challenges, rewards, and fundamentals of writing reviews, whether the subject is books, film, restaurants, music, art, wine, automobiles, television, or the scores of other topics that require effective, creative criticism.
LUNCHEON, AWARDS, AND KEYNOTE SPEECH
1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
Presentation of the Annual Washington Writing Awards
Beryl Lieff Benderly, Award chair
Keynote speech
Larry Kirshbaum has been involved in publishing for nearly 40 years from all perspectives: as an author, publisher and agent. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1966, he worked as a correspondent for Newsweek and then co-authored a book with Roger Rapoport called Is the Library Burning which was published by Random House in 1970. He worked for Random House until 1974 when he joined Warner Books as vice-president of marketing. He remained at Warner, later called Time-Warner, for more than 30 years, spending his last 10 years as CEO and Chairman of the Time-Warner Book Group. Larry has worked with hundreds of authors—business leaders like Jack Welch, Michael Eisner, and Sandy Weill, leading non-fiction writers such as Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point and Blink), literary success stories like Anita Shreve and Alice Sebold, and popular commercial writers including Nicholas Sparks, James Patterson, David Baldacci, Nelson DeMille, Sandra Brown, Michael Connelly, and Scott Turow. Larry retired from Time-Warner at the end of 2005 to start his new career as a literary agent and founder of LJK Literary Management, LLC. Larry is an active supporter of both the PEN organization, which promotes literacy and defends writers’ rights around the world, and the creative writing program of the University of Michigan.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
2:30 – 3:45 p.m.
1--FUTURE FREELANCE COMMERCIAL WRITING IN THE ERA OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
Freelance commercial writing has a new importance in recent years as companies began to downsize their in-house communications departments and small businesses take greater advantage of professional writing services. A large number of books written on the subject of freelance writing make bold claims on a prosperous future for those who choose to enter the field. What is a realistic assessment of freelance writing today? What might the future hold for those who choose to enter the “freelance life?” A panel of experienced freelance writers will address these and other issues in this timely session.
2--THE FREELANCE SPEECHWRITER—PRACTICE AND PROFIT
Interested in breaking into the lucrative and rewarding practice of writing speeches for profit? If so, join this panel of talented writers who will share practical tips for those interested in becoming freelance speechwriters. Our panelists offer you a combined total of 35 years of experience in the corporate, non-profit, and government sectors. During this session, you’ll learn how to:
• Market your skills and cultivate new clients;
• Manage the business of speechwriting;
• Satisfy clients to grow your relationship; and
• Craft moving speeches that spur an audience to action.
3--THE BUSINESS OF WRITING
A panel designed to bring you up to date on what is going on inside our industry, the most advantageous ways to set up your writing business, and introduce you to the worlds of copyright and intellectual property.
4--FINDING YOUR VOICE, JHU CRAFT SESSION
Voice and style are among the most important traits of creative writing, whether fiction or factual writing. But these craft elements are often mysterious and challenging for new or even veteran writers. Journalists or government and corporate writers, especially, can find it difficult to discover their own voice after working within the limited styles of their professions. This interactive session by the Hopkins M.A. in Writing Program will use exercises and other techniques to provide a pathway to discovering your writing voice, whether your goal is nonfiction or fiction.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
4:00 – 5:15 p.m.
1--THE WELL-FED SAMPLER PLATTER WITH PETER BOWERMAN
New to "commercial" freelancing? Intrigued by the idea of writing for businesses, and for hourly rates of $50-$125 plus? Have no idea what commercial writing is? Join veteran commercial freelancer Peter Bowerman, author of The Well-Fed Writer titles, for a fun, fast-paced, hands-on session where you'll study actual commercial writing samples. You'll leave with a firm grasp on what kind of projects you'd be writing, how they come together, how you'd write them, what they pay, and the caliber of writing required to make it in this lucrative writing arena. Don't miss it!
2--THE FUTURE OF POETRY IN A DIGITAL AGE
Poet and critic, Dana Gioia, in his essay “Disappearing Ink,” asks, “What will be the poet’s place in a society that has increasingly little use for books, little time for serious culture, little knowledge of the past, little consensus on literary value, and—even among intellectuals—little faith in poetry itself?” Published poets and editors will discuss the role of the poet in the midst of new media and explore how poetry, in comparison to other literary genres, has benefited or suffered from modes of electronic communication. Panelists will also offer advice on navigating and prioritizing the vast selection of online poetry web sites, journals, and blogs— and provide tips for submitting poems to online publications.
3--SCIENCE AND TECHNICAL WRITING
NETWORKING RECEPTION, Cash bar, Grand Ballroom
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.