In 2005, I had a chance to teach a couple of classes at the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference and I had a blast doing it. Yesterday, I was invited back to teach at the 2006 conference. The conference center is set in the beautiful mountains of Glorieta, New Mexico and this year the conference is going to be held October 11-15. If you are interested in writing for publication, this is an excellent conference to attend and I'd highly recommend signing up for it. Click here if you'd like to do so.
This will be my fourth straight year of attending the conference (the first two years I was an attendee) and I'm always impressed by the number of magazine and book publishing editors that the conference director is able to get to come to the conference. And the staff always contains many professional writers who are willing to meet with conferees to help them shape their manuscripts into more marketable pieces. I'll be one of those professional writers. I'll also be teaching a class about advanced blogging and leading several round table discussions about various different topics that will be pertinent to writers. By the way, if you are interested in purchasing a copy of the CD from the class I taught at the 2005 Glorieta Christian Writers Conference on blogging basics, you'll find a place to do so on the right side of this page.
I'm often asked by people who want to write for publication how to do it. I can give people tips depending upon their skill level and I've done that here on this blog—but the best piece of advice I can give anybody is to put yourself in front of editors at a conference. They are the people who can potentially purchase your work. But, don't worry so much about making the sale at your first conference. Instead, soak up the publishing atmosphere for five days. Meet the editors. Eat meals with them. Listen to what they are looking for. Listen to what they are not looking for. Talk to the freelancers in the coffee shop on campus. Make appointments with the freelancers. Attend as many classes as you can get to. And immerse yourself in the industry to figure out where you fit in.
You'll feel like a freshman who wanders the publishing halls when you first get there. And while you won't leave the conference as a senior if this is your first conference, you may end up feeling like a sophomore who leaves with a much better understanding of the publishing industry.
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