Where are the best writer's conferences?

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J. R. Tomlin

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I'm thinking about moving and although this may sound strange (in fact I'm sure it does), one factor in where I move will be writer's conferences taking place in the area. I can pretty much move where ever I want to, but I hate the rainy weather in the Portland area where I now live (I moved here solely for family reasons).

Barring NY which I loath except for short visits, where would be a great place for conferences? :)
 

Siddow

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Move on out to Maui.

take me with you!
 

CheshireCat

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The Maui conference is rather well known. Or it is if it's the one I'm thinking of. :)

But what kind of writer's conference are you talking about? Romance? Mystery? SF or fantasy?

ETA: Novelists, Inc. has a conference for writers of commercial fiction, but you have to be published to belong and it isn't open to the public. Plus, it changes locations year to year, as do many other conferences.
 

J. R. Tomlin

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I write SF/F, but at least in this part of the country the writer's conferences (the few I've been to) weren't genre exclusive such as the Willamette Writers Conference which is a fairly large one.

I've heard of the Maui Conference, now that you mention it, but I wouldn't move somewhere for only one conference.

By the way, I love your kitten avatar, Cece. :)

Edit: The rainy season here just got well underway and the thought of another year of being so soggy I am in danger of mildewing prompts my thoughts of moving. lol
 
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CheshireCat

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I write SF/F, but at least in this part of the country the writer's conferences (the few I've been to) weren't genre exclusive such as the Willamette Writers Conference which is a fairly large one.

I think most of the big conferences are genre-specific, like RWA's yearly con, and Thrillerfest, and the big mystery con whose name I'm blanking on ... That said, most any major city probably plays host to a writer's conference or three, but your best bet for multiple opportunities would be to pick a big convention city, like Vegas or Chicago or, probably Miami, and then find out how often they host conferences. Google is your friend. :)

I've heard of the Maui Conference, now that you mention it, but I wouldn't move somewhere for only one conference.

Therein may lay your problem. ;) Barring those cities most likely to host conventions, I don't think you're going to find "a" single place where you're guaranteed a variety of conferences. Because of wide-ranging memberships, and in the interest of fairness, most of the writers conferences I know of change location every year or every other or third year, so that they aren't asking the same members to fly cross-country year after year.

By the way, I love your kitten avatar, Cece. :)

Thank you. Folks around here seem to like to change their avatars, but I decided to pick one I loved and stick with it.

Edit: The rainy season here just got well underway and the thought of another year of being so soggy I am in danger of mildewing prompts my thoughts of moving. lol

Yeah, I don't think I'd like to be wet all the time. Though we in the Southeast are suffering through drought conditions these days, and I wouldn't recommend that either.

Anyway, good luck in finding the right place. Like I said, I'd start with a short list of convention-hosting cities and then research.
 

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Birol

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That's a good question right now.
If you google Science Fiction conferences, or something similar, you will get all kinds of hits. I don't think you will find one place that is The place to go, though.
 

J. R. Tomlin

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Mayntz

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Fort Collins, Colorado is home to a new regional writing group that puts on a great writing conference every spring. It touches on a lot of genres, but includes some good journalism/freelance workshops that are hard to find at many genre-specific conferences. They also put on a ton of mini-workshops there throughout the year on a wide range of topics: blogging, genres, etc. I wish I could move there!

You can get the info here:
http://www.ncwc.biz/
 

DeleyanLee

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I've always loved the Pike's Peak Writers Conference (http://www.pikespeakwriters.com/) in Colorado Springs, CO, which covers all genres and screenwriters. Very comprehensive for all its coverage, not to mention some beautiful landscapes and countryside.
 

Marlys

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I'm partial to Backspace, which is held in New York City in the summer (June 26 & 27 in 2008). It features authors from all stages of their careers, from newly-sold to NYT best-sellers (including Lee Child and Barry Eisler in 2006; Gayle Lynds and David Morrell in 2007--click on the dates to see the full line up for each year); also a good handful of agents, at least a few big-house editors, and other industry professionals (publicists, the founder of PublishersMarketplace, etc.). At the same time, it's small enough so that you can really talk to people. One of the highlights of my year.
 

Marina Snow

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I have attended conferences in both Colorado and California. The conferences were highly beneficial to me and others. Both states have many conferences every year. Writer's conferences are more likely to be better in areas where there is incredible beauty, and where there are artists and writers living in and around the community. California and Colorado have all of the above.

Remember that a conference is only a small part of your life so be sure to research and think about all the other factors of a major move across the country. These days you need to consider drought, hurricanes, fire danger, personal safety, etc.

You can check out this link for conferences by state:
http://writing.shawguides.com/

Good luck.
 

Karen Junker

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We put on A Writer's Weekend in Seattle - it is usually 75% SFF writers/workshops. We are not holding the event next year, but we are doing a small retreat on the Washington Coast in June. Jay Lake will be our guest writer guru. When I say small, I mean 10-15 people.

There's also the writers' workshop at Norwescon in Seattle (deadline is the 28th for submissions, so you'd have to hurry) and I think they have a writers' workshop at Orycon in Portland.

There's the Rainforest Writers Village at Lake Quinault in March - it's put on by the guy who runs Fairwood Press. They get quite a few published SFF authors there.

Of course there is Clarion and Clarion West, Viable Paradise (you get to be in a room with two Tor editors and 4-6 published authors)...

Good luck with deciding where to move!
 

Karen Junker

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Oh, I forgot to mention Foolscap, which has a writing track, too. It's in Seattle in September.

The writing retreat for A Writer's Weekend is free. You can email me at writersweekend at hotmail dot com if you want more info.
 

J. R. Tomlin

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Thanks for all the info. It's very helpful even if some of it is in the NW (the rainy season has just started and I'm already depressed. lol)

Edit: I did email you, Karen. It sounds interesting.
 
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