Conference (Fellowship Opportunity for you)

I just got finished helping with the "Writing for Charity" conference in Provo, UT. It was an amazing event. I started out on an author panel with 25 of our local authors...Shannon Hale & Brandon Sanderson included (we have an AMAZING pool of talent here in Utah). Then we each took a small group of attendees and spent the next 2 hours critiquing their work. We ate lunch and finished up the day with a few breakout sessions taught by the authors. I was on a picture book panel. It's amazing to be a part of something like this once a year. We all donate our time and talents to the conference and all the proceeds from registrations and a silent auction go to getting books in the hands of under-privileged kids.

Now that conference is over. I'm switching gears and preparing for a very intense, highly productive, awesome event I think you all should know about. Even if you don't live in Utah, you'd be hard pressed to find a better conference anywhere...so make the journey. Writing & Illustrating for Young Readers, a conference begun by professional writers 13 years ago, was created to really take writers and illustrators to the next level...publication. I've assisted with this conference off and on and this year will be the illustration faculty member. Honestly, I've attended, helped run, and presented at various conferences over the years, but this is the best conference I've ever seen. Writers get 5 days of invaluable instruction and critiques and illustrators get 3 (for a cheaper price of course). You can choose afternoon sessions only  or reap the full benefit by attending morning classes as well.

This year, for the first time, the conference organizers are offering a Writing Competition & Fellowship Award. The award is $1000 (which would pay for your conference registration more than twice). Find out more about it HERE.

You can click on the penguin button at the right side of the blog to read more about the conference itself.