I believe there is no greater opportunity for networking and finding inspiration for writers than attending an in-person writing conference. I’ve attended many conferences over the years that were hosted by varied writing organizations and have never been disappointed.
Having coordinated a number of conferences myself for Pennwriters, a multi-genre writing organization, I’ve learned to appreciate all the work that goes into such an event. But I can say, it’s been rewarding in many different ways. I’ve made hundreds of connections to other writers and industry professionals including, agents, editors, and publicists.
Where does one start to plan a writing conference? The first decisions are where, when, and for whom.
Where? How much room do you need? Pennwriters Annual Conference usually offers 4-5 workshops per hour with a total of 56-60 workshops total over a weekend. The best venue for us is a conference hotel. A reservation for a space that large needs to be made two years in advance. It involves a long contract with guarantees of room reservations and food purchases. We try to include most meals in our conference prices, though that will raise the registration prices for attendees. It’s a big challenge to make attendance affordable. Pennwriters needs to have space for 200+/- attendees.
A one-day mini-conference can usually make do with a smaller space and will often have fewer choices for workshops and fewer attendees. There are often banquet facilities that can meet those needs.
The ‘when’ can be important. For Pennwriters, this is our 38th Annual Conference and we’ve always held it the third weekend in May. This allows us to avoid college graduation weekends for the most part. It’s always best to put thought into the date. A winter conference held in the north may run into weather problems as may conferences held in the south during hurricane season. Summer conferences may lose possible attendees to vacations.
And for ‘whom’ will you hold your conference? Pennwriters is state-wide, with many out-of-state members, so we always plan our workshops for multi-genres. The great thing about this is how much attendees learn from other genres. It’s a huge draw. But some conferences are directed at certain genres such as literary, poetry, mystery, etc. Another way to go is by picking a part of the writing business to focus on such as craft, marketing, self-publishing, etc. The only concern about narrowing your conferences’ focus is it also narrows the pool of possible interest in attending. Another part of the whom, is the experience of the writers you hope to draw to your conference. Pennwriters tries to provide workshops for writers at every stage of their careers from beginners to multi-published authors.
After all the above, you have your plan. But there are big decisions still to make. If you want to bring in a big-name author as a draw, you need to reach out to them 18-24 months in advance. Decide what your budget is ahead of time because some are very expensive. Pennwriters in the past have hosted authors such as Hank Phillippi Ryan, Jonathan Maberry, James Rollins, and this year, Natalie Richards. We already have our 2026 and 2027 Keynote speakers lined up. You don’t have to have a famous keynote, but we find that they usually pay for themselves with the attendees they draw in.
At twelve months out, you need to find presenters who will give the quality of workshops you want. If you have an email list of writers or connections to writers’ groups, you have a ready-made pool of presenters. Ask your keynote guests to lead workshops. They are usually glad to do so.
During the same time frame, you have to reach out to editors and agents. Even more than your keynotes, writers want a chance to pitch their writing to an agent or and editor. This is the most difficult part. It’s especially difficult to find agents willing to attend at a price you can afford. Fortunately, Zoom has provided an option that works well for everyone. Editors from major publishing houses are also difficult to bring to your conference, even with the Zoom option. They often only attend large conferences who can afford to pay them premium fees. Small press editors are usually more amendable to work with conference coordinators. They are always popular and lovely to work with. Many writers start with small presses and build amazing careers. IWSG’s own L. Diane Wolfe was a guest at the 2024 Pennwriters Conference and the attendees loved her.
Once you find your venue, schedule your guests, select your workshops, and plan meals, you are ready to open registration. That would take another long post, but so much of the work is done by this point which should be no shorter than four months out.
Then you have to work on promotion. Another long, long post to even touch on that. As you can see, putting on a conference is a lot of work, but that is why more than one person should take it on.
After years of doing this, Pennwriters has many experienced conference workers. Numerous people serve as chairpersons to help the event run smoothly. If you want to see what it looks like, or if you’re interested in attending, visit Pennwriters to see an overview.
It takes hours and hours to plan a conference, but it is more than worth it. And if you have a chance to attend one, even better for you.
Susan Gourley is past-president of Pennwriters, current Pennwriters’ Conference Coordinator. She is a retired high school teacher and now a fulltime writer. She is multi-published in epic fantasy and space opera romance. You can find more about her and her books on her blog, Susan Says, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
