Continued from “Why attend BWRC”

Come to learn

As you review the program a conference offers, you have to decide what exactly you hope to get out of attending. No one can tell you whether or not any conference will benefit you unless they have intimate knowledge of your strengths, weaknesses, and goals. The specific benefit for you personally depends on your answers to questions such as:

What are your personal or professional goals? What areas need strengthening? Do you know what your weaknesses are or do you need help identifying them? What’s your experience level? Do you have a completed manuscript ready to sell, a stack of partially written stories on your hard drive, or a bunch of ideas swimming around in your head? Did you self-publish your work and need help with developing a better marketing plan? Or do you simply need to learn sales techniques and how to get your book or screenplay into the hands of readers and reviewers or directors and producers?

Once you’ve addressed those, redirect your focus on the conference. Who is the conference geared toward? Is the program designed for beginners, intermediate, or experienced writers, or do they offer a solid mix of workshops for all experience levels? Are you looking for general information or are there very specific aspects you seek more detailed knowledge about? Do the workshop descriptions effectively convey how the sessions will cover those topics? Do the presenters appear qualified to speak on those topics? What is the reputation of the conference? The organizers? How long has it been around? Does it have an established track record? Is the conference represented professionally on its website, marketing, and other printed materials? Do those materials support or contradict whether the conference can deliver what it offers?

Come to expand your network

For the beginning writer trying to break in, a writing conference gives him or her a chance to meet other like-minded people that are passionate about writing. This is where online conferences pale in comparison to the real deal.

The recent surge of online writing conferences in response to the state of the economy makes a lot of sense. If they offer the knowledge you seek and you cannot afford to physically travel to attend a writers’ conference, then I say online conferences are better than nothing. The disadvantage is that you miss out on the in-person networking at actual conferences–during, between, and after sessions–that you simply cannot get online.

You can’t run into the inimitable Jewell Parker Rhodes in the hotel café and experience her unforgettable energy and awe-inspiring personality in an online conference. You can’t share a ride in the elevator with the amazing Venise Berry or the ReShonda Tate Billingsley and engage in a conversation about plotting that sends you scrambling to snatch a notepad and pen from your conference bag the minute you reach your floor to brainstorm the rest of your novel and finally break through your writers’ block for good.

You can’t stroll into a bar and wind up hanging out half the night with a fun group of writers and develop the type of rapport that results in friendships that last decades. You can’t meet self-publishing gurus Sara or Mack Smith or literary law expert Tonya Evans—or any of the awesome presenters who ARE BWRC—by the pool or at the hotel entrance and enjoy a candid conversation about what NOT to do in authorship and publishing in an online conference.

You can’t look back after an online conference at all the after-hours festivities and remember how much fun it was to hear Brian Egeston, Tonya Evans, Journey, Jamal Sharif, and other poets regaled listeners at the poets’ reception with some of the most powerful spoken word we’d ever heard—or any of the unforgettable memories that attendees share from simply having been there. You miss out on all those chance encounters, the life-changing experiences, and the priceless memories when you miss BWRC.

What’s so special about BWRC

What makes BWRC so special is the “family” that makes it happen. It is the people behind the conference who are the reasons BWRC continues to stand head and shoulders above the rest. Beyond possessing all of the characteristics of a great conference, BWRC has always kept the focus where the focus should be—on nurturing our family of writers and on the craft and business of writing.

Every BWRC presenter is there because he or she WANTS to be. Their desire to be there is not financially motivated. Many of the presenters you will meet have been with BWRC since the very first August 2000 conference in Atlanta. Most of them got their starts with BWRC and the organization behind it. Throughout the years, they have remained dedicated to our collective mission of uplifting the Black writing community and the quality of Black literature for ten years. That type of loyalty and commitment is extremely rare—especially in publishing.

Several other members of the BWRC family shared what makes BWRC so special to them. Patricia Haley states, “Relationship building—I met more people in those few days that impacted my thoughts and visions than some assembly line online workshop. The administrators truly care about the craft and all components related to writing. BWRC is a medium that’s not full of airy presentations; it offers strong, fluid workshops that add clarity and dimension to your dream.”

“Whether new, seasoned, stuck or ready to fly, writers come away with more than they needed,” adds Michelle Dawson. “BWRC teaches you to look at your work objectionably and question what is needed to grow.”

Neecha Turner appreciates that “BWRC offers excellent value for the cost. It gives all writers the opportunity to learn from celebrated Black writers multiple facets of the writing craft and business to give them a leg up to success. Other conferences or programs like this cost well over $500 in registration alone to attend.”

“This conference is great in that it provides unparalleled information provided by top-notch industry experts and valuable, lasting networking opportunities,” said Mondella Jones.

“Opportunities to grow as a writer and explore multiple genres from first-hand points of view,” Shawn Harris added. “BWRC can help shape a young writer.”

An investment in yourself

A writers’ conference can offer you the opportunity to make a tremendous investment in yourself through the skills you’ll develop and contacts you’ll make. There’s also the income tax benefits. You may be able to deduct the conference fees along with travel, lodging, and meals from your income taxes and enjoy a vacation at the same time.

Those who get the most from a conference will be those who are serious about their craft and have realistic expectations of the conference and an understanding of how it can meet their needs. When you attend the right conferences, you’re not just going to a conference. You’re making a lasting investment in yourself.