13th Annual Conference

Peak Goals: Pen, Publish, Promote

October 19-21, 2007
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Conference Brochure and Registration Form (PDF)

Conference Schedule

Check back frequently for updates!

2007 Conference Recap

Here's what people are saying about the 2007 conference:

One great thing about the conference is finding practical ideas I can put to work in my own writing life. For example, I loved Sherry Monahan's self-marketing tip to "pretend to be another person" if you find it hard to promote you work. This really
struck a chord for me, as I'm not a naturally outgoing person. But I can pretend to be someone else when I need to self-promote. That is, after all, what I do when I write novels.

It also made it possible for me to see, first hand, how easy using the web to promote my work can be. Donna Druchunas gave a wonderful demonstration that made it easy to understand and encouraging to move forward with this great tool.

Writing can be a very solitary business. Having the opportunity to connect with such a wonderful group of friendly, supportive individuals and learn at the same time is both invigorating and enlightening.

--Jan Olsen

I loved the Friday nite readings from WILLA winners and finalists. To hear them talk about their books, see the enthusiasm in their faces and to listen to their cadence as they read brought a great big sigh to me that let me take a deep breath and relax. I was with writers, my "tribe". What could be more inspiring!

--Jane Kirkpatrick, www.jkbooks.com

Jane Kirkpatrick reads from her 2007 WILLA Finalist entry in the historical fiction category, A Clearing in the Wild, during the Friday evening festivities at the October WWW Conference in Colorado Springs, CO.

Laurie Wagner Buyer reads from her 2007 WILLA Finalist entry in the Poetry category, Across the High Divide, during the Friday evening festivities at the October WWW Conference in Colorado Springs, CO.

New Events Welcomed at 2007 Conference

By Alice Trego
2007/2008 Newsletter Editor

The 2007 WWW Conference, Peak Goals: Pen, Publish, Promote, took place with all the camaraderie and excitement of past conferences. But there was more that greeted attendees in Colorado Springs this year.

Thanks to VP Conference, Cynthia Becker, and her committee, attendees were introduced to an assortment of new events. Member/tour guide Doris McCraw’s companion during the Friday tour was none other than Mary Lincoln Mellon Palmer, also known as Queen Palmer, wife of William Jackson Palmer, one of Colorado Springs’s founders. Local denizen Dianne Hartshorn portrayed Queen Palmer, and she was helpful in answering questions regarding her costume and the time in which she lived.

Friday afternoon was the first welcome and orientation of the “Green Dots,” the term coined by immediate Past President Jacque Boyd because of the green dot placed on first-time attendees’ name badges. Green Dots numbered 29 at the session where they discussed the many entities of Women Writing the West.

Doris McCraw once again delighted her audience Friday evening by walking in after dinner in the guise of writer Helen Hunt Jackson.

“As Helen I was speaking of her life as a writer and her decision to make a living as a writer,” Doris said. “In her life she encouraged other writers she thought worthy and I wanted to impart her life as an example of making a decision, regardless of age, and following through.”

Also new were the longer workshop formats. In hour-and-a-half increments, the workshops dedicated to pen, publish or promote received rave reviews.

Assorted readings from WILLA Winners and Finalists astonished conference-goers. One by one the authors strode to the microphone, book in hand, to speak of the love they had for their subject before setting pen to paper, which produced their award-winning work. We were entertained by the readings of William Haywood Henderson, Caroline Patterson, Sheila Wood Foard, Thom Tammaro, and Laurie Wagner Buyer, to name a few.

“…the WILLA Winners and Finalists readings were the highlight,” says Laurie, a WWW member. “Please, please, please continue to make time at every conference for readings--it brings everything that WWW stands for to life.”

Our luncheon guest speaker, Sally Stich, captured our attention with humorous snippets of her recent trip to Red Cloud, NE, home to the WILLA Award namesake Willa Cather, and home to some of the greatest cooks ever to put on a true Midwest banquet. Likewise, WWW founding member Jann Arrington Wolcott enlightened us Saturday evening about “Writing Real: The Author’s Obligation,” advising how to forestall all those writing obstacles that seem to get in the way of what writers really want to do.

We were also introduced to new member Susan Stoltz, co editor and staff writer/photographer of The Open Range and She’s Out West magazines. Susan asked the group to move outside to one of the hotel patios following Saturday’s lunch so she could get a group photo for inclusion in an upcoming issue of She’s Out West. Although the wind blew around us in an unusually warm October wind, Susan’s precarious perch atop a very large terra cotta planter worked to her advantage as she snapped a couple photos.
The final workshop on a snowy Sunday featured Leah Davis Witherow, Archivist at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, that included a slide-show presentation of some of the area’s history. Several attendees commented that Leah’s session sparked many writing ideas, and where to locate that elusive piece of research they’d been seeking.

Incoming 2008 President Kathleen Ernst summed up the 2007 conference by saying, “One of the things that makes our conference special is the sense of supportive community that emerges when we're together.”

See you next year in San Antone – Texas, that is.

Ruth Rymer, Jeanne Wilde and Gayle Gresham take a break during the WWW 2007 Conference.

Marj Casswell stepped in for Gwyn Ramsey to run the 2007 Conference WILLA Raffle, which benefits the WILLA Literary Awards.

Attendees listen intently to one of many speakers during the WWW 2007 Conference.

What we did...

2007 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Sally Stich, “A Willa Cather Weekend in Red Cloud, Nebraska”

Saturday WILLA Finalists Luncheon

Sally is a successful Denver-based freelance writer and frequent
speaker at writers’ conferences. A contributing editor for Woman’s
Day, her work has appeared in TIME, Marie Claire, This Old House, Parade, Ladies Home Journal and Delta SKY, among others. She is a former university writing teacher, member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and current president of the Denver Woman’s Press Club. Sally will offer tips for writing that sells to newspapers and magazines during an afternoon workshop.

Jann Arrington Wolcott, “Writing Real: The Author’s Obligation”

Saturday WILLA Winners Banquet

Jann is a founding member of Women Writing the West who lives in Santa Fe. Her novels Brujo and Deathmark were optioned for movies while still in manuscript form and she is currently co-writing the Deathmark screenplay. She also wrote the award winning non-fiction book Christmas Celebration: Santa Fe Traditions, Foods & Crafts. Jann is a faculty member of the Tony Hillerman Mystery Writers Conference and will present her Hillerman conference workshop “Women of Mystery: Creating Female Villains and Victims” on Saturday afternoon.

2007 CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

In response to the many requests for more skills building content, breakout sessions will be lengthened to one and a half hours and many workshops will include writing activities.

Writing Query Letters and Proposals that Sell - Craig Nelson,
Loveland Press

Women of Mystery: Creating Female Villains and Victims - Jann
Arrington Wolcott

Crafting Your Essay for Newspapers & Periodicals - Sally Stich

Marketing for Writers: How to Expose Yourself and Get Noticed! -
Sherry Monahan

Creative Non-Fiction: The Truth Can Set You­Or At Least Your Muse­ Free - Susan Tweit

Working With Words: Polishing Your Manuscript to Meet Agents’ and Editors’ Expectations - Laurie Wagner Buyer

Marketing In Cyberspace (Even if You Don't Have a Website!) - Donna Druchanas

THE PROGRAM

The evaluation forms returned by 60% of 2006 conference participants became the guiding force for all 2007 planning. Your overwhelming request was more content that will help us all write better, get published, and promote our work more effectively. Thus the 2007 conference theme – Peak Goals: Pen, Publish, Promote. Here’s what you can expect:

Agents, editors and publishers – the most popular conference feature – will again be available to talk about the marketplace, explain what they are seeking in new work, and participate in pitch sessions.

Workshops will include many of the following “you asked for it” topics:

Networking with old friends and new begins at the Friday evening buffet in the Aspen Leaf room.

WILLA Awards 2007 finalists will be honored at the Saturday luncheon and winners at the evening banquet.

AGENTS AND EDITORS

AGENTS: Confirmations pending

EDITORS:

Additional agent and editor confirmations pending

THE PRE-CONFERENCE TOUR

After a guided introduction to Carnegie Special Collections at Penrose Public Library you will have time to explore 115 years of regional history. Then, step into early day Colorado Springs at McAlister House, an authentically restored 1873 gothic-style cottage. By popular demand we return to the Garden of the Gods with time to soak up the ambiance, walk the garden paths, snap photos, and have lunch on your own at the Trading Post snack bar. The $25 tour fee includes bus transportation and entrance fees.

Conference Brochure

Conference Schedule