2010 Pennwriters Conference

The 2010 Pennwriters Conference is scheduled for May 14-16 at the Best Western Eden Resort in Lancaster PA. Prior to the conference, on May 13, they'll be hosting four preconference classes specifically designed to give attendees an in-depth, interactive experience.

Details on these classes are now posted on the Pennwriters Web site. Follow these tiny URLs to go directly to each class, or go to www.pennwriters.com and click on Conference then Intensives to browse the categories.

Plotting and Subplotting with Loree Lough
For all writers who need hands-on experience with plotting; no class limit.
May 13, 2010, 1 pm to 4 pm
http://tiny.cc/PHoF1

Crafting a Fiction Query Package with CJ Lyons
For writers who have a finished draft; class limit 16.
May 13, 2010, 9 am to noon
http://tiny.cc/M5WEY

Fiction Writing with Tim Esaias
For writers who have a finished draft; class limit 15
May 13, 2010, 9 am to 4 pm
http://tiny.cc/w4CK4

Nonfiction Writing with Jonathan Maberry
For writers who have an idea for a nonfiction book; class limit 15.
May 13, 2010, 9 am to 4 pm
http://tiny.cc/NdEaH

If you have any questions, please email conference2010@pennwriters.com

22nd Annual Pennwriters Conference in Pittsburgh

Online Registration is open for the Pennwriters 22nd Annual Conference A Writer's Tool Chest.

WHEN: May 15 - 17, 2009
WHERE: Pittsburgh Airport Marriott
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline
PENNWRITER SPEAKER: Asimov's Readers' Award winner and Seton Hill mentor Timons Esaias

I'll post continuing updates about the conference, guests, and events.


Pennwriters, Heidi Ruby Miller, annual conference, A Writer's Tool Chest, Pittsburgh, Lisa Scottoline, Timons Esaias, writing, Seton Hill Writers

2009 Pennwriters Conference Agent Update

So far, the following agents will be at the 2009 Pennwriters Conference held in Pittsburgh during the weekend of May 15-17:

Uwe Stender from TriadaUS Literary
Alyssa Eisner Henkin from Trident Media Group
Lucienne Diver from Spectrum Literary Agency
Paige Wheeler from Folio Literary Management

The keynote speakers are Lisa Scottoline and Seton Hill Writer Timons Esaias.


2009 Pennwriters Conference, Heidi Ruby Miller, Lisa Scottoline, Timons Esaias, Uwe Stender, Lucienne Diver, Paige Wheeler, writing, Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Pennwriters, Seton Hill Writers

21st Annual Pennwriters Conference

Joyce Carol Oates will be the keynote speaker for the 21st Annual Pennwriters Conference at the Host Resort in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Tickets for the May 16-18, 2008 event go on sale January 2, 2008, at www.pennwriters.org or by e-mailing the conference coordinator at conferenceco1@pennwriters.org for a registration form. Three-day conference packages start at $199 for members and $249 for nonmembers. After March 2, 2008, dinner tickets with Joyce Carol Oates will be sold separately from the conference at $65 for Pennwriters members and $99 for nonmembers..

Oates, who has been writing since age 14 and is now a creative writing professor at Princeton University, released her 36th book, The Gravedigger's Daughter, this year. Her dinner presentation on Friday evening, May 16, will include commentary on her books and the writing process as well as a question and answer session and a book signing.

Oates' presentation is one of many events during the three-day conference that are designed to introduce beginning writers to the world of publishing and to provide experienced authors with opportunities to network. The conference theme, "A Writer¹s Smorgasbord," reflects the rich traditions of Lancaster County and the diverse nature of writing as a career.

Included in the conference price is the opportunity for writers to pitch finished manuscripts to 10 well-established agents and editors in the publishing business. Among them are Irene Goodman, an agent who started as the assistant to Stephen King's editor 25 years ago and has since built her own agency in New York City, and Melanie Donovan, the executive editor of HarperCollins Children. These 10-minute pitches are designed to give writers the chance to bypass the traditional query letter process and present their work face-to-face.

Other agents scheduled to be at the conference include agents Ginger Clark from Curtis Brown, Ltd., Jessica Regel from Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, and Elaine P. English. Other editors include Editor in Chief Ginjer Buchanan from Ace/Roc, Associate Editor Paul Stevens from Tom Doherty Associates (Tor/Forge), Assistant Editor Tessa Woodward from Avon, and Editorial Director Jane Friedman from F+W Publications.

Hour-long workshops led by agents, editors, and published authors start Friday morning and continue throughout the weekend until Sunday at noon. Visiting authors include Jonathan Maberry, Bram Stoker award-winning author of Ghost Road Blues; Maria V. Snyder, winner of the 2006 Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel, Poison Study; Timons Esaias, an Asimov's Reader Choice Award winner; and debut author D.L. Wilson, who will also speak during Saturday's luncheon.

Pennwriters is a statewide organization of more than 450 published and unpublished writers from Pennsylvania. Annual conferences are held in alternating years in Pittsburgh and either Harrisburg or Lancaster.



Pennwriters, Heidi Ruby Miller, Pennwriters 21st Annual Conference, Joyce Carol Oates, Maria V. Snyder, Timons Esaias, Jonathan Maberry, writing, D. L. Wilson, Seton Hill University

Seton Hill Authors at Pennwriters Conference

BACK: Jason Jack Miller, Timons Esaias, and Heidi Ruby Miller FRONT: Ellen Spain, Victoria Thompson, and Mary Ann Aug

The 2007 Pennwriters Conference The Write Attitude was a wonderful experience, both personally and professionally.

Networking opportunities were the best of any conference I've attended because the group's officers, the editors, the agents, and the writers were all so personable.
BACK: Mary Ann Aug and Heidi Ruby Miller FRONT: Lisa D. K. Coutant, Vice President of Pennwriters, Barbara Lockwood, President of Pennwriters, and Jason Jack Miller

The above photo was taken after Victoria Thompson, mystery author and Seton Hill mentor, gave her keynote at the luncheon on Saturday. It was very inspiring because she used personal experiences to show just how fickle this industry can be, but also how rewarding to those who stick it out.

Among the editors I met were Ginjer Buchanan, Senior Executive Editor and Marketing Director at The Berkley Publishing Group, Jane Friedman, Editor of Writers' Digest Books/F & W Publications and Robbi Hess, Editor/Co-Publisher of Byline Magazine.

The three best panels I attended probably reflect where I am personally in the process of publication, not that I won't work on mechanics and style until I die, but after an intensive two year graduate program, I'm ready to move onto the next step: Agents Panel with Daniel Lazar, Rita Rosenkranz, Adam Chromy, Sheree Bykofsky, and Jenny Rappaport; Editors Panel with Jane Friedman, Ginjer Buchanan, Colleen Sell, and Robbi Hess; The Publication Process with Rita Rosenkranz, Jane Friedman, and Paul Martin.

This last one was Paul discussing the process of publishing his books with his agent Rita Rosenkranz and an editor from his publishing company Jane Friedman. Very insightful about "who gets a say in what" from cover design to contents. Jason and I had part of this perspective when we published our guidebook with Avalon last year. We were missing the agent part, an important part I will now say, but will hopefully rectify soon.

I pitched to one editor and three agents while at the conference. As a direct result. I am sending out my submissions this week. Here's hoping that some of those are accepted.

I also made some new author friends. Writers Valentine Brkich and Brian Butko agreed to participate in the HEIDI'S PICK SIX special non-fiction week coming up.
Jason Jack Miller, Brian Butko, and Heidi Ruby Miller

If nothing else comes from my time at the conference, it was still well-spent because it inspired me and gave me that turbo boost we writers all need now and then.

Pennwriters Conference, Heidi Ruby Miller, Jason Jack Miller, Victoria Thompson, Rita Rosenkranz, Ginjer Buchanan, writing, Jenny Rappaport, Adam Chromy, Seton Hill University