Update: WIW Writers Conference, May 12-13, Washington, DC

[Ken Reigner <cbsmedia -at- earthlink -dot- net>]

                   Building a Thriving Free-lance Career
                     To Be Focus of Writers' Conference

         Lawrence Block To Discuss Successful Marketing Techniques

   Washington--Advancing your free-lance writing career will be the focus 
of Washington Independent Writers' Spring Conference, Friday evening and 
all day Saturday, May 12-13, at the National Press Club in downtown 
Washington.

   Famed mystery writer Lawrence Block will address the group Friday 
evening on "The Non-Writing Part of Being a Writer." Block will share what 
he's learned about promotional tours, book signings and other important, 
but often neglected, aspects of selling a book.

   And, in an unusual move for a keynoter, Block will also participate in 
a Saturday morning panel, joining science fiction/thriller author Steven 
Spruill and romance writer Kathleen Gilles Seidel in revealing some tricks 
of the trade to keep readers turning those pages.

   On Saturday, Washington-area native Breena Clarke, whose first novel, 
"River: Cross My Heart," was selected for Oprah's Book Club, will tell the 
audience "How To Write a Novel While Holding Down a Full-Time Job."

   "The Great Myths of Free-lancing" will be detailed in a talk by Nancy 
Lloyd, who has parlayed her expertise in money management into a 
successful, multi-medium free-lance career. Adding advice on money 
management will be Ric Edelman, best-selling author of "The Truth About 
Money: The New Rules of Money" and the recent "Ordinary People, 
Extraordinary Wealth."

   To assist conference participants further in their writing and 
publishing endeavors, 10 literary agents from New York and Washington will 
meet with attendees in pre-arranged, 10-minute one-on-one sessions. 
Agencies to be represented include The Literary Group, Jane Dystel Literary 
Agency, Spectrum and Jabberwocky.

   "We are very excited about the huge response we're getting from writers 
who want this chance to meet with an agent as part of the Spring 
Conference," said Margaret Blair, Spring Writers Conference Chair. Blair 
said she expects the slots for agent meetings to be filled up within the 
next several days. New York book editor and consultant Ellen Roberts will 
also offer manuscript critiques for $125.

   Twenty panels in all will offer tips and insights into writing 
biography, travel, children's books, plays and book proposals. Panels will 
also deal with magazine and newsletter markets, university presses, 
advanced marketing techniques, "Finding the Right Niche: Articles vs. 
Books" and the growing world of online publishing.

   A new panel this year will be "Success Stories," highlighting local 
writers who have come a long way in a short time. Among them will be 
Yolanda Young, whose still-in-progress memoirs were recently auctioned off 
by her agent to Random House for a six-figure amount.

   Registration for the conference is $125 for WIW members, $175 for 
nonmembers and $210 for a combined membership/conference fee. Prices 
increase for registrations postmarked after May 5.

   For more information, contact the WIW office, 220 Woodward Building, 
733 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20005, (202) 347-4973, fax (202) 
628-0298, <mailto:washwriter -at- aol -dot- com> (washwriter -at- aol -dot- com). WIW's Web site 
<www.washwriter.org> has further details. A registration form is available 
at <www.washwriter.org/events/registration_form.htm>.

   Washington Independent Writers is non-profit professional organization 
based in Washington, D.C., for independent writers, editors and 
journalists. With approximately 1,900 members, WIW is the largest regional 
writers' group in the United States. WIW also sponsors a Listserv e-mail 
discussion list called WIW-L.

   For a free WIW-L subscription, send an e-mail message to 
<mailto:listserv -at- cmuvm -dot- csv -dot- cmich -dot- edu> (listserv -at- cmuvm -dot- csv -dot- cmich -dot- edu), and 
in the body of the message, type "subscribe WIW-L YourFirstName 
YourLastName" (without the quotation marks). Or send a blank e-mail message 
to <mailto:WIW-L-subscribe-request -at- cmuvm -dot- csv -dot- cmich -dot- edu>
(WIW-L-subscribe-request -at- cmuvm -dot- csv -dot- cmich -dot- edu).

			[Please forgive the cross-posts.]

--
Ken Reigner                            mailto:cbsmedia -at- earthlink -dot- net
Member, Board of Directors            List Owner, WIW-L and WIW-JOBS
Chairman, Technology Committee     wiw-l-request -at- cmuvm -dot- csv -dot- cmich -dot- edu
Washington Independent Writers  wiw-jobs-request -at- cmuvm -dot- csv -dot- cmich -dot- edu