14 Great Writers’ Conferences Spring-Summer 2024
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Looking to improve your craft? Learn about publishing? Pitch to agents and editors? Hang out with fellow writers? Get some writing inspiration? Think about attending a writer’s conference.
Conferences exist all over the country (and abroad). Some are smaller, regional conferences. Some are large and draw people from all over the U.S. Some are geared toward specific genres. There’s no one perfect conference; the right one for you at this time depends on a variety of factors:
Do you want an emphasis on craft?
Are you ready to pitch?
Are you looking for a particular genre?
Are there sessions geared to your writing level? (Beginner/Advanced/Published etc.)
Do you want to meet people in your area/region?
Do you want to spend time in a new locale?
What’s your budget? Are there scholarships?
Conferences can be a great source of information and writerly camaraderie. They can also be overwhelming and discouraging. I asked a few writer friends what they wished they had known before attending their first writing conference:
“I wish I hadn’t been too shy to introduce myself to people.”
“I wish I’d practiced my pitch more. I was so nervous!”
“I wish I’d gone with someone so we could attend different sessions, take notes, and share them.”
“I wish I’d known how exhausting it was going to be. I loved it, but my brain was FULL.”
“I wish I’d understood the process better. I was seated next to an editor at lunch, and I wasn’t sure if I should mention my book or not. I wasn’t even familiar with the different agents and editors there.”
So, a few words of advice:
Choose the conference carefully, based on your goals (see the above reasons for attending)
Do your homework – who is teaching? What agents/editors are attending, if any, and where are they from? What are they looking for?
If you’re pitching, practice, practice, practice.
If there are pitching/query critique or other opportunities to meet with publishing professionals, can you choose who you meet with? Or are they randomly assigned? Do such opportunities cost extra?
Don’t be afraid to talk to the people around you. Most are probably there on their own, too. Even with agents/editors - don’t immediately jump in with your pitch in a social situation, but be prepared if they ask you what you write.
Here are some of the conferences you may want to consider attending this spring and summer (note that some of them require pre-work, or sell out far in advance; if you can’t make it this year, put it on your calendar for next year!):
Grub Street Muse and the Marketplace Conference. May 10 - 12, Boston, Massachusetts. For aspiring and seasoned writers, a selection of seminars and discussions on the craft of writing. The “Manuscript Mart” features meetings with agents and editors who read your first 5 pages, query, and synopsis and give feedback.
Peripatetic Writing Workshop and Retreat. May 17 - 24, Catskill, New York. Daily workshops, craft sessions, writing exercises, and structured time for writing, plus optional tutorials. Moves from place to place within the U.S. and abroad, hence the name.
ThrillerFest XIX. May 28 – June 1, 2024: New York City. This is the annual conference of the International Thriller Writers. The ThrillerFest conference has four main components: Master CraftFest, CraftFest, PitchFest, and ThrillerFest. Designed for all levels of writer, as well as readers.
Stonecoast Writers’ Conference. June 24-29. Portland, ME. Runs concurrently with the Stonecoast MFA summer residency, and is taught by the MFA faculty. If you’re curious about an MFA program but don’t have the funds or desire for the full experience, this might be a good fit. Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry.
SAGA Genre Fiction Writers’ Conference. July 12-14. Winston-Salem, NC. Conference with workshops, panels focused on genre fiction: Science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, thriller, horror, etc. Website does not have much information yet, but I wanted to include it since it’s one of the few conferences specifically focused on genre fiction.
Sewanee Writers’ Conference. July 16-28, Sewanee, TN. Another craft-focused conference with an MFA-like feel, with craft lectures, workshops, readings, and open mic events. Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Playwriting.
Willamette Writers’ Conference. July 31-August 4, Portland, OR and online. Master classes, craft sessions, keynote speakers, quiet writing sessions, manuscript critiques, pitches to agents and editors... this conference is packed. Something for everyone – indie published and traditionally-published; fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting, poetry, writing for young people, and something for pretty much all genres.
Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. August 14-24, Middlebury, VT. Application required. Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. Sessions for published writers as well as up-and-coming writers. Craft lectures, workshops, readings, as well as meetings with agents and editors.
Writing Day Workshops. Various dates and locations around the country and online; see website for details. : Los Angeles, CA. This is a special one-day “How to Get Published” writing workshop. featuring panels on publishing opportunities today, how to write queries & pitches, how to market yourself and your books, and optional pitch sessions with agents and editors.
Highlights Foundation Workshops. If you’re writing for kids and/or teens, the Highlight Foundation workshops are for you. They take place in the Poconos, in PA, over the spring, summer and fall. The Whole Novel Workshop application deadline is May 15, 2024; other workshops ae focused on picture books, chapter books, middle grade, YA, and specific craft and publishing topics, as well as special retreats for writers of color, Asian-American, neurodiverse, and other communities.
SCBWI Annual Conference takes places in Los Angeles, CA in August. Details to come at the website. There are also many regional conferences, in person and online. Craft sessions, agent query critiques, publishing panels, readings… sessions geared to both pre-published and published writers.
The Iowa Summer Writing Festival holds in-person and online workshops for serious writers in fiction, speculative fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, travel writing, poetry... The emphasis is on craft vs. Publication here. In-person sessions take place over weeks and weekends throughout the summer; online offerings are updated throughout the year.
The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA has a similar lineup of craft workshops for writers, as well as visual arts workshops, throughout the summer.
Writer’s Digest University has a number of virtual events every month, lasting between one day and a few days. Some of the upcoming ones include: Young Adult Writing Virtual Conference, Humor Writing Virtual Conference, and Literary Agent Boot camp, among others.
Keep in mind, these are only a few of the hundreds of conferences available. If you do a Google search of your state + writer/writing conference, you will have many more to choose from.
Do you have any conferences you’ve been to that you’d like to add? Let us know in the comments!
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