The 805 Writers’ Conference has announced the dates for 2016: Saturday and Sunday, November 5 & 6, at the Ventura Crowne Plaza Hotel on the beautiful Pacific Beach. This marks the sixth year for the conference, which has grown annually, topping out at 238 attendees in 2015. The conference is presented by the Pacific Institute for Professional Writing (PIPW) and co-sponsored by five other literary nonprofit organizations and local businesses.
The theme for 2016: The Craft and Business of Writing – the skills writers must master in order to succeed. Saturday sessions will focus on the business of writing, and Sunday’s focus on the craft of writing. Additionally, the conference offers half- and full-day master classes for fiction, narrative non-fiction, and memoir writers, as well as for poetry, plus an all-important Internet marketing tutorial.
“The mandate for PIPW is to provide quality education for writers whose goal is to experience having their work published,” states Kathleen Sexton Kaiser, PIPW Executive Director and WPN President. “To become a professional writer in the 21st century, fiction or memoir writers must master the skills for creating charged dialogue, a unique appealing voice, unforgettable characters, the ratio of narrative vs. scenes, and many other important skills.
“Writers must find a professional editor for their work before approaching a literary agent. They must learn to make use of social media for authors, to create a website, and more, in order to market their work and find their readership base. This conference focuses on all these skills, plus.”
In addition, the popular Agents 1|on|1 returns to allow writers to pitch their work to a literary agent or small publisher during a ten-minute interview. Last year, six literary agents and two small publishers participated and met with over thirty writers.
“Last year writers requested more time to meet other writers and speakers,” said Kaiser. “We will offer a hosted lunch both Saturday and Sunday. During lunch, writers will discuss books, writing, and book marketing and publishing, as well as other topics, with most tables hosted by an expert. Saturday evening the conference will offer a beach-side reception for writers and speakers to mingle and meet.”
The complete schedule of speakers and sessions will be available on the conference website July 1, 2016 at: http://www.805writersconference.com.
Anyone with questions should contact Kate Sexton Kaiser at Kate@PIPW.org.