Where's Abel? At #Storymakers15

I'll be at the Storymakers writing conference this week. Thursday I'll be teaching a publication workshop and Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at the Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, Utah. I'll be participating in the state's biggest book signing with the following authors:

The signing is open to the public so feel free to stop by if you're in the area. If you're part of the conference, I'll see you there.

Where's Abel?

I'll be participating in the first annual Indie Author Hub Writing & Publishing Conference tomorrow (June 7) a the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Provo Utah. About the conference:

That's right, it's conference time! Not just any conference, but a conference targeted toward all aspects of indie publishing. This year, our self-published keynote speaker is NYT bestselling author of A Different Blue, Amy Harmon. We will also have 21 breakout classes in three tracks: writing, book creation, and marketing/business. We are so excited to have many experienced and successful self-published authors and other professionals who have agreed to share their time with us.

You can find more information about the conference here.

Where I’m At: LDStorymakers Writing Conference

From Thursday through Saturday I’ll be at the LDStorymakers writing conference in Provo, Utah. Thursday I’ll be running one of the Boot Camp sessions with 5 talented students. Friday I’ll be presenting a memoir writing class and be signing books with lots of other talented and wonderful authors later that evening. The book signing is open to the public. If you’re in the area, feel free to stop by. For those readers who will be at the conference, I look forward to seeing you there.

Where I'm At: Write Here in Ephraim II

 

I'll be at the Write Here in Ephraim Writing Conference at Snow College this weekend teaching courses on memoir writing as well as book marketing and publicity. If you're in the area, admission to the conference is free so you're welcome to learn what you can from all the writers that will be there. You can find the full schedule for the conference, registration information, and other details here. A full list of authors that will be attending can be found here. Hope to see some of you there!

UVU Book Academy Conference

I'll be presenting a workshop on writing Powerful Non-fiction at the Utah Valley University Book Academy, October 6, 2011. The workshop will focus on writing memoirs and how to write ordinary moments in such a way that they convey meaning and turn them into thought-provoking stories.

There'll also be other great writers including Sarah M. Eden, Gregg Luke, Elana Johnson, and Dan Wells.

More information on the conference, including registration information, can be found here.

Weekend Photograph: Write Here in Ephraim

OK, it's not techincally the weekend, but I might as well post a couple of photos from the Write Here in Ephraim writing conference. I had a great time teaching my memoir writing workshop as well as hanging out with a bunch of author friends and talking to many potential authors.

Just some of the fun auhtors that were part of this event include (back row) Clint Johnson, Bernin Stevens, Cheri Chesley, Michael Young, Jewel Adams, Heather Justesen, Me, Rebecca Talley, Tristi Pinkston (front frow) Linda Gardner, Shirley Bahlmann, Joan Sowards, and Karen Hoover

Me in the middle of my memoir writing presentation.

A Worthwhile Writing Conference

I rarely endorse writing conferences because most of them tend to be (bad) clones of each other. They usually offer the same kind of writing classes and bring in an author or two who give the same general pep talk followed by the standard Q&A sessions. Rarely have I found them to be that helpful in my own writing efforts. One of rare exceptions is the annual Storymakers Conference. I attended last year and was blown away by the entire conference. The classes were fantastic and taught by published authors who really knew their stuff. A lot of what I learned helped me develop and polish The Third manuscript so that it was worthy of publication.

This year’s conference looks to be even better that last years. Just a few of the events include:

* A hands-on workshop with bestselling author and writing instructor Dave Wolverton. (Word on the street is that he’s taught such authors as Stephanie Meyer, Brandon Mull, and Brandon Asnderson.) I’m going to this. You won’t want to miss it. * Over 50 classes on writing and the industry from authors who really know their stuff. (Side note: I’ll be doing a presentation on creative copywriting. If you’re going to attend, come to my class!) * A chance to network with literary agents, publishers, editors, and authors. Trust me. Getting to know the right people can go a long way towards getting published. * An awesome first chapter contest with great prizes. Past winners have been asked by publishers in attendance to submit their manuscripts for consideration.

This year’s conference is April 23-24 at the Provo Marriot. You can get more details about the conference here.

Hope to see you all there!

Back from the Dead

One of the side effects of using Twitter and Facebook is that I don’t blog as much as I used to. It’s not that I don’t have anything to say on my blog. Rather, with my free time at a premium right now, I simply don’t have much time to blog and find it much more convenient write a short message on one of the social networking sites. But, since I have a few minutes, here’s an update of the last month or so of my life.

On the good side, I’ve been going over some publishing contracts that will dedicate most of my free time o to forthcoming writing projects for the next year or more. Just thinking about all the writing I’ll have to do to meet certain deadlines kind of freaks me out. I know I can do the work and meet the deadlines, but the actual thought of doing that much writing is a little intimidating.

On the down side, there’s been some instability at work. Though I still have a job, there’s a chance could be coming to an end this month. As a result I’ve been taking on some more freelance copywriting work and checking out other opportunities. If you know of anyone that’s looking for some freelance or fulltime marketing writing work, feel free to let me know.

Back to the good side: I’ve accepted an invitation to present at the largest writing conference in Utah in April. If you’re a writer and want to attend a worthwhile writing conference, I highly recommend this one. I attended last year and got a lot out of it. I’m excited to give a little back to attendees this year by presenting, attending some of the other great presentations and workshops and seeing fellow author friends again.

Finally, I’ll be making a big announcement in the next week or so. (It’s really cool!) If you want to be one of the first to learn about it, subscribe to my email list if you aren’t on it already.

Stay tuned.