From Edie: Beth Fortune shares insight on how to network at writing conferences by building meaningful relationships, connecting with other writers, and creating lasting friendships that support your writing journey. Bet sure to check out Beth's newest book, link at the bottom of this post!
Networking for Writers: How to Build Meaningful Relationships at Writing Conferences
By Beth Fortune @BethKFortune
I stumbled into writing. I’d been a speaker and Bible teacher, and it wasn’t until a speaker came to an event at my church that I realized there was a big world of writing that I’d yet to discover. Before the event I went to the speaker’s website where I saw the tabs—ABOUT ME, SPEAKING, CONTACT ME, WRITER’S DEN. Curious to know more about this person I clicked open WRITER’S DEN and a new world opened to me.
My heart leaped and an excitement came over me. “Lord,” I asked, “Is this what’s next for me?”
After sharing with the speaker my excitement, she invited me to a writer’s retreat. I accepted, attended, and fell further into the new world in which God was calling me.
The Invitation
Has someone invited you? Have you felt a nudge from the Lord? Consider it. Retreats, conferences, writing groups, and writing events are important to every writer. This is not a journey you want travel by yourself.
Have I talked you into going for the first time? Are you getting excited about signing up and attending again? I hope so, but that’s just the first step.
Once you get to a conference, you need to make a point to network and meet other writers.
Networking isn’t collecting business cards, it’s forming relationships.
The Relationships
1. Be intentional about where you sit.
Don’t always look for a familiar face but sit by someone you have yet to meet. Introduce yourself and smile. It’s easy to forget to smile when you’re nervous. Ask “What do you write?” “Where are you from?” The conversation will begin. Ask about the other person first. Don’t begin telling them about what you write and all about your calling and experiences. Let them ask you. Build the relationship. If you share business cards, great. But the friendship will be more important.
2. Use the “between spaces” to meet new people.
- Waiting in the check-in line
- Standing in meal lines
- Sitting at tables to eat
- Standing in coffee lines
- Walking between workshops
- Waiting for appointments
- Sitting in the lobby or common areas.
These are perfect times to strike up a conversation. Listen. Smile.
3. Learn to connect people together.
Introduce people you meet to each other. Or introduce people you know to people you’ve just met. Share what you know and who you know. If you write non-fiction and you are standing in line with someone who writes historical fiction, think of another historical fiction writer you know or have met and connect them. The bonds you form by helping others will benefit all those involved.
Connecting and networking may lead you to a stack of business cards and contacts, but more importantly will be the friendships. And some of those will be long-lasting friendships.
The Blessings
That first retreat I mentioned that I was invited to by the speaker . . . it was 2009. I went not knowing anyone and felt like I didn’t belong. But when I got there I noticed a lady that didn’t look like a writer to me, at least the image I’d conjured in my mind from innocent ignorance. She sat in a chair as regal as a queen with her cane beside her, like she was holding court. But unlike a haughty queen, she wore a smile, and you could feel the love she had for everyone in that room. People were drawn to her.
I watched how she treated each person there and I knew I wanted to meet her. After a session I was intentional and made sure I sat beside her so I could talk to her. I used the between space to spend more time with her so I could get to know her better.
Later in the afternoon she read one of her stories. Listening to her soft raspy voice weave words about her beloved Appalachian Mountains and the people that captured her imagination I realized she was a writer—a creator of short stories that mesmerized all who sat and listened.
As I spent time with her writer conferences I saw she was the master networker, however, I never heard her ask for a business card or offer her own until asked. She made everyone she talked to feel special and she used the between spaces to meet people, ask them about themselves, and pray for them or their loved ones. It wasn’t about her, ever. I would see her introducing people to each other and wave as she walked off, cane in hand and smile on her face.
Instead of going home and looking at her business cards, she went outside and tied ribbons on a bush beside her deck representing prayer requests she collected. As the ribbons fluttered in the wind, she went straight to the throne room of her Heavenly Father and petitioned for those she had met and promised to pray.
That year I attended my first writer’s event; I received a treasured gift. Not an agent, not a publishing contract, nor an opportunity to write for a magazine. I received the gift of friendship. One that I will cherish forever because I stepped out of my comfort zone.
Networking isn’t about collecting contacts and chasing opportunities—it’s about the people God places in our paths. It’s about the conversations, the shared stories, the relationships we build, and friendship we form. And along the way we move forward together.
If you want to be blessed then be intentional, use the between spaces, and bring people together. And who knows, you may meet someone who will become a treasured friend that will not only be your critique partner, but your biggest cheerleader, confident, mentor, and prayer partner. A true friend.
Dedicated to Dee Dee Parker.
I miss you, Dee Dee. Save me a seat next to you in heaven. If you can tell wonderful stories of your beloved mountains, I can’t want to hear your soft voice tell stories of your mansion and your new home in heaven.
TWEETABLE
by Beth Fortune
Where Faith Takes Root in the Quiet Moments
In The Potting Bench, the author invites readers into a gentle, reflective devotional shaped by the rhythms of gardening, growth, and daily faith. Each entry offers space to pause, notice God's presence, and tend the soil of the heart with care and intention.
Drawing on Scripture, personal insight, and everyday moments, this devotional connects spiritual formation with the slow, faithful work of planting, pruning, and waiting. Like a well-worn potting bench, these pages hold both the mess and the beauty of a life shaped by grace.
Readers will:
- Reflect on God's work through ordinary moments
- Cultivate deeper trust through Scripture and prayer
- Nurture spiritual growth with patience and hope
Open The Potting Bench and step into a devotional journey that encourages you to slow down, dig deep, and grow closer to God-one day at a time.
As a Pastor’s wife she serves with her husband at a church in Simpsonville, SC. If she has any spare time, she can be found digging in the dirt using her Ornamental Horticulture degree or out with her Canon camera photographing gardens, landscapes, and sunrises. Connect with Beth at bethfortune.com, or on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
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