From Edie: Susan U. Neal helps writers discover what to do after a writers conference with seven essential follow-up steps to build connections, pursue opportunities, and move your writing career forward.
What to Do After a Writers Conference: 7 Essential Follow-Up Steps for Writers
by Susan U. Neal @SusanNealYoga
The Conference Is Over...Now What?
Have you attended a Christian writers conference this year? If so, you've invested a significant amount of time, money, and effort into growing your writing career. But once the conference ends, the real work begins.
Did you follow up on the opportunities God placed in front of you? If not, you may be missing some of the greatest benefits of attending. It's been estimated that as many as 80 percent of writers who are asked by an editor, agent, or publisher to submit additional material after a writers conference never follow through. Don’t be part of that statistic.
Here are seven important post-conference steps every writer should take.
1. Submit the Proposal You Promised
Did a publisher or literary agent invite you to send a book proposal? If so, don't let that opportunity slip away. Contrary to what many writers think, you don't have to submit it within a week or a month. Most editors expect proposals to arrive within a year after the conference. Take the time to polish your proposal, have your Christian writers group (Word-Weavers.com) review it, and submit your best work as you pray over your submission. (When you email your proposal, include the conference initials in the subject line. That reminder helps the editor remember where you met.)
2. Connect on Social Media
Have you connected with the conferees you met? Pull out the business cards you collected and follow those writers, editors, publishers, and faculty members on social media. Many include links to their social media accounts on their websites.
These relationships help you build your platform while staying connected to people who understand your writing journey. This is how I increased my social media numbers, and these are the people who cheer me on with each new publication and award.
Therefore, at future conferences, make it a goal to collect business cards from everyone you meet. I stuff my cards inside my name tag and store the new contacts there until I get back to my room.
3. Complete Your Conference To-Do List
Every conference is filled with ideas, resources, and action items. If I don’t write them down when I am at the conference, those awesome ideas slip away. So before I arrive at a conference, I create a note on my smartphone titled "To-Do After [Conference Name]." Throughout the conference, I add every follow-up task to that list. It may take me several months to complete everything, but at least I’ve captured those thoughts on paper. If you didn't create a dedicated list, go back through your conference notes and highlight every action item you wrote down and add them to your to-do list.
4. Evaluate the Conference
Take time to honestly evaluate your experience. Ask yourself questions like:
- Was the travel distance and expense reasonable?
- Was the conference worth the cost?
- Did you make valuable connections?
- Were there good opportunities to pitch your book or magazine article?
- Did the classes help you grow as a writer?
Your answers will help you determine whether to attend the same conference again or try a different one next year. Every conference has its own strengths. Some are small and intimate like the Blue Lake Christian Writers Conference, while others provide larger networking opportunities like the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. Choose the conference that best fits your goals.
5. Consider Serving on Staff
If you loved the conference, consider becoming part of the team. Many conference directors look for dependable volunteers because there are countless moving parts behind the scenes. Serving on staff is an excellent way to build relationships while giving back to a conference that has invested in you. So email the conference director and ask if you could serve as a staff member in the future.
6. Explore Teaching Opportunities
Have you ever considered teaching at a writers conference? If yes. begin preparing now. Develop at least three workshop topics, polish your professional bio, and update your headshot. Many conferences appreciate instructors who can teach multiple subjects.
A month or two after the conference ends, contact the conference director to express your interest. Many directors select faculty six to ten months before the conference, so planning ahead is essential. The Florida Christian Writers Conference and the Blue Lake Christian Writers Conference offer first-time faculty the opportunity to teach, but you would need to pay for your conference registration.
7. Pray Over Every Opportunity
Place your writing career in God's hands. Pray for the editors, agents, publishers, and writers you met, and send them thank you cards as well. Ask God to bless the relationships He established and to open the doors He wants you to walk through. Thank Him for every opportunity, trusting Him with the results. The conference may be over, but God is still at work.
As you review these seven steps, identify which ones belong on your to-do list. Following through after a conference often determines whether the experience becomes a pleasant memory—or a significant turning point in your writing ministry.
What Christian writers conference encouraged you the most this year, and what was your biggest takeaway?
TWEETABLE
No comments:
Post a Comment