Career GPS: 2009 Writers Conference Details
by Sherry Beck Paprocki

Your career is the highest priority as we set about planning the annual ASJA Writers Conference scheduled for April 24-26 at the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan.

The media is evolving. That fact has been upfront and foremost in our planning. During this time of economic uncertainty and growing interest in digital advertising (as opposed to print), our publishing options are changing. Newspapers are trimming their staffs, a majority of glossy magazines are shrinking in page numbers, and book contracts are continually hard to come by. So this year you can't afford to miss the conference. We'll discuss guerrilla marketing for writers, talk about the latest e-writing jobs, and expose some hot niche markets.

Not only do we plan to help you enhance your writing skills, we'll show you how to make more money and have fun doing it. That's one reason why we've invited author Molly O'Neill to keynote Saturday's luncheon. Molly is a writer who knows how to have fun. She started her career writing about food and other features for The New York Times and she wined and dined her way down Park Avenue to eventually create the award-winning New York Cookbook in 1992. Her most recent book, Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food and Baseball, came out in 2006 and was released in paperback last year. (O'Neill's brother, Paul, was a star right-fielder for the New York Yankees.)

But beyond Molly and a few good meals that the Roosevelt plans for us, we hope to enlighten you about markets and marketing skills that will help you bond with editors and grow your business. Some conference highlights:

Members Day on Friday, April 24, includes these highlights:

• Awards Breakfast – Join us bright and early for this kick-off event

• Hot, Hot Topics – Outlets for health, business, and environmental articles

• Passion Writing – Tips about reviving your passion for the writer's art

• Social Networking – Can blogs, podcasts, and Twitter enhance your career?

• The Long Research Project – Skills and tricks of the trade

• Personal Pitch – Dozens of editors, agents, and others consider your work

• Inside the Magazine – Get details from four top editors

• Magazine Scoop – Custom publishers give the inside scoop

Sessions on Saturday, April 25, are designed to draw in beginners, as well as motivate those who are advanced in their careers. Some topics that ASJA members should not miss:

• Guerrilla Marketing for Writers – Techniques you've never tried before

• Covering Culture – Markets for articles about art, music and pop culture

• Make Big Bucks - Ghost-writing books and more

• Free Money - Getting grants and fellowships

• Digital Direct - Blog optimization, Podcast creation, website enhancement, and more

Because we know that connecting with other writers is also good for our careers, we plan to offer the following social opportunities:

• Friday evening cocktail hour for meeting old friends and making new ones

• Friday casual discussion tables during Personal Pitch

• Saturday keynote luncheon with author Molly O'Neill

• Saturday evening's speed networking cocktail party

• Saturday evening "New York Nights" (dinners at local restaurants)

• Saturday mentoring sessions

• Idea Marketplace

Sessions on Sunday, April 26, are an add-on that you'll want to carefully consider. All are well worth the $75 you'll pay to attend. Sree Sreenivasan, director of new media for the Columbia University journalism school, will return with an all-new list of tech updates. ASJA member Anne Stuart will moderate.

In addition, notable ASJA members Sandra Gurvis and Erica Manfred will be joined by writer Kate Walter to provide an essay-style workshop called Essays and More: Turning Your Personal Experiences into Saleable Copy. They will offer critiques and will show how to craft life experiences into pieces that sell. Participants are invited to contribute a short (1000 word) essay totaling no more than five double-spaced manuscript pages for critique. Check out the Sunday program details at www.asja.org for submission information.

Sandra Lamb will offer an updated version of her popular session Make Your Next Book a Really Big Deal. First, top agent panelists will tell you about topics that are getting the best publishing deals. An in-depth question and answer segment will follow. A final roundtable discussion segment will include agents critiquing your pre-submitted book proposals—the first five pages. For submission instructions, see the Sunday program details on ASJA's website.

Finally, a session called Reinventing Your (Writing) Career is planned. Do you crave focusing on a specific niche? Do you desire to change your writing business? As co-author of the coming book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Branding Yourself (Penguin, 2009), I will lead this workshop. Learn how top marketers create an emotional bond as they build big brands. Then, follow their lessons and make yourself invaluable to your target audience—not your readers, but the editors, agents, and others who hire you.

For additional information regarding the conference, go to www.asja.org/wc/2009
Sherry Beck Paprocki is a co-chair with Sally Stich for ASJA's annual conference in April.