Listen to a literary legend.
Pitch your book to a publisher's rep.
Link up with a literary agent.
You can even show up dressed as Miss Havisham or Tom Wolfe.
Almost anything's possible for an aspiring author at the 21st annual Penn-writers Conference scheduled for Lancaster's Host Resort Friday through Sunday, May 16-18.
National Book Award-winning novelist
Joyce Carol Oates will be keynote speaker. Editors from HarperCollins Children's Books, Avon, Tor Books, Ace/Roc, F+W Publications will be there, along with five literary agents, all taking appointments.
Conference goers may also choose from among 30-plus workshops on various aspects of understanding the publishing business, finding a market, and polishing writing. They may also register for read-and-critique sessions in various genres.
And attendees are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite literary character or author for a masquerade party.
• Local literary light
Maria V. Snyder of Elizabethtown will lead a workshop, "World Building: It's Not Just a SciFi Thing." The Pennwriters member is the author of a four-book fantasy series from Luna, a division of Harlequin. The first book of the series, "Poison Study," received the 2006 Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel and a starred review from Publishers Weekly.
Conference coordinator Ayleen Stellhorn noted Snyder has Master of Fine Arts degree in writing popular fiction from Seton Hill University and she'll also be answering questions about MFA programs at the Answer Booth, a "writers' version of the kissing booth. A $1 donation will get you an answer to a writing question, and the money goes to PW's scholarship fund," Stellhorn explained.
Lancaster's Borders Book Shop will also have an emissary at the conference, Stellhorn said. Elizabeth Earhart, the store's merchandise supervisor and event coordinator, will be leading a workshop titled "Behind the Book Shelves: An Insider's POV," in which she will reveal how books are chosen for the shelves and disclose "top-notch selling/book-signing secrets."
• Conference tickets ($199 for members, $249 for nonmembers; or $125 and $175, respectively, for one day only) are now on sale. Tickets for only the dinner with Oates ($65 for members, $99 for nonmembers) will go on sale March 2. Special room rates are also available at the Host Resort for out-of-town attendees.
Ambitious authors can sign on for an intensive, all-day writing seminar with veteran writers that precedes the conference Thursday, May 15. "Fiction Writing With Susan Meier" and "Nonfiction Writing With Mary Jo Rulnick" will accept 15 students each, based on submissions of the first draft of a novel or a nonfiction book proposal. Submissions for this must be made with a coupon at the Web site before Feb. 2; there's an additional fee of $125 for member, $150 for nonmembers.
For details on registration, visit
www.pennwriters.org or e-mail
conferenceco1@pennwriters.org.
Pennwriters, founded in Pittsburgh in 1987, consists of 450 published and unpublished writer members in seven regions that organize critique groups and special events year round.
Jo-Ann Greene is editor of the Books section. Her email address is jgreene@lnpnews.com.
