A Personal Word from the Director of MCWC 2017!

MORE PERKS AT THE 2017 MCWC

A Personal Word from the Director!

Three weeks from now, the 2017 Montrose Christian Writers Conference will be under way. Besides over 40 workshops, 4 Major Morning sessions, and 3 Work-in-Progress Seminars, there are numerous “perks” planned throughout the week. Just a few of them are:

1. A Life-Changing Event: In 2001, I met Barbara Scott, who at that time was the acquisitions editor at Zonderkidz. Through that 15-minute meeting on the porch at the conference center, I received contracts to write the 8-book Keystone Stables Series, which is a best-seller (and still selling today!) You never know where your one-on-one meetings with an agent or editor might lead you. Take advantage of the opportunities at Montrose this year. (I acquired two additional contracts from other publishers at Montrose over the years as well.) Barbara will be with us again. She’s now an independent editor, but if you want the scoop on whether your manuscript is ready for publication, meet with her on the porch. She’ll give it to you straight!
2. The Budget Book Sale! Every third year or so, we have a budget book sale, when faculty and conferees donate unwanted books. We then sell dozens, if not hundreds, of wholesome books of all genres at a much-reduced price. All the proceeds go to the scholarship funds. So raid your bookshelves and bring all those dusty books you don’t want anymore. Then bring some loose change and take a bagful of “new” used books home with you!
3. Painting Class with Artist Dave Weiss: On Tuesday evening, Dave will teach a painting class. Every participant will have his/her own canvas, paints, and brushes to paint a picture that might have seemed impossible before the class started.
4. Praise and Worship Time with Conrad and Donna Krieger: Every year, the attendees rate this half hour presentation and song time every morning as the highlight of the week. Conrad and Donna are gifted musicians, who lead us in a spiritually uplifting time of worship that starts every day on a God-honoring note.
5. Writers’ Theatre on Thursday Evening: This is your time to shine. Bring a piece no longer than three minutes long and read it to an audience of your peers in a nostalgic setting with beautiful decorations by Ginny Merritt and dimmed lights with the spotlight on YOU.

So, this is just a sample of the “perks” the 2017 Montrose Christian Writers Conference will offer this year. It’s not too late to register, so go to http://www.montrosebible.org/OurEvents/tabid/113/page_550/1/eventid_550/58/Default.aspx

 and get your name on our conferee list. I’d love to meet you in a few weeks. Set your GPS to Montrose, PA, for July 16^th!

Read Full Post »

Writers, Get Your Manuscript Ready for Publication!

WRITERS, GET YOUR MANUSCRIPT READY FOR PUBLICATION!

Writers, what’s your passion? Fiction? Devotionals? Personal interest stories? Film? Poetry? Picture books? Drama? Other?

Then it’s your time to come to the Montrose Christian Writers Conference, July 16^th to the 21^st at the Montrose Bible Conference Center, Montrose, PA. You’ll have a choice of over 40 classes, work-in-progress seminars, peer critique group interaction, and private interviews with faculty members to help you get your manuscript ready for publication. Following is a list of the afternoon classes offered:

Indie Publishing vs. Royalty Publishing. What’s New? Faculty Panel Discussion

Why Drama?

Formatting before Beginning

Fiction: Character Building (Part One)

21 Ways to Overcome Writers Block

Get the Most out of the Conference

The Art of Collaborative Writing

Fiction: Character Building (Part Two)

Conducting High Profile Interviews

Blogging 101

Creating a Viable Stage Production

Shock the Clock: Time Management

Marketing for Writers Who Don’t Like to Market

Seeing Through the Eyes of a Child

Powerful Sentence Structures

Fiction: Setting and Description

Write for your Life

Prayer in the Life of a Writer

Creative Blockbusters

Making your Fiction Matter

Writing for Parenting Magazines

Blogging 102

Format and Performance Know-how

Writing Compelling Devotions

No Market for your Book? What to Do

Putting Characters in Place

PUGS Specifics for Christian Writers

Writing for Guideposts and the Guideposts Contest

Graduation Time; What’s Next?

Bible Studies that Sell

Real “Artist-Ship”

Aspects of the Editing Process

Breaking into Anthologies

Social Media 101

Sharing the Fun of Drama

Column Writer as a Platform Builder

Peace in the Literary Storm

Writing for Picture: Magazine or Picture Book for Children?

Understanding the Business of Writing for Publication

Selling Personal Experience Short Stories

What’s an Edit?

Irresistible Queries and Proposals

Proofread with Excellence

Writing the Profile Piece

Please check out all th details at

http://www.montrosebible.org/OurEvents/tabid/113/page_550/1/eventid_550/58/Default.aspx

I look forward to meeting you  July 16^th!

Marsha, Director

Read Full Post »

The Evening Sessions and Perks at this Year’s Montrose Chr. Writers Conference are Dynamite!

The Evening Sessions and Perks at this Year’s MCWC

Learning to write well and how to get that manuscript published is just the start of the terrific week planned for the 2017 Montrose Christian Writers Conference from Sunday, July 16th to Friday, July 21st. Besides a keynote address by Torry Martin on Sunday evening, four morning challenges, and over 40 workshops, there are numerous evening activities and perks to keep every writer’s mind churning with new ideas:

EVENING EVENTS

MONDAY: TORRY’S POTPOURRI – an organic event that will leave you talking. Whether that’s good or bad is yet to be determined.

TUESDAY: MASTER-piece PAINT NIGHT or TORRY’S MOVIE or FREE TIME –

Painting: a fun activity simplified so anyone can do it. Cost for the event is $20. (Dave Weiss) or A Night at the Movies: view one of Torry Martin’s latest films, “Heaven Bound.”

WEDNESDAY: PICTURES OF JESUS – Dave Weiss will present “Pictures of Jesus,” a program including storytelling, video, and five live paintings each painted in six minutes or less.

THURSDAY: WRITERS’ THEATER: another opportunity for you to shine! Bring your own work, an excerpt from a short story, memoir, novel, or a poem and trimmed to three minutes and read it to the conferees at the Writers’ Theater, a delightful program that celebrates your creativity.

SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES

EDITORIAL APPOINTMENTS: Private 15-minute appointments with editors and agents to show them material which may be suitable for their publications and/or to discuss ideas for stories. Sign-up sheets available at the conference. Bring professionally prepared manuscripts. Be sure to bring copies! No charge.

PROFESSIONAL CRITIQUES: a great opportunity to have your work evaluated by a published professional. You’ll receive a written evaluation of your manuscript plus a 30-minute private appointment to discuss ways to improve and/or market your piece.

Register for MCWC by June 27 and request guidelines for emailing your manuscript. $40.00 per critique.

• Vie Herlocker–Christian living, devotionals, memoirs, fiction – any except romance (max. 6 )
• Gloria Penwell – Bible studies (max. 4)
• Patti Souder – Drama sketches, monologues, 10-minute plays. (Max. 6)
• Mike Dellosso – suspense/mystery, spec fic., contemporary, and memoir. No romance, historical, or Amish. (max. 6)
• B.J. Taylor – Inspirational short stories for Guideposts/Angels on Earth/Mysterious Ways/Chicken Soup for the Soul; Memoirs (max. 6)
• Diane Stark – Creative nonfiction, essays, parenting articles, 1^st person pieces for anthologies (max. 5)

MORNING WORK-IN-PROGRESS: Picture books with Carol Wedeven: $40 (4 sessions) OR a Teen Track with Cathy Mayfield: $25 (4 sessions)

AFTERNOON WORK-IN-PROGRESS: Poetry with Lora Zill: $25 (3 sessions)

CRITIQUE GROUPS and GENRES of INTEREST GROUPS: Opportunity for feedback from other writers. No charge. Held from Monday to Thursday at 4:30

BOOK TABLE: Features books by faculty and conferees. When registering, please indicate books you’ve written which you would like to sell.

BUDGET BOOK SALE AGAIN THIS YEAR! Too many books on your shelves? Bring them with you and donate them to our Budget Book Sale. Looking for some good books at budget prices? Check out this special sale. All proceeds go to the General Scholarship Fund.

FREEBIES: Complimentary publishers’ guidelines and sample copies to save you time and postage.

RECORDINGS: Listen to the sessions you missed or those you want to hear again (Easily loaded into your computer). 

SCHOLARSHIPS:

Shirley Brinkerhoff Memorial Scholarship – $100 grant for tuition: Awarded to a writer actively striving to hone the craft of writing who has not yet secured a publishing contract. Applications are available at montrosebible.org/writers.htm.

General Scholarship help is available according to need. Please inquire when registering.

*******************************************************************************

Don’t wait any longer to register. The classes are filling up fast! (Check out all the details at http://www.montrosebible.org/OurEvents/tabid/113/page_550/1/eventid_550/58/Default.aspx )

Marsha, Director

Read Full Post »