Let's Meet This Fall

“What was I thinking?” I wondered when I took a serious look at my schedule for this fall. If I'm honest I can tell you my speaking schedule was not very well planned. 

People asked me to come to their conferences and events at different times over the last few months. Each time, I looked at the specific dates and if they were available, then I agreed to come to their event.

Here's the important step that I missed in this process. I did not look at how the dates fit into my other plans for the month or weeks around that event. My calendar has a feature of being able to look at the entire month at once. If I had looked at the month, I would have noticed the events were stacked close together.

With moving and other factors, I've not been traveling out of state to many conferences in recent weeks. That situation is about to radically change. You can see my speaking schedule (follow the link). 

This Thursday, you can catch my next teleseminar. Get Published Now Sharon Jenkins will be interviewing me. I will be answering your questions about the difference between traditional and self-publishing in this free teleseminar. Just follow the link to listen to the live webcast or dial this Phone number: (206) 402-0100 and PIN Code: 107325# As a printed reminder, you can download this PDF. This telesemminar will give you another example of my teaching.

September 21 and 22, I will be at the Southern Colorado Christian Writers Conference near Durango. I've glanced at their schedule enough to know they will keep me very active for those days.

Then I come home for a few days and the next weekend, I'm teaching at the American Christian Writers Conference in Spokane, Washington. I get the next weekend off to spend with my family.

In October and November, my schedule grows in intensity. In fact, I will be out speaking five weekends in a row.

October 11 and 12th, I will be giving a couple of keynotes at the Breathe Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I've never been to this conference so I'm excited to have this opportunity.

October 19^th and 20th, I'm at the Fall Conference of the San Diego Christian Writers Guild. It's been several years since I've been to this conference and since I moved in mid-June, I'll be able to drive to it.

October 25, 26 and 27, I'll be at Author 101 University in Las Vegas, Nevada. I'm excited to be with other members of the Morgan James team at this terrific event.

November 2^nd and 3^rd, I will be back in Phoenix for the American Christian Writers Conference.


Yes, it is a busy time of year for conferences—and I'm excited to have each opportunity. I'm already planning on getting plenty of rest and taking care of myself in terms of exercise and eating right during this intense period of activity.

Some of you may read this list of conferences and wonder why I do it. Yes, I can be productive sitting at my computer and not traveling to different conferences.

I teach because it is my way to give back to other writers. When I look back at my own writing career, I've gained insight and information from the various instructors at conferences that I've attended. These professionals have built incredible information into my life and experience. Also I've made life-long friends at these events. We exchange business cards and contact information and it's a chance for me to reconnect with old friends and make new ones.

At each of these conferences, I will have many one-on-one, face-to-face meetings with individual authors. I'll be listening as they pitch their book and I'll be asking some clarification and prodding questions about their manuscript or book proposal. Because of my role as an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing, I'm actively looking for great nonfiction and fiction books that I can champion to my publication board and help them move into the marketplace. I'm actively searching for new authors and I know I will find some of those authors on the road.

For the last few weeks, my suitcases have not received a lot of use. In fact, I've purchased new suitcases since my old ones were badly beat up on the road. 

Where will we meet this fall? I look forward to it.