September 6-8, 2024

The Alabama Writers’ Cooperative presents this year’s conference in beautiful Orange Beach, AL!

Our focus is to nurture and engage a diverse community of Alabama writers with this year’s conference, and we’re pleased with how the backgrounds and expertise of our faculty reflect that focus.

Registration is required. Manuscript consultations and First-page critiques are available to AWC members only.

Please follow the link below to become a member or to renew your membership if you’d like to register for one of these options, before you continue to registration. Annual membership is $25.

alabamawriterscooperative.org/membership

About this year’s conference:

Prices:
– Full Conference – $175 (includes awards dinner)

– Student Discount – $150

– Saturday Workshops Only – $100

– Saturday Awards Dinner – $60

The conference will include manuscript consultations and a first-page reading at no additional charge for Full Conference attendees. AWC membership is required. These spaces are first come, first serve. Space is limited.

Manuscript Consultations:

Members may submit up to 10 pages. Each will be discussed during one-on-one sessions on Friday afternoon.
– Caleb Johnson (fiction) will accept the first 8 registrations.
– Sue Brannan Walker (poetry) will accept the first 8 registrations.
– Brooke Champagne (nonfiction) will accept the first 8 registrations.

First-page Reading:
The conference will also include a First-page Critique, where AWC members may submit the first page of their manuscript in progress to Aimee Hardy. She will read as many submissions aloud as time permits, providing comments on what’s working and what’s not, and giving general advice on what agents are looking for. This will be informative for participants to observe even if they don’t submit their first page.

 

Keynote Address:

The keynote speaker for Saturday’s Awards Dinner is JavaciaHarris Bowser.

 

AWC’s Annual Membership Meeting:

Sunday’s line up will feature the AWC annual membership meeting where AWC members will vote for next year’s board members.

 

Location:

*All workshops, open mic, awards dinner, and hotel will be located on Canal Rd. within a 4-mile stretch.

 

Friday, Saturday & Sunday workshops

Orange Beach Community Center

27235 Canal Rd.

Orange Beach, AL 36561

 

Wine Down Social & Awards Dinner

Magnolia Hall (located behind BuzzCatz Coffee & Sweets)

25689 Canal Rd Suite C

Orange Beach, AL 36561

 

Hotel:

Springhill Suites – Orange Beach at the Wharf

$145 per night – AWC group rate

www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1715202895586&key=GRP&app=resvlink

***Hotel reservations must be made on or before August 7, 2024 to receive the AWC group rate***

Conference Schedule

Friday 9/6/24:

Orange Beach Community Center

 

12:30 PM Bookstore Check-In & Networking

 

1:00 PM   Don Noble – “Confessions of a Book Critic”
2:00 PM   Matthew Layne – “The State of Alabama’s Libraries”
3:00 PM   Barbara Barcellona Smith – “Let’s Write Books! Perspectives from the Writer of Let’s Eat Snails!”
4:00 PM    Hallie Christensen and Emma Fox – “Writing Fantasy Novels for Young Readers”

 

1:00-5:00 PM Manuscript Consultations

 

5:00-5:30 PM Network & Netwine (BYOB) the Community Center has a refrigerator & ice machine

5:30-6:30 PM Open Mic

7:00 PM Bookstore Closes

 

7:00 PM (Optional) Opening Night After Party at The Galway Irish Public House – 2301 E 2nd St, Gulf Shores, AL

 

Saturday 9/7/24:

Orange Beach Community Center

 

8:30 AM Bookstore Opens & Networking

 

9:00 AM (Concurrent) Tina Mozelle Braziel and Jim Braziel – “Writing in Place”

*This workshop ONLY – will be located at Orange Beach Waterfront Park – 26425 Canal Rd

9:00 A.M (Concurrent) Don Keith – “Going Beyond Getting Ready to Start to Commence to Begin Thinking About Writing or Completing Your Novel”

10:00 AM    Sue Walker and Saundra Grace – “Publishing Your Poetry Manuscript”
11:00 AM    Aimee Hardy – “First-page Critique”
LUNCH ON YOUR OWN
1:00 PM    Melissa Carrigee and Mandy Haynes – Publishing Panel: “Queries, Proposals, and Submissions”
2:00 PM    T.K. Thorne and Debra Goldstein – “Understanding the Art of Mystery Writing”
3:00 PM    Jason McCall – “Music Writing and the EkphrasticTradition”
4:00 PM    Neal Wooten – “Make ‘Em Laugh”

 

5:30 PM Bookstore Closes

 

6:00 PM Wine Down Social – Magnolia Hall (located behind BuzzCatz Coffee & Sweets) 25689 Canal Rd Suite C

 

7:00 PM Awards Dinner – Magnolia Hall

Keynote Address: Javacia Harris Bowser – “Write With the Whole World in Your Arms: Building Writing Communities”

 

Sunday 9/8/24

Orange Beach Community Center

 

7:30 AM Bookstore Opens & Networking

 

8:00 AM    Don Keith and Neal Wooten – “Beyond the Big Five: Assessing the Publishing Landscape”
9:00 AM    Aimee Hardy – “Taking the Leap: How to Jump from Short Story- and Poetry-Writing to Novel-Writing”
10:00 AM    Mike Turner – “Strategic Management for Impactful Writing”

11:00 AM AWC Annual Membership Meeting

 

12:30 PM Bookstore Check-Out