Another Successful Writers’ Conference at OU

Eighth Annual Conference

Rochester Writers hosted its eighth annual event at Oakland University on Saturday. Nearly ninety people were in attendance taking up several rooms in the Oakland Center on campus. The all-day event began in 2008 as a way to bring authors and writers together for networking and professional development.

The Presentations

As usual, the conference had several workshops, lectures, and discussions going on simultaneously for attendees to select presentations that best fit their needs.

Lectures included Submitting Poetry for Publication, I Have a Website – Now What, Personal Branding for Writers, and Children’s Book Publishing. For a more interactive session, attendees could participate in a workshop. Those included Speaking Skills for Writers, Writing Flash Fiction, and Memoir Writing. The Publishing Panel discussion was popular and included speakers from Michigan, Kentucky, and Indiana.

Something New

For the first time, the Rochester Writers’ Conference asked a local representative to make the opening remarks to start the event. Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett welcomed attendees to the area and to Oakland University. Mayor Barnett graduated from OU in 1998 with a degree in Marketing. Event Organizer, Michael Dwyer, hopes to rotate different local representatives in the years to come to offer opening statements.

Mayor Barnett spoke for ten minutes. His comments included lessons learned from the power of social media and some of the recent achievements about Rochester Hills.

Also new this year, was a partnership with Springfed Arts, a local membership organization for poets and songwriters. Springfed members could attend the conference at a discounted rate.

Other sponsors included Shurms Candy, Detroit Working Writers, and Rochester Media.

The Story Within

Keynoting the event was Michigan Author Bonnie Jo Campbell. Following Your Obsession to the Story Within: What my mother taught me about writing was presented in the keynote address. Bonnie Jo has a new book out titled Mothers, Tell Your Daughters. Attendees lined-up to get signed copies of her books. Bonnie was personable and conversational, offering attendees a quality meeting time. The busy author is scheduled for nearly 40 appearances until the end of the year.

Coming Up

Rochester Writers’ has a new writing contest beginning November 1—four categories, cash prizes, and a low entry fee of $15—with a February 29 deadline to enter.

They also set dates for their events next year. Their spring writers’ conference, which always a focused topic, will be Saturday, April 23, 2016. In addition, their fall event, the annual general writers’ conference, will be Saturday, October 8, 2016.

More information is available at www.RochesterWriters.com