Running workshops at writers’ conferences can boost your writing business. Simon Whaley chats to two writers about their experiences

With the writing conference season approaching, many writers are packing their bags and looking forward to a workshop-packed break and a chance to meet up with old friends. Whether it be the Writers’ Summer School (Swanwick), the Romantic Novelists’

Association Annual Conference, or the National Association of Writers and Groups weekend NAWGFest, to name a few, there are a lot of workshops, talks, and lectures that need delivering.

Organising these annual gatherings is often a year-long process, with many associations planning next year’s event as soon as this year’s is over. That’s if they haven’t started already. So if you’ve thought about pitching an idea for a workshop, talk, or lecture, now’s the time to take action. Pitching to writing conferences can give your writing business a boost in many ways.

Business benefits

These events are a networking nirvana. You’ll make lots of new friends and can connect with editors, agents, publishers, and other writing businesses. For me, tutoring at conferences has led to magazine commissions and given opportunities to approach people for interviews, as well as led to additional workshop bookings.

Not only that, but conferences pay for your workshops. Some pay you for your time and include accommodation or, alternatively, discount your conference stay if you were going there, anyway. Most conferences allow tutors and facilitators to take books to sell, too, further boosting income opportunities. Being a tutor or speaker raises your profile. It brings you to the attention of those who may not have come across your work before, and so even if it doesn’t lead to a direct sales boost at the event, you may notice an uptick in sales elsewhere. But it’s not just physical books you can sell. After one lecture I gave at a conference, there was a noticeable overnight spike in ebook sales for the book I’d been talking about.