Our 50th Willamette Writers Conference was a success!
What an amazing conference!
Our 50th annual conference (50!!!) was a BLAST! Three full days of classes, workshops, keynotes, critiques, and events. We met New York Times Bestsellers, pitched our books to agents, and learned from screenwriters and poets.
We made new friends over breakfast, and sat down with colleagues at lunch. And that's not all! We learned from masters of the craft, including Larry Brooks, Hallie Ephron, Kate Elliott, DongWon Song, Donald Maass and more!
It was quite the celebration!
Now we've sent our office staff away to work on their own writing. We're giving them rest and rejuvenation so they are ready to kick off our next year of programming, starting September 1st!
You'll meet Oregon Book Award winner Leni Zumas, talk contracts in Salem, and find your community in Vancouver. There is so much to do at your chapter meetings in September!
Plus, don't forget -- our 51st annual conference will be July 31 - August 2, 2020! Put the date in your calendar, then get back to your own words. We'll see you in September!
Member News
Writers self-help group: book sales
Member News: This Particular Happiness by Jackie Shannon Hollis
This Particular Happiness explores our most intimate conflicts and desires—about relationships, parenthood, and what makes life meaningful. Raised in rural Oregon in the 1960s, Jackie Shannon Hollis grew up playing “house” with baby dolls, riding horses, and tending to kittens and lambs on her family’s ranch. Other than her Aunt Lena, all of the women…
Member News: WW Member is featured author at the Fall Festival of the Arts!
Willamette Writers member Franklin Posner will be one of the featured authors at the Fall Festival of the Arts in Troutdale, Oregon, from Saturday, September 21st to Sunday, September 22nd. The Fall Festival of the Arts is sponsored by the West Columbia Gorge Chamber of Commerce and is a celebration of the thriving arts community…
Member News: Literary Seminar on Capitalism and Consumerism
Do you miss college English classes? Do you wish you were in a book club? Are you interested in examining and discussing how capitalism and consumerism operate in our society? If you said yes to the above, check out this literary seminar offered through Literary Arts. For six weeks we will be delving into themes…
Member News: Sparks by Maren Anderson
Member News: Cooper’s Loot by Rick E. George
Rick E. George’s historical thriller, Cooper’s Loot, was published this month by The Wild Rose Press. Set in 1972, Cooper’s Loot portrays a young reporter seeking professional respect in an era when female journalists were often relegated to the Women’s Pages. She joins an odd group of characters searching for the buried loot of the…
Member News: Coaching with Suzy Vitello
Do you have a project you want to bring to the finish line? Just pushing through a first draft? Need some coaching with a seasoned editorial pro? Suzy Vitello is offering 2 10-wk workshops beginning early Oct. where you’ll have the opportunity to engage your writing muscle in targeted and constructive discussion of participants’ work…
Member News: Hotel San Blas by Stephen John Walker
This is a story about a primitive three-room hotel resting atop a coral island on the north coast of Panama—no electricity, no running water, no telephone, and guests must bring their own food. Everyone who comes to the hotel has life-changing experiences including Dr. Roger Feldman. At the height of the war in Vietnam, Feldman’s…
Cooper’s Loot by Rick E. George
It’s 1972, but the Neanderthal editors of Bev Wikowski’s newspaper don’t have a clue. They’ve assigned her to the Women’s Pages. They put her desk near the door so she can greet newsroom visitors. It’s a wonder they haven’t asked her to make coffee. So when Bev receives an offer to help find the buried…
Author Event in McMinnville
McMinnville Center for the Arts (MECA) is inviting Romance writers to attend “An Evening with Oregon Writers” for Romance Awareness month on Saturday, August 10, 2019 from 6:00pm – 8:00pm. This is a wonderful opportunity to display and sell your books, meet other authors and artists, and enjoy an evening surrounded by beautiful art. If…
Join a Meeting or a Workshop Near You
All Writers Welcome! Members & Full-Time Students Attend for Free!
Newport: Maren Bradley Anderson
Vancouver: How to Make Self-publishing Work for You with Carolyn L. Dean
Eugene: Using Video to Connect with Your Audience with Joanna Bartlett
Corvallis: Brenna Crotty
YWW Portland: Emily Suvada
Corvallis: Poetry of Place, and Handling Submissions with John Sibley Williams
On Writing from Willamette Writers
Ten Words To Keep In Mind For A Writer’s Conference
by Chip MacGregor As you begin preparing for this year’s Willamette Writers Conference, I’d like to suggest you keep ten words in mind… • READ. Don’t just show up and wonder who the speakers are. Read the blog of the…
Screenwriting Tips
Willamette Writers encourages writers of all genres to enter the FiLMLaB Competition–even those who have never written a screenplay before. Screenwriting has generally accepted conventions and guidelines. Below are some valuable resources as well as links and screenwriting tips to make…
What Can You Learn From Oscar Shorts?
by Ruth Witteried It is not easy to find the Oscar Nominated Shorts on Comcast Pay Per View. I found them once, then they seemed to disappear from cable and the internet. In fact, they had been pulled from the…
Script to Screen Tips and Trips
by Ruth Witteried As the Willamette Writers kick off their second Script to Screen short screenplay competition, several writers have requested tips for creating successful entries, or at the very least that we share the ‘trips’ of previous submissions; the…
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The Willamette Writers Conference
2019 Willamette Writers Conference Pitch Professionals We are proud to announce the industry professionals accepting pitches this year at our 50th annual Willamette Writers Conference. You will find a list of all our current industry professionals here. We are welcoming a fantastic group of agents, editors, manager, and producers, and the list will continue to…
Julie Whipple Book Signing at Powells
Julie Whipple will be reading and signing copies of her new book, Crash Course Join Julie Whipple at Powell’s downtown flagship store on West Burnside on Monday, August 20 at 7:30 (http://www.powells.com/book/-9780692070406#product_details) and award-winning audiobook narrator Heather Henderson for a special performance of excerpts from the book. Long-time Portland residents vividly recall the crash of…
HOW TO WIN THE SUBMISSION WAITING GAME
We’re excited that Erick Mertz is a member of the faculty at the upcoming Willamette Writers Conference. Erick is a Portland-based ghostwriter and fiction/memoir manuscript consultant. Over the last five years as a full-time freelancer he has written manuscripts for a variety of clients. In a blog he posted this past December, he shares advice…
The 7 Things Writers Need to Make a Living by Sonia Simone
Written by SONIA SIMONE Reprinted with permission from Copyblogger. If you’re a writer, you might have heard this most of your life: People don’t make a living writing. You should find something practical to do with your life. Smart, capable writers grimly pass around war stories on Facebook. Penny-a-word assignments, clients who don’t pay, disdain for our…
Open Mic Night at the Willamette Writers Conference
Open Mic night started at the Willamette Writers Conference in 2013, when I mentioned to the conference chair that I attended a really fun Open Mic Night at another writing conference. This launched us into a talk about how we could make one for Willamette Writers and how we could make it even better than…
What’s New at the Willamette Writers Conference
Welcome to our 2018 Conference! This year, our theme for The Best Three Days in Writing is “Celebrating Diverse Voices in Writing.” The whole team is really looking forward to what we’ve got in store for you all this August 3rd -5th. As you know, the conference has grown and changed much over its 49-year…
Experiences at The Willamette Writers Conference
“A writers conference can be an empowering and uplifting experience,” according to Scott Myers, a producer, writer, and assistant director. Myers presented at the Willamette Writers Conference this year, and said it was a “special experience.” He explains on his website about his conference experience that he met so many writers and old friends, and his classes were packed. His…
Writing Through the Tough Times by Julie Fast
New Conference Opportunity for Members: Sell Your Books at the Consignment Booth
Thanks for checking out this opportunity. We are finalizing the details and should have them for you this week. In the meantime, please let us know you’re interested by completing the short form below or via this link (same form, use whatever works better for you). We will let you know when we have more…
New Opportunity at Conference: Author Headshots
For the first time ever, the 2017 Willamette Writers Conference will have a professional photographer at the conference to take author headshots. A limited number of slots will be offered Friday and Saturday afternoon, so book your slot before they are all taken. Why Do Author’s Need Headshots? Last year’s conference keynote speaker Jane Friedman…
Our News
FiLMLaBtv 2019 Writer’s Room The 2019 winning script is “Stripes,” written by Alexandra Keister. Keister, an executive assistant and screenwriter, has written two feature-length screenplays, both romantic comedies, and a handful of short screenplays that range from dark sci-fi to the classically uplifting my-dog-is-dead story. She graduated from Oregon State University in 2012 with a BA…
Willamette Writers Authors Sign Books at The Portland Book Festival
by Ari Mathae Willamette Writers, the Portland literary community, and book lovers near and far will meet again Saturday 10, 2018, for the largest celebration of books in the Pacific Northwest: The Portland Book Festival. The event starts at 9 A.M. at the Portland Art Museum and continues there and at other neighboring venues in the…
Member News: Mary Andonian & David Poulshock launch ISA Third Thursdays
Mary Andonian & David Poulshock launch ISA Third Thursdays Members Mary and David are launching the local chapter of the International Screenwriters Association(ISA). It’s a monthly mixer for screenwriters on Third Thursdays, where you can mingle with fellow screenwriters, meet film and television industry professionals, and win door prizes — including a free Willamette Writer’s…
How To Happily Write A Query Letter
We’re excited that Bill Kenower is a member of the faculty at the upcoming Willamette Writers Conference. Bill is the author of Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence and Write Within Yourself: An Author’s Companion. In a blog he posted this past June, he shares his perspective on how he learned…
HOW TO WIN THE SUBMISSION WAITING GAME
We’re excited that Erick Mertz is a member of the faculty at the upcoming Willamette Writers Conference. Erick is a Portland-based ghostwriter and fiction/memoir manuscript consultant. Over the last five years as a full-time freelancer he has written manuscripts for a variety of clients. In a blog he posted this past December, he shares advice…
Attend FiLMLaB.tv workshops and get all the value without even attending!
Attend FiLMLaB.tv workshops and get all the value without even attending! Well, not really. Eventually you’ll have to “attend.” But thanks to space-age technology, Willamette Writers is presenting two valuable workshops online that you will be able to access 24/7 AND multiple times right up until the conference. That means that even if you’re not…
Ten Tips for Writing an Effective Pitch
By Alyssa Schaffer and Joanna Szabo Pitching your manuscript can be one of the more intimidating aspects of the writing process, so we’ve collected a few essential tips to help you prepare your next pitch. Start with a hook. This should be one or two lines covering the most exciting thing about your book. However,…
Willamette Writers is Sponsoring Write to Publish
We are delighted to contribute to this year’s Write to Publish conference with Ooligan Press to help writers, agents, and publishers alike get more familiar the ins and outs of the industry! What: A one-day conference demystifying the publishing industry When: April 21, 2018 9:00 am – 6:00 pm Where: George C. Hoffmann Hall 1833…
Randall Jahnson and FiLMLaB Screenwriting Workshop
Screenwriting Workshop Willamette Writers and FiLMLaB invite you to join us for an online screenwriting workshop with Randall Jahnson. Details Date: Saturday, April 21st Time: 12-2PM Cost: Free Open to the public This is an online workshop Click here to register. About Randall Jahnson Randall Jahnson has written more than 20 feature-length screenplays. Not all…
Help Support Young Writers
What a wonderful year. We started out with our chapter meetings across the state, joined together at our annual conference, and finished the year with a closer — and much larger — community of support and friendship. Every day, Willamette Writers members are developing their craft and expanding their careers. Today, we ask you to…