Why Pikes Peak Writers Conference?

Published March 21, 2023

By Jenny Kate, Director

Pikes Peak Writers marked their first conference 30 years ago. Yep, we’re turning 30 in April! At this conference, we’ll actually have an attendee who has attended every single conference since that first one. We’ll also have several PPW members who were around to help stand up that conference. I personally will mark twelve years since my first Pikes Peak Writers Conference. I haven’t lived in Colorado since 2013. That should tell you something.

People keep coming back for a reason. For me, it has been a rock for me to stay connected to some very talented, creative artists and to stay motivated in my own writing.

Are you on the fence?

Three good reasons for joining us April 27-30:

In 30 years, we keep adapting to the ever-changing publishing world.

This year, we are offering tracks on publishing indie or traditional. You can pitch to an agent or editor, and you can talk to publicists like me who help authors from both paths of publishing.

• Keynote Dave Chesson will tell you all about how to sell books on Amazon and Draft2Digital Founder Mark LeFebvre is back and will talk about how to publish your own books.
• Keynote and bestsellers Robert Crais and Barbara O’Neal will talk about their paths to traditional publishing, and we host a panel of agents and another with editors to give you all you need to be successful on the traditional path.
• Featured Author and indie bestseller Siera London will tell you all about her indie success

Our conference is still considered one of the friendliest conferences around.

We keep comingback because it’s a welcoming environment for all genres, all publishing paths, all authors — in any stage of their careers.

• You’ll have the opportunity to mix and mingle with faculty and staff. Our faculty host a table at every meal and you can join them.
• Barcon Saturday night is another opportunity to meet amazing writers and industry professionals.
• New this year is Zeb’s Lounge. Unwind in comfy chairs, recharge your batteries, or sit at the library table and write a little bit. We’re also offering the opportunity to go more in-depth with some of our faculty in Zeb’s a couple of times a day.

We have workshops for every author in any stage of their careers.

• For advanced authors, let’s look at the muddy middle or unsympathetic characters, twists and turns in your character arc, or start your plot in media res.
• For our beginners, learn plotting, character development, and what exactly genre fiction is.
• For those currently selling books, how much do you know about tax law and marketing with keywords, email, and ads? We’ll teach you.

If you have only one day, we’ve got something for you too.

Thursday’s Prequel session is held on April 26 with two 90-minute sessions in the morning and two more
after lunch.

From a set of workshops aimed at intermediate and advanced authors on memoir, planning, plotting,
research, and dialogue to another set of workshops aimed to help give aspiring authors everything they
need to create a novel,

Thursday’s session has a day of activities for every level of author.

If you need more convincing, Writers Digest called us one of the Top 10 Regional conferences in the
United States. And, what could be more fun than our theme: Wordstock 23: Three days of Peace, Love,
and Writing?

Come explore your inner author with us!

Check out all the details at https://conference.pikespeakwriters.org or feel free to email me anytime
with questions at conference@pikespeakwriters.com

I can’t wait to see you there!