Betty Plevney has an MBA from Ohio State University and an MA in Writing From the University of San Francisco. She travels the globe meeting with clients, who range from Fortune 500 corporations to governmental agencies and family foundations. What exactly does she do? Betty is a professionally trained and highly sought-after graphic facilitator. Using skills in deep listening, information synthesis, and intuitive visual processing, she creates visual maps that illuminate the collective wisdom of the group and foster understanding of complex data. In short, Betty is a professional doodler. And she’ll be doodling for all to see at the James River Writers Conference.More
Annual Conference
Pitching in the Big Leagues
Being ready with a pitch—a concise, compelling description of your book—is especially important at writing conferences because you will have opportunities, either spontaneous or scheduled, to talk about your book with publishing professionals. These opportunities might be casual; in fact, the best opportunities are always the organic ones. An editor might be sitting at your lunch table, or perhaps you meet an author who asks about your current project. Other opportunities are more formal, such as scheduled consultations. You might have a chance to pitch in a one-on-one appointment with a literary agent or editor, in a small-group setting, or in a large pitch contest.
At the James River Writers Conference, our pitch contest is called “Pitchapalooza.” It’s run by The Book Doctors, David Henry Sterry and Arielle Eckstut, who do Pitchapalooza events all over the country.
Whatever the circumstances of your pitching moment, preparation empowers you to shine.More
New at the 2014 James River Writers Conference: Critiques!
One of the unique aspects of the James River Writers Conference is that it has something for everyone. No matter what the next step in your writing journey may be, you will find something helpful at the conference. Our job is to help you meet your writing goals. With this in mind, we’ve added a new opportunity to the conference this year: critiques.
Over the years, people have told us how much they love the chance to meet one-on-one with an agent or editor. Unlike other conferences, this meeting is offered to conference goers without any extra fee. The one-on-one appointments are designed to give writers an opportunity to pitch their latest manuscript to a publishing professional. However, we also know that some writers are not quite ready to pitch; they would rather work on their craft a bit more. That’s where critiques come in.More
Conference Fever: JRWCon 2014 Ultimate Playlist
Music makes everything better. Learning, working, socializing, healing—everything goes more smoothly with the right song. Why should the James River Writers Conference be any different? We’ve put together a playlist to help you get ready for the conference and you can listen to the JRWCon 2014 playlist on Spotify here:
Track 1: Madness (Muse)
You write because you can’t not write, and we get that. Spending a weekend with people who share this peculiar sort of madness will make you feel sane again (results may vary).
Track 2: A Little Less Conversation (Elvis Presley)
Start off the weekend with our Friday hands-on Master Classes taught by top-notch writing instructors and publishing professionals. For example, if you find that your writing needs a little less conversation and a little more action, Sheri Reynolds’s class on pacing can help you with that.More