Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Superstars Writing Seminar

This is topic Superstars Writing Seminar in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Brad R Torgersen (Member # 8211) on :

Are there any Hatrackers planning to attend this year's Superstars Writing Seminar in Salt Lake City?

Last year's was in California, and this year it's essentially the same troupe of bestsellers back to teach a 3-day class on the nitty gritty of being a professional, working fiction writer.

http://www.superstarswritingseminars.com/

- Kevin J. Anderson
- Rebecca Moesta
- Brandon Sanderson
- David Wolverton (aka: Farland)
- Sherrilyn Kenyon

I've done (obviously) the Writers of the Future workshop; the best part of which is perhaps the last two days when Kevin and Eric and others get to talk to you in one and two-hour chunks, giving you as much wisdom as they can cram into a limited amount of time. Kevin told me that Superstars is like that, but expanded to three days. No critiquing or story craft, this is an ALL BUSINESS workshop intended to prep you for the realities of the publishing world.

I signed up, and am fairly excited to see how this stacks up with my other workshop experiences from Dean W. Smith and Kris K. Rusch -- who did some excellent workshops, I must say. Kevin came out of the same crop as Dean and Kris, and I imagine a good deal of their co-wisdom came out of what Algis Budrys taught when he was instructing.

Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :

I would love to participate in such a thing. Alas, I'm stuck on a different continent in a country where writing talent is treated as a genetic degeneracy.

Edit: that last bit was sarcasm. It's still true.

[This message has been edited by MartinV (edited December 07, 2010).]

Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :

Martin, I'm guessing you're not describing Texas.

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

I don't know, philocinemas. I've lived in Texas before, and I could see where he might be describing parts of it.

Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :

Brad, and others, I attended the inaugural seminar, and it was...intense. There was huge amounts of information imparted to us, and an incredible amount of networking opportunities.
Sherrilyn Kenyon was not there, although I wish she had been--she hit the NYT Bestseller list 14 times last year! The authors were wholly approachable, and shared copious amounts of information between the seminars.

It did cover many aspects of the business, but I felt it included a little bit about "the craft," especially in regard to the discussions on collaboration.

I'd recommend it to anyone who is serious about making writing a career.

On a side note: Martin hails from Slovenia--which is hugged by Italy on the West, Hungary on the Northeast, Croatia to the Southeast, Austria to the North and the Mediterranean Sea to the South. It used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :

IB, I knew that - Martin had recently mentioned moving to Texas for a short time - I was just clarifying which illiterate country he was describing.

Edited to add:

I wish they would do this seminar on my side of the continent some day - like maybe near Charlotte, NC.

[This message has been edited by philocinemas (edited December 07, 2010).]

Posted by Osiris (Member # 9196) on :

Wish I could, neither time or finances permit. I hope they come out to New England sometime.

Posted by eyegore242 (Member # 9317) on :

hey Philo if you can hit dragoncon around labor day in ATL A.C. Crispin does a workshop there

http://www.dragoncon.org/writers_workshop.php

http://www.dragoncon.org/writers_hourly_workshop.php

its got the 2010 stuff still up but im sure they will update the info soon

plus dragoncon is just an epic experience in and of itself.

[This message has been edited by eyegore242 (edited December 07, 2010).]

Posted by Wordcaster (Member # 9183) on :

Ah, Star Wars novels- my former guilty pleasure. AC Crispin wrote my favorite- the Han Solo Trilogy. Remember it like I read it yesterday.

Any threads on other conferences? If you live in Utah, you are golden. Michigan would likely come up empty. Anything nearby? Chicago perhaps?

[This message has been edited by Wordcaster (edited December 07, 2010).]

Posted by eyegore242 (Member # 9317) on :

actually i think i did see one for around chi-town try google searching writers workshops. i could have sworn i saw one near there. and as far as Michigan goes i think one of the major cons happens there either gencon or orgins either one of those may have one.

gencon http://www.gencon.com/2010/indy/pm/events/authorsave/getliteral.aspx
thats in Indy dunno if you could make that or not.

[This message has been edited by eyegore242 (edited December 07, 2010).]

Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :

philocinemas, I live in Maine, and I attended. (It wasn't easy, because I'm poor now for a while.)

Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :

Well, I'm not in Texas. The country I was referring to is my own (Slovenia). I thought being stuck on a different continent was a sufficient hint. But judging from what is said about Texas here, I must say I'm suddenly not so glad of going there (in March).

[This message has been edited by MartinV (edited December 08, 2010).]

Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :

I went to OSC's two-day seminar last year (I couldn't talk my wife into letting me go to the $800 seminar). Seeing that I just recently started with a new/old employer and had to take another pay-cut, going to Salt Lake City for a $700 seminar wouldn't be prudent.

IB - A tatoo in Maine sounds painful (COLD!!!)
Martin - Don't worry Texas is in charge of our school textbooks, and everyone knows how great American public education is!

Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :

quote:
everyone knows how great American public education is!

Yes, we certainly do.

Posted by MAP (Member # 8631) on :

Martin,

People in the US like to make fun of Texas because it is highly conserative and many of them do like their guns.

But I have a brother in Texas and my husband lived there when he was young, and from the times I visited, I can tell you that the people there are really friendly. Probably some of the nicest people I have ever met.

You are going to have a great time there.

Posted by Brad R Torgersen (Member # 8211) on :

It should be noted that those of us in fly-over country occasionally poke fun at the liberal coast. (wink) Turnabout being fair play, and all that.

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

I lived in Texas for a couple of years, and I can second what MAP said about how nice the people are.

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

Wordcaster said,

quote:
Any threads on other conferences?

and I answer that you can find a good list at Locus Online.

It doesn't say much about Context (which is in Columbus, OH), but it's a very good convention for writing workshops.

Posted by Wordcaster (Member # 9183) on :

Thanks, Kathleen. Great link. Looks like they are spread out all over the country.

The websites aren't very informative of what to expect. Are there just panel discussions or are there seminars? Editors and authors to meet? Or is it a lot of gaming stuff and attendees dressed from middle earth? (I say in seriousness and sarcasm together)

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

The names of the conventions are links to their websites which should give you more information about each convention.

Posted by Brad R Torgersen (Member # 8211) on :

Conventions are different from symposiums are different from workshops.

Most SF & F conventions offer writing "tracks" where guest writers, sometimes editors, and even sometimes agents come to talk about (usually assigned) topics. It's a grab bag, and while there are almost always moments for questions, time is limited.

Symposiums, like our resident LTUE here in Utah, are somewhat similar to conventions, but are almost entirely writer and artist focused. No costumes. No media stuff like TV or movies. It's just writing and art, for two or three days. Panel after panel. For my money, LTUE has big value, even more than some of the bigger cons like NorwesCon.

Workshops -- Writers of the Future, the Dean Wesley Smith workshops, or Superstars Seminar with Kevin Anderson and Brandon Sanderson -- these cost the most, but also tend to have the best content. Especially face time with Names (editors as well as writers, depending on where you go) and can often include significant time for one-on-one conversation and questions. I never did these before 2009, but have done several since, and I don't think it's a coincidence I've begun selling professionally.

Posted by Wordcaster (Member # 9183) on :

Thanks, Brad.

Does anyone know any thing about ConFusion in Troy, MI? Their website was quite ambiguous regarding content and how it works. The link is from Kathleen's link above.

Posted by Osiris (Member # 9196) on :

I've been struggling to find SFF oriented conferences (symposiums) and workshops in the New England area for a while. Other than the one I found with Jeffrey Carver, I don't know of any. Does anyone know of any? The closer to MA the better.

I wouldn't mind attending conventions, but for me I'd prefer a focus on the writing.

Posted by izanobu (Member # 9314) on :

Osiris, there's Viable Paradise, which takes place in Martha's Vinyard I believe each fall. It's a week long workshop with spec fic pros teaching.

Posted by Dark Warrior (Member # 8822) on :

Wordcaster...I havent heard of it but I am in Oakland County too. My gf and I just attended David Farlands Death Camp in Utah and it was amazing. We are trying to set up a short Screenwriters workshop for him to teach here, maybe Royal Oak.

As far as New England I know David Farland had a workshop scheduled for Boston but had to cancel. He mentioned during the Death Camp that he wanted to try to reschedule that one.

Posted by Brad R Torgersen (Member # 8211) on :

Seats still available! Sign up ASAP!

THURSDAY
8:30 AM Intro, seminar overview, introduce speakers (Kevin)
9:00 Econ 201 for Writers: Economics of Commercial Publishing (Eric)
10:00 Inside Editors: How editors look at manuscripts (Dave, Kevin, Eric)
Noon Lunch
1:30 PM Myths of Publishing (Rebecca)
2:30 Agents: the ³A² word (Brandon, Eric, Dave)
3:30 ³Dirty Secrets²: Being a professional author (Kevin, Rebecca)
4:30 From Slushpile to #1 Bestseller in 4 Years (Brandon)
5:00 The Popcorn Theory of Success (Kevin)
Evening: Welcome mixer/reception

FRIDAY
8:30 AM Copyright basics (Dave, Eric)
9:00 Self-Publishing & Ebooks: Realities and Pitfalls (Eric, Rebecca)
10:00 Pitching the Big Proposal (Brandon, Kevin, Dave)
11:00 New Media: Using It to Get an Edge (Brandon, Rebecca)
noon Lunch
10:00 Networking for Writers (Rebecca, Dave)
2:30 Do It Yourself: Self-Promotion for Authors (Sherrilyn Kenyon)
3:30 Promoting Yourself and Your Work (All)
4:30 Open session: Q&A
Authors available for signing
VIP Banquet: Ruth¹s Chris Steakhouse

SATURDAY
8:30 AM Ergonomics: When Writing Gets to Be a Pain (Rebecca)
9:00 Dissecting a Contract (Eric)
10:00 Movies, TV, and Authors (Dave, Kevin, Brandon)
11:00 Two Heads Are Better Than One: Collaborations (Eric, Kevin, Rebecca, Brandon)
noon Lunch
1:30 Intellectual Property: How to Exploit Yours (Dave)
2:30 Eleven Tips to Increase Your Writing Productivity (Kevin)
3:30 Balancing Acts: Writing World and Real World (All)
4:30 Open session: Q&A

Posted by LDWriter2 (Member # 9148) on :

Sounds like fun too bad its too far away.

They used to have a writing conference here but I guess it fall through. David Brin was the last key note speaker a few years back.

We need another one.