Over the past years the importance of an agent representing the writer has increased geometrically.  Publishing houses depend more and more on agent recommendations and those who are successful have agents that work hard to get their names in front of acquisition teams.

This year at our  2012 Mount Hermon Writers Conference, EIGHT agents will be available to registrants, more than we’ve ever had.  Many have agented for multiple years and know the ropes well.  Janet Kobobel Grant, Steve Laube, Less Stobbe, Wendy Lawton, Diane Flegal have all been in the business for a long time and have well-known writers in their stables.  Karen Ball, Barbara Scott and Joel Kneedler have been in the publishing business for years and now have started agenting.  Their experience on both sides of the court is incredible.

Where else can you have access to so many agents in a limited space? Come get to know some of the best in the business and see what God will do with your writing through the connections available to you this year.  Check us out at www.mounthermon.org/writers.  Hope to see you in March.

Have you heard who’s speaking at our 2012 Mount Hermon Writers Conference?  Well known speaker and author, Liz Curtis Higgs, has accepted our invitation to keynote, March 30-April 3, 2012.  Learn more about her at www.lizcurtishiggs.com.

Liz will make you hold your sides with laughter, motivate you in your writing, and make you think about spiritual things in light of your projects, all in the same breath.  If she was the only thing scheduled, it would be worth it, but there’s going to be much more . . .

Since the industry has recently been affected by e-books and self-publishing on the internet, we’re going to put more of an emphasis on finding out what’s involved in this area.  Learn from Advanced e-book authors, James Scott Bell and Randy Ingermanson, some intermediate e-book gurus, and some who have just tried it recently and been successful.  We hope to hit every level of writer in the process so you know what you’re getting into if you think this is what you’d like to do. 

But we aren’t forgetting the value of our book houses and editors of magazines, either.  Check out our faculty listing on the web www.mounthermon.org/writers to see who will be here to instruct you in the traditional art of publication.  There are some great ones coming.

And this year we have EIGHT agents as well.  In the past years agents have been the avenue for most successful writers being signed to contracts.   Have you even considered this?  Do you have a project that would warrant talking with an agent?  It’s worth a try, isn’t it?  This is a great spot to have that chance for networking with industry people.

Of course, there are the other intangibles that make this conference worth it’s price . . . connecting with other writers and finding encouragement and support, gaining instruction from our 8 Major Morning Tracks and the 40 afternoon workshops, enjoying some wonderful food around tables of eight, taking a break for a soul refreshing hike on our Sequoia Trail, or meeting an editor or a friend in the Snack Shop for a good talk and some awesome homemade ice cream. 

Spring is a spectacular time of year in California, so don’t forget a camera to capture the incredible beauty of the towering redwoods, the splashes of color from the Dogwood trees, or Azaleas and Rhodedendrun bushes.  It’s one of the best places on earth at the end of March!!  Particularly if you’re from the Midwest or further East–get out of the snow and join us!

The website goes live tomorrow morning, 8:00 PTS.  We look forward to having you here!

There are only SEVEN more months before our 44th Annual Mount Hermon Writers Conference, March 30-April 3, 2012.  It’s going to be a doozey!  Is that a word?

Besides the normally wonderful parts of this conference–networking with other writers, getting to personally talk with book publishers, editors and agents–we’ll be pushing out a little, exploring alternative publishing with self-publishing, e-books etc.  Building on our past two years of instruction on marketing and doing publicity by social networking on the web, we’ll bring in experts to help you learn the how-to’s.

The need for great writing won’t be forgotten in the process, however.  You’ll have opportunity to learn from pros in the craft of writing, from Major Morning Tracks to optional hour long workshops in the afternoon.  Every level of  writer, be they beginning writer, intermediate or professional will have ample opportunity to learn a lot.

Liz Curtis Higgs

Our keynote speaker, Liz Curtis Higgs, is well known for her motivational, humorous teaching, as well as a great fiction writer with many books published.  You’ll get that extra “push” each evening, along with great worship led by Mount Hermon’s own incomparable Dave Talbott, Host of the conference.  Many say the evening sessions feed their souls like no other place on earth.

Great food in the dining room along with the awesome glory of the Redwoods and flowering trees in March will be the backdrop of an incredible experience.  Come join several hundred other writers and see what God has to teach you this year!

We’ll leave the light on for ya . . .

Rachel Williams
Director, Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference

Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference is one of my favorite places on earth.  It is like Disneyland for the writer except with less rides and more editors.  You will find everything you need to know about the craft of writing here, along with insight into the writing market and the opportunity to make fantastic friends.

It is because of Mount Hermon’s unique ability to connect writer to agent and editor that after a ten year writing journey, my first book, All I Need Is Jesus and A Good Pair Of Jeans:The Tired Supergirl’s Search for Grace came out in 2009. Each time I attended the conference I came away feeling enriched, built up and excited to write.

Susanna Foth Aughtmon is a pastor’s wife and mother of three boys. She graduated from Bethany University with a BA in Social Science emphasizing psychology and early childhood education. After pursuing various careers, including starting her own organizing business, she decided to stay home as a full time mom. She assists her husband, Scott, in various ministries at Pathway Church, their church plant, in Palo Alto, California.

Prepare. Pack. Pray.

Check the weather.

Print the directions to Mount Hermon.

You did it! You’re ready for the best conference yet.

Now… relax and enjoy what God has in store for you.

We can’t wait to see you!

Directions here

The Digital Conference Binder is now available for download for fully paid registrants.

It is recommended that you read through the information and print off only those pages that are of importance to your chosen workshops and tracks to bring to the conference. There will be a few complete sample binders in Hospitality for reference during the conference.

Or why not download the entire binder and bring your laptop to the conference. You can actually type in the workshop outlines anything you want out of the instruction in class on your battery charged computer. (Humorous aside, we lovingly call this BYOB . . . Bring Your Own Binder!)