Hello followers of Realm Makers!
Mid-December is upon us, and we’ve made some excellent progress toward having all the pieces in place for the first annual Realm Makers: a gathering of creators of speculative content. Here’s an update on what’s going on:
In order to make the deposit on the venue for the event, I have been asking publishers of Speculative Fiction if they would be interested in becoming sponsors of Realm Makers. So far, I have had a generous responses from
Marcher Lord Press’s Jeff Gerke
Port Yonder Press’s Chila Woychik
and
Splashdown Books’s Grace Bridges
They each have responded with corporate sponsorship of the event, and because of that, we are much closer to being able to write the check for that deposit. Not quite there yet, but I am still praying and asking around. If you or someone you know is interested in helping out in this capacity, please don’t hesitate to make me aware. Every bit sponsors donate will lower the cost I have to pass along ton conferees.
As for time and date:
The event will take place on August 2-3, 2013 on the campus of the University of Missouri at St Louis, in their J C Penney conference center. The facility offers presentation ready facilities as well as on-campus housing, which will be substantially less expensive than a hotel-type venue. Maybe a little less posh, but the first time out, I’m trying to keep it simple. The campus also has excellent public transit access, as it is very close to the airport, and there is a train that stops nearby.
- Writing short fiction that sells
- What a fight choreographer can teach you about writing battles
- Why cover art matters–how to advocate for the best possible cover
- Using social media to build an audience
- World building
- How to offer useful critique without breaking anyone’s heart
- Group critique session where writers will read an excerpt of their work to receive feedback as well as offer it
We are doing everything in our capacity to try to keep costs down. Typical writers’ conferences run between $400 and $600 for three days of content, but this event will be significantly less expensive than that, since it’s only two days and we are going no-frills on everything. Base registration cost will also be determined by the number of sponsors I can talk into easing the expenses on this. My goal is to keep the base registration between $150 and $200 per attendee. This may be a pipe dream, though, so I ask your flexibility when the final numbers do go live.
I like these cost estimates. Much more reasonable than anything else I’ve seen. I hope the final works out that way.
I’m hoping so too, since I know cost is the main factor that keeps most writers who would generally go to a conference from attending. Here’s hoping enough folks will volunteer their time in the name of the cause this first time out, because paid faculty isn’t part of that lower price. Going forward, it would be nice to generate enough revenue through Faith and Fantasy Alliance book sales to pay for faculty at the conference, which I hope will be annual.
Yay! This is so exciting! Looking forward to it, Becky!
I live in St. Louis and would definitely like to be involved in any panels that might be appropriate. My first novel is coming out from Zondervan in April, and it is a YA Christian historical fantasy.
I know of another published Christian spec-fic author here in St. Louis, and I’ll pass the word on to him as well.
I appreciate you helping to spread the word of mouth, Robert. The more industry folks we can have there, the better it will be for them and the aspiring authors who join into the festivities. Thanks for making me aware of your upcoming work. 🙂
Rebecca, I’m the ‘other’ author that Rob mentioned above, and I also live in St. Louis. 6 of my 7 novels out right now are spec fiction, and my new series with AMG/Living Ink is spec fiction too. Feel free to follow up with me if you’d like to talk further. I’d be happy to help.
Mr. Graham, it would be a distinct pleasure to have you involved with the event. I will be sure to follow up shortly to see what passions you have that we might be able to involve in the planning and content. Thanks so much for dropping in!
How exciting! Looking forward to hearing more!
This is so exciting! Not sure if it will work for me this year, but I will be watching for it next!