Finding a Writers' Conference

Finding a comprehensive list of writers' conferences was no easy task.  There was no single place I found that had all the ones I came up with for my list, 2013 Writers' Conferences in the Southeast.

Writers' conferences in New York are different.  You can expect everyone in the writing and publishing industry to poke their heads in at some point.  But Georgia?  Sure, we've got a lot of talented writers, but several conferences seem to be either defunct or not well advertised.

This list is NOT comprehensive, but it's the best I could come up with.  It came from several sources.  Stacy O'Neale's website had a few for the southeast, but listed only one writers' conference in Georgia.  Poets & Writers has a huge database, but they did not list Killer Nashville or the Romance Writers of America Annual Conference in Atlanta as well as several others in Georgia.  So I googled around and brought you this list of conferences in the southeast.  Many of these are past date, and others are sold out.  But I plan to try for a few in the summer and fall.

I only listed actual conferences.  Festivals are different than a conference.  Also, I tried to avoid strictly workshop type events.  If it's at a hotel, it's more likely a conference.  If it's at a college or university, it may be a workshop.  Many events are retreats where you practice writing under the guidance of a college or university staff member.

I'm no expert on these things, but what I'm looking for is a gathering place for people in the publishing industry.  A conference is for networking as well as learning.  You want industry professionals such as publishers, agents, and published writers there to give seminars and workshops to spread their knowledge.  You want a format for meeting with agents, submitting manuscripts, getting true feedback, and learning the truth about the current state of the publishing industry.