Bay to Ocean Writers Conference

** SOLD OUT**

March 9, 2019

Sponsored by the

The next Bay to Ocean Writers Conference will take place on March 9, 2019, at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Gregg Wilhelm, director of Creative Writing at George Mason University in Virginia, will deliver the opening keynote.

This conference has reached capacity and is now sold out. Please add your name to the wait list by clicking the button at left if you would like to be notified when anyone cancels their ticket.

Review the conference schedule overview or session pages by genre to see details of speakers and their topics. Registration starts at 7:30 a.m., and the opening keynote will begin at 8:00 a.m., so be sure to arrive early.

The conference features dozens of speakers, including award-winning poet Nancy Mitchell; accomplished mystery writer John DeDakis;  Sophie Moss, a USA Today best-selling novelist; and Robert Bidinotto, author of popular crime thrillers.

To see program details, click "Sessions & Speakers" in the drop-down menu and review the lineup of topics and speakers.   (You can also download the program brochure as a pdf file.)

How to Register

Tickets are available by clicking the REGISTER button on  this page. ESWA members must sign into the website in order to purchase a ticket at the member price -- $95 for early birds and $105 after Nov. 30. 

If you are not a member of the Eastern Shore Writers Association, you do not need to sign into the site in order to purchase a ticket to BTO.  When you register for the conference as a non-member, the price of a one-year ESWA membership ($35) will be included in your ticket fee. The early bird conference rate for non-members is $130 through the end of November. It will be $140 after Nov. 30.

Both members and non-members registering for BTO will be given a choice of paying online via PayPal or clicking "Send Me an Invoice" which will allow you to pay by check.

Before registering, please review the list of sessions on this BTO overview page and select a few that you like. This is because when you register, you'll be asked to list the three sessions that interest you most. This will help organizers make better room assignments. It will have no impact on which sessions you may ultimately attend.

We also have available a limited number of student tickets (25) at a discounted price. You may purchase one online if you are currently attending an educational institution and have a valid ID.  You won't need to submit your ID online when you register, but you will will need to show it at check-in on the day of the conference.

TRAVEL & HOTELS

Chesapeake College is located in Wye Mills on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The 170-acre college campus sits at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 and Md. Rt. 213 in Queen Anne's County, 15 miles east of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  Directions.

Its central location in the Delmarva region makes the college about an hour's drive from Washington's Capital Beltway, the Baltimore Beltway or Dover, Delaware. It's only slightly farther (75 minutes) from Salisbury, Md. and Rehoboth Beach, De., (90 minutes .)

Attendees looking for overnight accommodations should consider the Holiday Inn Express about 13 miles east of the college on US Rt. 50 in Easton, Md. It has reserved a block of rooms  for BTO attendees at the nightly rate of $125. Reservations must be made by Feb. 8 by calling 410-819-6500 and mentioning the conference name.

Attendees from the western shore who want something closer to the Bay Bridge might consider the following hotels on or near Kent Island: Best Western Kent Narrows Inn; Holiday Inn Express Annapolis East-Kent Island; Hilton Garden Inn Kent Island; or the Quality Inn in Grasonville.

                               REGISTER NOW

About the Conference

The Bay To Ocean Writers Conference is a one-day nonprofit conference that has attracted and motivated more than 3,500 writers over its history. Attendees come from all across Maryland and surrounding states, including Virginia,  Delaware, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia and elsewhere throughout the Chesapeake Bay region. The conference is sponsored by the Eastern Shore Writers Association, a nonprofit organization of writers from across the tristate Delmarva Peninsula. The conference is set for Saturday, March 9, 2019 

Our mission is to inform, encourage, and inspire writers of all levels, from beginners to published authors. We strive to share helpful knowledge and experiences among writers about every facet of writing.

The BTO conference features workshops, presentations, and panel discussions on a wide variety of topics pertaining to the craft of writing, publishing, marketing, the Internet, and the intricacies of particular genres. It provides an opportunity to meet with many writing peers in the region.  Speakers include accomplished authors, poets, film writers, writing instructors, editors, and publishers.

Above all, we strive to make this an enjoyable experience for everyone!