The 29th annual Bay to Ocean Writers Conference takes place LIVE in-person at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, Maryland on Saturday, March 14, 2025, featuring Keynote Speaker:
New York Times Best-Selling Author, S.A. COSBY is an award-winning author of five novels, as well as the co-author of two middle grades novels (with QuestLove) published by Flatiron Press, a division of Macmillan. His work has been awarded the Macavity, the Barry, the Anthony, the ITW Award (International Thriller Writers), the (Dashiell) Hammett Prize, the ALA award, and had been long listed for both the Andrew Carnegie and Steel Dagger awards. His books have landed on former President Barack Obama's Summer Reading List three times, with his last four optioned for movie or TV adaptation—including the most recent, King of Ashes, by the Obamas' own production company, for Netflix. He lives and writes in Southeastern Virginia.
(Photo Credit: Consociate Media)
________________________
Early Bird Rates
(Before January 16th)
Members $135* | Non-members: $170
Regular Rates
(January 16th – March 14th)
Members $145* | Non-members: $180
* ESWA members must be logged in to the website to receive the member discount.
THIRTY-ONE SESSIONS TO CHOOSE FROM!
________________________
Conflict & Suspense in Fiction – Austin S. Camacho
Create Your Character's Arc – Susan Reiss
The Power and Potential of Writing Small Town and Rural LGBTQ+ Romance – TJ West
The Novella: A "Novel" Approach to Point of View – Pat Valdata
Stage Directions or Story Work? Making Your Scenes Count – Kris Faatz
POETRY
• • • • • • • •
Location, Location, Location – Deidra Greenleaf Allan & Meredith Davies Hadaway
"Not in Ideas, but in Things": Tethering the Abstract to the Concrete in Poetry – Nancy Mitchell
Not Islands: Poetry as Remedy for Isolation – Traci Currie, Kim Roberts, & Dan Vera
Message in a Bottle: Writing the Short Personal Lyric Secular Prayer, Elegy, Recipe for Life, Ars Poetica – Donna Hilbert
Honoring Your Literary Lineage: From Beloved Work to New Poems – Lesley Younge
NONFICTION
• • • • • • • •
How to Create and Publish a Nonfiction Anthology – Amy Roost
Speculative Nonfiction 101: Memory & Meaning – Hannah Grieco
Tiny Truths: Writing Micro Memoir – Laura J. Oliver
Collaborate to Create: Coauthoring Nonfiction – Matty Dalrymple
Finding a Voice: Reporting on My Homeland and Seeking an Audience in the United States – Tsisnami "Sissy" Sakvarlishvili
CRAFT
• • • • • • • •
Sense and Sensibility - without Sentimentality – Randon Billings Noble
Not Just a Backdrop: Writing Place as a Lived Experience – Aurora Bonner
Giving Your Poetry a Voice: Tips for Readings – Jennifer Keith
Never Walk Alone: On Maintaining a Writing Partnership – Anne Colwell & Maribeth Fischer
Revision: Uncovering the Power of Your Story – Karen Outen
PUBLISHING & MARKETING
• • • • • • • •
Command the Room: Mastering Your Personal Appearances as an Author – Bruce Rule
Pulling Back the Curtain (or What is Happening to Your Submission?) – Linda Blaskey
The Power of Doing it Yourself: Why Authors Choose Self-Publishing: A Panel Discussion – Atlas Creed, David Healy, James Irwin, & Nancy Wilkie
Secrets of Selling Your Children's Book – Cindy Freland
Creating An Author Brand (Before Logos & Colors): What Is It and How Can It Work For You – Jean Burgess
SPECIALTY
• • • • • • • •
Hundreds of Stories from a Single Premise – Barbara Westwood Diehl
Improv Games That Help With Your Storytelling – Lynne Streeter Childress
Shapeshifting: A Mythical Writing Workshop – Hannah Custis
Adapt a Book into a Movie Script – Zorina Exie Frey, MFA
Finding the Abstract in Ekphrastic Poetry – Michael Salcman, M.D.
________________________
Questions?
EMAIL US HERE
