May 16, 2019
2018 Book of the Year Award-Winner Linda Gartz: What CWA Recognition Offers
by Becky Sarwate
The Chicago Writers Association’s Book of the Year Awards has served, for nearly a decade, as a prestigious recognition platform for some of the city’s finest authors and their books. CWA is proud to play a role in supporting outstanding literature in today’s highly competitive publishing landscape.
As Chairperson of the awards program for the last two cycles, I’ve been fortunate to find myself in direct contact…
May 2, 2019
A Little Thing Called Author Envy
by Samantha Hoffman
Whatever success we've had with our writing - being published by a major publisher, self-publishing and finding an audience, getting great reader reviews on Goodreads, our mother tells us our story is amazing...no matter how successful we are or feel, there's always someone who's done it bigger/better/longer. Sometimes it's…
April 22, 2019
Pitching a Nonfiction Book to an Agent
Pitch Perfect by Kristin A. Oakley | Apr 12, 2019
Last Saturday at Madison’s Concourse Hotel during UW-Madison Writers’ Institute, Bill Conner and I pitched our creative non-fiction book Abbey’s Ride for Life – The Bike Ride That Saved 240,000 Lives, Plus 1.
If you’ve…
March 20, 2019
A warm welcome to guest blogger, Eliza David
Bigger Than You: Three Things I (Re)Learned at #JustWrite2019
The Chicago Writers Association recently held their 2nd Annual Uncommon Writers Conference and I was thrilled before I got there. Three of my favorite writers were slated to present so I early-birded this event last year.
And it was worth every penny.
Whenever I attend a conference or…
March 4, 2019
Writing Doesn’t Have to Be Lonely!
by Samantha Hoffman
I read post after post about how difficult writing is; how lonely, how stressful, how agonizing, how no one really likes doing it.
These quotes, for example:
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” ~ Ernest Hemingway
“If writing seems…
February 27, 2019
Time: Your Most Valuable Asset
by Charlie Monte Verde
If you're reading this, then you need to join us March 16 and 17 for CWA's second annual writers conference. Even if you're already registered for the event, we hope you give this piece a couple minutes of your time. You clicked on the link to this article knowing…
February 18, 2019
Writers Conferences are Exhausting, in a Good Way
They're also energizing and fun!
If you want to energize your writing, if you need a new perspective on your work, if you want to connect with other writers, if you want to hear other writers' experiences...go to a writers conference. When it's over you will be exhausted, but your writing will have new energy,…
February 11, 2019
Whatever Your Writing Needs Are, We’ve Got You Covered!
Don't Miss Out on Our Conference
Just a sampling of what to expect when you register for Let's Just Write! coming up on March 16-17, 2019 at The Warwick Allerton Hotel, Chicago.
A frank conversation about the writing life with acclaimed, award-winning author Christine Sneed.
…
January 31, 2019
Getting to Emotion, Perception and Thought in your Characters
Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian, was published in the Dec. 11th, 2017 edition of The New Yorker and it made waves. It’s easily the most talked-about story of the year, but it may also be the most-talked about short story in the modern digital age. There were corners of…
January 24, 2019
The Scholarship Deadline is January 25th at Midnight
Just a reminder that the scholarship application deadline for Let's Just Write! An Uncommon Writers Conference is January 25th at midnight. Don't lose out on this opportunity.
CLICK HERE to apply. There is no application fee.
Scholarship winners will be announced by February 20.
(If you've…
