4 Reasons you should join us at Jot this Friday

This Friday, I will be speaking at Jot, a free writers conference held at Baker Book House in Grand Rapids, Michigan from 7-11 p.m. If you don’t live in West Michigan, you can still join us via livestream at this link here!

This is one of my favorite events, with some of my favorite people on the planet. As if that’s not reason enough to come, here are 4 reasons you should join us:

1. The Community.

Writing can be a lonely journey. Sitting in front of a computer. Staring at the blinking cursor until your eyes feel like sandpaper. Why does the cursor blink? Seriously? Is it impatient or something? I’m working on it, ok? The words are coming. Stop being so impatient! Obviously, we need to interact with real humans now and then, otherwise we resort to yelling at inanimate objects. The writers who come to Jot are encouraging, kind, and a lot of fun. I’ve been to every Jot conference (this makes #5), and I love how the schedule includes time to connect with other attendees. Come, make a new friend. Look me up! I’ll be your friend! And maybe you can convince me my cursor isn’t out to get me.

2. The Creators of Jot.

Jot was founded by a local writers group called the Weaklings, and they are awesome. Josh Mosey (who recently shaved “Jot” into the back of his head because he’s so dedicated to this cause), Andy Rogers, Bob Evenhouse, Matthew Landrum, and Thomas McClurg saw a need for a conference for writers who are short on time and strapped for cash. Hello, sign me up! Not only is the conference free, they build in time at the end of the conference so you can actually write. Novel idea. (Yes, pun intended.)

3. The Content

The other 3 speakers are fantastic. Zachary Bartels is the author of Playing Saint and will be speaking on incorporating

real life into fiction. Zachary is a great speaker and full of energy. You’ll love him. Tim Beals is the president of Credo Communications and has a wealth of experience in the publishing industry. He will be speaking on Agenting 101 (What you need to know about literary agents). Kenneth Kraegel is an author and illustrator for children’s books, including the beautiful King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson. I can’t wait to learn from each of them. Oh, and I’m speaking too on making time to write. Please note that I’m writing this post at 10:30 p.m. after an exhausting day. Yet like magic, my brain woke up at 10 p.m. This is all part of what I’ll be talking about at Jot. You’ll just have to come to hear the rest of the story.

This conference also includes workshops after the main session: Susie Finkbeiner on Thriving in the Blogosphere, Andy Rogers on Writing your Book Proposal, Bob Evenhouse on Worldbuilding: A Workshop for Fiction Writers, and Matthew Landrum with a poetry workshop.

4. The Courage you will gain.

There’s nothing quite like an event such as Jot to give you courage to keep going in your writing journey. The speakers will provide practical helps to overcome obstacles and encouragement to know you’re not alone in facing your fears and struggles. The community will help you remember how FUN writing can be, and that we are all doing this work together. So when you are sitting behind your computer screen, with a taunting cursor, afraid you might not have what it takes, you can remember that you are not alone.

BONUS: The Coffee.
Icons Coffee house is located inside Baker Book House, and you can sip a delicious mocha or latte or coffee while the speakers inspire you to write and pursue your passion. If you’re joining us via livestream, you’ll have to rely on your own coffee pot.

Tweetables:

[tweetherder]#Writers in W. Michigan, check out Jot, a free conference March 13, 7 pm at @bakerbookstore[/tweetherder]

[tweetherder]Join great #writers like @AuthorZBartels and @timbeals this Fri for a free conference.[/tweetherder]