That Time I Went to A Literary Festival

For the last few years, I've wanted to go to a local literary festival to check out the workshops but things came up and I either forgot it until just after it happened or wasn't able to go. Earlier this year, however, I was able to check it out!

 

I've never been to a literary festival or anything like that before, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. This one was open to the public and all the workshops were free. My mom wanted to go as well, so we got there a little bit early since neither of us had been to the events center where it was being held. We registered for a prize drawing and picked up a copy of the schedule, then walked through the authors' marketplace.

The first workshop was about self-publishing. A local children's book author talked about how she started freelance writing and decided to self-publish her picture books; she gave some insight into the process and her experience with different printing companies. It was informative and brought up some interesting questions about the process.

The second workshop was hosted by a scifi author and focused on the theme of why now is the best time to write a novel. It was interesting to hear his experience in writing and publishing traditionally. There was also an interesting discussion going on in the room regarding different novel-writing methods and advice.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience and thought it was really cool to hear about other authors' experiences not just with publishing, but the writing process as well. I'm looking forward to next year's festival!

Have you ever been to a writing/book festival or conference?