2010 Writing for Charity

If I was a better blogger, you would already know about the 2010 Writing for Charity event.  And unfortunately, this is not a case of better-late-than-never, because you really don’t want to miss this.  It’s coming up this Saturday, on August 21.

Last year, I participated in the Writing for Charity event held at the Treehouse Museum in Ogden, Utah, and it was a great experience.  The atmosphere was so fun and congenial and supportive for everyone involved.  This year won’t be any different.

As with last year, there will be panels organized by genre (picture book, contemporary, fantasy, etc.), followed by mini workshops where aspiring writers will have the opportunity to have their work critiqued by a nationally published author.  Lunch will be provided, and the conference will last most of the day.  But this year, they’ve added an awesome evening extravaganza.  In addition to music and improv comedy, authors Brandon Mull, Shannon Hale, Brandon Sanderson, Sara Zarr, Ally Condie, James Dashner, Bree Despain, and Jessica Day George will be on a panel taking audience questions and being thoroughly entertaining.  You can attend one or both events.

And here’s the thing.  As with previous Writing for Charity events, all procedes go to charitable causes.  All the writers involved have donated their time, which is an amazing thing and shows how wonderful our Utah writers are.  This year, the event is focusing on putting books in the hands of kids.  For every conference registration fee received, an entire class in an under-priveleged school will receive books.  That’s right.  Not only can you have a great time and learn a lot at the conference, but you’ll also know that you have provided each child in a classroom with a book of their own.

There is also a silent auction going on to raise even more money for charity.  Lots of great items have been donated, but I wanted to tell you about one in particular.  My agent, Stephen Fraser, has graciously donated a 10-page critique of a manuscript.  Ten whole pages critiqued by a literary agent.  You should know that before he became an agent, Steve worked as an editor at such publishing houses as Scholastic, Simon and Schuster, and HarperCollins.  So a critique from him truly is an opportunity.

You can register for the event online here.  You can also just come to the event and register that day.

And check out the silent auction here, which also includes items such as a lunch with Brandon Mull, being fictionally murdered in Dan Well’s next novel, or being publicly extolled and raved about on Shannon Hales’ blog.  Tell me that’s not cool.