Category: 2018 Conference

2018 Conference, Ch21Con

2018 Ask Anything Panel

Julia Byers

Hey there, everyone!

Can’t make it to one of our 2018 conferences? Not to worry! As in previous years, we’re excited to be able to live-stream the “Ask Anything” panel with our 2018 speakers, so all of you amazing young writers who can’t make it to Ch1Con and Ch21Con 2018 still get to participate in something.

This year, the participating speakers will be:

  • Gloria Chao (American Panda)
  • Amanda Foody (Ace of Shades)
  • Christine Lynn Herman (The Devouring Gray)
  • Allison Mulder (acclaimed short fiction author)
  • Karuna Riazi (The Gauntlet)

The panel moderators will be Emma Rose Ryan (Ch1Con director) and Julia Byers (Ch21Con director).

The Ask Anything panel will take place during the conferences on Saturday, August 4th from 4:00 to 5:00 PM CDT (5:00 to 6:00 PM EDT).

This is totally free and you don’t need to sign up for anything; it’s simply our gift to you to thank you for all of your support throughout the year. You can find the live-stream on our organization’s YouTube channel at:

www.youtube.com/chapteroneconference

Or, we’re conveniently embedding the video in the post below:

We’ll be asking the panelists a mixture of questions from both the attendees at the two conferences and those of you watching from home. The questions can be about absolutely anything you want, serious or goofy, writing-related or not. (For example, in 2014 we asked our speakers about their OTPs. One replied that she shipped herself and Panera.)

If you’ll be watching the live-stream and would like to ask the speakers a question, there are two ways you can go about doing it:

1.) If you already know what you’d like to ask, you can email your question(s) to us at chapter21conference@gmail.com any time until the day of the conference.

2.) If you come up with a question while you’re watching the live-stream, you can tweet it using #Ch1Con or #Ch21Con.

Either way, feel free to ask as many questions as you’d like. No promises we’ll make it through every single question during the hour-long panel, but we’ll do our best.

Thanks again for supporting us, guys! It means the world to everyone on the Chapter One Events team.

See you at 4:00 PM central/5:00 PM eastern!

– The Chapter One Events team

2018 Conference

2018 Keynote Speaker: Gloria Chao

Julia Byers

The Chapter One Events team is absolutely thrilled to announce our keynote speaker for the 2018 Chapter One Young Writers Conference and inaugural Chapter Twenty-One Conference: Gloria Chao!

Gloria ChaoGloria Chao is an MIT graduate turned dentist turned writer. She currently lives in Chicago with her ever-supportive husband for whom she became a nine-hole golfer (sometimes seven). She is always up for Dance Dance Revolution, cooperative board games, or spontaneous dance parties. She was also once a black belt in kung-fu and a competitive dancer, but that side of her was drilled and suctioned out. Visit her tea-and-book-filled world at GloriaChao.Wordpress.com.

Gloria is the acclaimed author of young adult contemporary novel American Panda and the upcoming Misaligned.

Gloria will be giving the keynote address at both Ch1Con and Ch21Con, as well as speaking on the conferences’ combined ask anything panel.

Find Gloria Online:

Check out Gloria’s Books:

all speakers.png

Haven’t registered to attend one of our 2018 conferences yet? You can do so by clicking the following links:

Chapter One Young Writers Conference (ages 11-20)

Chapter Twenty-One Conference (ages 21-29)

– The Ch1Events Team

2018 Conference, Ch21Con

2018 Ch1Con & Ch21Con Blog Tour Schedule!

Julia Byers

Hey, everybody! We’re thrilled to announce the 2018 Ch1Con & Ch21Con Blog Tour!

We put together this annual blog tour to share info and fun, behind-the-scenes facts about the Chapter One Young Writers Conference and new Chapter Twenty-One Conference (and to give away some awesome prizes, of course). The 2018 blog tour will kick off on Sunday, April 15 and conclude towards the end of May. Follow the tour for guest posts, interviews by the Chapter One Events team–and, of course, giveaways!

2018 blog tour banner.png

Check out the schedule below:
  • Sunday, April 15: www.ch1con.tumblr.com
    • New Ch1Con director Emma Rose Ryan talks about taking over as director
    • GIVEAWAY: Short fiction critique by 2018 speaker and Ch21Con team member, Allison Mulder!
  • Wednesday, April 18: www.allisonthewriter.wordpress.com
    • Allison Rose hosts a guest post by Ch21Con team member Liam Wood, about self-editing
  • Monday, April 23: www.ultimatelyuselessstories.com
    • Ch21Con team member Katelyn Pettit talks about mental health for writers
  • Friday, April 27: www.avajae.blogspot.com
    • Ava Jae hosts a guest post by Ch21Con team member Ariel Kalati, about #OwnVoices and diversity
  • Tuesday, May 1: www.robynhoode.wordpress.com
    • Ch21Con team member Katie Nichols interviews fellow team member Ariel Kalati
  • Saturday, May 5: www.kirabrighton.weebly.com
    • Kira Brighton interviews Ch21Con team member Katelyn Pettit
  • Wednesday, May 9: www.anniesullivanauthor.wordpress.com
    • Annie Sullivan hosts a guest post by Ch21Con team member Katie Nichols about writing characters with magic
    • GIVEAWAY: SIGNED hardcover copy of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black!
  • Friday, May 11: www.charlottegerber.wordpress.com
    • Charlotte Gerber hosts a blog post giving an overview of the 2018 conferences
  • Monday, May 14: Joan He’s Newsletter, Looseleaf
    • Joan He talks about the 2018 conferences in her writerly newsletter. Click here to subscribe!
  • Saturday, May 19: www.juliathewritergirl.com
    • Ch21Con director Julia Byers interviews Ch1Con team member Brett Jonas and 2018 speaker and Ch21Con team member Allison Mulder
    • GIVEAWAY: $25 Barnes & Noble gift card!

We can’t wait to share the tour with you, and hope to see you in Chicago at Ch1Con and Ch21Con 2018!

– The Chapter One Events Team

2018 Conference

2018 Workshop Leader: Amanda Foody

Julia Byers

The Chapter One Events team is extraordinarily excited to announce our sixth speaker for the 2018 Chapter One Young Writers Conference and inaugural Chapter Twenty-One Conference: Amanda Foody!

Amanda Foody

Amanda Foody has always considered imagination to be our best attempt at magic. After spending her childhood longing to attend Hogwarts, she now loves to write about immersive settings and characters grappling with insurmountable destinies. She holds a Masters in Accountancy from Villanova University, and a Bachelors of Arts in English Literature from the College of William and Mary. Currently, she works as a tax accountant in Philadelphia, PA, surrounded by her many siblings and many books.

She is the author of Daughter of the Burning City and The Shadow Game series. The first installment, Ace of Shades, released in April 2018. (Just this week, actually!)

Amanda will be co-leading writing workshops with Christine Lynn Herman at both Ch1Con and Ch21Con, as well as speaking on the conferences’ combined ask anything panel. Plus, in honor of speaking at the conferences, Amanda is thrilled to give away a signed copy of Daughter of the Burning City!

Just click the link below to enter the raffle. We’ll leave it open for one week!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

Find Amanda online:

Check out Amanda’s books:

Thanks for joining us for 2018 conference speaker reveals all week! Reminder that we don’t have all of our speakers for the 2018 conferences solidified yet, so keep an eye on our websites for the announcements of our final speakers in the coming weeks!

day five

– The Ch1Events Team

2018 Conference

2018 Workshop Leader: Christine Lynn Herman

Julia Byers

The Chapter One Events team is extraordinarily excited to announce our fifth speaker for the 2018 Chapter One Young Writers Conference and inaugural Chapter Twenty-One Conference: Christine Lynn Herman!

Christine Herman

Christine Lynn Herman wrote her first book at age six, about a squirrel who hibernated, woke up, and decided to go back to sleep. She has since learned that squirrels do not hibernate. Born in New York City but raised in Japan and Hong Kong, she subscribes to the firm philosophy that home is where her books are. She returned to the United States for college, where she traded out a subtropical climate for harsh, snowy winters and an Honors English degree at the University of Rochester. She now resides in Brooklyn, where she works in publishing by day and writes novels by night.

Her debut YA novel, The Devouring Gray, will release from Disney-Hyperion in Spring 2019, with a sequel to come the following year. She is represented by Kelly Sonnack of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Christine will be co-leading writing workshops at both Ch1Con and Ch21Con, as well as speaking on Ch21Con’s young publishing panel and the conferences’ combined ask anything panel. In honor of Christine speaking at the conferences, we are thrilled to give away a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card!

Just click the link below to enter the raffle. We’ll leave it open for one week!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

Find Christine online:

Check out Christine’s book, The Devouring Gray (spring 2019), on GoodReads.

We don’t have all of our speakers for the 2018 conferences solidified yet, but we’re announcing those we can throughout this week. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for the reveal of another 2018 speaker!

day four

– The Ch1Events Team

2018 Conference

2018 Workshop Leader: Karuna Riazi

Julia Byers

The Chapter One Events team is extraordinarily excited to announce our fourth speaker for the 2018 Chapter One Young Writers Conference and inaugural Chapter Twenty-One Conference: Karuna Riazi!

Karuna Riazi

Karuna Riazi is a born and raised New Yorker, with a loving, large extended family and the rather trying experience of being the eldest sibling in her particular clan. She holds a BA in English Literature from Hofstra University, and is an online diversity advocate, blogger, and publishing intern. She is a 2017 honoree on NBC Asian America’s Redefining A-Z list, featuring up and coming talent within the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community, and her work has been featured on Entertainment Weekly, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, Book Riot and Teen Vogue, among others. Karuna is fond of tea, Korean dramas, writing about tough girls forging their own paths toward their destinies, and baking new delectable treats for friends and family to relish. The Gauntlet (S&S/Salaam Reads, March 28, 2017) is her middle grade debut.

Karuna will be leading writing workshops at both Ch1Con and Ch21Con, as well as speaking on the conferences’ combined ask anything panel. Plus, in honor of speaking at the conferences, Karuna is thrilled to give away a signed copy of The Gauntlet!

Just click the link below to enter the raffle. We’ll leave it open for one week!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

Find Karuna online:

Check out Karuna’s books:

  • The Battle (companion to The Gauntlet, coming soon!)

We don’t have all of our speakers for the 2018 conferences solidified yet, but we’re announcing those we can throughout this week. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for the reveal of another 2018 speaker!

day three

– The Ch1Events Team

2018 Conference

2018 Moderators: Emma Rose Ryan and Julia Byers

Julia Byers

Surprise! Today’s announcement is actually for two speakers. (Whaaat?!)

The Chapter One Events team is pleased to announce our next two speakers for the 2018 Chapter One Young Writers Conference and inaugural Chapter Twenty-One Conference: Ch1Con director Emma Rose Ryan and Ch21Con director Julia Byers!

Emma Ryan

Emma Rose Ryan is an undergraduate studying Creative Writing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She’s been a member of the Chapter One Young Writers Conference team since the event’s inception, and she is honored to be taking over as director for 2018. Emma writes middle grade and YA fiction, focusing on paranormal and urban fantasy genres. When she’s not writing, Emma can be found reciting Shakespeare, watching The West Wing, or petting someone else’s cat.

Find Emma online:

Julia Byers

Julia Byers graduated in 2016 from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, where she studied Honors Creative Writing & Literature and Global Media Studies (Film). She graduated with Distinction and Highest Honors. She then attended the inaugural Columbia Publishing Course UK, a one-month intensive certificate course focused on the publishing industry, run in collaboration by Columbia University and Exeter College, Oxford University. In 2017, she moved to New York City to complete a six-month editorial internship at Scholastic. In her free time, she directs bookish nonprofit organization Chapter One Events and is a writer and amateur photographer. Her writing has received a variety of honors, including a Hopwood Award, the Arthur Miller Award, and first place in the children’s/YA fiction category of the Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition.

Find Julia online:

Check out Julia’s published writing on her website.

Emma and Julia will be co-moderating the conferences’ combined ask anything panel. Julia will also be moderating Ch21Con’s young publishing panel. In honor of speaking at the conferences, Julia is thrilled to give away a critique of the first fifty pages of one young adult or middle grade manuscript!

Just click the link below to enter the raffle. We’ll leave it open for one week!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

We don’t have all of our speakers for the 2018 conferences solidified yet, but we’re announcing those we can throughout this week. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for the reveal of another 2018 speaker!

day two.png

– The Ch1Events Team

2018 Conference

2018 Workshop Leader: Allison Mulder

Julia Byers

The Chapter One Events team is thrilled to announce our first speaker for the 2018 Chapter One Young Writers Conference and inaugural Chapter Twenty-One Conference: Ch21Con team member Allison Mulder!

Allison Mulder

Allison Mulder grew up in various small Midwestern towns and a sizable swath of the internet. She writes fantasy, science fiction, and–often by accident–horror. Her short stories have appeared in a number of pro-level speculative fiction markets, including Fireside Fiction, Escape Pod, and InterGalactic Medicine Show. She also helps sift through short fiction submissions at Strange Horizons as a first reader, and has volunteered with Ch1Con and Ch21Con for several years. With patience, sensitive equipment, and ample provisions, you can sometimes glimpse Allison at allisonmulder.wordpress.com. Or, track her far more easily on Twitter at @AMulderWrites, where she broadcasts any significant life happenings, gushes over her current fictional obsessions, and uses far too many X-Files gifs.

Allison will be leading workshops at Ch1Con and Ch21Con on writing short fiction. She will also be speaking on the conferences’ combined ask anything panel. Plus, in honor of speaking, Allison is thrilled to give away one short story critique!

Just click the link below to enter the raffle. We’ll leave it open for one week!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

Find Allison online:

To read Allison’s published short fiction, visit her website.

We don’t have all of our speakers for the 2018 conferences solidified yet, but we’ll be announcing those we can throughout this week. So, check back tomorrow for the reveal of another 2018 speaker! (Or possibly two???)

day one

– The Ch1Events Team

2018 Conference, Ch21Con

2018 Conference Registration Is Open!

Julia Byers

registration open image

We’re thrilled to announce that registration for the 2018 Chapter One Young Writers Conference is officially open!

The conference will take place Saturday, August 4th, 2018 at the Hilton Garden Inn – Chicago O’Hare in Des Plaines, Illinois. It will include workshops, a panel, a lunchtime pizza party, trivia (with prizes!), and all kinds of other good stuff. Attendance is open to any young writers who will be between the ages of 11 and 20 as of August 4th, 2018. (If you’ll be between the ages of 21 and 29, check out our sister conference, the Chapter Twenty-One Conference!)

Register early (now through the end of May) to get our special Early Bird Admission rate of $74.99 (lunch included)! Registration is available at:

www.chapteroneconference.org/register

Interested in who this year’s speakers are? Keep an eye on the blog, because we’ll be announcing the speakers very soon!

Spots are limited to attend the conference, so make sure to register before they’re gone!

We’re so excited for the 2018 conference (and hope you are too)! See you in August!

— The Ch1Con Team

2018 Conference, General, Yule Ball

Yule Ball 2018 Speaker Announcement

emmarosewriter

Hello writers!

Today is the day we get to announce the 2018 Yule Ball speakers!

For those of you who do not know, the Ch1Con Yule Ball is an hour-and-a-half long live video panel.

This year, it will be held on Friday, January 26th from 7PM-8:30 PM Central Time.

Just follow THIS LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTX4lhaICTo

Basically, Yule Ball is a mini, free, and online Ch1Con, and we hope to see you all there!

So, without further ado, here are the young authors who will be answering your questions…

Morgan York

 

(@morganyorkwrite) 

Morgan is a YA fantasy writer living in New York City. In a former life, she was an actress who appeared in films such as Cheaper by the Dozen and The Pacifier. She enjoys reading, video games, traveling, and drinking all kinds of tea. On her blog, she discusses books, writing, social issues, and more at morganyork.com and tweets as @morganyorkwrite.

Sierra Elmore

(@SierraWritesYA)

Sierra Elmore is a young adult contemporary writer who studies sociology at Arcadia University. She created the Diverse Book Bridge project for underrepresented teens and edits YA Pride’s Teen Voices column. Her novels focus on teenage girls fighting trauma while wreaking havoc. When not writing, she enjoys Pilates, chasing after her cat, and working at her school’s career center.

Rachel Stevenson

(@whatshewrote)

Rachel Stevenson is a YA and MG author and reader seeking traditional publishing. She is the creator and host of #YayYA. It is her current goal to  read and review all of the Newbery Medal winners. Rachel, though from Philadelphia, hails from Oklahoma and attends college near Pittsburgh, PA, but most of her books are set in made-up places based on Ireland or Russia.

Feel free to get to know our amazing speakers on twitter before you see them LIVE at #Ch1ConYuleBall.

See you this Friday!