This Saturday is the 2016 Ch1Con Virtual Write-a-Thon!
When? Saturday, December 17th from 11 AM to 11 PM eastern time.
What’s a virtual write-a-thon? A virtual write-a-thon is an event where a bunch of people get together to write a bunch of words, talk about writing, and procrastinate–online. You don’t have to attend for the whole event (only as much as you want to) and you can write whatever you want (no need to limit yourself to novels!).
Where? The write-a-thon will take place through a private chat room on the website Chatzy. You can find the chat room at:
As you may know, the Ch1Con team has spent this fall teaching two fantastic young writers about the publishing process in our inaugural mentorship program. The final step of this program is the release of an anthology featuring these up-and-coming young authors’ short stories (as well as some of our own). The anthology is called Twisted, because these stories all have some pretty killer plot twists (pun possibly intended).
The paperback and e-book editions of Twisted are available now for order on Blurb.com, and the e-book will be available soon on Amazon and iBooks.
We’re also THRILLED to be revealing the cover of this collection of short stories today! So, without further ado, drumroll please…
LOOK AT THE PRETTY!
We’re in love with our cover, created by a talented friend of the conference, and so excited to share the book with you!
In honor of Twisted’s release, we’re holding a mini blog tour on the mentors’ blogs. The tour will include interviews, excerpts from the anthology stories, and more. The blog tour schedule is below:
All proceeds from the anthology go towards funding future Ch1Con activities, including our 2017 conference and mentorship program. Purchase Twisted today to help us support the dreams of the authors of tomorrow!
It’s NaNoWriMo!!! (And November. But that’s slightly less exciting.) Here’s the schedule of Ch1Con online events coming your way this month.
Every Saturday in November from 7:00 to 10:00 PM Eastern: Virtual Write-In
Join us to write (and procrastinate) at any point that you’re available during the evening. Link to the chat room: http://us21.chatzy.com/64240259446785
Thursday, November 17th at 8:00 PM Eastern: Twitter Chat
The topic of our Twitter chat this month is–you guessed it–National Novel Writing Month. Join us using #Ch1Con to answer our questions and talk with other young writers!
It’s September, which means our live chats and virtual write-ins are back! Here’s the schedule of Ch1Con online events coming your way this month.
Thursday, September 8th at 8:00 PM Eastern: Twitter Chat
The topic of our Twitter chat this month is writing rules vs. myths. Join us using #Ch1Con to answer our questions and talk with other young writers!
Saturday, September 24th from 7:00 to 10:00 PM Eastern: Virtual Write-In
Join us to write (and procrastinate) at any point that you’re available during the evening. Link to the chat room: http://us23.chatzy.com/46560332995489
This weekend was the 2016 Chapter One Young Writers Conference! We had an absolutely incredible time at the conference this year and hope you did as well.
The weekend started with a pizza party Friday night in the hotel courtyard!
The official conference began Saturday morning, with a fun query-writing workshop led by Ch1Con team members Christina Li (YA writer represented by Jessica Regel of Foundry Media) and Patrice Caldwell (editorial assistant at Scholastic).
“A query letter is a very fancy first impression.” – Christina Li
After the workshop, our first speaker took the stage: Jordan Villegas (YA writer represented by Emily Keyes of Fuse Literary)! He gave a great lecture titled “How to Write a Book: A Guide to Getting Your First Rejection.”
“You can’t write if you haven’t lived.” – Jordan Villegas
Between sessions throughout the day, Ch1Con team members asked attendees trivia questions. Winners got to select books from the huge stacks of ARCs and signed editions on a table at the back of the conference room.
Attendees also had an opportunity to color a picture and answer questions on the white boards throughout the room.
After Jordan spoke, it was time for the keynote address by the one and only Susan Dennard (New York Times bestselling author of Truthwitch)! She gave an inspiring talk titled “How I Became a Writer.”
“There are no expiration dates on dreams.” – Susan Dennard
Next up was lunch and our group picture!
Future of the New York Times bestsellers list, right here.
After lunch, Jennifer Yu (author of upcoming novel Four Weeks, Five People) took the stage to talk about how to balance writing with school in a super helpful workshop titled “College 101.”
“You go to college and everyone suddenly wants to know what you’re going to do with your life.” – Jennifer Yu
Following Jen, Francesca Zappia (acclaimed novel Made You Up) led a wonderful session titled “Character Building Across Genres.”
“Motivation is the character’s car, and it’s going to take them to their destination [their goal].” – Francesca ZappiaThe last session of the day was our annual Ask Anything lecture, which we live-streamed online! (You can watch it here.)
Aaand following the panel, Francesca and Susan signed books for attendees!
Overall, Ch1Con 2016 was awesome.
The Ch1Con team was all smiles after the conference.
Hey there! It’s June! Here’s the schedule of Ch1Con online events coming your way this month.
Saturday, June 18th from 7:00 to 10:00 PM Eastern: Virtual Write-In
Join us to write (and procrastinate) at any point that you’re available during the evening. Link to the chat room: http://us19.chatzy.com/84055697432369
Thursday, June 23rd at 8:00 PM Eastern: Twitter Chat
The topic of our Twitter chat this month is perfectionism. Join us using #Ch1Con to answer our questions and talk with other young writers!
Thinking of attending the 2016 Chapter One Young Writers Conference? Make sure to register by 11:59 PM EDT tomorrow (Tuesday, May 31) to take advantage of our special early bird registration rate! After that, we have to move to our regular registration rate of $99.99. Don’t miss out!
Ch1Con 2016 will take place Saturday, August 6 in St. Charles, IL, a western suburb of Chicago. Speakers will include New York Times bestselling YA fantasy author Susan Dennard (Truthwitch and the Something Strange and Deadly series) and acclaimed YA contemporary author Francesca Zappia (Made You Up). We’ll also have lots of fun giveaways throughout the day for you, including signed books and some of this summer’s hottest ARCs!
You can find more information on how to register to attend the conference on the page titled Register!
Tomorrow (Thursday, May 26) at 8 PM EDT, we’ll be hosting our bimonthly video Ch1Con Chat, in which members of the Ch1Con team answer YOUR questions (and also goof off a lot). This month’s topic is “social media for writers.” You can participate by asking us questions on Twitter using #Ch1Con and watch the chat on our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/chapteroneconference.
May it be (that we have some very fun chats coming your way now that it’s May)! Here’s the schedule of Ch1Con Chats coming your way this month.
Thursday, May 19th at 8:00 PM Eastern: Twitter Chat
The topic of our Twitter chat this month is TBA. Join us using #Ch1Con to answer our questions and talk with other young writers!
Thursday, May 26th at 8:00 PM Eastern: YouTube Chat
Join us on our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/chapteroneconference) where members of the Ch1Con team will discuss something writing-related, and ask us questions on Twitter using #Ch1Con.
What exactly will we discuss? That’s up to you. Vote for the May Ch1Con Chat topic below.
~Julia
P.S. If you’re at BEA and/or BookCon this week and spot a Ch1Con team member, don’t be afraid to come say hi! We’d love to meet you.
Welcome to April! Here’s the schedule of Ch1Con Chats coming your way this month.
Thursday, April 7th at 8:00 PM Eastern: Twitter Chat
The topic of our Twitter chat this month is “writing communities.” Join us using #Ch1Con to answer our questions and talk with other young writers!
Saturday, April 16th from 7:00 to 10:00 PM Eastern: Virtual Write-In
Join us to write (and procrastinate) at any point that you’re available during the evening on April 16th. Link to the chat room: http://us20.chatzy.com/12276008049840
Counting down the days ’til Thursday!
~Julia
P.S. We pooossibly have something else cool coming your way in April. Keep an eye out!
Chapter One Conference 