About ANWA's Conference

The ANWA Writers Conference offers outstanding workshops and writing classes by professionals in the industry.

Thursday is workshop day at ANWA Writers Conference. Join us for an extra day of hands-on manuscript work, featuring our first-pages critique groups, a special presentation by our guest speaker, Melanie Jacobson, and two evening breakout options. Plus, dinner will be included for the first time so you don't even have to leave! The workshop begins at 1:00 p.m. and runs until 8:30 p.m., with a fun "After Hours" surprise. All for a mere $48! Space is limited.

Register for the Thursday Workshop on your conference registration form.

Every year, ANWA hosts a Beginning of Book (BOB) Contest for all ANWA Conference attendees, published or unpublished. Participants enter the first 500 words of a manuscript. All entries must be original and not previously accepted for publication or production at the time of submission.

Registration for the BOB Contest is a separate event and NOT included on the conference registration form.

All attendees who register by midnight (AZ time) on MAY 18th AND pay for all THREE days of conference will be entered into a raffle for the TWENTY-TWO seats at our ALL-STAR VIP LUNCH on Friday with our agents, editors, keynote, and Thursday speaker! A seat at the All Star Lunch will give attendees a chance to meet and network with our VIPs in a more intimate and relaxed setting.

Those who win a VIP seat at lunch will be notified before the conference begins.

Are you sick of sending query letters and waiting, waiting, waiting for a response?

Well, here’s your solution: Our agents and editors are offering a mixture of pitch sessions for $20, on-the-spot query critiques for $25, and manuscript consultations for $50. Reserve a face-to-face at the Conference and get immediate feedback. You might even get a request for your manuscript!

New for 2019! Register for a pitch/critique/consult session on our new Pitch/Critique/Consult registration form.

All conference faculty and current ANWA members who are registered for the conference are eligible to sell their books at the bookstore. If there are spots remaining, other conference attendees will be given an opportunity to participate.

New for 2019! You can sign up for the bookstore on our new Bookstore registration form.

Also new for 2019! Authors selling their books in the ANWA Conference Bookstore will have the opportunity to buy a $3 listing in the Bookstore section of the ANWA Conference App, and conference attendees will be able to preview those listings from the comfort and convenience of their own phones.

"We are the Dreamers of Dreams!" ANWA presents the Annual Conference Gala Friday night from 8:30-10 p.m. Come dressed as your favorite fantasy character (costumes encouraged) and enjoy an evening of casual fun while rubbing shoulders with other authors and our special guests. Oh, and did we mention dessert?! The Gala is an attendee favorite!

You are welcome to bring a spouse or friend. The charge for non-conference attendees will be $10 at the door.

Operation Paperback began in 1999, sending its first shipments of books to U.S. soldiers in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. They have since shipped 2.2 million books to over 30 locations overseas.

In addition to overseas locations, Operation Paperback provides books to wounded warrior programs and veterans’ hospitals located within the United States, as well as USO centers at US Airport transit points. In 2012, they also added a new program that offers a free shipment of books to any military family.

Over the years, Operation Paperback has earned commendations from the President of the United States, the governor of Maryland, the mayor of Baltimore, and the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce. They have also been featured on television and in print media. While all the praise and attention is valued and appreciated, the words that mean the most are those that come directly from the soldiers and families they serve.

The organization has several ongoing special projects, but the project ANWA wishes to support is supplying children's books to deployed soldiers who read to their children via webcam or on DVDs.

As an ANWA Writers Conference community, please join us in supporting our military families by donating gently used or new children’s books. Books or monetary donations may be dropped off at the 2018 ANWA Writers Conference Bookstore. For those unable to make the conference, donations may be mailed to:

ANWA Past-President, Rebecca Irvine, 1840 N. Oracle, Mesa, AZ 85203.

Operation Paperback is a non-profit, tax exempt 501 (c)(3) organization.