During the past couple of posts on my Christian Adoption blog, I've been discussing why it's important for bloggers, magazine writers, and authors to attend writers' conferences.
Part 1: Why It’s Critical to Attend Writers’ Conferences
Part 2: Pitching Your Project at a Writers’ Conference
Today, I'm going to do a head-to-head comparison of two major Christian writers' conferences I've attended this year:
Mount Hermon Christian Writers’ Conference near Santa Cruz, California
Glorieta Christian Writers’ Conference near Santa Fe, New Mexico
Each has a distinct flavor. Here’s my unscientific, biased rundown of the strengths and weaknesses of each conference:
DATE
Mt. Hermon: March or April (encompasses Palm Sunday weekend)
Glorieta: October
ATTENDANCE
Mt. Hermon: Around 400 people from all over the U.S. and Canada, but primarily from Western states. This conference seems to have more “big name” editors and agents in attendance than Glorieta. A nice balance between men and women attendees (plus a few teenagers; Mt. Hermon offers a Teen Track).
Glorieta: 300 plus, including an extra-large faculty. The faculty members aren’t extra large, there are just a lot of them. Attendees come from all over the U.S. (with a sprinkling from Canada and one from Australia this year). A different crowd than attends Mount Hermon, with the majority from the Southwest, South, and Eastern states. Lots of southern drawls, which sounded delightful to my West Coast ears. This conference had a high proportion of women attendees.
COST
Mt. Hermon: Close to $1,000 for six days (including air fare). But it’s worth every penny.
Glorieta: Hovering below $1,000 for five days (including air fare). Again, it’s worth every penny.
TERRAIN
Mt. Hermon: Gorgeous Redwoods. Hilly. Conference grounds are compact, but you’ll need to be prepared to walk among buildings to attend workshops.
Glorieta: Rocky Mountains; high, high elevation. Drink LOTS of water to avoid altitude sickness. Conference grounds are spread out, with the dining hall at least ¼ mile from the dorms (lots of people drive from place to place). All workshops are in one central building.
WEATHER
Mt. Hermon: Rain, rain, and more rain! Bring your umbrella. The weather can be very nice, but it’s rained almost nonstop during the last two conferences.
Glorieta: Crisp. Cool in the morning, warm and dry in the afternoons. Absolutely gorgeous.
WHAT TO WEAR
Mt. Hermon: Comfortable business casual; walking shoes.
Glorieta: Business casual (a tad dressier than Mount Hermon); walking shoes.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Mt. Hermon: Range from yucky little dorm rooms with a bathroom down the hall to a Holiday Inn-style hotel room. Linens provided, but you only get one change of towels during your stay. No maid service.
Glorieta: Dorm rooms with daily maid service. Clean and comfortable.
FOOD
Mt. Hermon: Excellent. Attendees eat in a large dining hall where they are served family style. Dave Talbot, the emcee, provides entertaining after-meal banter, interviews with writers, and book giveaways. Lots of laughter and camaraderie at meals.
Glorieta: Awful. Cafeteria-style with assorted “mystery meat.” All the food was white: grits, biscuits and gravy, breaded meats, mashed potatoes. Starch overload! Thank goodness for the salsa, the salad bar, and dessert.
MEALTIME NOTE
Mt. Hermon: During breakfast, faculty usually sit together (to give them a break from being accosted by people who wish to pitch projects to them). At lunch and dinner, each faculty member has his/her own table reserved so attendees can schmooze with the industry pro of their choice.
Glorieta: During breakfast, tables were reserved for different genres of writing (women’s fiction; drama; children’s books, etc.). At lunch, editors hosted tables. Prior to dinner each evening, industry pros led roundtable discussions on topics of their choice, and then invited attendees to continue the discussion during dinner.
CRITIQUE SYSTEM
Mt. Hermon: You can send in two copies (of up to 20 pages) of your proposal/manuscript before the conference to be either reviewed by an agent/editor or critiqued by a faculty member. You receive it back early in the conference with comments on it.
Glorieta: Paid critique system ($35 per manuscript) in which you submit your manuscript before the conference. The critique team member who reviews your manuscript schedules a half hour consultation with you during the conference.
EDITOR/AGENT APPOINTMENT SYSTEM
Mt. Hermon: You have to be quite assertive to land an appointment with an editor or agent. First you have to identify said editor. Then you have to track them down and ask them for an appointment. Because faculty receive a big batch of proposals and projects to review/critique before the conference, you may land an appointment only if a particular editor is really, really interested in your project. Because of the lack of an organized appointment system, faculty members are frequently accosted in hallways, bathrooms and everywhere else as writers clamor to get appointments with them. Mount Hermon’s appointment system (or lack thereof) is downright frightening.
Glorieta: Superb. Glorieta is the ultimate networking conference; if you want, you can do nothing but meet with industry pros the entire time. The system for scheduling appointments is painless and you’re liable to land appointments with just about everyone on your list, plus many who aren’t on your list. Lots of appointments translates into more opportunities to get your writing published.
WORKSHOP AND KEYNOTERS
Mt. Hermon: Fantastic! Big-name keynoters; high-quality workshops. All presentations are recorded; attendees can purchase CDs of workshops. Head-to-head, Mount Hermon and Glorieta are comparable in terms of the quantity and quality of workshops.
Glorieta: A huge variety of workshops to appeal to writers from many genres. Keynote speakers were a mixed bag. One would think that a conference sponsored by CLASS Services would feature top-notch keynoters, but in my opinion, a couple of them were in need of additional speaker training. However, we heard from a nice variety of speakers (instead of one keynoter, as at Mount Hermon), so my suffering was limited. All presentations are recorded; attendees can purchase CDs of workshops.
WORSHIP
Mt. Hermon: Very worshipful; one of the highlights of this conference. Folks from all denominations and modes of worship attend writers’ conferences. Mount Hermon has a “family” feeling, nurtured by the post-meal entertainment and the top-notch keynote speakers. A special draw for many is emcee Dave Talbot’s skills as a renowned concert pianist/organist.
Glorieta: A little disjointed. Glorieta doesn’t have the “family” feel of Mount Hermon; attendees are more independent, skipping workshops and large group meetings to meet with editors. The morning and evening worship times lacked the exuberance I felt at Mount Hermon, but they were special nonetheless.
WORTH THE $$
Mt. Hermon: Yes, yes, a thousand times, YES! Mount Hermon is considered the “granddaddy” of Christian writers’ conferences, and many writers, editors, and agents make it their one “must-attend” conference of the year.
Glorieta: Definitely. While this conference lacks the warm, cozy, feel of Mount Hermon, it’s a terrific place to connect with writers from all over the country. Attendees, staff, and faculty were outgoing, friendly, and genuinely caring. For networking, you can’t beat Glorieta.
If you've been to either conference and want to add your two cents worth, please do so in the Comments area below.
A permanent link to this review is available at my Web site, www.laurachristianson.com.
Related Articles:
The Art of Book Publishing
An Author's View of the Book Publishing Process: A Book Concept Takes Shape
Writing the Non-Fiction Book Proposal
My First Writers' Conference
Tweaking Titles in Preparation for the Big Pitch
Oh, the Rejection!
The Call
The 65,000-word Marathon
For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and
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Madonna appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show today to discuss the adoption of 13-month-old David. Following are links to excerpts from the show, as well as tidbits from the latest news about the adoption and the controversy that surrounds it.
and 
(among others). 
