Publishing in Color conferences foster relationships between writers of color and representatives from the spiritual publishing industry. Several literary agents and acquisition editors will attend, looking for new writers of color. The conference is particularly focused on serving under-represented groups such as African Americans, Latinx Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans.
Many book deals, literary agent relationships, devotionals, book contributions, magazine essays, and more have resulted from Publishing in Color conferences.
Connecting storytellers with editors and agents who can midwife them is the purpose of this conference. Bring your stories, learn about publishing, and (virtually) meet many editors and agents who might help you take them to market. Not to mention a community of like-minded authors!
Is writing your calling? Listen to and speak with our caring and experienced group of industry veterans. You deserve a chance!! #discernment
The conference will emphasize networking, relationship building, and learning “how to get published”. Participating companies will be accepting book proposals.
The online conference will take place Monday – Friday, October 31 – November 4, 2022, but don’t worry, all conference presentations and Q&A sessions will be recorded and available to view for 3 months following the conference.
This is your chance to learn from and interact with acquisition editors, executives, or literary agents from:
- HarperCollins Christian Publishing (Thomas Nelson and Zondervan)
- Penguin Random House
- Our Daily Bread Ministries
- Judson Press
- Guideposts
- Westminster John Knox Press
- Chalice Press
- Baker Publishing Group / Bethany House fiction
- Tyndale House fiction
- InterVarsity Press
- Wildhouse Publishing
- Harambee Press
- Dafina Books
- Little Blessings Press
- Teleion Books
- Literary agent Keely Boeving
- Literary agent Karen Neumair
- Literary agent Sharon Norris Elliott
- Literary agent Leticia Gomez
- Literary agent Quantrilla Ard
- Literary agent Lluvia Agustin
- Faith Journey Publishing
- How to Independently Publish Your Book
- How to Heal Our Divides
- Writing for Your Life
Registration for the Publishing in Color online conference is $49 and includes all presentations, Q&A sessions, “submit your pitch”, open mic, elevator pitch practice, and other conference features. Attendee contact info will be provided to the attending industry representatives.
Registration Now Open! CLICK HERE to pay now (credit card, debit card, or PayPal are accepted; all payments are processed through PayPal). After you pay, an email confirmation will be sent to the name and email address you enter into PayPal (or the one associated with your PayPal account) within a day or so. If you need to change the name and email address please let us know.
Conference Speakers and Participants
There are many opportunities where you can participate:
- Informative and inspiring presentations from leading publishing industry experts
- 5 days of content, with no overlapping presentations, so you can easily see all of the speakers. – and don’t worry – attendees can enjoy session recordings for the following 3 months.
- Live Q&A discussions with featured speakers (via Zoom) – an opportunity for you to ask the speakers questions
- After you register for the conference you will have the opportunity to pay for up to four 1-on-1 virtual meetings with a variety of publishing industry experts. (These meetings are $10 each; Separate registration required; Sign up is available after you register for the conference.) Learn more here.
- Networking Breaks – unmoderated, informal times for you to chat with other conference attendees
- “Submit Your Pitch!” – Within two months afterwards, submit your book proposal or pitch to the conference’s industry speakers (email it to Brian Allain, who will forward it)
- Open mic session – Attendees will have the opportunity to present a short excerpt of their writing to other conference attendees. Each speaker will have 5 minutes, including their introduction and reading. Don’t miss this important, but optional, opportunity to gain experience reading your work, and to support your fellow writers! Each speaker will be limited to 5 minutes. Sign-up will be available after you register for the conference – first-come, first-served.
- Elevator pitch practice – Practice delivering your 50-word elevator pitch, and get feedback from other attendees and Brian Allain. No sign-up required.
- Conference Contact List – We will maintain an online spreadsheet where attendees can (optionally) share their name, email address, website, and social media info with other attendees if they would like.
- Attendee contact info (names and email addresses) will be provided to conference speakers
- Private Facebook Group for PIC conference attendees – stay in touch before, during, and after the conference
Optional seminar: The Business of Being a Spiritual Writer (separate registration required)
By registering, all conference participants agree to abide by our Code of Conduct and Release Agreement.
A limited number of scholarships are available for the Publishing in Color online conference. These scholarships cover the cost of conference attendance but no other expenses. They are intended for students and others who cannot afford the registration fee. You can apply for a scholarship here.
Registration Now Open! CLICK HERE to pay now (credit card, debit card, or PayPal are accepted; all payments are processed through PayPal). After you pay, an email confirmation will be sent to the name and email address you enter into PayPal (or the one associated with your PayPal account) within a day or so. If you need to change the name and email address please let us know.
Writing for Your Life is pleased to offer 1.0 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for pastors for this writers’ conference. Writing for Your Life is the parent company of Publishing in Color and is a member of the Association of Leaders in Lifelong Learning for Ministry (formerly the Society for the Advancement of Continuing Education for Ministry).
Profits from Publishing in Color conferences are donated to the Publishing in Color Scholarship Fund or to future Publishing in Color conference sponsorships.
All information subject to change.
Comments from our previous conferences:
Check out this video, where one of our conference alums describes how a Publishing in Color conference helped her land a three book deal!
Al: My being present at this conference was a God Send! I was beyond inspired by all of…..EVERYTHING! So many wonderful writers and people, I am getting emotional just thinking about all of my wonderful encounters! My life has been changed…
Lorri: Thank you so much for a tremendous experience. This conference has opened up a significant new door in ministry for me.
[Name withheld for privacy]: Yesterday I was informed by Fortress Press that their senior leadership team voted to accept my book proposal. Contract and advance on the way! Thank you!Monica: This event was truly amazing. Words are not enough to fully express the life changing impact that it had on me as an up and coming writer.
Chelle: The single most encouraging writing fellowship experience of my life. I cannot begin to thank you enough. I was blessed.
[Name withheld for privacy]: I am pleased to shared that one of the publishers at the conference has extended a long term publishing contract (5 book series) to me! My literary agent is preparing the contract as I write. I knew when I read the article about this inaugural writers conference that something good would happen. Thank you again for your vision…Kym: I was deeply inspired and delighted to be in the company of such fine people.
Richard: Had an amazing couple days at @publishincolor. Loved listening, learning, and contributing in whatever way I could. Met so many brilliant people, feeling very honored to have been a part of it.
Lisa: Thank you @publishincolor and @writing4urlife for an incredible two days. I’m energized by the conversations!
[Name withheld for privacy]: I have been selected as one of the winners of the Guideposts Magazine Writers Workshop contest which was advertised at the Publishing in Color Conference. What a privilege it was to attend the conference and network with so many wonderful writers, speakers, publishers, and agents. I would not have learned about this opportunity if you were not doing this great work.Donna: This conference was groundbreaking. It was not only the first of its kind, a much needed gathering of underrepresented writers, BUT every keynote, workshop, one-on-one, lunch conversation, business card exchange, and photograph taken broke up the soil in my writing that had begun to dry out and harden. I emerge from this conference with fresh soil ready to be tilled and cultivated to bear fruit.
Kem: Had the BEST time at #PIC2018! Awesome experience building relationships with writers, agents and publishers!
Lisa: One @publishincolor workshop presenter had me in tears, cue the music, pass the tissue; one of us whose heart for God has always been pure gold; writing exercise was lit, we were late getting food the creative fare was so yummy!
Shannon: @publishincolor Thank you for creating a fantastic conference for Black Christian writers. It was such an affirming and supportive environment for my mind and spirit. It felt like home.
Lisa: Ever cry so much your eyeballs hurt? That’s how I’m feeling heading home on train from @publishincolor — all were happy tears; deeply emotional being in such a spiritually charged, creative, COLORful space!
Carolyn: It was such a great conference. I was impressed and inspired by all the wonderful speakers and the folks I had a chance to chat with. Thank you for the wonderful work you did to make this happen. Truly- thank you.
Ed: Thank you so much. I’m still floating on cloud nine from this conference.
Bonetta: Just wanted to say Thank You So Much, for such a FABULOUS Spiritual Writer’s Conference. I have truly learned so much, met some truly amazing people and received a lot of great information. Just Wonderful. I am so glad I attended.
Lorri: This was so informative and self-acknowledging. It was a great experience and the conference for me was mind-blowing.
Maryam: Thank you for a wonderful conference!
Francine: I thoroughly enjoyed the conference. It was very insightful and encouraging. I am confident that the Lord has ordered my steps. And significant relationships and connects are being established as a result of the conference.
Jacqueline: I wanted to express my gratitude while the memories are still fresh! Thank you for all of your hard work in not only assembling a stellar list of publishing professionals but attracting a great group of conferees to attend the conference. As a conferee, I benefited from both. May God bless you for your sacrifice of time and energy for putting it all together! I will be sure to let you know how God is working in my life and the lives of others after attending this stellar event!
Lisa: For two days, I received the visual and auditory proof. Indeed, it soon became clear from things I saw and heard that there is genuine interest in publishing more ethnic voices.
Lynne: This was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced.
Frank: It has been amazingly successful and I hope you get the sense that all have been blessed by the conversations.
Toussaint: The workshop was more than I expected. I learned so much and met a lot of amazing Publishing houses, Agents, Editors, Magazines and amazing guest speakers.