2012 proved to be a difficult year for many of us, and we’re sorry to have to begin 2013 on such a sad note. Circumstances beyond our control have caused us to cancel the Catholic Writers Conference Online, which was scheduled for March 4-15. It was a combination of several factors, and not a decision reached lightly. We had high hopes for this conference and some wonderful workshops planned, but alas, it was not meant to be.

We'd like to thank the generous people who volunteered to present and moderate at CWCO in March; it is through no fault of yours that the conference faltered this year.

In the meantime, we are still going ahead with the writers’ retreat October 13-17, 2013, at St. Francis Retreat Center, Dewitt MI. The speakers will be Michelle Buckman, Al Kresta, Father Matthias Thelen, David Krajewski. We are not sure of the fee yet, but will keep you informed.

In addition, we are also holding the Catholic Writers’ Conference Live on August 7-9, 2013 - Garden State Exhibition Center, Somerset, NJ. We are in need of presenters, and thanks to a generous contribution, are able to pay small stipends to speakers this year. Please contact Ann Lewis at treasurer(at)catholicwritersguild.com if interested. We will also need volunteers, and as always, will provide hotel rooms and free admission.

What does a presenter do at CWCO?

Chat presenters:

* Select a topic or topics they can teach in a moderated chat.
* Agree to a one-hour (or longer) chat with attendees in a text-based chat room.
* Prepare a 15-20 minute "lecture" on their topic (500-1000 words or more as desired)
* Show up at the appointed time, post their lecture in the chat and answer questions.

Forum presenters:

* Select a topic they can teach in a week-long forum.
* Plan 4-7 lessons with "lecture" and assignments
* Show up on the forums at least once a day during the conference to post a new lesson, answer questions in the forum and provide personal feedback on any homework done by the attendees.

Presenters are welcome to do both chat and forum, and to do multiple workshops as they desire.

Publishers who want to hear pitches:

* Agree to a one-hour pitch session in the chat room.
* Provide CWCO organizers their guidelines or a link to guidelines
* Show up at designated time and hear/decide upon pitches. (Pitches last up to 7 minutes each.)

Interested? Sign up here: http://catholicwritersconference.com/index.php?name=Content&pid=13

Mark your calendars now! The Catholic Writers Conference Online will be March 4-15, 2013.

As usual, we'll have hour-long chats and week-long workshops, plus opportunities to pitch to Catholic and secular publishers and (hopefully) agents. In addition, we're trying to schedule some critique sessions.

Is anyone interested in one-on-one sessions with editors or marketing experts specifically to address your work? We had some success with this at the live conferences; however, it may require a session-specific fee, which would go to the expert. This fee would only be for those requesting a one-on-one. If interested, please take the interest survey:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFJDYXBLdHZaN2Jrd00xOWJoMTNETUE6MQ#gid=0

Want to Present? If you have a workshop or chat and would like to present, please register using this link: http://catholicwritersconference.com/index.php?name=Content&pid=13

REGISTRATION IS OPEN:

NEW ATTENDEES, register at http://catholicwritersconference.com/index.php?name=Your_Account&file=register.

RETURNING ATTENDEES: please fill out the survey below.

Mark your calendars now! The Catholic Writers Conference Online will be March 4-15, 2013. We're already starting to look at the line-up with all your old favorites and some new presenters as well.

Next year, we'll begin with a bang with the one-hour chat presentations, then move on to forum workshops.

We will be needing volunteers. If you can help organize, promote or moderate during the conference, please contact Karina Fabian at info(at)catholicwritersconference.com.

We hope you enjoyed the forums this past week. Our presenters dis an excellent job putting together some terrific information. All of the forums are still up for viewing, so you may read the questions and the comments. However, several have been locked and you may no longer post questions, comments or homework.

HOWEVER, the following are still open for comments, homework, etc.:

1. All the Conference Information forums

2. Several of the Weekly Workshop forums. These are marked "EXTENDED." The presenters have generously offered another week of their time to teach.

3. All the CWG Forums

4. Al the social forums.

Please enjoy, and don't forget we have an intense week of chats for you!