Join ACFW DFW on Saturday, April 9, 2022, from 9a-2:30p for the Annual Writers Mini conference, Diving Deep. This is an online event. Registration is required – click the button below to register via TicketLeap.
Four speakers, five presentations. Loads of information for your writing journey, swag mailed (if registered by March 31), door prize drawings (must be present to win), community connections, and so much fun!
- $30 for ACFW DFW members
- $35 for ACFW members
- $40 for non-members
- $25 for students (w/ student ID)
4 Speakers - 5 Presentations
Hallee Bridgeman will be presenting, Writing Quickly With Layers. In this presentation, Bridgeman will take attendees through her process of writing a full-length novel very quickly by layering in different elements at a time.
Bridgeman is the USA TODAY bestselling author of several action-packed romantic suspense books and series. An Army brat turned Floridian, she settled with her husband in central Kentucky, where they have raised their three children.
When she’s not writing, Bridgeman pursues her passion for cooking, coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. An accomplished speaker and active member of several writing organizations, Bridgeman can be found online at www.halleebridgeman.com.
She invites readers to sign up for her newsletter (and receive a free book) at: https://www.halleebridgeman.com/newsletter
Deb Haggerty will be presenting, Publishing 101, discussing what goes on behind the scenes once you sign a publishing contract, plus tips to get ready to submit to an acquisitions editor or publisher.
Haggerty has been involved in Christian speaking and writing since 1995. She is well known in the industry for her teaching at Christian writers’ conferences such as Glorieta, Blue Ridge Mountains, Florida, Montrose, Mt. Hermon, and NCWA. Her workshops on publishing, communication, networking, topic development, and the business of writing are popular with conferees.
Haggerty took a hiatus from speaking when she was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer in 2000. Led to stay home and care for her family, she soldiered through the death of her mother-in-law, her stepson, and her mother. In 2016, Haggerty and her husband bought the assets of Elk Lake Publishing, Inc.
Since then, the company has gained a reputation for publishing positive books, encouraging new and experienced authors alike, and participating in the education of upcoming writers. Haggerty’s mission is to come alongside the authors God gives her to ensure their work is produced professionally to bless readers. Several Elk Lake books have won awards.
Prior to her speaking and writing endeavors, Haggerty worked in corporate America for almost twenty-five years in a variety of assignments from sales, marketing, consulting, recruiting, and management.
Elk Lake Publishing, a traditional, royalty-paying publisher, acquires a variety of books in all genres of fiction from children’s to adult. They also publish nonfiction “with a twist.” At this juncture, they’re looking primarily for fiction—especially mystery/suspense, contemporary women’s, romance, and speculative along with selected nonfiction. No cozy Amish, cowboy westerns, memoirs, devotionals, Bible studies, or poetry.
For further info about Haggerty, visit her at the following: Deb Haggerty-Facebook, Positive Grace, Positive Hope, Positive Connect, and Pinterest.
Haggerty will take a limited number of appointments for authors to pitch their books. First come, first served, so sign up now!
Sandra Merville Hart
, will be discussing, Tracking your Writer Income & Expenses. Ever wonder how to track your conference fees, mileage to meetings, or marketing costs? Hart’s accounting background gave her a great foundation for setting up a system to track her writing income and expenses. She’ll show writers an organized method of tracking income and expenses on spreadsheets. As a bonus, learn how to maintain an inventory of your own books and an easy way to calculate your cost and income on books sold.
*NOTE: This presentation is not intended to be tax advice. Attendees should ask their Tax Consultant for allowable tax expenses.
Hart, an award-winning and Amazon bestselling author of inspirational historical romances, loves to discover little-known yet fascinating facts from American history to include in her stories. Wild Heart Books published Avenue of Betrayal, Book 1 in her “Spies of the Civil War” series in February of 2022. Boulevard of Confusion, Book 2, releases in May.
Hart’s next series with the same publisher, as yet unnamed, begins in the decade following the Civil War. She loves to highlight American history in her novels. In addition to writing, she is also a blogger, speaker, teacher, and past Executive Editor for DevoKids.com. She serves on the Planning Committee for Faith & Fellowship Book Festival and as Treasurer for ACFW Ohio Chapter. She has taught at writers’ conferences, women’s retreats, writers’ groups, and spoken at book clubs.
Connect with Hart on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, Amazon Author Page, and BookBub.
Kimberley Woodhouse, Our Keynote Speaker for the event, will be presenting twice during the conference. Her first presentation, Deep POV, will explore how writing with deep point of view can improve character depth.
Woodhouse will also present her keynote address, Spiritual Depth in our WIP (Work in Progress), in which she’ll delve into how a writer’s own spiritual depth affects our Works In Progress.
Woodhouse is a devoted wife and mother, and a third generation Liszt student. She has passed down her love of music and the arts to hundreds of students over the years, recorded three albums, and appeared at over 2,000 venues to more than a million people. Her quick wit, enthusiasm, and positive outlook through difficult circumstances have gained her audiences at conferences, retreats, churches, military functions, and seminars all over the country.
The Woodhouse family’s (rare medical) story has been on the front page of newspapers, in magazines, articles, medical journals, and most famously featured on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They were also asked to share their story on The Montel Williams Show and Discovery Health Channel’s Mystery ER along with hundreds of other TV appearances and radio interviews.
Woodhouse has been writing seriously for more than twenty years. Songs, plays, short stories, novels, picture books, articles, newsletters – you name it – she’s written it. It wasn’t until a dear friend challenged her to “do something with it” that she pursued publication. Now, she is a best-selling author of more than two dozen books, with more on the way. She has won The Carol Award, The Reader’s Choice Award, The Holt Medallion, and was a finalist in the Selah Awards and the Spur Awards.
She is passionate about Bible study, reading, music, cooking, and pretty-much-all-things-crafty. Woodhouse has been married to her incredible husband for twenty-nine years and counting and they have two married adult children.
More can be learned about Woodhouse by visiting her at any of the following: kimberleywoodhouse.com, bookbub, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
ACFW DFW REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS and MEMBERSHIP Info
Please note: The annual mini conference is classed as a special event. However, in general, Guests to ACFW-DFW regular monthly meetings may attend for free for the first two visits. After that, per ACFW national guidelines, guests must become national and local members for continued participation.
If you’re a national ACFW member and a member of your local ACFW that is not ACFW-DFW, you can also become an affiliate of ACFW-DFW (Affiliate Membership = $5 per year). Affiliate membership allows you to attend the full year of our monthly meetings. All affiliate and local ACFW-DFW participants pay a $3 attendance fee per meeting. If you do not have a local chapter, you are welcome to join ACFW-DFW as a full-fledged member. Plans are in the works for hybrid meetings (a mix between online and in-person) once we start meeting back face-to-face.
Contact acfwdfw@gmail.com for further info. Yearly local dues and monthly meeting fees can be paid at https://acfwdfw-109619.square.site/. (For meeting fees, click on “more/monthly meeting”).
For further information about this and other ACFW DFW events, visit our other social media sites: ACFW DFW Facebook, ACFW DFW Twitter, and ACFW DFW Instagram.