Now in its 25th year, the annual Southern Christian Writers Conference (SCWC) has added a special feature to this year’s lineup.
The first-ever National Award for the Encouragement of Writing will be presented to Cecil “Cec” Murphey during SCWC 2016, which will be held June 17–18 at First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa. Murphey is the author or co-author of more than 130 books, including the national bestseller “90 Minutes in Heaven” and “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story.”
Murphey earned a master of divinity degree from Columbia Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, and an honorary doctor of literature from Richmond Virginia Seminary. Prior to pursuing a career in writing he served as a pastor, a hospital chaplain and a missionary in Kenya.
Conference speakers
At SCWC participants have the opportunity to hear from prominent keynote speakers and attend breakout sessions led by authors, editors, publishers and more.
Keynote speakers for the weekend will be Lurlene McDaniel and Patricia Sprinkle. The author of more than 70 novels, McDaniel will speak June 17 on “Selling Your Christian Worldview to the Secular Market.” Sprinkle, the author of 25 novels and five nonfiction books, will speak on “The Mystery of Why We Write” on June 18.
Participants also will have the opportunity to schedule individual sessions with 1 of 3 literary agents: Julie Gwinn, an agent with The Seymour Agency and freelance book editor; Bruce Barbour, former publishing executive and founder of Literary Management Group; and Karen Moore, award-winning author of more than 60 books and nearly 10,000 greeting cards.
Additional SCWC 2016 speakers and their individual session topics include:
- Lawayne Childrey, co-author of “Self-Publishing & Selling Your Book” — “Marketing and Selling Your Book”
- Debbie Dickinson, editor of Mature Living — “How to Catch an Editor’s Attention”
- Denise George, Birmingham-based author of 30 books — “Writing Non-fiction Books”
- Wesley Harris, founder of consulting service Write Crime Right — “Researching Your Story Without Leaving Home”
- Ramona Richards, editor of more than 300 books — “10 Tips to Winning an Editor’s Heart”
- Christopher Sloan, freelance magazine writer and author — “Using Your Writing as a Spiritual Gift”
- David Sloan, author and professor emeritus at the University of Alabama — “How To Self-Publish Your Book”
- Joanne Sloan, publisher of Vision Press — “The 10 Most Common Grammatical Errors — And How to Handle Them”
- Laurie Stroud, founder and president of The Christian Family Publication — “Writing for City and Regional Publications”
- Grace Thornton, freelance writer and author of “I Don’t Wait Anymore” — “Working with Christian Editors”
- Jan Turrentine, editor with the United Methodist Publishing House — “Working with An Editor”
- Cheryl Wray, freelance writer and author of seven books — “Writing and Publishing Magazine Articles”
Registration
The winners of the SCWC Writing Contest will be announced at the conclusion of the conference.
Pre-registration for SCWC ends June 4. Those interested may register after June 4, but space is limited to 200 participants.
For more information or to register, visit www.scwconference.com.
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