2022 Ozark Writers Conference

Did you know that sales of audiobooks are expected to grow by ten times in the next 5 years?

That’s one of the tidbits I learned this week at the Ozark Writers Conference here in Eureka Springs.

Eureka is a popular writers’ destination thanks to events like this and the presence of the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow, a retreat that encourages putting pen to paper – or more accurately these days, fingers to keyboard, but that doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

For aspiring authors like myself, conferences are both completely unnecessary and absolutely essential. Sure, we could scavenge most of the same basic information from the nooks and crannies of the Internet, but writing is ultimately about human connection. Conferences kindle that in a way that Google can’t.

Connecting with speakers, who share insights from hard-won experience as successful authors or long-time industry insiders.

Connecting with fellow attendees, encouraging each other and broadening our horizons. This week, I met writers from Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida, as well as Arkansas.

Connecting with industry professionals, such as agents and editors, to help us navigate the unglamorous nuts and bolts of getting from idea to book.

The Ozark Writers Conference also offers fun writing contests. Sadly, “The Untimely Demise of Jedediah Banks,” my entry for the “paranormal Western short story” category, did not make the cut. Oh well, there’s always next time.