Make a Spark! Conference Registration is Live

Writers’ conference season has begun! Several conferences have caught my eye this year, and I’ve already registered for my favorite Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in May, which is the biggest conference I’ll attend this year. But the first conference on my calendar is Spark Flash Fiction’s Make a Spark! Conference, a one-day virtual conference held on Saturday, March 2, 11:00 a.m. – 4:20 p.m. EST. The conference boasts a dynamic lineup, and priced at just $35, Make a Spark! is a worthy investment of time and resources.

The Spark Flash Fiction staff had a blast brainstorming our ideas for this year’s conference. We are especially thrilled to have best-selling author Toni Shiloh teach a class on romantic tension. We’ve finalized all of our classes, and I could not be more excited! While the conference will focus on flash fiction—naturally— many of our topics apply to all fiction writing and marketing. Here is the rundown:

After a welcome and introductions, attendees will have a choice between two breakout offerings for Class 1:

• Designed with writers newer to flash fiction in mind, How to Write Romantic Flash Fiction will instruct participants on crafting a romantic flash fiction story that has all the elements of a longer story—the sweet, funny, and tender moments that make a spark—without needing more than 1000 words.
• The second option, Hitting Your Word Count – Self-Editing Tips, is geared toward writers with a bit of experience with flash fiction. By walking through a real story example, this class will help writers learn how to tighten their stories and eliminate unnecessary words to create a stronger piece.

Following the first class, we’ll take a quick break to gather lunch and then continue with a lunch-and-learn session: Working with an Editor: Mastering Track Changes and Feeling Confident in the Editing Process. This class will provide an interactive look into the editing process as well as answer questions about using track changes so you can approach this new phase with confidence.

Class 2 will focus on promotion with Utilizing Canva for Author Marketing. Social media is crucial for getting the word out about your story or novel. Canva is a popular user-friendly tool to create attention-grabbing graphics to use on social media, on websites, or in newsletters. This class will give conferees tips and trips to create eye-catching marketing materials to share their work with the world.

Our final class of the conference will be taught by award-winning author Toni Shiloh, who will cover The Balancing Act: Using Tension to Keep the Reader Engaged. Tension is king in romance stories, and finding the right balance between satisfying reader expectations and keeping them guessing is crucial to reader engagement. With more than two dozen romance novels published, Shiloh will guide participants in the fine art of tugging on readers’ heartstrings to keep them turning the page.

Doesn’t this look like a fantastic conference?! Registration is now open, so snag your spot today for this valuable, info-packed conference!