Writing Tips – Author Shelley Marsh

Writing conferences offer valuable opportunities to hone your craft and build your network. They are also a major investment, so it’s important to plan strategically. Some conferences focus on writing craft, while others are more about meeting authors, pitching agents, or competing for awards. Decide what’s most important to you, your goals, and your stage of writing.

As I gather information about upcoming conferences and workshops, I will update the information here in hopes that other writers might find it helpful. Please comment below if you’d like to share additional conferences I’ve missed. Because I write primarily mystery, most of the conferences focus on that genre, but I’ve sprinkled in a few additional opportunities.

January 31: Sunshine State Book Festival, Gainesville, FL

I wanted to include something for every month, so I decided to include the Sunshine State Book Festival in Gainesville, Florida. While the event’s main focus is selling and promoting books, they also offer a one-day writing workshop on January 31 for $80. The book festival on Saturday is free.

https://sunshinestatebookfestival.com/writers-workshop/

February 1: Murder in the Magic City, Birmingham, AL

Murder in the Magic City is a one-day, in-person conference in Birmingham, AL. If you are intimidated by enormous events, this intimate conference will be more your speed. It is held in the Homewood Library and features panel discussions and presentations by guests of honor Miranda James and Diane Kelly. Registration is $40.

http://www.mmcmysteryconference.com/

March 13-16, 2025: Left Coast Crime in Denver, Colorado

Left Coast Crime will be held in Denver, Colorado in 2025. A day-long writing workshop will be held on March 12 for an additional fee. (conference $379, workshop $100) This conference focuses on networking and meeting authors, with an award ceremony as the highlight. I’ve heard it described as a “mini Bouchercon.”

https://leftcoastcrime.org/2025/

April 25-27, 2025: Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland

Malice Domestic is a fan-focused conference that provides a plethora of opportunities to network and meet authors. (Basic registration: $315, Comprehensive registration: $315)

https://www.malicedomestic.net/registration

May 14-18, 2025: Sleuthfest in St. Petersburg, Florida

Florida Mystery Writers of America will hold their 2025 conference in St. Petersburg, Florida on May 14-18, 2025. (MWA and Sisters in Crime members $400, Non-members $425)

https://sleuthfest.com/register/

June 17-21, 2025: Thrillerfest, New York City

Thrillerfest has multiple tracks, including Master Class, CraftFest, ThrillerFest, and QueryFest. Regular Registration for the basic ThrillerFest track is $525.

https://thrillerfest.com/conference-schedule/

July 26, 2025: DOUBLE VISION in Jacksonville, Florida

This is a shameless plug for my chapter of Sisters in Crime located in Northeast Florida. This year’s event will have two speakers. Author JD Allen will lead the writing craft portion of the workshop, and Tammy Euliano will lead a seminar on writing tech platforms, including Scrivener.

Details about this workshop are forthcoming, but for now, see http://www.nefloridasistersincrime.org

August 21-24, 2025: Killer Nashville

Killer Nashville offers an opportunity to develop your writing craft, gain valuable research for your mystery/thriller/suspense novels, and meet authors, agents, and editors. Registration is $469. I attended Killer Nashville in 2021 and found it to be informative and fun. I will add one caveat, and that is it’s not really in Nashville. It’s in a small town just south of the city, but I guess Killer Franklin didn’t have the same ring. One of the few writing awards for unpublished manuscripts, the Claymore, is awarded along with the Silver Falchion for published works at an award ceremony on the last night of the conference.

https://www.killernashville.com/register

September 3-7, 2025: Bouchercon New Orleans

Bouchercon is probably the biggest mystery writers’ convention in the US. This fan-focused event offers expert panels and author talks. The Anthony Awards are the key event. Cost is $250.

https://www.bouchercon2025.com/

October 17-19, 2025: Florida WritersCon, Altamonte Springs

Florida WritersCon is for writers of all genres, not just mystery. It features writing workshops, panels, and keynote speakers. The Royal Palm Literary Awards are open to published and unpublished works. All entries receive judges’ feedback as opposed to other contests where you have to pay an additional fee for critique notes. Registration fee is TBA.

https://www.floridawriters.org/florida-writerscon

November 7-9, 2025: New England Crime Bake

Crime Bake is presented by the New England chapter of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. This year’s event will feature Guests of Honor Gabino Iglesias and Lori Rayder-Day.

http://www.crimebake.org

Many aspiring writers want to know whether or not they can use song lyrics in their manuscripts.

Why do so many writers want to include lyrics in their writing?

I think it’s because using lyrics is like taking a shortcut. The song conveys a feeling the writer wishes to convey. They want readers to pick up on that feeling and feel it themselves.

So, can you use song lyrics?

The short answer is NO. Unless the song is in the public domain, which takes much longer to happen than you’d think, you need to get permission to use song lyrics. Obtaining permission is usually prohibitively expensive.*

Here’s a Work-Around

I’ve come up with a work-around for this problem. When I want my characters to sing or listen to music, I think about what I’m trying to convey through the mention of this music, and I choose a song that conveys the message IN THE TITLE, not just the lyrics.

Titles aren’t protected under copyright.

You might be surprised to hear that, for the most part, titles can’t be copyrighted. EVEN BOOK TITLES. A quick search on Amazon reveals that there are multiple books with the same title as other books–even bestsellers. For example, there are multiple books titled “The Beach House.”

Mention the song title but don’t include lyrics

You can mention the song title in your novel. Choose a song that conveys the feeling or sentiment you want to get across in the title. This may require giving up on your first choice if the song title doesn’t establish mood. However, if the song is well-known by the general public, you may consider that your reader will get the feeling you want just by mentioning the song. The reader may see the title and immediately “hear” the song in their head if it’s popular enough.

You can take the shortcut, but consider this alternative

Instead of “taking the shortcut” by using a song to impart feelings, try conveying this feeling in other ways.

Use deep point of view to convey what your character is feeling in the moment.
Consider any physical markers of the feeling your character is experiencing and describe them as if you are in the character’s body, feeling those sensations. See “The Emotion Thesaurus” by Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman for examples.
Use metaphors or atmosphere to reflect how your character is feeling. (Example: A character feels lonely, so you describe them watching a solitary bird flying across an empty sky. It’s just an example–don’t judge me.)

* “But [Bestselling Author] included lyrics in [Bestselling Novel]”

I’ve only seen bestselling novelists include lyrics, and that’s because they sell so many books, they or their publishers have the means to purchase the rights to do so. One example I can think of, off the top of my head, is Elin Hilderbrand and her book “28 Summers.” She uses music for the purpose of establishing setting/timeline at the beginning of each chapter.

Quotations? Italics?

The Chicago Manual of Style recommends using quotation marks for song titles and italics for larger works such as albums or plays.

Don’t sue me!

I’m not a lawyer. This is just my personal advice based on internet research. Seek professional advice to make sure you don’t get sued, and we’ll both be happy.

Writing Conferences in 2025