Do you write, edit, or speak in public? Want to tell your story, write a column, publish a book, share your knowledge, promote your organization…?

Find the tools and contacts you need at Write! Canada, where you’ll  “Ignite the Creative Side of Your Brain!”

No matter your profession, writing style, or experience level, there’s a place for you at Write! Canada 2010, Canada’s largest Christian writers’ conference, in Guelph, Ontario, June 17-19.

Dynamic keynote speaker Dr. Joel A. Freeman will show you how to improve your communication skills and maximize your productivity as he explores the conference theme “Ignite the Creative Side of Your Brain!”

Freeman is an executive success coach and specialist in organizational change—with a list of clients ranging from NASA, IKEA and the FBI to prime ministers, pro athletes and multi-national business leaders. Raised in Three Hills, Alberta, he has authored seven books, including If Nobody Loves You, Create the Demand.

Whether you’re a professional or beginner writer, you’ll find classes to help you take control of your own career, create additional markets, add complementary skills such as speaking or editing, publicize your cause or organization, use social media marketing, understand how digital innovations are revolutionizing the publishing industry, and learn how to benefit from new opportunities.

Skilled instructors leading the six-hour in-depth continuing sessions include Canadians Jim Taylor (editing), John Longhurst (media promotion), Sheila Wray Gregoire (public speaking), D. S. Martin (poetry) and Audrey Dorsch (memoir/biography), as well as Americans Michelle Buckman (fiction) and Ginger Kolbaba (personal experience writing).

The conference also offers 18 workshops, covering topics such as “Why you need a literary agent” taught by American agent Kelly Mortimer; “Writing an unconventional Christian novel” by former Zondervan editor Andy Meisenheimer; “Writing leads, transitions and endings” by writer Jeanette Lockerbie Stephenson; “Understanding e-books” by Wiley Publishing’s executive editor Don Loney and Production Technology Coordinator Jenna Magnus; “Writing romance novels” by Harlequin Love Inspired editor Melissa Endlich; and “Creating a blog guaranteed to succeed” by Ann Voskamp, author of A Holy Experience, a blog read by thousands daily.

You can also take advantage of networking opportunities, manuscript critique services, appointments with literary agents and editors, open-mike reading sessions and a well-stocked bookstore.

This event, in its 26th year, is organized by The Word Guild, a national association of writers and editors who are Christian.

N. J. Lindquist of Markham, Ontario, founder of The Word Guild and director of Write! Canada, says, “Canadian writers and speakers who are Christian have lots of great things to say. But they need to be said well, and we’re here to help with that. We aren’t likely to make an impact with our writing if we aren’t keeping up with the technology as well as the thought processes of our world.”

“It’s become harder to get published—and paid—by traditional media such as newspapers or book publishers today,” says Wendy E. Nelles of Toronto, The Word Guild’s other founder and co-director of Write! Canada. “At the same time, it’s now amazingly easy to share your writing with the public through blogs, self-published books and e-books.”

Lindquist and Nelles agree that in today’s changing publishing world, serious writers have to distinguish themselves by the quality of their work and their marketing savvy if they hope to get many readers or buyers.

The complete Press Release as a Word File.