What we're looking for:

Submission Guidelines:

• include between one and five participants, including the moderator

• session time - forty-five to sixty minutes in length for in-person events

• include a title, description, and statement of value

• include participant bios

• include a session outline

FLAC membership is not required to propose or participate in a conference event.

 

Timeline:

April 2023 - June 2023 (specific dates to be announced) 

 

Roles & Responsibilities:

Organizer: The event organizer is the person who submits the event to FLAC. This person will be the main point of contact for FLAC staff and will act as the liaison between FLAC and the participants. The organizer of the event doesn’t necessarily need to be a participant.

 

Moderator: The moderator oversees event proceedings and must ensure that presentation, discussion, and/or reading time is managed appropriately within the event’s allotted time. The moderator is considered an event participant and is expected to adhere to FLAC’s participation guidelines, policies, and limitations. The moderator’s biographical note will be included in the online conference schedule. Please note: While the moderator is responsible for managing the content of the conference event, the event organizer is responsible for submitting all relevant paperwork to FLAC and for serving as the liaison between FLAC and the event participants.

 

Participant: Also popularly called presenters, participants in events are those who have been added by the organizer.

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Limits on Participation: Each participant may be included on up to three event proposals and up to two conference events. It is rare for three proposals for one individual to be accepted, but in the case that this happens, that participant would need to step down from one of their events to comply with the two-event limit. The two-event limit includes both in-person and virtual conference events. 

 

Events:

Readings: Each reading features two to five writers. Presses may also propose events in this category, including anniversary readings celebrating milestones in their publishing history.

 

Panel Discussions: Craft & Criticism: These events focus on the craft of writing. Presenters who read from or discuss their own work during these panel discussions do so in a limited capacity (not longer than five minutes), and only to expand upon the discussion of other texts, authors, or subjects.

Examples:

• Fiction Craft & Criticism

• Multiple Literary Genres Craft & Criticism

• Nonfiction Craft & Criticism

• Poetry Craft & Criticism

• Children’s & Young Adult Literature

• Playwriting & Screenwriting

• Translation

 

Panel Discussions: Professional & Industry: These events focus on the professional aspects of working in the writing industry, including the perspectives of writers championing their own work, publishing industry professionals, and/or individuals managing other literary organizations.

Examples:

• Agents, Contracts, Contests & Marketing

• Artistic & Professional Development

• Publishing, Editing, & Technology

• Writers’ Conferences & Centers

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Panel Discussions: Academic: These events focus on the practice of teaching writing, particularly in academic settings.

Examples:

• Pedagogy

• Program Development

• Discussion Rooms

 

 

Notification:

All event organizers will be notified of submission results via email in July. Event confirmation forms and formal letters of acceptance will be sent via email shortly thereafter. Your confirmation form must be completed, signed electronically, and returned to FLAC no later than July 20, 2023 for the accepted event to appear in the 2023 conference schedule.

 

All presenters must register for the conference and can do so at our reduced presenter rate. The rate will be made available to all presenters, who will be notified via email about how and when to register.

 

Presenter registration includes admission to FLAC’s bookfair, meetings, panels, readings, discussion rooms, and public receptions for the duration of the conference period. Meals, lodging, and travel are not included. 

 

FLAC reserves the right to reject any panel proposal if one or more of its proposed participants fails to meet the guidelines set forth here. 

 

If your event is accepted, you and your fellow panelists must execute the event as it was described in your proposal. Panelists who fail to execute their accepted panel as it is described in the event proposal submission may forfeit their participation in future conferences.

 

Consider revising and resending a previously rejected panel. Each year, FLAC is unable to accept a number of high-quality panels because of space and resource limitations. Because the composition of the conference subcommittee changes from year to year, we encourage you to resubmit if the panel topic remains relevant.