Wordfest Gathering in Baltimore 2026 - Who Knew? I Didn't...Until

Terri Tomoff
2 days ago
3 min read

On the first Saturday of this month (March 7), I went to the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. I had no idea that this was a thing, even though I write daily and am in several writing groups (all online).

But when writer Susan Walter off-handedly stated on a Badass Sister Zoom call a couple of weeks ago that she was on her way to Baltimore in a couple of hours, I interrupted her (a big no-no on a Zoom call, or at least in my book) to ask why. We live less than 30 minutes from downtown, especially on an early Saturday morning. Come to find out she was headed to Baltimore for a three-day Writer’s Conference at the Convention Center. I could only go on Saturday with pricing set at $25 for the day - a bargain - since the entire conference pricing was over $500.

For me, it was an eye-opening experience. I’ve been to many quilt shows, and even was the quilt show chairwoman for my guild for several years running, so I know what it takes to put on a show, except this time it was for books, writing, poetry, and possibly pitching ideas to “those gatekeepers,” should one want to go with a large or small publishing house. When I walked into the large book-selling area with 695 “vendors”, I kept expecting to see quilts hanging everywhere!

Come to find out that these book-writing events attract and entertain over 10,000 people, including the weekend in Charm City. I’m so glad I interrupted her (of course, I profusely apologized to Susan at the time). Next year, the conference will be in Chicago. Last year’s conference was held in Los Angeles. The very first conference was held in 1973 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. It certainly gets around the USA with lots of people in attendance, much to my surprise.

FYI: The London Book Fair started the week after the Baltimore one. It must be that time of year for book and writing conferences. I learned about this fair from Brit Author, Emma Gannon, on Substack, who is also a prolific writer and presenter there.

Back in Baltimore, I went to four sessions about writing/going it alone without an agent/publishing/comps, and more. If you like reading anything about writing/publishing from Jane Friedman (she is a rock star), Susan and I sat in the second row at that presentation. She and her panel were very informative about many processes we all go through as writers.

As we all know, the industry is changing rapidly. There are so many options for publishing and getting our words out into the world. I was glad I went to hear so many other perspectives about the whole enchilada!

Lastly, Susan and I perused the vendors, her asking the right questions to the publishing houses (many university presses) to see if our “medical memoirs” would garner some interest. I was quite surprised when two of the 695 vendors may be interested in The Focused Fight’s “second edition,” since the vendors were top-heavy on poets and poetry. I’m going to be in touch with one (I’ll email him this week, as he asked me to).

So, who knows what may come of this? It doesn’t hurt to try, and I will. The press has a new series out called “Connective Tissue,” which my/our second edition or sequel with Hubby Bill may actually “fit” into their agenda. Again, it is a very long shot, but giving it the old college try may be fun!

bSoleille!

Terri