Sep
25
to Sep 27

2025 General Membership Conference

  • The Westin Kansas City at Crown Center (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Registration

Click on the blue Register button below to get started.

Can't see any member rates? Having trouble logging in? ▿

First, scroll down and read the Notes & Instructions. If that doesn’t work and you can’t register,

Click here to go directly to the conference registration page of our membership website.

Banquet Menu Choices ▿

Notes

  • You'll make your menu selection in the registration form.
  • Be sure to mention any dietary restrictions or allergies.
  • All meals include a salad of Wild Mushroom and Asparagus with Baby Romaine, Shaved Grana & Truffle Emulsion, artisan rolls, Classic Tiramisu with Mocha Caramel Sauce, and Starbucks® regular and decaffeinated coffee & Teavana® tea.
  • Option 1 will add $14 to your conference fee.
  • Options 2 and 3 are listed as "free," but these options are included in the basic cost of your selected registration type (i.e., no additional fee is charged)

Menu Options

  1. Steak Au Poivre with Parmesan Dauphinoise Potato, Grilled Asparagus and Charred Pearl Onion, Cognac Cream. NOTE: This menu selection will add $14 (per registrant who selects this menu option) to your conference fee.

  2. Herb Marinated Chicken Breast with Wild Mushroom-Parmesan Risotto, Broccolini and Tarragon Glazed Baby Carrots, Garlic Cream

  3. Spinach Ravioli with Grilled Asparagus, Blistered Tomatoes, Creamy Mushroom Ragout

As usual, there will be a cash bar to purchase drinks before and during the banquet.

Registering for a full or half conference registration as a non-member? ▿

New for our 2025 conference, we will increase your registration fee by $25 and automatically add you to our membership roles as a 1-year member. That represents a 50% discount from our normal dues of $50. Does not apply for banquet-only registrations.


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Hotel

The Westin Kansas City at Crown Center

Details

  • 1 East Pershing Road
    Kansas City, MO, 64108

  • Phone: (816) 474-4400

  • Website

  • Map

  • No airport shuttle

MWSA Discount Rate

  • $205 plus tax

  • To register, click on this link:
    https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1741977351990&key=GRP&guestreslink2=true&app=resvlink

  • Phone: If you prefer to call;

    • Call the Westin Kansas City at Crown Center directly at 833-653-0459

    • Dates: September 25 (Thursday check in) through September 28 (Sunday check out)

    • Group Code: (Single Queen rooms at $205 plus tax

    Please note the name of the hotel representative assisting you. If you encounter any issues, please contact events@mwsa.co and enter REGISTRATION in the subject line.

    Important: The MWSA room block closes on September 4, 2025. Don’t delay—reserve your room today!

Overview

If you want to participate in a panel or would like to make a presentation, please let Rob Lofthouse know, using our Event Contact Form or email Rob directly at events@mwsa.co

Kansas City Attractions
click on a blue title below for details

What to do in Kansas City — Suggested Websites ▿

Top attractions

Websites

Kansas City for authors ▿

If you're an author visiting Kansas City, you can immerse yourself in the literary scene by visiting bookstores like Rainy Day Books, browsing the large collection at Prospero's, attending writing workshops at The Writers Place, participating in critique groups at the Kansas City Writers Meetup, or checking out the literary events hosted by the Kansas Book Festival.

Key literary spots in Kansas City:

  • Rainy Day Books: A prominent bookstore known for hosting frequent author events.
  • Prospero's: A large bookstore with a unique selection and charming atmosphere.
  • The Writers Place: A literary center offering writing workshops, readings, and writing groups.
  • Kansas City Writers Meetup: A group where writers can participate in critique sessions and meet other authors

Other literary activities in Kansas City:

  • Explore the Kansas Book Festival: Attend presentations, performances, and events aimed at different age groups.
  • Visit the Linda Hall Library: Check out the rare book room with a vast collection of volumes
  • Check out the local writing scene: Connect with other writers through writing groups and workshops
  • Attend author readings at local venues: Many bookstores and community centers host author events
  • Learn about Kansas City's literary history: Discover the city's literary landmarks and notable authors
  • Article about Kansas City literary history

Notable Kansas City authors ▿

Some notable authors from Kansas City include:

  • Gillian Flynn: Author of Gone Girl and a University of Kansas graduate
  • Jim Butcher: Author of The Dresden Files series
  • Adib Khorram: Popular YA author
  • Jen Mann: Author of People I Want to Punch in the Throat
  • Sarah Smarsh: New York Times bestselling author of Heartland and She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs
  • Grace LaJoy Henderson: Author of 30 books who grew up in Kansas City's Squier Park neighborhood

From generative AI search

 

Agenda

Volunteer Form

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Jan
2
12:00 AM00:00

2025 Season Starts

Each review and awards season starts (author submission window opens) on Jan 2. MWSA authors can submit books until June 1.

We normally announce finalists around mid-August, and present medals during our annual membership conference (Sept—Nov).

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Sep
26
to Sep 29
Conference

2024 Conference San Diego, CA

  • Wyndham Bayside San Diego (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Photos

We’d love to share any photo(s) you took during the conference. Use the button below to drag and drop your images to our MWSA Dropbox account. Thanks!

Hotel

WYNDHAM SAN DIEGO BAYSIDE

Note:

  1. The special hotel rate expired on September 3, and our conference registration window is now closed.

Click for map

Overview

MWSA conferences are a great opportunity for members to network and hone their writing skills. In addition, we have routinely gotten very favorable feedback on our conferences from past attendees. We have planned some very good seminars, and the Awards Banquet is always a hit. Our selected locations normally provide outstanding opportunities to visit popular tourist attractions along with top military related historical settings: the Alamo in San Antonio, the WWII museum in New Orleans, etc. This one is no exception as we are right next to the USS Midway and not far from a large Marine training center -- in case any of you want to enlist. :-)

San Diego is a great place to take the family on holiday. We encourage you to attend. As they say, "The more, the merrier."

You can use our Event Contact Form or email Bob directly at Events@mwsa.co if you have any questions.

See you in San Diego!

Agenda

View Event →
Jul
6
8:00 PM20:00

Announcement of 2024 Awards Finalists

MWSA will announce our 2024 Awards Finalists this Saturday, July 6, at 8 PM Eastern (7 Central, 6 Mountain, 5 Pacific Daylight Time).


The announcement will be broadcast on our Facebook and Instagram accounts at that time. You can watch the video live by yourself using the Facebook and Instagram links below.

But why watch by yourself when you can watch it with your fellow MWSA authors at a live online watch party? ;-)

Zoom Watch Party

This year, we’re trying something new: a finalist announcement watch party on Zoom. Join us 5-10-15 minutes before the scheduled time. Then, we’ll watch the video together live at the times listed above (8 PM Eastern).

After the video airs, we’ll spend another 15-30 minutes congratulating this year’s winners and/or fielding any questions you may have. Use the link below to join us on Zoom.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89879264354?pwd=0sqzjCEtps9AJ0OS3PggXPxVsIEoF9.1

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/MWSA.MembersPublic/live_videos

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/mwsa.member/

If you miss the live presentations, we’ll post the video on our website and our allied social media sites. We’ll also publish a list of our finalists on our 2024 season page shortly after the live video announcement (https://www.mwsadispatches.com/2024-season)

Good luck to all our 2024 authors!

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Jun
15
5:00 PM17:00
Writers Ed

Writers Ed Series: Writing for Screens Big and Small (Part 3)

Part 3, “Your Bible: Establishing your World, Tone, Theme, and creating the well from which your characters emerge,” by Greg Elliot

Where does your story take place? When does your story take place? The past? The future? And what’s your tone? Dark, with a sense of humor? Light, but with a serious streak? Laying out the foundation of your story in your bible.

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Jun
1
to Jun 2

2024 Awards Season: Submission Window Closes

MWSA’s 2024 season will start two weeks earlier than in years past.

We’ll start accepting author book submissions on January 2, 2024, and the window will remain open until June 1. This will give us more breathing room before this year’s awards banquet in San Diego, CA, on September 28, 2024.

We’ll provide further details as we approach the season kickoff. Stay tuned!

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Jan
2
12:00 AM00:00

2024 Awards Season Opens

MWSA’s 2024 season will start two weeks earlier than in years past.

We’ll start accepting author book submissions on January 2, 2024, and the window will remain open until June 1. This will give us more breathing room before this year’s awards banquet in San Diego, CA, on September 28, 2024.

We’ll provide further details as we approach the season kickoff. Stay tuned!

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Nov
9
4:00 PM16:00
Writers Ed

Writers Education Zoom with Greg Elliot

Click on the image above or use the link below to join us

Topic: Getting to the Heart of the Matter: How and When to Reveal Emotion

Presenter: Greg Elliot, Screenwriter/Writer/Editor
November 9, 2023, at 4 PM EST

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81667323159?pwd=eH2oAsuNw5sXqgk49FHQGHK4ONQXdG.1

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Sep
14
to Sep 17
Conference

2023 Conference New London, CT

Photos & Videos

If you took photos or videos during the conference and are willing to share them, please let us know.

A special thanks to Kathleen Rodgers for steering us to the photos she posted to her blog.

Hotel

The Holiday Inn North

35 Governor Winthrop Blvd., New London, CT 06320

Google Maps | Hotel Website

The total room price is $263.35 (including taxes & fees) and covers a room with either one or two king-sized beds). This price is valid until the room block is full or August 26, 2023, whichever comes first.

To book your room, use: 1-860-443-7000; please do not use booking sites. When registering at the hotel, tell them the room is for the "MWS Block of Rooms" (yes, without the A)

Overview

Original Conference Overview

Help create a memorable time filled with solid educational events that will inspire and motivate you to write.

Volunteer to help at the registration desk. Become a Book Reviewer.

Undecided? Talk to those who attended the 2022 Conference in New Orleans, you know the one you missed out on, don’t let this opportunity to learn and have fun slip by.

A great organization is only made great by its members willing to volunteer to do the work needed to do more. It takes a lot of work to run an organization – volunteers are our lifeblood.

Comments & Critiques

If you’d like to comment or critique your experiences during this year’s conference, please let us know using our Event Contact Form or emailing our events staff at Events@mwsa.co

Agenda

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Jul
15
to Aug 11

2024 Conference Poll

Watch your inboxes. We’ll be emailing a poll to get a feel for where our members would like to have us host our 2024 Annual Membership Conference.

The poll will remain open for your inputs between July 15 and August 11.

We look forward to hearing from you!

View Event →
May
20
1:00 PM13:00

Writers Education Series: Story Structure by Greg Elliot

 

MWSA Zoom Webinars Are Back!
What: MWSA Writer’s Education Webinar Series Welcomes Greg Elliot

When: May 20, 2023, 1 PM EST.

Who: Greg Elliot. For fifteen years, Greg taught at UCLA for the Extension Writers’ Program and was the recipient of their Outstanding Instructor Award in Screenwriting in 2014. Elliot wrote for Star Trek: Voyager, for which he received a Sci-Fi Universe Award nomination. He was a Story Editor on the Warner Brother series Savannah and an Executive Story Editor on the WB series Charmed. Greg also wrote for the Disney Channel series In a Heartbeat. Professionally, Greg has edited short stories, novels, nonfiction books, brochures, how-to books, personal essays, and college papers.

Greg will offer classes on story structure, broken into two parts. The classes will each last 1.5 hours, and questions will be permitted at the end.

The First  Session: Story Structure: Setting Your Scenes, Backstory and Flashbacks, Your Beginning and Ending.

Questions? Please email MWSA Board Member Gary Zelinski at gbzelinski@gmail.com if you have any questions.

View Event →
Aug
25
to Aug 28
Conference

2022 Conference New Orleans, LA

New Orleans, Louisiana
25-28 August 2022

Photos & Videos| Overview | Hotel | Agenda

Photos & Videos

A special thanks to our photographer, Joe Epley!

Videos

Hotel

Higgins Hotel
1000 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70130

Overview

As usual, our conference was preceded by a Veterans Writing Workshop, which we hosted on Thursday before the conference began.

We then hosted two days of presentations, and capped off the conference with our awards banquet on Saturday evening. For more details about the conference, scroll down to the agenda section below.

Most of us also took advantage of our location next to the World War Two Museum (right next door to the hotel) and enjoyed spending a few hours in this spectacular place.

Of course, we also took the opportunity to get together with the wonderful members of our organization. We recognized and celebrated our writing endeavors and promised to stay in touch.

Agenda

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Jul
25
to Aug 5

Board of Directors Election

Our MWSA voting window is now open and will remain open for the next ten days. Please don’t delay. Your vote lends legitimacy to our Board and to MWSA. Click on the link and cast your ballots. Remember, you can only vote for four of the six candidates for the Directors at large positions. You can vote for all four officer candidates if you wish.

Here’s the link:

https://www.mwsadispatches.com/2022-board-member-election


View Event →
Jul
1
8:00 PM20:00

2022 Season Awards Finalists Announcement

We'll be announcing our 2022 Season Finalists via live video presentation on our Facebook page tomorrow, July 1, at 8 PM Eastern Time. We're making this announcement a little earlier than planned to give as much time as possible to our award winners to make plans to join us in New Orleans.

To watch the video live, click on the image above or use this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/542447014158688 

To watch the video after it's finished playing, you'll be able to find it here:

https://www.facebook.com/MWSA.MembersPublic/videos

To make your conference (and/or awards banquet) reservations, visit the conference page on our website

https://www.mwsadispatches.com/events/2022-conference

Good luck to all our MWSA authors!

Thanks, 
MWSA Awards Directors

PS. We'll send our finalists email notification shortly after the video airs. At that time, we'll also update the 2022 season page our website to list the winners.

View Event →
Jun
1
12:00 AM00:00

2022 Awards Season Submission Window Closes

Due to the earlier-than-normal date for our conference and awards banquet, we’ll be closing our submission window earlier this year: June 1.

We’re also planning to announce our 2022 awards finalists on July 15—a month earlier than normal.

Visit our Review and Awards page for information.

Visit our 2022 Conference page for more details about our next general membership conference in New Orleans.

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Jan
23
5:00 PM17:00
Writers Ed

Writer Education Zoom Session -- Writing Workshop

Titled “Your Work in Progress” this first class will focus on “Your first line and what comes after.” This class can benefit most of us. Our guest instructor will be Joseph Badal, a multi award winning author and this year's MWSA Writer of the Year.  He has also been a Tony Hillerman awardee twice, and Eric Hoffer award winner, and an Amazon and Barnes and Noble #1 bestseller. So, plan on being there! More to come.

Zoom links TBD

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Jan
15
12:00 AM00:00

2022 Awards Season Starts

MWSA Review & Awards 2022 Season will kick off on January 15.

Due to the earlier-than-normal date for our conference and awards banquet, we’ll be closing our submission window earlier this year: June 1.

We’re also planning to announce our 2022 awards finalists on July 15—a month earlier than normal.

Visit our Review and Awards page for information.

Visit our 2022 Conference page for more details about our next general membership conference in New Orleans.

View Event →
Oct
1
to Oct 2

Quarterly Deadline for Dispatches Magazine Submissions

Click to visit our Dispatches page

From the MWSA Dispatches editorial staff

MWSA Dispatches is looking for member submissions.

We have many opportunities available for you as a member in good standing, from Author Interviews, to Poetry submissions, to Book Profiles (three books—first come-first served—will be showcased in the Dispatches every quarter).*

If you’d like to write a feature article or have further questions, please email our Dispatches editorial staff.

* Members may also submit one book per year for a listing in our online library. This member benefit is free of charge. Your online listing will enjoy expanded distribution, as we’ll also post to our social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Click here for details and to submit your book—for the website and Dispatches magazine.

Deadlines for each issue occur on the first day of January, April, July, and October.

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