I’m in the middle of preparing a few program proposals for next year’s Romance Writers of America (RWA) conference. I also recently found out that the proposal I submitted for the 2016 Spring Fling Conference sponsored by the Chicago-North RWA chapter was accepted. Since presenting at conferences can frequently mean a reduced registration rate, I thought I’d share a few tips on writing winning proposals.

1. FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES!
I can’t emphasize this enough. Just as when you are applying for a job or submitting a book, the closer you follow the guidelines, the lower your chances of getting rejected out of hand. Organizers frequently deal with more proposals than they have time slots. The first cull is going to be the easy one: which proposals don’t follow directions? Once those are out of the way, the organizer is going to focus on the actual content of the proposals.

2. YOU ARE AN EXPERT

On something. Anything. What are you passionate about? One panel I participated on was how to juggle two careers. The Spring Fling workshop is going to be on increasing writing productivity as I tend to write between 5000 to 10,000 words on my writing days. One of the proposals for RWA is going to be about how libraries work, which is alter ego’s career. In the library world, I’ve spoken about ebooks in library collections and reader’s advisory topics. At this year’s RWA conference, there was a workshop on forensic anthropology. I have other friends who are preparing and presenting workshops on using physical and digital planning tools. Anyone can be an expert on a topic. Whether you’re a reader or a writer, you have *something* in your experience to contribute. Those of us attending the conference want you to share your knowledge.

3. PICK PARTNERS

Maybe you’re not comfortable speaking on your own. Or maybe you feel you’d have a better shot at having your panel selected if you invite people with better-known reputations on the topic you are proposing. However, having a well-known speaker on your panel is no guarantee that it will be selected. But it can up your chances. For the “how libraries work” proposal, I’ve invited other librarians who have differing work experiences than I to share the broadest possible spectrum.

4. THEME IT UP

Does the conference have a theme? If so, build your proposal so it complements the theme. Consider this scenario. The theme is “Cowboy Roundup”. You are the program organizer, and you have three proposals sitting in front of you, but only two open slots. The proposals are: “Don’t Be the Lone Ranger When It Comes to Promotion”, “Hold Your Horses: Would a Cowboy Ride a Clydesdale?”, and “Facebook vs. Twitter: Social Media Cage Match”. Each of the broader descriptions expand on the title with the first two using language that reflect the main theme, while the third doesn’t. It’s an appealing topic, but if you’ve got cowboys on the brain, which two would you gravitate to?

5. ORGANIZE YOUR THOUGHTS

This comes from my time teaching continuing education workshops. I pick up to four main points I want to address during the course of my time speaking. When I’m part of a group, we come to a consensus on these points. I insist on it. This is because in the description of the workshop that I submit to the program organizers, I list out specific times for each topic. Here’s an example for a fifty minute session for the Lone Ranger promotion session: 10 minutes on Facebook parties, 10 minutes on group blogs, 10 minutes on group newsletters, 10 minutes on shared print ads, and 10 minutes on Q & A. This immediately signals to the program organizer that you’re professional enough to have thought about what you’ll be covering and you know how to manage your time.

The thing is, if you submit a proposal to a popular conference, your competition is going to be stiff. Even if you have an excellent proposal, you may not be chosen for reasons unknown to you. Sometimes someone else will have a very similar program proposal and they have noted prior speaking experience where you didn’t. Either because you didn’t think to note it or you don’t have it. If you want to build your speaking resume to ensure future success, consider submitting proposals for smaller conferences.

What tips do you have for successful program proposals?

Thanks to Laura K. Curtis, Janet Lee Nye, Lynda Ryba, and Nancy Holland for brainstorming the fictional theme and proposals.

Kelly Maher writes romance and erotica of varying spice levels. She is currently working on preparing older works for self-publication in the fall and winter of 2015 and new projects for submission. When she isn’t writing, she works as a librarian in DC. Her alter ego would like you to know that Kelly’s named after the dog…like Indiana Jones. You can find her on her KellyMaher.com, Twitter, Facebook, or join her newsletter.