TBR and the Importance of Writing Conferences

by Jessica A. Kent

January 23, 2026

Ready for a busy day at TBR!

I slid into the back of the classroom for the first session of the day, the chairs already filled with attendees fresh from registration getting settled with their coffee, schedules splayed on the desks, pens poised above the handout, ready to take notes. After an introduction to the session “It’s a Great Idea — But is it a Novel?” instructor Lisa Borders led us in an exercise to articulate what our book is about. After a few moments of quiet creativity, she asked for volunteers to share, and a writer in front of me told the class the one-sentence idea for her book. In front of her, another writer — a stranger, fellow attendee — turned around at the premise, and thoughtfully nodded the kind of nod that says, “I’m intrigued. Tell me more. I want to read this.”

And that’s how the day would go at last weekend’s inaugural TBR (To Be Read) Conference: learning from industry professionals at the front of the room and being inspired by others in the chairs next to us.

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