James Artimus Owen was one of our guest speakers at the Superstars Writing Seminar last year, and his talks were so popular we invited him to come back. James is a successful bestselling author in his own right, and he wanted to come to Superstars for the experience; he did not get paid for his appearance.  Yesterday he posted a blog about his experiences, and since he had such nice words to say, I asked if I could repost them here.

Last year, I was invited by my dear friends Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta to be a guest speaker/presenter/panelist at the 2012 Superstars Writing Seminar. This year, I have the honor of being the first guest presenter to be invited back two years in a row.

All of the details, including this year’s schedule, can be found at the link, here. What those of you reading this now need to know is that this event is, without exception, the single best event a semi-professional OR a professional writer can attend to become educated, edified, and illuminated about the details of writing as a career, about the conditions of the market, and, perhaps most importantly, what a writer must do to push forward and achieve all of their goals. Not SOME of their goals: ALL of them.

I was one of the instructors, and those days last year were the best education I’ve ever gotten about my own profession. I do workshops here and there, but this is days of intensive presentations as well as invaluable after-hours networking. It is expensive by the measure of what most workshops cost — but the return in information and wisdom makes that cost seem staggeringly cheap.

If you have serious aspirations about writing as a career, you must attend. Speaking for myself, I share every bit of knowledge I have about How This All Works, and so do the other instructors. Sponsors this year include Kobo and Scrivener, and some of the editors and movers and shakers of the current marketplace will be attending and participating.

If you want to prepare yourself to succeed in a writing career, all you have to do is ask yourself: how bad do I want it? Then choose.

I’ll see you in Colorado in May.

SUPERSTARS 2013 will be held in Colorado Springs, CO  May 14–16. For full schedule and signup details, see the Superstars Writing Seminars page.