Tina Haapala, Excuse Editor

During my "buzz-session" at the OWFI conference, I talked about how important it was to not squander the time and money spent on conferences, classes, and coaching. The frugal part of me related it to a gym membership. When I am paying an annual or monthly fee, I want to get my money's worth! Say I pay $50 a month. If I go 3 times a week, it's like paying about $4 each time; but if I go 5 times each week, I get the same gym benefits for only $2.50 a visit! What a bargain! I get healthier and can be a cheapskate at the same time! Here are a few hints to help you get a healthy impact from your already spent conference dollars: Start immediately. I met one writer who actually skipped a few of the Saturday sessions because he was so inspired to write and attempt to fill a whole in his novel. That may be too soon for most of us, but the idea is sound: Get moving before the afterglow starts to fade. If one of your goals was to get back into the habit of writing, do...

Recently, I spent a few days at the OWFI writer's conference in Oklahoma City. As I was gathering my receipts and such, I thought about the best ways to make sure that money wasn't wasted. The next few posts will focus on The Writer's ROI (Return On Investment). Travel expenses, Conference Fees, Hotel Fees, Food and Drink. It all adds up. Go ahead, add it up.*  Let's say you spent $1000. Su re, you are treating your writer self, and you want to feel like you are "getting away from it all". For example, if I would have been more of an early bird this weekend, I would have loved to splurge and take advantage of the fresh-made omelet bar every morning (and maybe even a danish or two, or oooo--biscuits AND gravy). But I was there to learn about writing and marketing. I couldn't miss a session because I was waiting in line for someone to cook for me. A portion of my conference fees would be wasted! And yes, the breakfast is built in to the hotel room price, ...