Be a Better Freelancer Conference
Gain unexpected solutions for your everyday workday.
Meet colleagues who can answer your questions.
Attend professional development sessions for people working in publishing.
Registration is now open!
The 16th annual NAIWE-Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer conference will be held October 8-10, 2021, in St. Louis, Missouri. This year’s conference offers a strong emphasis on opportunities in the self-publishing realm, as well as resources for overall business success, productivity and expansion.
This conference is the ultimate place for networking. I’ve attended other much larger conferences, but I feel I have gained so much more by attending this one simply due to being able to closely connect with literally everyone there. I made friends and connections that I never would have made at larger conferences. Will definitely make the trip again!
—Amanda Berthault
Plans for the 2021 conference schedule include
- Launching Your Freelance Business/Getting Started, Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, long-time freelancer and owner of Communication Central/Be a Better Freelancer®
- Generating a Generous Income, Laura Pennington Briggs, Six-figure Freelance Income
- Getting Self-Publishing Authors to a Finished Book (Friday), Laying Out a Book in InDesign (Saturday), Dick Margulis, desktop publishing guru
- Branding Your Business (Friday), Creating New Business Ventures (Saturday), Pamela Owens Hilliard and Keith A. Owens, long-time business owners and generators; owners of TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community
- The Visual Edge — Using Video and Podcasting to Enhance the Visibility of Your Business, Bradley Rayford, Jr., videographer and documentarian
- Making the Most of Your Website through Better Functionality, Kathie York, website usability expert
- Getting the Rates You Want and Deserve, Jake “Dr. Freelance” Poinier
- Star Power — Why and How to Create Your Own TV Show, Patricia Nogar, host of “Living Well with Pat Nogar” and “Saturday Morning with Pat” TV programs
- Looking to the Future: Financial and Retirement Planning, Bennie M. Currie, financial planning professional
- Self-Publishing Secrets for Success, Christine Keleny (tentative)
- Business Planning Basics, speaker TBA
- Marketing Magic — Positioning Your Business for Visibility and Success, speaker TBA
- Bigger and Better — Expanding Your Freelance Business for More Projects and Income, speaker TB
- Building Diversity and Sensitivity into Your Business and Your Clients’ Projects, speaker TBA
- Working with Word: What Writers, Editors, Proofreaders Need to Know, speaker TBA
- Training/Education in Editing, Suzanne Noel and Nancy Marriott, Editorial Arts Academy — virtual only
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Attending the Be a Better Freelance Conference provided me with the ideal opportunity to meet industry leaders and hear them speak on relevant topics. The size of the conference is perfect for making solid connections and talking to experts you would normally not get to interact with much at a larger conference. It was a valuable and enlightening experience I wouldn’t trade for anything.
—Janet Cowden
This is one of the only conferences specifically for freelancers in the editorial world—writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, desktop publishers, graphic artists, photographers, website creators, etc.
Registration is now open!
I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to meet the speakers in person (I’ve long followed many of them online from my little hut in California) and to become acquainted with other attendees. The smallish scale of the conference was conducive to forming new bonds, and, in all honesty, I was relieved not to have had to deploy my “elevator speech.”
—Marilyn Schwartz
Interested in showcasing your product or service? Conference sponsorships are available now!
To help us celebrate the 2019 conference, we have created a video for your viewing pleasure.