The Women in Publishing Summit (WIP Summit 2025) is an online conference. It is held the first week of March and it features women, who are authors, editors and publishing professionals. It’s a multi-day virtual event. All sessions are held LIVE on Zoom, and the summit covers topics on writing craft, editing, routes to publication, production, marketing, and business growth. I learned so many things from attending this conference, but this post will focus on just six things I learned.
Before sharing more about the summit, I want to say that Alexa and her team behind the conference, along with all the volunteers, did a fantastic job with the “digital logistics” of the conference by sending sufficient reminders each day, giving clear instructions on how to get into the conference, and monitoring all the sessions throughout to respond to questions and concerns. Every session was on time and moving to the next session was seamless with their Dashboard.
This was my 5th year attending and each year it gets better! Here are my takeaways from this year’s summit.
Words Have POWER
Five Strategies to Achieve POWER With Your Words
- Write with clarity and intention to connect with your audience.
- Embrace your individuality and standout with authenticity.
- Focus on how your message provides solutions, inspiration or encouragement.
- Your words have the power to build bridges so use them wisely.
- Growth happens when we learn, adjust and keep moving. @deeaeehenderson
Put Your Reader First
When you put your reader first it says …
I see you,
You matter,
I wrote something special
Just for you!
Create great books that offer memorable experiences for readers.
Our Stories Matter
Stories connect us. By hearing others’ stories, it gives us the courage and inspiration to share mine. Sharing our stories can help us make sense of our world and have since the beginning of time. Stories can educate, connect, heal, inspire and build rapport. There’s no one else that can tell our story. @AlexaBigwarf
Hire A Professional
Hiring a professional editor can significantly enhance your writing by providing a fresh perspective, catching errors, improving clarity, and ensuring a polished final product, ultimately increasing your chances of success. Several of the sponsors mentioned that it is expensive, but you can either pay a professional or you may pay with lack of sales due to poor reviews.
Artificial Intelligence Can Be an Authors Friend
AI will not replace the writers creativity. There are a number of tools that can help authors. Think of AI as your writing assistant. The presenter shared 10 tools and there were several that I will be giving a try. I have already experimented with CANVA and CHATGPT. I will be trying PERPLEXITY for fact checking, GAMMA can take a messy Word doc and create a polished doc. ANIMATE DRAWINGS sounds interesting too by bringing sketches to life. Throughout the presentation it was noted that we should use each tool with caution. A paid subscription was also recommended.
Networking
There were a number of opportunities to network with other authors during this summit. We were assigned to a room where we met other authors and shared our journeys, asked and answered questions and supported each other. It was great to meet some of the presenters who offered more insights.
The networking sessions were great and I got to meet a many wonderful women authors and we were able to make connections and share information. I just wish I could have met more picture book writers to talk about their experiences.
Thoughts …
Alexa also offers WIP School and live workshops throughout the year, which I highly recommend. Authors at any level learn how to become better at writing, publishing and marketing their book, and every book to come. I hope you will mark your calendar for WIP 2026 next March. I hope to see you there!
With gratitude …
I am so glad you’re here. Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I am grateful that I can share my writing journey with you. It is an endless journey of learning and growing. A journey that I am enjoying.
I am now booking author visits for the spring, 2025 school year. If you are a classroom teacher, teacher assistant, Parent Teacher Association President, or After school Director I can work with you to create a visit that will meet the needs of your students. Please contact me to book your visit.
My website has been updates and it is now interactive. There are surprises everywhere. Click on the balloons and see where they take you. Can you find two writing videos? Freebies? A chocolate chip recipe? There’s even a special freebie to anyone who subscribes to my newsletter. Check out the resources for children, parents and teachers, librarians and homeschooling families.
Please consider purchasing a copy of Two Wins for Wiley or Gertie Saves the Day for gifts. Books make great gifts. Books can be read over and over again. It is my wish to get as many books as I can into the hands of children. Children need to hear all kinds of stories. A book is the best gift for both children and adults!
Call to Action …
You can really help this author by leaving a book review on Amazon or Goodreads. You can leave a review for Gertie Saves the Day here or here. Two Wins for Wiley here or here. Reviews can be as easy as 2-3 sentences. It should take about 30 seconds to leave and would make a huge difference for this author.
