The Santa Barbara Writers Conference
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Join us at SBWC June 21-26, 2026
Improve your craft • Find your tribe • Make lifelong connections
21 Writing Workshops plus Panels, Speakers, Agents, and Seminars
All SBWC events are open to all registered attendees.
$899 for the week
or register for a partial week of 1-5 days
6 days beachside at the Mar Monte in Santa Barbara
Details to be announced soon:
Panels
Seminars
Special Guests
More workshops
Some of the usual suspects….
If you have questions about registering:
Contact us at info@sbwriters.com
Improve Your Craft: The Santa Barbara Writers Conference is known for its supportive environment where fellow writers help one another hone their writing. Whatever genre you’re working in, you’ll find workshops led by experienced professional writers.
Find Your Tribe: Writers attending for the first time discover that suddenly they’re among others who care about story and wordsmithing as much as they do. What a rush it is to discover fellow humans who also see the world through the lens of storytelling. Writers who’ve attended SBWC keep coming back because this conference feels like going home.
Make Lifelong Connections: Friendships and professional connections made at SBWC tend to last. Why? Because this conference, from its first magical week in 1973, emphasized interaction between successful authors and brand-new writers. We keep going into the wee hours for the most hearty. There’s something about being a little sleep deprived that breaks down barriers and creates enduring friendships.
Build a conference plan that fits your schedule. We’ve added easy options for partial week attendees.
Bring a friend! Both of you will qualify for a group rate discount of $100 off each. Email info@sbwriters.com to get the discount promo code.
Agent Pitch Appointments are now available.
In addition to the many writing workshops, learn about the business of writing in publishing and marketing seminars.
Hear our keynote speakers Sunday through Thursday evenings.
Join us in celebrating our 52nd year.
Grace Rachow,
SBWC Director
Manuscript Consultations:
We will have a number of manuscript consultants at the conference. You may make appointments with them one on one during the conference. They will be readily available in our main registration room.
Bring 5-10 printed pages of your manuscript to the conference to give your consultant to read.
Questions?
SBWC’s Literary Legacy
Fannie Flagg
"You can't imagine what this conference meant to me. If it had not been for this conference, I'd probably still be sitting on a rerun of The Dating Game somewhere."
- Fannie Flagg, author of Fried Green Tomatoes
52nd Year June 21-26, 2026
Since 1973, writers from around the world have gathered at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference to rub elbows with fellow writers, well-known authors, and publishing professionals.
SBWC likes to brag about our successful alumni — Fannie Flagg, Spencer Johnson, Gayle Lynds, Monte Schulz, Gillian Roberts, Matt Pallamary, Catherine Ryan Hyde, and Christopher Moore to name just a few.
Join us this summer for our 52nd year, and become a part of this ongoing literary legacy.
You’ll participate in a magical week of intensive work, focused on craft, marketing and networking.
See you in June,
Grace Rachow,
SBWC Director
A Letter from Monte
To Santa Barbara's community of writers, and all those who travel to this beautiful oceanside city to celebrate the world of letters:
Writing may well be a solitary art, but there is a society of writers whose enthusiastic embrace of each other is irreplaceable. Having been part of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference since 1975, I've come to see that this has been the true reason for our gathering in June all these years. Continue...
