From the 2026
March / May conferences:

On a scale of 1-5, 93% of students rated Young Authors Conference as 4 or 5.

74% of students had never attended the Young Authors Conference.

95% of students said the Young Authors Conference encouraged and challenged them to be better writers.

98% of students said the Young Authors Conference gave them new strategies, ideas, and skills to become better writers.

96% of students left the Young Authors Conference understanding that strong writing skills are important in life.

Students said…

“I loved this experience, and hope I come back next year!”

“Anybody can be an author.”

“YAC is awesome.”

“Writing… is emotion, art, skill, and determination on a sheet of paper.”

“I learned to pay more attention to detail and how characters feel.”

“I feel like I learned a lot about what it would be like to really pursue writing.”

Teachers said…

“Everyone was very helpful, very organized and easy for students to follow.”

“I appreciated this year’s theme of drawing inspiration for our stories from our own lives and memories in order to find your voice as a writer and create relatable and meaningful stories.”

“We brought over 100 students. They were all smiles all day. Very engaging. I am so excited to see/hear what students learned. So excited for our students!”

“Students were coming and telling me about sessions, sharing excitement and talking positively about instructors.”

“The presenters break complex skills into such simple and attainable steps and activities so everyone can easily walk away with some new skill.”