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This is your time to write!

Be encouraged, instructed and inspired
by fellow Christian authors.

Watch Party
February 21, 2026
9:00 AM to 4:30 PM

Online Only

The Watch Party is online!

Join us for an all-marketing writers conference!

Do you feel lost and alone when facing the realities of marketing your writing, unsure about your next steps?

Many authors find themselves struggling. They know they have a message that needs to be heard but are uncertain about what the marketing journey should look like for them. Is this you?

  • I can’t find my target audience. I feel like I’m wasting my marketing efforts talking to people unlikely to buy my book.
  • Book marketing advice I’ve seen is mostly tactical (e.g., how to use social media, run ads) without any strategic direction. I’m not seeing results from what I’m trying.
  • I don’t know how to set up an author website so I don’t have a home base.
  • I’m a writer, not a marketer or business person. Where do I learn the right skills to do these things?

For those who feel lost in the world of publishing, marketing can seem intimidating, expensive, and time-consuming. Many authors wrestle with these and other questions, secretly worried that their efforts will go unnoticed among all the internet noise. This conference is designed to help struggling authors turn uncertainty into a real connection with readers and to start taking steps toward building a platform that amplifies their message.

Or perhaps you’ve had some success but want to go to the next level.

As a successful author you know that reaching the next level in book marketing requires more than repeating what has worked in the past. It takes prayer, studying the market, strategic planning, and a willingness to innovate as needed. After establishing an engaged readership and seeing your book gain some traction, the next step is to build on the momentum, break through plateaus, and ensure your growth continues.

Find the help you need at this conference to expand your reach and deepen your connection with readers. You’ll learn about a variety of tips and tools to scale your business, widen your audience, collaborate with other authors, and even how to build a thriving, long-term career. Check out the session descriptions below for more details and imagine the possibilities.

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Our Goal

As Christian writers, our goal is to impact the world for Christ through our written words. That’s something Capital Christian Writers Fellowship has been passionate about for years, and why we’re bringing the Your Time to Write Marketing Conference to Christian writers of both fiction and nonfiction. 

Our experts will be sharing their years of knowledge and experience with lots of encouragement. If your dream is to write for the glory of God, you will walk away encouraged and inspired to reach your audience with your message.

Testimonials

from our January, 2020 in-person conference

This is one of the best writing conferences I’ve attended. Christ-centered, encouraging, informative. Awesome speakers, staff, and time well planned. Sessions good–length, quality, content!
    – Mary S.

This was an amazing day of learning and networking and creating relationships. Thank you for making this happen.
    – 2020 Attendee

Had a rich and fulfilling experience. Can’t wait for the next one.
    -2020 Attendee

Great job! Each presentation was inspiring and informative/practical. Thank you!!
    – Pam G.

Overall exceptional conference.
    – Sharon H.

February 21, 2026
9:00 AM to 4:30 PM

Conference Schedule
(We’ll choose the top 5 selections for the Watch Party)

(Click on title to see description)

Original Live Events (One Day Pass)

Keynote

Like many writers, Michele Chynoweth has had the dream of becoming an author imprinted on her heart since she was ten years old. Unlike many, life overwhelmed her to the point where that dream got buried underneath a lot of wrongdoing and wreckage. But many years ago, the dream started to tug at her heart again and she wrote her first novel. Still, she fought God’s will for her, selfishly wanting to become rich and famous—and she had to fall and fail a lot of times to become a humble servant. God broke through her stubborn heart and today she is finally in tune with His calling—His will, His purpose, His plan and even His timing—to use her talents to build His Kingdom. She’ll share her journey to becoming a grateful, accepting, loving and yes, successful Christian author, speaker and book coach now helping others write their own books to glorify God as well.  

Speaker: Michele Chynoweth

Live Workshops

In addition to being an award-winning published author, Michele Chynoweth has worked in the field of marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, including owning her own marketing firm for 20 years. Her marketing expertise has helped her in her own career as an author, landing her numerous book signings, television and radio interviews, newspaper articles, blog guest appearances and speaking engagements! She will take on an informative journey on how to think like a business, brand yourself, create your own website, engage in social media, write a blog, get radio, TV and newspaper coverage and much more! She’ll show you how to light the match so you can set your world on fire and increase your exposure – and book sales!

Speaker: Michele Chynoweth

Are you a writer looking to reach readers who truly resonate with your work? Substack is a game-changer for writers, with the potential to serve as your email newsletter, blog, and social media platform all in one. Whether you’re thinking about starting on Substack or hoping to grow your existing audience, this session will give you practical strategies to make Substack work for you.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • The many ways you can use Substack to share your work and build your brand.
  • How to get started on Substack quickly and effectively.
  • How to engage meaningfully with your ideal readers and cultivate a loyal following.
  • Strategies to attract new readers, expand your reach, and grow your influence as a writer.

By the end of the session you’ll walk away with a clear roadmap for using Substack to amplify your voice, grow your audience, and connect with readers who are eager for your content.

Speaker: Jenn Soehnlin

We all want to grow our audience to reach more readers, but many of us take the scattershot approach by signing up for group promotions without thinking through whether it’s the right promotion for us. This presentation will help you discern how to evaluate group promotions from groups like Booksweeps, Authors XP, Celebrate Lit and Just Reads, while also teaching you how to develop your own successful group promotions. Sarah will share her secrets to running your own group promotions, from blog tours to newsletter swaps to email giveaways—all designed to grow your email list.

Speaker: Sarah Hamaker

Every message has a destination. But too often, writers and speakers start strong yet lose clarity along the way. What if you could begin with the end in mind—knowing exactly where you want your audience to arrive and crafting every word to lead them there?

This session equips communicators to write and speak with intentionality so their words don’t just inform but truly transform. Drawing from biblical principles and years of speaking and writing experience, I will walk attendees through a practical process of shaping messages with purpose, clarity, and impact. Participants will learn how to:

  • Identify the transformational goal of their message.
  • Structure their writing so every point builds toward that goal.
  • Integrate Scripture and story in a way that resonates deeply.
  • Move from inspiration to application so lives are changed, not just entertained.

Whether you’re preparing a sermon, keynote, or small group lesson, you’ll leave with tools to write with confidence, focus, and power—crafting messages that don’t just fill time, but fill hearts.

Attendees will walk away with:

  • A clear framework for planning and outlining messages.
  • Practical techniques for making messages both engaging and transformative.
  • Renewed vision for the eternal purpose behind every word they write or speak.

Speaker: Denise Pass

Wrap Up

Feeling called to write or speak is exciting—but stepping into that calling can feel overwhelming. Where do you start? How do you build credibility, find opportunities, and steward your message well?

This session unpacks the practical side of pursuing your calling as an author and speaker. Blending biblical encouragement with real-world tools, I’ll guide participants through the essential steps of developing both their craft and their platform. We’ll explore how to:

  • Clarify your God-given message and unique voice.
  • Build rhythms of discipline for writing and speaking.
  • Navigate the publishing and speaking landscape with wisdom.
  • Cultivate influence with integrity while avoiding burnout.

Whether you’re just beginning or seeking to grow in your ministry, this session offers a roadmap to move from aspiration to action—living faithfully into your calling and impacting lives for Christ.

Attendees will walk away with:

  • Practical steps for starting and sustaining a writing/speaking ministry.
  • Insight into balancing platform growth with spiritual health.
  • Encouragement to pursue your calling with both excellence and humility.

Speaker: Denise Pass

Bonus Workshops (VIP Pass Only)

Facebook ads, contests, conferences, trade shows, printed materials, book trailers, hiring a publicist, getting paid reviews on Kirkus, launch parties—there are many opportunities to market your book and not all of them are free. Whether you are self-published or working with an Indie or even big publisher, you probably know by now you have to do much of your own marketing…and some of it comes at a cost. Michele will help you figure out how to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to the money you spend on marketing!  

Speaker: Michele Chynoweth

As a writer, you know you need to interact with and develop relationships with readers through your website, social media and newsletters. But many times, figuring out what to say and how to sustain the conversation can seem daunting and overwhelming. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to populate your newsletter, website and social media based on your writing and interests. You’ll leave the workshop with an initial plan to begin or continue your reader relationships. Whether you’re starting your writing journey or have books already out there, this workshop will help you create a sustainable and fun relationship with current and potential readers.

Speaker: Sarah Hamaker

As Christian writers, we believe God has called us to minister through our words, and we know our writing should be bathed in prayer. Yet sometimes, we’re not sure how to pray for our writing. In this session, you’ll learn six practical prayer strategies to guide your writing ministry and deepen your relationship with God, including:

  • How to pray intentionally about your writing
  • Praying Scriptures over your words
  • Building a writing prayer team
  • And more!

You’ll leave inspired and ready to approach your writing as an act of worship and ministry partnered with God.

Speaker: Jenn Soehnlin

Every writer and communicator knows the feeling—staring at the blank page, unsure where to start. Yet the key to beginning well is often found in knowing where you want to end.

This session helps writers and speakers overcome the paralysis of starting by focusing on the purpose and destination of their message. With practical tools and biblical insight, participants will learn how to clarify their end goal first, then reverse-engineer their beginning. Together we will explore how to:

  • Define the transformational outcome you want your audience to experience.
  • Develop a simple roadmap from end to beginning.
  • Break through writer’s block by anchoring every word to purpose.
  • Start strong with hooks that naturally flow into the body of your message.

This workshop is ideal for those who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or hesitant to begin writing or preparing a talk. You’ll walk away with confidence, a clear process, and a fresh sense of calling to craft messages that matter.

Attendees will walk away with:

  • Freedom from the fear of the blank page.
  • A practical “end-to-beginning” framework for any writing or speaking project.
  • Renewed inspiration to begin boldly and finish faithfully.

Speaker: Denise Pass

Most Christians today come from the Global South, which implies that their nativelanguage is something other than English. In the United States, only about a third of kids under twenty hails from a white-American family. The implication of these observations is that mission work is often done in languages other than English. How as Christian authors do we reach this audience? The good news is that it is easier than it used to be. Gone are days when you must spend eight hours a day for months translating with nothing other than a dictionary thanks to artificial intelligence products, like Google Translate. Finding competent editors in foreign languages and promoting published books remains a challenge.

In this session, we will talk about translating, editing, publishing, and promoting books in languages other than English.

Speaker: Stephen Hiemstra

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Meet Your Speakers

MicheleChynoweth.com

Michele Chynoweth is the bestselling author of several award-winning contemporary suspense novels that re-imagine Old Testament stories from the Bible in an edgy, modern-day way. She loves helping writers become authors and is a sought-after conference speaker, professional editor with several publishing houses, book coach, and founder of “Your Book Done Right” Master Class and Elite Coaching. A former news reporter, ad agency owner and marketing director, she lives with her husband in North East, Maryland.

Michele’s sessions:

  • Keynote: Answering the Call—Bringing Pen to Purpose101
  • Book Marketing 101
  • Paying to Play…Prioritizing Your Marketing Budget

DenisePass.com

An international speaker, Bible teacher, podcaster, worship leader, and author of Make Up Your Mind: Unlock Your Thoughts, Transform Your Life, its companion Study Guide, and Shame Off You, Denise holds a Ph.D. in Bible Exposition from Liberty University, where she also serves as faculty. An Executive Leader with COMPEL at P31 Ministries, Denise writes for the First 5 app. A mother of five grown children, she and her husband enjoy traveling while she leads Seeing Deep Ministries. To explore her books, music, podcasts, devotions, or book her as a speaker or teacher, visit her website: www.denisepass.com.

Denise’s sessions:

  • Writing with the End in Mind: When You Do Not Know How to Begin
  • Writing with the End in Mind: How to Craft a Message That Transforms Lives
  • Wrap Up: The Nuts and Bolts of Living into Your Calling as an Author and Speaker

SarahHamakerfiction.com

Multi-award-winning and best-selling author of inspirational romantic suspense, Sarah Hamaker loves writing books “where the hero and heroine fall in love while running for their lives.” She’s an AWSA certified writer and speaker coach, and podcaster of “The Romantic Side of Suspense.” She and her husband are therapeutic foster parents with UMFS. Sarah lives in Virginia with her husband, four children and two cats. You can find out more about her on her website, her author Facebook page or on BookBub.

Sarah’s sessions:

  • The Care & Nurture of Readers
  • Playing Well With Others: How to Leverage the Power of Group Promotions

Embracing.Life

Jenn Soehnlin finds joy in writing about faith, praying Scripture, navigating special needs parenting, and embracing this one life we’ve been given. She is the author of Embracing This Special Life, On the Same Page with God, and Embracing Emmanuel.

She also loves spending time with her husband and two sons, savoring coffee chats with friends, curling up with a good book, and enjoying a wonder walk through nature.

Jenn’s sessions:

  • Grow Your Audience and Share Your Writing on Substack
  • Six Strategies to Help You Pray for Your Writing

T2Pneuma.com

Author Stephen W. Hiemstra (MDiv, PhD) lives in Centreville, Virginia with Maryam, his wife of more than forty years. They have three grown children. Stephen writes about Christian spirituality in English, Spanish, and German. His books can be found at: https://t2pneuma.com.

Stephen’s sessions:

  • Translating, Publishing, and Promoting Non-English Books

Pricing

Choose from Two Options

Don’t forget: CCWF Members get a 10% discount on all prices!
Check your member emails for the discount information.

One Day Pass
$30
  • Attend all live workshops and keynote
  • Interact with speakers
  • Lunch social with other attendees
  • 72-hour access to the recordings
Click Here to Purchase
VIP Pass
$60
  • Everything in the One Day Pass plus:
  • Recordings of live workshops and keynote
  • Five bonus workshops
  • List up to 2 books in our bookshop
  • 3 months access to all live-workshop recordings and bonus workshops
Click Here to Purchase

Frequently Asked Questions

This conference is online.

In general, tickets are not refundable. They are transferable. If you feel you have extenuating circumstances, please contact us by replying to one of our emails.

For the One Day Pass, you can attend the whole day of live sessions on Saturday, October 18.

For the VIP Pass, you can attend the day of live sessions, receive the recordings plus get all the bonus sessions

CCWF Members enjoy a 10% discount on all ticket prices. Click here to learn about Member Benefits.