Interview with Killer Nashville Founder Clay Stafford XPosted

​The following interview with Clay Stafford, founder of Killer Nashville International Writers Conference is cross-posted from Ally Shields Author Blog (https://allyshields.com)

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INTERVIEW:
 
Ally: What inspired you to organize a writers’ conference?
 
Clay:  Hi, Ally. I’ve always been a writer and I’ve always been an educator. I taught my first graded high school course while I was still a senior at a private high school. At the time I was also already a professionally produced writer. I’ve been hooked on sharing info ever since. Throughout my career, I’ve helped found and start several instructional courses (public and university) and Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference (https://killernashville.com/)—founded in 2006—is my latest. Sixteen years later, we’re still going and have attendees visit annually from all over the world. It truly is an international event.
 
Ally:  How did you choose the name Killer Nashville?
 
Clay:  I live in Nashville, and I wanted to brand the conference as a Nashville entity, so the Nashville part is a given. I’m a huge fan of Southern gothic, mystery, thriller, horror, dark literary, and suspense novels and true crime. I’m also attracted to sci-fi, fantasy, westerns, and romantic suspense. What do you have when you try to combine all of those elements together? Usually someone gets offed. There’s where the Killer came in. So we’re basically a conference for all genres incorporating mystery, thriller, or suspense elements.
 
Ally:  How do you select your speakers each year?
 
Clay:  Speakers come to us in numerous ways. Some are referrals from other writers. Many are attendees who sign up to be at the conference. Some are people that I’ve heard about and I approach them in a cold call. Some are writers I know. Some are writers/educators who send us a proposal. I’m always interested in hearing from someone that I didn’t expect to hear from. If someone signs up for the conference, we always try to accommodate them on a panel.
 
Ally:  What do you feel is unique about Killer Nashville compared with other conferences?
 
Clay:  If you ask our writers (and you can see their blurbs all over the web and the Killer Nashville website), it is about how Killer Nashville feels like a family. For me, the difference is the focus. Killer Nashville for me is a labor of love. I’ve devoted sixteen years of volunteer time to it with the whole purpose of the conference being for established writers to give back to the next generation of up-and-coming scribes. We do outreach to help writers find publishers. Our connections with agents is unmatched. We teach people on any level to promote themselves and their works better in order to take themselves to the next level. We are fully invested in writers for the long haul throughout the entire year—for their entire career really—rather than just seeing them at an annual event. For us, attendees are not just another writer, they are the voices in the community of tomorrow. We’re investing in the future. We also don’t do that just at Killer Nashville. Annually, Killer Nashville donates up to $85,000 worth of books to needy libraries and literary causes among other outreach and charitable activities. We even publish a monthly electronic magazine, Killer Nashville Magazine. Readers can sign up for a subscription to it for free online.
 
Ally:  Is there programming for readers or is this strictly a writers’ conference?
 
Clay:  It is designed as a writer’s conference, but about ten percent of our attendees each year are actually fans with no desire to write anything themselves. We also have our forensic track for CSI junkies and many non-writers attend that track. We’ve found readers love to know what goes on behind-the-scenes in the world of a favorite writer, so those particular fans attend for that. So while our job is to instruct, guide, and mentor writers of all genres, we also offer something for those who want to learn more about the writers themselves, including free book signings that are open to the public. The sessions are honest, and authors truly do share much about themselves.
 
Ally:  Is diversity addressed in your scheduled events?
 
Clay:  Diversity has always been addressed at Killer Nashville. Always. Even before it was the politically correct thing to do. I’ll say Killer Nashville has been a forerunner of diversity in the industry. See our Star Watch Nominee nod to me because of this very reason.
 
Ally:  Tell us about the annual awards as well as the scholarships available.
 
Clay:  We offer several awards at Killer Nashville. My two personal favorites are the Killer Nashville Claymore Award and the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award. The KN Claymore Award is for the best first fifty pages of an unpublished novel. Through this award, we’ve been able to secure new authors agents, publishing contracts, and even movie deals. The KN Silver Falchion Award is for best book published in the previous years in a variety of genres. This is open to both traditionally published works and self-published works. We make no distinction. All we’re looking for is a great story.
 
In terms of scholarships, many times the very people who need to be at Killer Nashville and who need the mentorship that Killer Nashville offers are the very ones who can’t necessarily afford to attend Killer Nashville. We’re considered a premier writers’ conference (voted the best writers’ conference this past year by The Writer magazine, for example) and successful writers want to give back to that next generation so they’ve set up scholarships that pay for everything from tuition to travel and board. For all of these and other opportunities, go to the Killer Nashville website at https://killernashville.com/.
 
Ally:  What is the best part of hosting a mystery conference?
 
Clay:  Making new friends and seeing old ones. Watching people get agents. Seeing lightbulbs go off in attendees’ heads. It’s an incredible feeling to be a part of an event that is actually changing people’s lives.
 
Ally:  Is there anything I haven’t asked that you’d like to talk about?
 
Clay:  Anyone who knows me knows I can talk for days. For the sake of your readers, I think you’ve covered things delightfully.
 
Ally: Tell us where, when, how many sessions, this year’s speakers, hotel accommodations, other entertainment, costs, registration, etc.
 
Clay:  All of the above can be found on the Killer Nashville website, so I won’t belabor it here. But to sum, we have nearly seventy sessions throughout the four days, a writer intensive on Thursday afternoon, five tracks covering everything from newbie questions, writing specifics, genre specific sessions, academic sessions, publicity/advertising, new technology, and forensics. We have agent pitches for attendees to find an agent. We have mingling events for attendees to network and make life-long friends and writing support. It’s a fun-filled weekend. Many writers bring their families for a full vacation in Nashville.
 
Ally: Fun-filled and exhausting! What a line up! And what an interesting job you have. Thank you for sharing the terrific info with us. I wish you the best with this year’s conference!
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August 18-21, 2022
Franklin, TN

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Clay Stafford (https://claystafford.com/) is an American bestselling and award-winning author, poet, screenwriter, playwright, composer, filmmaker, educator, and public speaker. He has sold nearly four million copies of his books, has his work distributed in over sixteen languages, and has spoken as a Master of Ceremony to over one million people.

​Clay writes the monthly “Killer Writers” column for Writer’s Digest. Clay serves as President/CEO of American Blackguard Entertainment, which includes Killer Nashville Magazine, Clay Stafford Books, American Blackguard Records, The Clay Stafford Company, and American Blackguard Music. Clay has an M.F.A. and has taught at numerous universities and is the honorary Writer-in-Residence at Battle Ground Academy. He is also the founder of Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference. He is recipient of Publishers Weekly, Frankfurt Book Fair, and the American Booksellers Association Star Watch Nominee for top North American publishing industry professionals.

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