We had an amazing time at our 2022 LegendHaven. The number of people who showed up blew us away! And the fun they had was incredible. The day sometimes felt a bit chaotic – with over 41 events in a 9 hour period!

The biggest complaint I received was this: we didn’t get enough time to talk with each other!

I was stunned to see that. That tells me and my team of mentors that people desperately want to be heard, and are stoked to find a community that thinks like them. Most people loved the speed networking, the chance to meet one-on-one with each other for 4 minutes.

Some wonderful feedback first:

I was inspired to join LegendFiction as well as give my writing career another go. I have a project I need to wrap up and then we’re off to the races again. – Kathryn Z.

Legend Haven 2022 surpassed my expectations. The presentations were great across the board, and the camaraderie was a joy. My overall impression was one of “home coming.” I have often felt like I was the only one on the planet trying to produce quality entertainment that reflects Catholic morals. Everyday, I go down to my writing studio, and sit in a room by myself, hoping and praying that I can produce something that will matter. And then, one day, I clicked a mouse, and found myself surrounded by a large group of joyful, passionate, dedicated creatives who were all engaged in the same pursuits that drive me. It was like a long lost hobbit wandering into the Shire for the first time. I felt totally welcome. I felt I had finally found my tribe.

I really enjoyed the convention! I didn’t expect to be able to attend much since it was Thanksgiving weekend, but I ended up being able to attend quite a bit. I feel like I’ve found “family” – fellow writers who truly aspire to write well and to serve God through this gift He gave us, & through the lens of our Catholic/Orthodox faith… I really enjoyed both the presentations and the chats. I also appreciate that all the sessions are now available to watch/rewatch. God bless you for starting LegendHaven – I’m super excited to be part of it! – Eileen W.

Thoroughly enjoyed the conference! The talks were educational and inspiring, and the schedule was very well laid out. Thank you for bringing this great opportunity to us! – Kathleen S.

I enjoyed LegendHaven a great deal and would love to participate again! I had a great deal of fun conversing with the authors and artists and talking about my own work. The ability to converse with like-minded Catholic authors was fun and relaxing as well. I would love to do it again! – Caroline

So I LOVED the overarching concept and idea of the conference. When I first found out about LegendHaven, I thought for sure it was going to be some kind of Zoom session. The fact that it wasn’t was such a relief. One thing that was really awesome was connecting with other Catholic authors. While I didn’t go to any of the speed meetings, I came away with the Instagram handles of half a dozen people from the hashtag. Win! Having the talks pre-recorded and having the presenters interact with us in the chat was also really awesome.

I had an excellent time at the con. I made many connections. I have, like, ten new followers that I’m also following on my social medias, and I think this was amazing. I don’t have a ton of money, but I would certainly have contributed if that would help. I really appreciate that you put on this con. – Jason M.

The event was amazing. It was great to meet up with tons of creative minds working on things they were passionate about. I loved how many resources there were on ways to get your book published and ways to understand the market. For someone who is just interested but has no idea, this was VERY helpful. Having catholic publishers talking about what they are looking for and how to connect was AMAZING. I especially loved the quick meet-ups where authors got to randomly do like “speed dating” other people from the con. The time limit was great because it got you to the point and didn’t put much pressure on how long you needed to chat with someone. – Amelia L.

LegendHaven was what it was promised to be – an avenue for lovers of writing to support and celebrate fellow writers. I made many meaningful connections during the convention. The wisdom shared by published authors and literary professionals was insightful. Thank you to all who put in the hard work behind the scenes to make LegendHaven possible! I’m looking forward to LegendHaven2023! – Emily H.

Thank you, legends! That means everything to me and my team of mentors.

So, since we plan to make this an annual event, and perhaps even a landmark event for Catholic and Orthodox writers everywhere, we took careful notes from the generous feedback sent to us.

1: Easier Signup Process

Done. We’ve found a way that makes it faster and simpler to get set up for the con.

Some people didn’t get emails. Plus, we’ll ensure we set up more tickets – we did not expect more than 100 people to join. Attendance rates were amazing. The software we used told us that people enjoyed the con so much that we outperformed industry standards for online conferences by 4%.

That’s amazing.

2: Simpler schedule

Some convention members liked the bustle of events. Some didn’t like how things overlapped. Some wished events were grouped together according to topic. We think that’s a good idea too.

We’re building out a new schedule for 2023, and part of that allows for more booth time. Speakers and con members would hang around in their booths for ages, just chatting and having fun together. We hoped that would be the case, and I’m so pleased to realize that we didn’t schedule enough of that.

So next time, we’ll allow speakers more time  on the schedule to just hang out and go live with people.

And we’ll cluster talks and events together according to themes, so that people feel they can better select their sessions.

3: More moderators and tech support

Some speakers realized that their tech system or laptop had problems right as they went live. We’ve made a plan to figuring that out ahead of time, and even provide more tech support during the day. Possibly from community members, or more volunteers.

LegendHaven 2023 announcement

Since ‘LegendHaven: There be Dragons’ ended, we’ve had a bunch of new members to our private community. And within a few days, one member had this to say about his writing project:

Thomas S. – Honestly, I’ve been stuck at this early stage, with nothing but incomplete outlines, for most of the past year or so and it’s been very frustrating. So getting feedback and probing questions from other writers is really a game changer for me. It’s getting me to think about story structure and plot mechanics which may help me break out of this rut. Thank you so much for reading and for commenting! Your questions and ideas really were insightful.

This is exactly why we’re here.

So, our first announcement for 2023 is that LegendHaven has a new theme.

Worlds without End.

And we plan to schedule it in mid-late October.

As we have more details, we’ll start building out a new schedule. Till then, stay on the mailing list, or even better, join us in the community.

Comment below any extra advice or feedback you’d like us to know!

We’re building this with you.