Writers may also benefit from meeting and hearing from professionals in related fields, such as agents, editors, illustrators, publishers, and providers of other relevant services.
While authors' conferences may include some such presentations, writers' conferences also include numerous sessions wherein an author does not present their work but rather listens while the other participants discuss the work.
In this way, the author gains an understanding of what readers learn by reading the work.
[citation needed] An authors' conference consists of two phases, shepherding and writers' workshops.
An accepted submission should meet minimal quality standards for effective evaluation in the writers' workshop, and should have been improved significantly by the submitter during the shepherding process.