Writing Festivals/Conferences
2010 Willamette Writers: Robert Dugoni
I never did finish writing about this year’s conference, but I wanted to take the time to comment on one of the most popular speakers this year: Robert Dugoni. He was the Friday lunch speaker, and he taught a couple of workshops on Saturday. His speech Friday, was entertaining, encouraging, and full of great information. His workshops were so popular they had to move a room in order to expand the room he was in. His handout was great. Listening to Dugoni was life changing for me. It was one of those aha, I finally understand moments. The whole conference was that way for me really but it started with him.
He recommended several books to study the craft. For that matter he emphasized studying the craft of writing. One of the books he recommended that I found particularly useful was : Stein on Writing by Sol Stein. That was an amazing read that I learned a lot from. So to wrap up, if you have a chance to hear Robert Dugoni speak you should take it. It just might change your life or lead you to your own aha moment.
Willamette Writer’s Conference 2010
Ok, so I spent the weekend at the conference. Every year I am amazed by how much I learn, and how much I enjoy being there. I learned so much, that I won’t be able to express it in just one post. So, check back, and I’ll be blogging about my experience at the conference and some of the things I learned. Oh, yes I do have a couple of agents who encouraged submissions. I’m quite happy about that, but I feel I have some polishing to do before sending.
Are You Conference Ready?
The WW conference is coming up and you are probably tired of me blogging about it, but alas, I take at least a month to prepare for the conference.
This is my check off list for the conference:
Edited Manuscript–first chapter
Query letter–addressed to whomever I am pitching to
Synopsis
Verbal Pitch–memorized AND practiced–in front of other people, but I take it with me just in case.
Elevator Verbal Pitch—The one or two sentence condensed version of my pitch, so that when people ask me, “Oh, what are you writing.” I can answer them in a succinct manner.
Business Cards–I order mine from vistaprint.com–This helps me network with other writers.
You may or may not want to put together a dossier by getting folders, having the first chapter, the query letter, and the synopsis printed and ready to hand to an agent if they happen to request it. Is this a requirement? Heavens no. But I would have all of the above written and ready to email in an instant. If you get a request from an agent, you don’t want to come home from the conference and be rushing around trying to get a submission together.
I would say that one of the most important things to do is practice your pitch in front of other people. Know how long it runs, aim for 3 minutes, 5 minutes at the absolute max and that would only be for one on one consults. If you are doing group consults, keep it to 3 minutes.
Most of all go to the conference of the mind to learn, meet new people, and have fun. I know that it’s terrifying to go in front of an agent and pitch your work, but for the most part they are really nice and understand that you are nervous.
My first year, I remember I was terrified. I rewrote my pitch the night before (no idea why I did that) so I didn’t know my pitch as well as I should have and I sat down and just started to spiel it out (which I know better than that). The agent stopped me, told me to calm down and take a deep breath, and to just talk about my book. He was very nice. So don’t worry, they understand how nervous you are and generally don’t hold it against you.
And the thing is, I like public speaking. I did speech and debate in college. I know how to prepare, but pitching to agents is still nerve wracking. So if you are pitching, practice is your best weapon to combat that nervousness.
If you want some more conference tips, check out Mary Andonian’s website. She has done past articles on how to prepare for a conference.
Willamette Writers Conference–Should You Go?
Well, of course you should. Now let me explain why. The WW conference is large, it’s annual, and it’s amazing. They bring in agents and editors from across the nation–we are talking people from Penguin, Tor/Forge, Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and other big names. The workshops/seminars are packed full of information and if you don’t like the one you are sitting in at the moment you are free to get up and go to a different one.
Now, last year and this year I am working as a volunteer for the conference. I answer phones in the office. I got asked an interesting question last year.
“If I can’t meet with my agent/editor of choice should I bother going?”
YES. When you are attending conferences or workshops, it’s not just about who you can meet and pitch to. It’s also about honing your craft and understanding the business of writing in general and the industry as a whole. So yes, regardless of if you pitch it’s a worthwhile experience and you will learn a lot. Plus, it’s exhilarating to be in rooms full of people who completely understand your love for what you do. It helps renew the creative spirit and often you make friends in the process. So yes, go, it will be worth your time.
Willamette Writers
Just a quick note. The Willamette Writers’ conference is coming up in August. Registration for the conference started May 5th. So you should hop on over to www.willamettewriters.com and get registered. The conference brochure already went out in the mail and there are some wonderful workshops this year. Granted there are wonderful workshops every year.
Terroir Creative Writing Festival
For those of you in Oregon, particularly in the Yamhill County area, the Terroir Creative Writing Festival is quickly approaching. Be sure and pre register. The form can be found at http://www.artsallianceyamhillco.org/. If you want to learn more about this event, check out their facebook page. Oh and this is happening May 1st so mark your calendars!
Amazon Breakthrough Novel
In case you have not heard of it, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest due date is quickly approaching. This is a great opportunity to get feedback and possibly get your novel out there and seen. I haven’t decided if I am going enter yet, but wanted to briefly post about the contest so you know that it’s coming up. The deadline is around February 6th. Check out the link for new details.
http://www.amazon.com/Breakthrough-Novel-Award-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=332264011
Pitch with the pros
Well, I’m going to be starting off a series of blogs regarding pitching. What prompted me to do this was my own pitching at the Thursday night Pitch with the Pros session at the Willamette Writer’s Conference. I was in the room on the right, if any of you are curious. I did get to pitch and was hence forth known as the refrigerator vortex pitch person. The panel gave me very positive feedback and I had several people come up to me over the weekend, regarding my pitch. I’m not trying to toot my own horn (okay maybe a little) but my point is that people asked me HOW I pitched so well. That got me thinking. Well, for starters, I do have to say that I did theater in high school and speech and debate in college. Now if that wasn’t your thing in school, don’t worry about it. All that means is that I’ve had practice. Practice, practice, practice. So, I think a solid pitch can be broken down into two main components, what you’re presenting and how you’re presenting.
We are going to start with what you are presenting. You’ve written a book. You now have about three very short minutes to convince an agent or editor that they should represent you and ultimately publish your book.
How do you that?
Stick with the five Ws.
Who is your main character?
What are they doing?
Where are they?
If necessary, when are they?
And why would I care about them enough to keep turning the page? What is their ultimate dilemma?
That is all they need to know in a pitch. That’s it for today. Much more to come. Please subscribe so you don’t miss out and if there is something specific you would like me to talk about, drop me a line and let me know. Happy Pitching
Willamette Writers Conference 2009
I’ve spent my weekend at the conference and as usual it was amazing, and I learned loads. I have lots of notes to sort through, but rest assured I’ll be blogging about it very soon. Probably tomorrow. So please do stay tuned, lots of good information to come. I’m going to be starting off with a series about pitching and how to pitch sucessfully. That will start tomorrow.
Conference Ready
Hello!
I’m sorry I haven’t posted in awhile. I had a few things pop up in my personal life that took precedence. I should be back on schedule to at least post once a week.
Well, the conference is coming up. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then go to www.willamettewriters.com and click the conference link. Great organization and fabulous conference. It’s a great experience. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, if you are going and maybe this is your first time or maybe not I highly recommend that you read a series of posts that Mary Andonian did. They can be found here: http://writersontherise.wordpress.com/?s=mary+andonian. Be sure and scroll all the way down; she did several posts. They are all on conference success and being prepared for pitching. They helped me immensely last year and I’m sure you’ll find them useful too.
The Writers On The Rise blog, which is where the articles are, has lots of other great posts too, and it is run by Christina Katz.
That’s all for now, have to get back to my final touches before the conference. I’ll be pitching Pelegra, my young adult fantasy book, well series actually. There are four books planned.
~Happy Editing