Writers' Conferences!

Conference season is upon us! In fact, it already started. Last week I had the privilege of attending Kweli, The Color of Children’s Literature Conference in New York City. I was thrilled to attend a master class by THE Angela Johnson, and multiple workshops, panels, and presentations that renewed my creative energy.

I’m getting ready to attend three of my favorite author gatherings in the next few weeks and throughout the summer months (Storymakersin May,WIFYRin June, and the SCBWI National conferencein LA in August). I’ll be part of the faculty at two of them and a participant in the third one, and I wanted to share the things that have helped me in the past to make my time at conferences the most productive, enjoyable, and inspiring experience to keep me going through the rest of the year as I work by myself. 

I belong to vibrant writing communities, but there’s nothing like the energy of attending an event just for MY people. A bunch of people obsessed with reading, writing, and illustrating books for children that truly change the world. People that are usually (not always) a bunch of introverts who’ve only met online and try not to act awkwardly meeting in person for the first time (or after a long time of digital conversations). 

These are the things I can prepare ahead of time to help me cope with the amazingness of conferences:

·     Business cards or another form of sharing my info: Right before I left for Kweli, I dug out my author business cards that I’ve been using for a couple of years now. My contact information hasn’t changed, but my agent switched agencies, and to my horror of horrors, I realized that I’ve been giving out a card with the wrong email address for the last two years. Thankfully I had included several ways people could get in touch with me. Besides email, I included my website info, and my social media handles. For the rest of the summer, and because it’s the first time I’ll attend a conference after signing a book deal, I’ll have postcards with my book info so people can know it’s coming out soon (ish… 2019). Business cards aren’t a must, but they’re great ways to gather contact info of the people we click with when we sit together for lunch, at classes, or outside in a green area taking a break. I’ve met a lot of my friends at writerly events!

·     Getting submission materials ready on time. If I’m part of a workshop (either as faculty or attendee), I like to read my workshop materials ahead of time so that I may be the best help to my fellow workshop attendants. Talking about submissions, make sure you format your materials properly. By this I mean, make sure there’s identifying information such as name, title, page numbers on a cover letter, and every page. Also, when you save your piece, make sure you labeled it in an appropriate way. Remember every person will be able to see the file name and root. Go simple. Your last name and title will suffice (Name.Title.doc) instead of something generic or inappropriate like: firstchapter.doc, workshop.doc, thefreakinglastdraftb*tches.doc. 

·     Going over the schedule and giving myself time to recharge: I love planning my classes, and most times my plans change. Sometimes if I’m meeting friends, I’ll change my mind on what class I’m attending. Sometimes I take longer to arrive to my first choice and when I finally arrive I realize the class is full. Sometimes I need a break. But I like being prepared and knowing ahead of time what my options are. 

·     Remembering to be yourself and keeping in mind why you attend these kind of events: dress comfortably but professionally. Wear comfortable foot-ware. Enjoy the moment. Don’t compare yourself to others. Remember this time is for you to improve your craft, to make connections that will invigorate your writing and your personal life. If you have a pitch session with an agent or editor, remember that they’ve been looking forward to meeting a project to fall in love with, but most of all, they want to help you improve yourcraft. However, meeting and agent or editor shouldn’t be the main purpose of conference attendance. Save every moment, so when you’re at your desk, pounding words on your latest WIP or that tenth revision, you’ll be able to draw from the magical energy of being surrounded by wordsmiths and storytellers. 

What conferences or events will you be attending this year? What are your best tips for newbies and old-timers? Please share in the comments, and if you attend any of the same events I’ll be at, seek me out and say hi! 

Building a Writer's Support Network by Donna Galanti

We can write alone but we can’t get published alone.

I have found that while writing is a solitary job, to truly succeed you need to be in a room alone – and surrounded by a crowd.

By Marjory Collins [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The young adult author John Green wrote, “Writing is something you do alone. It’s a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don't want to make eye contact while doing it."

This is true in your creative space, but today authors are called on to live uncomfortable public lives which can be hard for us introverts. It IS hard to put yourself out there as a writer when mostly we just want to hideaway in our fiction dream worlds (note to me: give yourself a pep talk for that first school assembly coming up!).

But we are also SO lucky to be writers in an age where the writing community is wonderfully accessible. We can meet authors in person and online and get to know them as mentors. We can engage with our peers and share resources. Yes, it takes away from writing time but it also opens up so many more doors for opportunities to improve our writing and get published.

I’ve found no other job like writing that involves constant change…and constant rejection. You need a positive support buoy to keep swimming in this career or you will sink. Wherever you are in the writing journey, look to elevate yourself now with people that can help you finish that first book and get it to market.  

Where to start? Here’s the crowd that filled my space (and still does) when I was working toward getting published.  

Hundreds of people
I was surrounded by writers of all levels at writer’s conferences like The Philadelphia Writer’s Conference, Push to Publish, and SCBWI. Scared stiff, I went to my first writer’s conference four years ago, The Write Stuff, and met other writers for the first time. From this one event my entire life changed and my network of peers expanded into an amazing circle today. This spring I went back to that conference – as a presenter. I grew into my role as an author, and putting ourselves out there enables us to do this.

Dozens of people
I’ve surrounded myself with dozens of people as an attendee of the Philadelphia Liars Club Writer’s Coffeehouse and at local author readings and book signings. As writers we need to do this! Get out there on a regular basis in small groups and mingle with writers and readers. It’s the human contact we need to keep our spirits up. Sometimes I didn’t always feel like going out of the house, but I’m always glad I did because every time I met a new person or learned something new. I still am.

The same goes for connecting with dozens of folks by joining writer organizations like SCBWI and International Thriller Writers (ITW). Over the past three years I’ve volunteered for ITW doing social media for the debut authors and as a contributing editor to their magazine the Big Thrill. I’m working right now with a volunteer group to propose a children’s thriller track within this organization. Having mentors and peers to boost you up within your genre is gold. Authors like to pay-it-forward, and someday you will too. I was just honored to have given my first book endorsement.

A Dozen People
I fell in love with writing for children on a challenge to myself. I heard of a class called “How To Write A Children’s Novel in 9 Months” and thought – wouldn’t that be different from my writing thrillers for adults? I signed up right away. It was hard. I knew nothing about writing for kids. I hadn’t read children’s books in years. So I read and I wrote, and I learned from my teachers and my peers. And along the way I fell in love with writing for kids. You never know what road you will go down in thinking outside the box, and taking a risk. I’m glad I did.

A Handful of People
For a few years now I’ve been meeting weekly at Wegmans Café with a wonderful group of women writers. We call ourselves the Weggie Writers (sounds like Peggy not wedgie!). This informal group has grown over time to be eight of us. We don’t all come each week, but when we do we sit and write side-by-side. We give advice, share resources, and offer shoulders to cry on. We are a giant brain collective that elevates each other! Since getting together we’ve celebrated getting agents and book deals and MFA graduations. We are awesome. I hope you have your awesome handful.

Me with some of my super-talented and generous Weggie Writers!

One-on-One…One-by-one
This involves the nitty gritty hauling-water-uphill-barefoot-and-both-ways-in-a-storm work. I hired an amazing developmental editor who went three punchy rounds of edits with Joshua and the Lightning Road over the course of two years. Working with her was also like getting a mini-MFA in writing as I applied what I learned from her in my writing going forward. This was all in-between the rounds of rejections one-by-one from agents, many who provided insightful feedback to make my story stronger. And in-between that was one-on-one feedback gathered from my first-readers who knew how to deconstruct a story for its strengths and weaknesses.

 
Once you get a book deal there are more people in your room of course! An agent, a publisher, a publicist, and more editors – and more editing. Check out my articles on the 8 steps to an agent, a publisher, and a two-book deal and how to get your manuscript past the gatekeeper, based on my experience as a literary agency intern.

And once your book comes out, you can chuckle over the many ways folks can butcher the title. Because they will – and it will be funny!

Funniest Blooper Titles of Joshua and the Lightning Road:

Joshua and the Lightning Tree
Joshua and the Lightning Rod
Joshua and the Lightening Road
Joshua and the Lightening Rod
The Joshua Tree (one of my favorite U2 albums ever!)

I’d like to see the cover design for these, wouldn’t you? I'm waiting for Joshua and the Lightning Pee to show up...

But it’s not all hard work. There are lots of fun rewards like the week your book releases, talking with readers, getting great reviews, and creating fun book trailers. Check out mine!

Oh, and check out
Joshua and the Lightning Road.
It’s real and it’s here - out today!
The crowd in my room helped.

  
Do you surround yourself with people as a writer? 

Do you recommend any other ways to build yourself a strong writer’s network?

How Not to Get an Agent

No one will deny it’s tough to get an agent. There are tons of aspiring authors out there, and a comparatively small number of agents. Demand greatly exceeds supply. And it doesn’t help that agents are extraordinarily busy people. It’s not uncommon for a manuscript or query letter to sit around for weeks, even months, before an agent gets around to looking at it. Is it any wonder that we writers sometimes feel a bit desperate to have our manuscripts seen?

Yes, writers sometimes resort to some rather extreme methods to get agents to take a look at their work. Here are a couple of bad stories I’ve heard:

An agent was staying at a hotel for a multi-day writers’ conference. One evening, rather late, there was a knock on his hotel room door. He answered it to find a woman standing in the hall, manuscript in hand, who proceeded to pitch her book to him. Curious as to how she knew which room he was in, he coaxed from her the story: she had convinced the front desk to give her his room number by calling them up, pretending to be a relative of his, and claiming she needed to speak with him immediately because there had been a dire family emergency. Once she had his room number, she was free to show up at his door.

Another agent was in the restroom at a writers’ conference when a hand suddenly came over the top of the stall door, holding a manuscript. That’s right—someone had followed her into the ladies’ room and attempted to give her their manuscript while she was on the toilet.

Oh dear. Please let such stories serve as a reminder—always strive to be professional in your dealings with agents. Going to extremes to get an agent to read your manuscript isn’t going to impress them. It’s going to amuse, annoy, vex, or creep them out. They might even call the police. At any rate, it’s sure to convince them that you are absolutely, positively not someone they want to work with. Writing is like any other profession—respectfulness, reasonableness, and common courtesy are much appreciated.

What are the worst stories you’ve heard when it comes to approaching agents?

-Dawn Lairamore


photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography via photopin cc