Hey all,
I’m blogging over at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales today. The blog post is called “A Circle of Artists.” Check it out if you get a sec!
http://petitfoursandhottamales.com/2010/08/a-circle-of-artists/
Elaine
Category: Random
Even my fingers are tired as I type this last blog post from RWA. Today was day 4, the last day of the conference. By this point you begin to see how the late nights and fun events, not to mention the info-packed seminars, are affecting people’s brain cells. Everyone is still having a blast, including all those dressed up folks for tonight’s RITA gala. It’s just that we’re all a bit more tired than we were on Wed or Thurs.
Today was good, though. Began the day by stopping in to check out QueryFest, which was an agent panel of Miriam Kriss, Jessica Faust, Scott Eagan, Christine Witthohn, and Paige Wheeler. Basically it was a panel on the do’s and don’ts of querying lit agents, along with doing some cold reads/feedback. I stayed for a bit before going into a great panel led by 2 authors (Mindy Klasky and Maria V. Snyder) who spoke about the mistakes they’d made over their career, and they basically offered the “do as I say, not as I did” advice to eager writers willing to listen. I found their information to be informative and timely.
There were 1 or 2 timeslots where I tried visiting several seminars and just couldn’t connect with the information or the speaker. My critique partner, who I rode down here with, did the same thing. We tried to connect to the information and the speakers, but somehow the info didn’t connect with us. So we went to lunch instead and made use of the time.
This afternoon, I attended an amazing panel with lit agents Barbara Poelle and Holly Root, along with Abby Zidle from Pocket Books and women’s fiction writer Jenny Gardiner. They did a “mock editorial meeting” which is basically when the publishing editor of your book, the cheerleader in your corner, goes to the other people in the publishing office and hopes to convince them to buy your book. It was an absolute revelation to see how these individuals (publicity person, foreign rights person, media/TV person, head of publishing, etc.) instantly treated the manuscript as a product. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The manuscript was no longer the writer’s “baby” or precious thing that the writer has put into the world. In that editorial meeting, it’s all about dollars and cents, and can the book sell and make the publisher the return they want, or do they have a platform to launch a great book with an event or other promotion. There was no talk about the writing. There was no talk about the author or the author’s talent or lack thereof. It was as if the manuscript, birthed from a writer’s heart and soul, suddenly became an independent entity, and this is what everyone passed around, chopped up, and wanted to make dollars and cents on.
While startling to see, this was actually a very helpful workshop because even a great book, with a great hook and story, can be rejected because it won’t fit into the market in a way the publisher or someone with clout in that ed meeting things it should. And it’s not personal to the writer. It’s all about that separate entity, the manuscript.
Later this afternoon I attended Deb Dixon’s Point of View workshop, which was wonderful and filled with in-depth information as all of hers are. By 5pm I was completely brain fried, but I met up with my critique partner for drinks at 5:30, then attended the gala RITA dinner at 6:30. Met some incredible writers from Virginia, DC, Illinois, and more. That’s the great thing with these events – the people you meet and connect with are amazing.
One of my friends in the Charlotte chapter was up for an award. She didn’t win, but having her manuscript final was a big thrill, and my throat got sore cheering for her when they announced her name in the list of finalists.
And now, am crashing fast. Things are packed. Home tomorrow. Then to begin submitting to people who want to see material. And as always, keep in mind that eventually, that book will be in someone’s hands where it is a separate entity, and we as writers can’t control the outcomes. We can only write the best stories we can, staying true to what we write.
Until next blog, this is Elaine, signing off. Good night, and good luck.
Elaine
Hey all,
Tonight’s blog post will be short. Not that there isn’t a lot to tell – there is – but because it’s almost 1:00 a.m. and I need to get to sleep for another full day tomorrow.
Today was a full day in terms of panels, workshops, and pitch appointments. I pitched to both a publisher and an agent, both went well despite the usual wracking of nerves preceding the actual event.
The lunch speaker was Jane Ann Krantz, a hilarious and insightful author of more than 100 novels. It was fascinating to hear her speak, and nice to meet other new folks at lunch again.
Because of pitch appointments, I weaved in and out of several panels. Lit Agent Jessica Faust of Bookends had a panel with 3 of her authors, and they discussed how the author/agent relationship worked. Great to see how they all interacted, not to mention get a feel for her style. I’ve seen her on panels before though, and I always get something out of it.
I tried to go see Cherry Adair’s goal setting presentation, but it was standing room only and I was wiped at that point. I wound up attending the chat w/Nora Roberts instead. I’ve seen and heard this Q&A with Nora in the past, but as always, Nora is a funny and entertaining speaker and it was worth it to go again.
Last but definitely not least was Christie Craig’s “Learning from Rejection” panel, which was wonderful. Rose Hilliard from St. Martin’s Press, Kim Lionetti from Bookends also gave insight into rejections and how to learn from and grow despite the painful parts of the rejection we all must go through in order to become better writers. Christie brings copies of her rejection letters to this speech, and drops them on the floor. It takes her about 3 minutes to do so because she has thousands of rejections to prove her point – never ever give up.
Tonight, everyone kind of went their own way for dinner and evening plans. I met up with some friends from Charlotte, NC and we ate at the Polynesian restaurant in the Magic Kingdom. Even though the hotel is part of Disney and is on the acreage property, I haven’t been near Disney since I was about 6 years old, and the hotel is not close enough to see the Magic Kingdom. We took a bus, then the monorail, which went past the castle all lit up in lights, and got to our polynesian restaurant.
Wow. More food than one could ever eat, but amazing. What was more amazing is we were able to see the fireworks display over the Magic Kingdom from our restaurant window. I realized I hadn’t seen that sight since I was a kid, when my grandparents took me to Disney. Kind of a tugging on the heartstrings feeling to see it now, all these years later. We had a wonderful time, laughing and chatting. I met some new people, reconnected with old friends, as is the way with conferences.
And now, I must sleep. Hope you are having fun wherever you are :)
Elaine
Hey all,
For those of you who read this blog and you’re not writers, please forgive these few blogs talking about the writer’s conference. Part of the writer in me needs to write this down so I don’t forget these things 3 years from now when all these conferences blend together. Part of the writer in me just wants to tell others about how it’s going. Part of the writer in me knows some of you wanted to come but couldn’t, so I’m trying to relay what info I can.
And that doesn’t leave many parts except brain mush, which is how I feel at the moment, but in a good way.
Today was the opening day of the conference. Yesterday people arrived, I did some shopping at Downtown Disney, and prepped for today.
Today opened with the luncheon. This hotel, for its lack of vending machine, absolutely rocks when it comes to hotel luncheons. 2100+ people in a dining hall and they were wonderful with service, requests, and serving that many people decent food in a short amount of time.
Nora Roberts was the keynote speaker. I’ve heard Nora talk before and she’s a hilarious and incredibly honest human being. I love that about her, especially the honesty. She spoke about writers, our tendency to think it was easier to get published years ago rather than the competitive market now, etc. In essence, she squashed that excuse because while certain things may have been easier, other things weren’t. There may have been more book slots to fill, but everyone typed on typewriters with carbon paper. There was no Internet for book research. And the list goes on.
The main nugget she said that resonated with me was this: Writing is hard. It’s supposed to be hard. The fact that it’s hard is what makes it special, makes it worthwhile to keep going. Embrace the hard work, she said, for doing so makes writers special. I loved that.
The afternoon was panels and workshops. There are inevitably 2-3 things I want to go to during the same time slot and I have to choose. I think today had some good choices.
Workshop 1 – Suzanne Brockmann and Lee Child
Women’s and Men’s Fiction – stepping out of your genre to try and get both men and women to buy your book, not just market to one gender.
Suzanne Brockmann was funny and had some good points, but truth be told, it was Lee Child that had every woman in the room swooning and laughing. I think he’s either English or Australian – in any case, nice accent. He writes thrillers and as he talked about plots and character, I found myself interested and laughing at several humor points he made. I plan to go out and buy several of his books. He also said what he writes is similar to Dennis Lehane, who is one of my favorite authors.
Workshop 2 – Marilyn Kelly
11 Senses, not just 5 – Who knew?
This was an intriguing workshop. In addition to the 5 senses writers try to include in their books (sight, smell, hear, touch, taste), there are also temperature hot/cold on skin, pain / aches and comfort, direction, balance and vertigo, etc.
The speaker was a scientist and entrepreneur, and some things she talked about in terms of how the human body reacts was quite interesting. A good workshop.
Workshop 3 – Ethan Ellenberg (Lit Agent)
Book Marketing and Q&A
Probably my favorite workshop of the day, particularly because I’d heard of him but hadn’t met him or seen him in person. The great thing about conferences like these that have lit agents and publishers on the panels is, you get to see what they’re like without the pressure of pitching your book idea to them. It’s a good way to judge personality to see if this person is someone you like, who you could work with, who might be a good fit to work with. Particularly an agent, where the relationship lasts longer than one book (hopefully).
I thought Ethan was great. Funny, smart, honest, and entertaining. I liked all the points he made, but my favorite was when he spoke of (and I’m paraphrasing here) – “The greatest software on the planet is the human mind, and a book still delivers the richest and most complex of emotional experiences to the human heart.” I really liked that note.
After his presentation was over, he offered his business cards to us in case we wanted to query him with our books. I immediately went up and made sure I got one. I will absolutely be querying him.
Dinner with friends was nice, we opted for a buffet style place in the hotel. Meeting random people has been fascinating too. I met a woman from Croatia at lunch, someone from Maryland at dinner, etc.
Overall, a good day. Book pitches to publisher and agent tomorrow. *crossing fingers and toes*
Elaine
Hey all,
I’m in Orlando at the RWA conference. About 2100 writers come together for seminars, fun, luncheons, guest speakers, book signings, and more. It was supposed to be in Nashville but the recent flooding there made things swap to Orlando.
And so I am here. At one with the Mickey. Had a great drive down with a writing critique partner, and now am settled into the lovely hotel. The conference starts tomorrow.
I’ll try to blog about the various authors and events, but it all depends on schedule. For quicker updates, view my twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/writerscanvas.
Meanwhile, I am going to explore all things Mickey before the conference begins :)
Elaine