I spent all day at the San Diego State University Writers' Conference and came home energized about my writing. I went to some good sessions, got some great feedback on my women's fiction novel, and made some good contacts with agents and editors. Mission accomplished!
Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I'll meet with an editor to discuss my young adult novel. No one has ever read and commented on this book for me, so I'm kind of flying blind. I did give an editor a quick synopsis of the book and she seemed to think it was intriguing. She asked me to send her some pages. What more can you ask for after giving an elevator pitch?
It's a little different vibe this year than last year. Maybe last year I was intimidated, because it was my first time there, but this year the agents and editors seem nicer (and younger) than the agents and editors I met last year. They certainly seem more open to the kinds of things I'm writing and that I'm interested in.
The breakout sessions were a mixed bag. I went to three different panels on query letters and they were kind of repetitive. There are lots of sessions on self-publishing and e-books, but I only have enough interest in that topic to justify going to one panel.
I would have liked to have seen more panels moderated by agents and editors. This year, a lot of the speakers are writing coaches. There are a handful of them doing several sessions each. And they're all selling their writing books and classes. That's disappointing. I didn't pay $399 for the conference so that I could sit through a sales pitch.
One of the best things about last year's conference was panels of agents who would tell you what they're looking for and what's selling in the genres they cover. There are none of those panels this year. Perhaps it's because there seems to be fewer agents in attendance.
Oh, well. I still think it's been a valuable experience, so far. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Fingers crossed that it's as good as it was today.
0 comments:
Post a Comment