Historical Novel Society

I'm trying to work out the finances. If I can figure that out, you can bet your happy tailfeathers I'll be there.

HN

pdr said:

You mean to tell me that none of you Americans, all of you writing historical fiction, are going to the HNS Conference?

With that line up of agents and editors going it would have been a marvellous chance to learn what they're looking for even if your novel was only half finished.

Click to expand...

Could you provide some info on this conference -- an URL, perhaps, and whatever else you can contribute?

Thanks.

Histry Nerd said:

I'm trying to work out the finances. If I can figure that out, you can bet your happy tailfeathers I'll be there.

HN

Click to expand...

I second this one. I'd love to be able to join HNS (for one) and go to the conference (for two), but can't afford either one at present.

Do they alternate conferences betwen the UK and US? The website doesn't say when the next UK conference will be; has it been announced yet?

pdr said:

The HNS is British based. There is an annual UK conference. I'll post details as and when I get the confirmed ones. The US Conference is new and organised by the US members.

Frankly I'd go without a meal a day to get to this year's US conference if I had a book of interest to the US market. The line up of agents, editors and publishers is impressive and you can (the Conference is set up to only have 300 people max) talk to them and even have a pitching session. Mind you I live in a small country where I could get from one end to the other far more quickly than you guys can get around the US so I don't fully understand the logistics or expenses involved for you.

Click to expand...

Round trip air fare from where I am would run about $1000 or so, plus with the job I have the timing couldn't be worse. The time between April and July is just nasty, and time off is out of the question (which is something I'd need to take to attend). It's hard enough to squeeze out good writing time during that period.

But I always keep the Society on the "do to" list, and maybe this year I'll be able to join (provided the legistature bothers to give us a pay raise...one of the joys of working for the state in the US-the Feds are much more generous).

pdr said:

The HNS is British based. There is an annual UK conference. I'll post details as and when I get the confirmed ones.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll keep my eyes open for that. It's not possible for me to go to a conference in the US right now, but would like to see about the UK conference. I

If only I knew that I'd be done with my MS by the time it rolled around, I'd register. Unfortunately, with several chapters left to write, a thousand pounds of fat to trim and more than a few polishings left for me to slog through, there's no guarantee I can be done. And I'm not ready to dedicate a weekend to anything until I'm done. Though, it would be cool just to meet Kristin Nelson; I love her blog.

Finally Got Signed Up

pdr said:

You mean to tell me that none of you Americans, all of you writing historical fiction, are going to the HNS Conference?

With that line up of agents and editors going it would have been a marvellous chance to learn what they're looking for even if your novel was only half finished.

Click to expand...

See y'all in Albany!

HN

So who all is going to this next week?

I'll be there. Anybody else?

HN

Gah!! I can't afford any conference fees this year, but would LOVE to go to this conference.

HNS Conference

I'm packing for the HNS conference now. Does anyone know whether dress is casual like jeans and sandals, or business-like, better pants and dressy blouses and shoes?

Three hundred people are a whole lot of participants. I've never been to anything this big. I'm kind of intimidated, though I've been to Rutgers twice and numerous SCBWI conferences in two states.

Advice from anyone for a first-timer? Thanks!

This will be my first HNS conference too (so what do I know?) but I'm bringing a range - mostly business casual. If you go on the website you can see pics from last year and get a feeeling for how people were dressed.

For anyone who went to the conference, please post your comments. Thanks.

I found out about it too late and, thus, couldn't go.

I've been meaning to post with a report -

Overall, I really enjoyed the conference. It was fun to meet and mingle with like minds. The majority of the attendees were yet to be published writers.

The venue was very nice, the food was good. Of the panel discussions I attended, I would say 50% were very worthwhile, and 50% were meh.

I went there to meet and shmooze with published authors in hopes of getting them to blurb my book (fingers crossed on that, I have some hot irons in the fire now) and also to meet reviewers.

I did not partake in any of the meet the agent/editor sessions (8 minute pitch sessions) but speaking to some of the attendees that did pitch, I would say they found the experience valuable, but maybe a little disheartening. Irene Goodman made several general pronouncements - one being that historical fiction was a hot genre. Another was pertaining to the buying audience being mainly female, so stories featuring female protaganists were good. England/Tudor settings are good. American settings are bad. Since both of the books I just sold to Berkley/Penguin are American settings - colonial frontier and revolutionary New York - I thought that was funny.

My favorite events were Bernard Cornwell's keynote speech and solo presentation where he spoke abaout his road to publication, and answered questions on his writing method and technique. He was a very entertaining speaker.

And in the crowd, I actually found History Nerd (one of the posters here), or I should say, he found me. What a nice, nice guy!

Once my book is published, I would consider attending again if I could get to be on a panel or two. I think that is a great way to market to a large group of dedicated historical fiction readers. From what I understand, the next conference (2008) will be in London. The 2009 location has not yet been decided, but they are considering locations in the midwest this time around.

I had a great time - my favorite thing was hanging around with a bunch of people who love to read and write historical fiction. Yep, that was the best part.

funidream