Seeking Advice, Recommendations, Writers' Conferences & Workshops, NYC Area 2014-2015

AHunter3 · Nov 7, 2014

Many agents do not accept unsolicited queries and many others who do give more serious attention to people who have been recommended to them by the folks giving writing conferences and/or who attended conferences that they themselves participated in as a panelist or speaker or reviewer or judge or whatever.

Also, the paragraphs that constitute my book could use some sharpening, to be sure.

I'm on Long Island and have an easy shot at the city. So far the only conference I've attended was New York Writer's Workshop's Pitch Conference in 2013. (They weren't horrible but if smeone else asked me I'd recomment query letter hell here at AbsoluteWrite instead, especially given the difference in cost!).

Recommendations? Which ones have y'all found to be worth the cost and time?

Mr Flibble · Nov 7, 2014

Spend your time sharpenin your writing skills -- these are what sells your book

You know what recommendations, meeting agents at cons etc does? Gets you read faster. It does not get you accepted more easily, but your reject may turn up quicker

Make your writing the best it can be. Give your query to the squirrels

That's not to say cons can't be great -- meeting like minded people, making friends, picking people in the know's brains. But you don't NEED to go to one. I had never met my agent or editor before I got accepted. (I STILL haven't met my agent, or talked to him on the phone even)

AHunter3 · Nov 7, 2014

I'm amenable to being told I should spend my time in SYW instead of going to conferences. I want to work on the ms itself at this point, not the pitches.

Cathy C · Nov 7, 2014

Are you looking for general writer conferences or specific genre ones? There are a bunch of genre ones in NYC next year.

Mr Flibble · Nov 7, 2014

The best time to go to a con is when your MS is as ready as you can make it.

So unless you just really want to go to a con....

AHunter3 · Nov 7, 2014

My manuscript is long since done, or at least I no longer see it with the kind of fresh critical eyes. The last couple times I went to edit it, I ended up deciding the edits were disimprovements and yanked them back out.

I wouldn't go to great lengths to AVOID genre-specific conferences but the work is a memoir, optionally recast as fiction (in the tradition of Rubyfruit Jungle and many other such works that wear a fiction costume) and when I think "genre" I tend to think "mystery, sci-fi, romance" and other categories of commercial fiction.

Sheryl Nantus · Nov 7, 2014

Have you considered some of the pitchfests on Twitter? They go off every few weeks or so and there are a lot of agents who seek out Twitter pitches and then ask for queries.

I just got an offer of representation last week from Louise Fury and Rachel Brooks based on #AdPit a few days earlier on Twitter...

A lot cheaper than going to cons!

AHunter3 · Nov 9, 2014

Have you considered some of the pitchfests on Twitter?

Never seen them, know nothing about them. I'm technically signed up for Twitter but I have so far twote only 4-5 times total.

How does one search the Twitterworld for pitchfests and find out about such things?

Old Hack · Nov 9, 2014

Writers' conferences are great. I've spoken at several and have always had a good time. I've seen agents, editors and publishers fall over themselves to help out the writers there, and have seen many happy faces when they've asked writers to submit to them.

However, those submissions don't ever get moved to the top of the pile simply because the writer was at a particular event.

All that happens is that the writer will say in their submissions, "you asked me to send this in," and the agent/editor/publisher will think, "ah--so I did!" and the work will get added to their submissions-to-be-read folder, and they'll be read as and when the agent/editor/publisher has the time.

It won't get those submissions read sooner, and it won't get them read with any more forgiveness either.

By all means go to conferences if you want to, but don't expect it to get you any advantage when it comes to finding an agent. Queries work well. Send those.

CynHolt · Nov 13, 2014

This is not in the city, but a friend of mine went and came back with some positive results.

http://www.unicornwritersconference.com/

She did a lot of research on the attendees, which she said did improve her visit, and she found she needed to say her work was in a specific genre, even though it was a difficult fit, in order to get the most out of her visit. She learned a lot and may go again next year.

Good luck!

blacbird · Nov 13, 2014

AHunter3 said:
My manuscript is long since done.

AHunter3 said:
the paragraphs that constitute my book could use some sharpening, to be sure.

See if you can find the contradiction in these two quotes from your posts in this thread.

caw

Seeking Advice, Recommendations, Writers' Conferences & Workshops, NYC Area 2014-2015

AHunter3

Author-Curmudgeon

Mr Flibble

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

AHunter3

Author-Curmudgeon

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

Mr Flibble

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

AHunter3

Author-Curmudgeon

Sheryl Nantus

Holding out for a Superhero...

AHunter3

Author-Curmudgeon

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

CynHolt

blacbird