Writers Conference Advice #3:Materials!

Some of the materials I took with me to Write to Publish

I've been going into specifics with business cards and the like, but haven't yet provided a list of overall materials it's good to have at a writers conference. As always, my organizational skills are flawless. Here are some of the most essential materials:

Business Cards: 

Already discussed. I can't remember how many copies I had printed, but it was like forty, and I used almost all of them.

First Page of Manuscript:

In both my meetings with editors, I was asked for this. I had five copies prepared. Make sure it's as polished as it can be. I've heard that many editors don't even read past the first paragraph!

First Chapter:

Again, I had multiple copies of the first chapter prepared, although I probably killed several saplings with all the paper I used. Both editors asked for and skimmed this chapter, which is what got me requests for an emailed full manuscript proposal. Also, I marked up the chapter copies during critique groups. They say that the first chapter is what sells the book, and the last chapter is what sells the next one!

A "One-Sheet:"

I think I'll get into the particulars of this in a later post. Basically, this is a quick review of all the pertinent info about you and your novel. Word count, contact info, author bio, brief summary, how your book is relevant to and distinct from current marketing trends (basically how it will sell). Some people get really fancy and put pictures on it, but I think it's best to be careful to avoid cluttering. For mine, I left a space where I could staple my business card at the bottom, which had a picture of me and all my contact info. I printed multiple copies of the one-sheet.

Marketing Plan: 

If nothing else, this shows an editor that you've done your homework. I also intend to do a separate post on this topic, because I had opportunity to talk to some people who offered helpful suggestions. So I won't say anything specific here, except that editors really do like this -- I had some comment on it -- because it's a chance for them to see that you have a platform and have good ideas to actually sell copies. In the modern publishing industry, authors do most of the marketing!

Full Proposal: 

Going back to the conference, this is one thing I'd change. I thought I'd be fine not having an updated proposal, since I could theoretically put it together afterwards and email it to the various editors. But then an editor asked if I would be attending her proposal critique group, and I hadn't been, because my proposal was several months old! I had to stay up that night -- with a headache, while my roommates slept blissfully -- and stitch together some of the other things I've mentioned in order to make an approximation of a proposal. I intend to update this proposal soon, because I received tips in one of Rowena Kuo's classes on good proposal elements and a good order for them. I'll post some of the things I've learned about proposal making to this blog at a later date. But if I was going now, I'd be sure to have one physical copy with me!

One Page Summary:

Make sure it's polished! This is a chance to impress the editor both with your plot and your writing quality! Have several copies.

Actual Manuscript:

This is certainly not a necessity. In fact, I doubt many people bring full manuscript copies with them, especially since they should already theoretically have copies of the first page, summary, and first chapter. But when an editor saw that I had a full hard copy of the manuscript with me, she said she really liked that, and she asked to borrow it overnight! Boy was that a terrifying evening.

Disclaimer: never ask an editor if she will take a physical copy of your manuscript/proposal/chapter/etc. Said editor will not like you if you do such, as she is already getting similar offers from all sides, and as her packing space is probably limited. When I suggested taking multiple copies of certain items, that's more a just in case thing. I had editors ask to look at those copies, but they always gave them back, which is the norm. It was also helpful to have multiple copies so that I could mark them up with notes and suggestions. And when editors do offer suggestions, make a show of writing them down, even if you already know those things! I think they probably like that. At least, I would.

Writers Conference Advice #2: Business Cards!

This was the business card I used at Write to Publish. I censored the telephone and physical address for this blog, because the internet is a fickle place, my friends.

They may not seem important, but business cards are truly essential.

This is one piece of advice I nearly skipped over in my own preparations, but I'm glad I didn't. I accumulated maybe a dozen different business cards from contacts during my time at the conference, and handed out almost all the cards I printed. I often jotted down details about the person on the back of his or her card, which was helpful for later.

Not only will business cards help people remember you, but they look really professional if done correctly. I also really just enjoyed having a business card and getting to say, "Here's my card," in the most casual voice I could muster.

Some good elements for a card, in a proposed order of significance:

An email address. Because duh. Preferably not a silly one, like "superwriterman007@hotwriter.com." Or even one with a number like lukewildman01@gmail.com. The use of a number seems amateurish, to me. Something simple with your name in it is good, but I suppose that's all painfully obvious. Which leads me to question: why did I just write that? Why am I writing anything? Why am I HERE?

A picture. This is actually more important than anything else besides the email, in my opinion. When you just have a person's name, do you really think you'll remember them out of all the dozens of people you meet? But faces stick with us. If you want people to remember you even more, acquire some distinguishing characteristic, like a glass eye or a rugged scar on your left cheek, just slicing the edge of the lip! Kidding, of course. To clarify, I do not support corporal mortification or self-harm of any kind. Unless it involves having one's face removed by the kraken.

A website. This could be a blog or an actual website, if you're cool like that. I'm not. I gave this blog's address, which is actually one of the reasons I'm updating more regularly, heh . . . .

A phone number. Meh. This could be helpful. Might not be. Just depends on who you are, I guess.

A physical address. Again, it's really up to you, I think.

Well, those are my amateur suggestions. "You" generic probably knows a lot more about this than I do. But I really do insist on the picture: that's my story and I'm sticking to it! One of my stories, at least.

A last piece of advice: follow through afterwards. I know this also might seem obvious, but personally, my laziness often drives me into a lack of common sense. In 2013 when I was on a flight from Abuja to Frankfurt, having just graduated high school, my parents and I started chatting with another American expatriate who was returning to the states from a business trip. The man's son turned out to be a playwright in Chicago! He gave me his business card and told me he could hook me up with his son for an internship, but at the time I didn't realize the significance of what I'd just been handed! I failed to contact him for months, and then never heard back.

Suffice to say, after the Write to Publish conference, I wrote a quick note to each and every person from whom I received a card, just to establish contact. From the research I've done, it's a good idea!

Writers Conference Advice #1: Research!

Hi, friends! As I mentioned in my last post, in early June, I had opportunity to attend the Write to Publish writers conference in Wheaton. The conference was quite successful for me: I won the Editor's Choice Award from Brimstone Fiction, and also was asked for a manuscript proposal from the other editor I pitched to, Sarah Grimm of Harbourlight Publishing.

I am far from an expert on writers conferences, having only attended one of them in my life. But I did pick up a few things along the way, thanks in large part to the advice given me by more knowledgeable people. If anyone is interested, I'd like to pass some of that advice on in a series of blog posts.

Please note that most of my advice pertains to seeking a publishing contract, because that's the main goal I had in mind in attending WtP.

#1: RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH!

Besides doing everything I could to prepare my actual manuscript, this is the thing that helped me most. Research EVERYTHING.

When I was prepping for WtP, I started the in-depth work a couple weeks beforehand. My first step was reading several blog posts with general advice about writers conferences and writers conference prep. One really good venue for this is Cindy Huff's blog. The page I linked to has some general tips, but she also wrote a series of posts with in-depth info on everything from apparel to -- guess what? -- research! Honestly, it's probably more worthwhile to find her posts and read them than to continue following my advice on the subject. But just in case you ARE interested, here's some more stuff about researching!

Go beyond general research and move into specifics. Find a list of all the professionals who will attend your conference, then research each and every editor, publisher, and agent to decide who you want to pitch to. Research the freelancers, too, if that's what you're going for. Go to all of their websites and see what they publish. Look for their preferred form of submission and make notes on it. When I was preparing, I printing out the official list of attendees (with their pictures!) and jotted notes in the margins. I put a start next to the ones I REALLY wanted to pitch to, a question mark next to the ones I wasn't sure about, and other symbols to indicate other degrees of interest. Seriously, I can't stress enough how helpful this was. It enabled me not to freak out and blank when I was actually meeting with them.

Also, research the classes you're hoping to take, to decide on what's the best use of your time for your particular interests. And research other things to, from the correct format for a manuscript proposal to the correct format for business cards. Utilize the conference's website for all of this. It probably has some good advice and lots of links to the websites of the attendees. For Write to Publish, there were even a series of blog posts with general submission and interest information about the attendees. I wish I'd discovered that BEFORE I spent hours digging through the interwebs to find said information.

Have a good evening, friends! I'll hopefully be back with the next post either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Here's a picture of a llama freaking out because he didn't do his research. Bad llama!