Yeesh. Figures that the year I move away from Denver, Jim Butcher is going to be one of the speakers and attendees of the Pike’s Peak Writer’s Conference. I attended PPWC last year and had a great time, as well as the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s Conference. Usually when you go to a conference, it’s for one of two purposes. Maybe, like me, you had a manuscript that you wanted to be able to pitch to an editor or agent. You might’ve also gone in order to attend the numerous panel discussions and workshops. Either way, a good conference (note “good” as a requirement) can be a great investment for several reasons. First, it puts you in touch with people who work in the publishing industry head-on. You get to ask all those little questions that have been bothering you, like “Did you really mean to slash my feelings to bits with that rejection letter?” or “Should I send homemade cookies or a pizza with my manuscript proposal?”
Second, it gets you around other writers. Now, knowing how odd some of our number can be, this may not seem like an incredible opportunity to some of you. But really, it’s a good thing. Writing is a solitary business, and unless you have a weekly writing group, discovering that there are people out there who go through a lot of the same creative lengths and experience some of the same “weirdness” that you do (like character voices talking in your head) can be both a relief and a great opportunity to make new friends in the craft. I know several people, including the woman who helped me design my website, plus another who has since produced an ezine for science fiction fantasy, mainly through meeting them and corresponding after conferences. You never know what opportunities you might be able to share, and it never hurts just to make a friend.
Lastly, conferences can just be a great way to recharge your inspiration and motivation. You often come away ready to throw yourself back into revisions, or maybe you even get an agent or editor to ask to see your first thirty pages. That’s always a boost.
If you’re planning on attending a conference this year, this link is a great conference primer on how to handle yourself, sage advice (such as, Do Not Swim in the Koi Pond), and full-out warnings as to people to avoid, or traditions to be involved in. This year can be that first time you break onto the conference scene, and you want to make sure you’re remembered for all the right reasons. Not because of that tattoo on your left butt cheek.
I see that smile.
I’ve always been wary of the conference thing. I don’t know why–I’m just uber nervous when it comes to putting yourself out there and trying to network with peope. I have never, ever been one to just go up to someone and start talking. My older brother, though, he can go up to anybody and just yak away. I envy him.
For example (and I know this is a little “off” as far as the type of conference), at the big educational conference my family goes to every year, the keynote is a nuclear chemist who I adore. I’d love to go up to him and ask him a dozen questions, but what’s probably going to end up happening is I’ll just sit at the front of the audience and watch him answer everybody else’s questions.
On the other hand, at this same conference, they have a well-known professional storyteller come regularly. My brother likes to go up to him after his presentation and rattling on about greek and egyptian myth and yadda yadda. I’ve found them yaking a number of times.
Like I said, I envy him.
OH! And on a side note, I empathize with your Jim Butcher situation. The ONE time he was in my area, I had two huge tests the next week. So, being the nerd freak that I am, I stayed home and studied. *grumbles*
Anyway. I’m rambling. I’ll shut up now.
-Corpse Inducer
Hmm. Seems you and I must make an effort to make sure we get Butcher checked off our Authors-to-Meet list. Though he would be one of those guys I’d love to sit and chat with for a goodly while.
As for getting in touch with folks, a writing conference is certainly one of those times where you don’t want to always be in an agent or editor’s face. Don’t want to end up on their blacklist. But that’s the reason they come to these conferences, is to interact with writers, give advice, and be available for the pitch sessions. And the nice thing about the pitch sessions are they’re a bit more formal and structured, so (even though people do get nervous over them) they can give you some mental distance. Are there any conferences that are hold in or around your area?
Yep. There are a number of conferences in my state. We’ve actually got a few notable authors who live here. I’m just too much a chicken to go to one right now. :/
Chicken? You? Hah. Didn’t one of your most recent posts have to do with your scavenging of a deer corpse for scientific experimentation? Don’t you know what kind of risk that puts you at? Deer zombies! Alien spores festering in its bowels! The revenge of the deer mummy (or Bambi’s mom). All you have to do is go up to an editor or agent at the conference and say, “You know, you’re a lot less scary than a deer corpse.” Works every time.
Awww! You sure how infuse a morbid freak with a little self-confidence!
Though, I have to say, I think I’d be thinking that line, rather than saying it. I don’t know how an editor/agent would feel about me comparing them with a deer corpse.
(On a side note, corpses really aren’t all that scary. At least, not the deer ones. They’re a lot nicer than live people, too!)