It’s summer and that means it’s writers conference season. Most writers conferences occur between April and September (there are a few outliers, of course, but mainly this is true). And if you are serious about making a career out of your writing, you most likely will attend one or more of them.
At these conferences, one of the biggest goals most new writers list is to meet and attract a literary agent. This might not be as much of a pinnacle as it was in the days before self-publishing became a viable path to literary success. But I still think it’s fair to say that most agents feel that vibe at conferences from attendees. Literary agents are great business partners for authors. So even if you are a self-published or hybrid author, it’s always nice to have someone you can talk to professionally about your writing career development and growth.
The problem with meeting agents at conferences, though, is twofold. The first part of the problem is that you are competing with hundreds of other authors for the agent’s time and interest during the conference. While I could tell you how to stand out at a conference IN A GOOD WAY, I’ll instead link to this post at BookBaby for some great advice. Follow these six tips and you will dramatically increase your chances of garnering positive agent attention onsite.
The second part of the problem is an outgrowth of that. When an agent does become interested in your work and asks you to send some or all of your manuscript following the conference, what do you do? Do you send it immediately to go to the head of that long queue of hopefuls? Or do you apply what you’ve learned about the craft of writing to polish up that prose before you email it to the requesting agent(s)?
I posit that it’s a bit of both. You must make it a high priority to conduct one more polishing cycle on your submission within the first week after the conference and then send it on to the requesting agent(s). One week’s wait will show the agent that you are thoughtful and professional and spent the time to apply the lessons and tips you learned at the conference to your work. Waiting many months or in some cases a year or more to send your submission to the agent can convey the opposite: that life intruded, or you’re not serious about a career in writing, or your writing needed major surgery–something agents are wary of in their search for potential business partners.
The best way to treat your polishing cycle is to apply a critical eye to the following parts of your submission:
1. The first sentence. Make it as visceral and compelling as possible. Here is a great blog post from writing teacher Laura Davis and agent Michael Larsen that tells you how to craft a great first line and gives amazing examples.
2. The first paragraph. Follow up that amazing first line with an equally tight and mind-boggling paragraph.
3. The first scene. The only purpose of the first scene is to hook the reader into the story. Here’s a great article from Lisa Cron about how the brain reacts to storytelling and gives you 7 Ways to use Brain Science to hook your reader into the story.
4. The first chapter. This might be all that’s requested from an agent. Agents read so much from the slushpile, they can usually make a go/no-go decision based on the first 10 pages. So if they ask for the first chapter, have it successfully engage the reader, end with a bang, set up the story, and hook the reader.
Only after you’ve ensured that your submission does these four things should you send that partial off to the requesting agent.
Have fun at these summer writers conferences. They are a fantastic place to network with everyone, not only agents. And one more hint…it’s okay to do this editing BEFORE you go to the conference so that the polishing cycle is minor after you return home again.
