It’s that time again. Tomorrow kicks off the big annual summer conference put on by the lovely folks at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association.
If you’re in the Seattle area, I highly recommend you check it out. It’s definitely in my top 10. If you aren’t able to make it out, hopefully I can provide some tips that will help you at your next conference.
First and foremost is to come prepared. If you just show up to a writers’ conference without preparing, you’ll end up wasting a lot of time and effort and possibly missing out on a few opportunities. The conference starts tomorrow, so if you’ll be attending, you need to get on that nowish. I wrote a post before last year’s PNWA about how to prepare for a conference. Go ahead and check it out. It’s OK. I’ll wait.
Good? This post picks up where that one leaves off, focusing more on the next step, what to do once you are at the conference.
Arrive well-rested and ready to go. There will be so much going on, and the days tend to run long, so don’t arrive exhausted. If you do it right, you’ll leave exhausted, full of knowledge, and thoroughly inspired.
Know your manuscript inside and out, forward and backward, and be prepared to recall any bit of information about it at any given moment, including business-related info like genre and comps. Also know what isn’t overtly stated in the manuscript: character back story, motivations, etc. I suggest reading your manuscript in full before you show up, just as a refresher. When making a first impression as a potential professional-caliber writer, the last thing you want to do is appear ill-informed about your own work.
Practice your pitch until it comes as natural as everyday conversation, and then make sure to deliver it as such. Engage the agent in a dialog. Talk with them, not at them. The last thing I want in a pitch session is someone with glazed eyes reciting their query letter. I could read that from home. Also, if you treat your pitch like a dialog, you maintain a sense of flexibility. I’ve seen writers get terribly rattled when I interrupt their speech to ask a question. The agent will (and should) have questions, and the session should progress like a fairly normal conversation about something that really excites you.
Know when and where to pitch. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Every agent, at least once, has that moment in which they have 5 minutes in between sessions, they’ve been drinking coffee all day, and they wonder if they can get to the restroom and back without being cornered in the hallway (or in the restroom) by an attendee pitching their manuscript. I always say that you’re welcome to come up and talk with me if I’m not otherwise engaged, and that’s generally a safe assumption as long as it’s during conference hours, the agent is wearing their name tag, etc. Before you approach the agent, do a quick analysis. If they’re standing around, leisurely checking out things at the conference bookstore, or strolling through the hallway, for example, you can probably approach them and ask if they have a moment. (Always ask first, by the way. Don’t just start spouting the merits of your book). If they are deep in conversation, walking quickly with purpose, or in the restroom, they are engaged.
Treat the agent like you would treat a human. Don’t get pushy, especially if the agent mentions that your project isn’t a good fit for them. Be polite, accept it, and move on. Other agents exist. When an agent evaluates a potential client, they pay attention to both the writing and the human behind it. You want to leave a good impression on both fronts. There have been plenty of cases in which the writing had me on the fence and the writer tipped the decision over into a solid rejection.
Treat your fellow attendee like you would treat a human. They are not beneath you and unworthy of your time. They are not an enemy to be crushed in competition. If your community does better, you do better, provided that you act as a contributing member of that community. It’s hard enough to get published at all. If you want to make it easier, surround yourself with friends instead of enemies.
Say yes to (almost) everything. Now is not the time to be shy or to hide away in your room. Get out there and make friends. Have fun, but don’t get sloppy. Go to the cocktail mixers, readings, dance parties, etc. Participate, learn, and network, but keep a level head. You don’t want to be that drunk writer who wouldn’t shut up about how Harry Potter wasn’t that great, and you don’t want to be all hazy (or in bed) during the important sessions the next morning.
Always take notes. There’s so much information input and interesting shiny at these conferences that you are almost guaranteed to forget important info if you don’t write it down. And there will be a lot that you’ll want to retain for later use.
That’s it for now. Hope to see you there! I’ll be joined by rock star agents Sara Sciuto and Emily Keys. I’ll be giving a talk on effective hybrid publishing Friday at 2:00 and participating in the various pitch sessions. Hopefully you’ll also stop by the award ceremony on Saturday to see if I chose your short story as the winner in PNWA’s annual contest. There were some great ones this year. And as with last year, follow us on Twitter and Instagram for up to the moment updates throughout the conference.
