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I had a fun experience at my first conference (I’m a newbie). This happened at a national conference of Romance Writers of America.

I’d written a completed novel, but knew it wasn’t at all ready to pitch, so my goals for the conference were to learn as much as I could, just soak everything up. After the awards ceremony (the social high point of the conference) I was kinda tired and wanted nothing more than to go to bed. But there was a fabulous post-awards dessert buffet, and I simply had to go. Eschewing the table where my companions sat, I slithered to an out-of-the-way corner in the back and sat at a table where I knew not a soul. My plan was to nod my head politely, scarf down some sweets. amd high-tail it outta there.

The table I chose a table seated eight but was occupied sparsely by three young women, all dressed in black cocktail dresses. I asked one if I might sit down.

“of course,” she said.

All I wanted was to sample the desserts, but to be courteous, I asked the charming woman next to me where she was from.

“New York,” she said.

“Oh, fun,” I said, “I lived in the city for many years. Part of my soul is still there.”

Turns out, everyone at the table lived in New York, so I shared a few of my memories of that fabulous city and asked a few questions about what it’s like now. Since I knew the area surrounding the conference venue, I asked the women if they’d seen much of it. Thus began a chat about local attractions. I felt thoroughly relaxed with my charming and sociable table mates.

Finally the lovely young woman seated next to me turned to me with a smile. “So what do you write?” she asked.

“Duh?”

Yep. They were all editors, from the same publishing house. Yours truly, the newbie, had no idea.

I told her my book wasn’t ready, I was only at the conference to learn. She wanted to hear about my book anyway. I told her. I also told her why it wasn’t right for her line. She told me she might like it, and why.

“Keep me posted,” she said.

Well, the dang thing still isn’t ready — I’m working hard to make it the best it can be, given my abilities and level of skill. But I do keep in touch with this editor, on a very occasional basis.

Whenever I think of this encounter, I smile. I have no illusions she’ll someday take on my book — I’ll need an agent for that. But the encounter left me a pleasant feeling that in spite of pressures and need to focus on bottom line, there are some very good humam beings in the world of publishing.

We knew that already. But after all, you did ask.

All the agents I’ve met at conferences have been really nice. My only complaint is that at the time I was pitching a memoir, and all of them said I should turn it into a prescriptive book. However, in a 10-minute pitch session, no one ever explained exactly what I should be “prescribing.” I can’t imagine many people need to know how to protect their 9-year-old when she’s being advertised on the Internet for sex — or that many people are interested in learning how to get a law passed. So, the advice didn’t really help me much, although I spent a lot of time trying to spin the memoir into a prescriptive book. Maybe memoirs just weren’t selling a few years ago? One very nice editor said he didn’t understand why it hadn’t sold, but his company didn’t publish memoirs.

So, what’s my point? Conferences are great if you’re new to writing, because you will get tons of information that isn’t available anywhere else. You’ll also see that agents and editors really are normal human beings with two legs, no wings, and no horns. Pitch sessions are an okay learning experience, but just remember, you can’t get a lot of feedback in 10 minutes. And as one agent stressed at the first conference I ever attended, this is a VERY subjective business — lots of agents and editors initially rejected Harry Potter.

LMAO I can just picture it.
Man: Hey, you have a nice package there.”
Agent: “Um, thank you…”
Man: “You know in my scifi-horror-mystery-YA there’s an amn with a package that looks a lot like yours. You should check it out.”

Luckly there are no conferences close enough to my area to be worth it for me. From what I’ve heard the general consensis is that they’re not something to cry about if you can’t make it. Plus I think better through my fingers than through my mouth.

And Richelle, I still can;t believe what a putz that agent was. But hey, they can’t all be as nice as me!

And Richelle, I still can;t believe what a putz that agent was. But hey, they can’t all be as nice as me!

And Richelle, I still can;t believe what a putz that agent was. But hey, they can’t all be as nice as me!