Writing Conferences Ho

Posted on April 18, 2008

Breaking through the barriers erected around agents, editors, and publishers seems impossible. Writers often believe they need to be related to someone close to the “powers that be,” know someone related, or have some other “in” to get to the people who make or break authors.

Writers often can find a small press that will give them a reading, but the “major” publishing houses won’t look at un-agented material. Major agents won’t accept unpublished authors. Vicious cycle, right? Well, maybe not.

Writing conferences offer sessions that help writers improve their work and give suggestions for marketing, publicity, and other business management subjects. However, true conferences give more: They provide access to the unaccessible agents, editors, and publisher representatives.

In two years, I have had agents with huge slush piles tell me to send my material directly to them. Why? Because I was serious enough about my writing to attend a writing conference. In fact, one well-known agent said exactly that earlier this month.

Making contacts and networking at conferences is a major consideration for attending one. Even if not one session helped, even if all sessions bored attendees out of their minds, a conference with speakers from the publishing industry, with one-on-one appointments with those agents and publishing house representatives would be worth the money, time, and effort needed to attend.

My experience, though, has been that at least some of the sessions gave me help in various areas of my writing career. Sessions about free publicity and killer press releases gave me hints that will aid in marketing my books (remember, even if a major publisher picks up your book, you as the author are responsible for much of your own marketing and publicity). Another session let me know what publishers want in children’s books. Yes, in two years I found a couple of boring sessions and a few time periods that offered nothing I was interested in hearing, but overall I learned much.

Also most conferences host writing competitions for those who register early enough to meet the contest deadline.

Are you really, really serious about having your work published? Then find a writing conference in your area of the world that has agents, editors, and representatives from publishing houses present who speak in some of the sessions and who meet with attendees one on one or in small groups outside the sessions. Added bonuses are helpful sessions and contests with constructive critiques.

After teaching composition for twenty-five years and becoming an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ a site for Poetry, Vivian Gilbert Zabel produced Hidden Lies and Other Stores, Walking the Earth:, and The Base Stealers Club, which can be ordered through most book stores and on http://www.Amazon.com

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