Great Agents & Editors Conference!
Monday, June 26th, 2006As you may know from previous posts, this past weekend, I attended the 13th Annual Writers’ League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience! There were many opportunities to speak with a great group of agents and editors, and of course, to other writers. As well, there were knowledgeable and approachable professionals leading “breakout sessions” (a collection of interesting seminars for attendees to choose from).
In short, the weekend was a great opportunity to network and to learn. But the conference shouldn’t be seen as a chance to walk away with an agent’s offer to represent you. For that, you have to dazzle with more than verbally delivering a great pitch.
A key point I heard at this conference (and the two others I attended) is that it all boils down to one big question — can you write? Nobody can expect to land a reputable agent (more about that in the upcoming Homework post) without giving her/him a chance to look over your work. So have your writing revised to your best quality before you pitch it to an agent. And then, if s/he likes your book idea, be prepared to send her/him the exact material requested. That being said, a few agents at the conference did ask me to send material, and I’m glad I made note of who requested what.
With all the weekend’s hustle and bustle, I wasn’t able to speak to as many people as I would’ve liked, so that’s where having a strong query letter should come in handy (and here’s another plug — watch for the Query Letter post).
By the way, I really enjoyed my scheduled ten-minute consultation time with Betsy Amster, President of Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises. We had a nice conversation, and she requested some material. I’m very pleased about that.
Over the next week or two, I’ll be sharing tips from the pros at the conference and from other sources. Watch for these upcoming posts:
- Go Boldly into the Blogosphere: A Wake-up Call for Writers
- Do Your Homework Before Contacting an Agent
- How to Write a Query Letter
- Let’s Get Married: The Agent/Author Relationship