How to Do Your Research Before a Conference

One of my favorite events of the year is coming up this week—the Midwest Writer's Workshop! I've written about the things I love about this conference before, but I thought I'd talk about something different this year: what you should research beforehand.

Research, you might be saying? Why do I need to do research? The reason I'm going is to learn things, after all. But here's the truth: you will get so much more out of attending a writing conference or workshop if you take the time to get yourself properly oriented beforehand.

Here are some of the main areas that should be your focus:

1. Your Novel

This might sound strange, but one of the first things you should do is take a good, hard look at your own writing. Figure out what category (YA, MG, Children's, Adult, NA?) it fits into as well as what genre (sci-fi, memoir, romance, contemporary, etc.). 

I've been to nearly a dozen conferences now, and I've seen so many people wasting their time and the publishing professionals' time because they have no idea what they're writing. Usually this can be figured out with an hour's worth of Google searching.

If you're planning to go for the traditional publishing route and query your novel to agents soon, it's also a good idea to take the time to research query letters and take a stab at writing one of your own before the conference. Not only will you have something to give to anyone who asks the dreaded, "So what are you writing?" question, but you'll also have a starting point if you're attending any sessions or workshops on query writing.

2. The Publishing Professionals Attending

This is a big one. Take the time to find out everything you can about the agents, editors, and other publishing professionals who will be at the conference. This will enable you to pick the right ones to pitch to if that opportunity is offered—don't waste their time and yours by pitching your adult memoir to an agent who only does YA!

I always start with the person's official website, if they have one. Then you can move on to their Publisher's Marketplace page, social media accounts, and interviews around the web. Try searching for things like "agent name interview" to find these.

3. Conference Etiquette

Finally, make sure you know what kinds of things are and aren't acceptable at writer's conferences so you don't make the wrong impression. I did a whole separate post about this a few years ago that covers the basics.

If you do your research beforehand, I guarantee that your conference experience will go more smoothly. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some agent interviews to read....

Writer's Resource: Janet Reid's Blog

Regular readers of this blog might have noticed that I'm a huge fan of research, both the kind you do when you're planning a novel and the kind you do before you try to find an agent or publisher (or before you self-publish). I have a huge bookmarked list of helpful links, but one of the best ways I stay on top of what's happening in the publishing industry is by reading certain helpful blogs on a regular basis.

One of the best around is super-agent Janet Reid's. She posts daily with questions and answers from readers, trends she's seeing in the slush, query advice, and even writing contests. Her advice is always blunt—one of the things I like about her is that she feels no need to sugarcoat—but she's honest and encouraging at the same time. She also maintains the QueryShark blog, a must-read for everyone who wants to write an effective query.

If you find it hard to keep up with a post a day, Ms. Reid helpfully puts up a Week in Review post every Sunday with a summary of the past week's posts and the pertinent/funny comments on each. (Side note: the comments on her blog tend to be informative, interesting, and often hilarious. It's the only blog on my feed reader where I regularly click to the full site to read the comments!)

I usually read blogs on my phone, because I'm more likely to get a moment to check them out while waiting in line or riding in the back of a car. There are several good apps you can use to keep track of the blogs you read. The one I use, Feedly, is intuitive and straightforward.

And now, hopefully you'll excuse me for a moment while I gloat about the fact that I get to meet Ms. Reid in person in just a few weeks, at the Midwest Writer's Workshop. I'm pretty excited to hear her publishing wisdom in person!

Writer's Conference Survival Guide Part 3: Networking

The third and final installment in my Writer's Conference Survival Guide is all about networking.

By networking, I mean meeting like-minded people who are attending the conference with you. If you've been following this blog for a while, you might have read the story of how I got my agent. As I said in that post, I attribute most of my growth as a writer to the critique partners and support group I've built up over the past few years.

Conferences are fantastic places to find critique partners and groups. Case in point: I met Jenn, Stacy, and Lauren, my co-bloggers here at Thinking to Inking, at the first conference I ever attended. Especially if you don't have a critique group or writer friends who live nearby, you'll definitely want to network when you go to a writer's conference.

Here are some tips for getting the most out of your networking:

1. Bring business cards. You might feel a little sheepish about passing out business cards made before you're a published author, but trust me, they are really useful at conferences. Mine just have my name, contact info, and "writer" on them. You can make your own on your home printer, or order them online. Moo.com and Vistaprint.com are inexpensive, good places to start. 

Tip: order a matte finish on your cards so you can jot notes like "writes adult SF/F" on them to remind you of details.

2. During the conference, be friendly and interested in the people around you. If you're in line for food or waiting for a workshop to begin, start up a conversation with the person next to you. Ask them what they write. If you find someone who writes in a similar genre and your communication styles seem like a good match, don't be afraid to mention you're looking for critique partners.

3. If you're attending the conference with a spouse, best friend, or a whole group, make an effort to branch out. It's tempting to sit in the corner whispering with the person you know instead of meeting new people, but this is a golden opportunity that you don't want to waste. If you really want to force yourself out of your shell, sit apart from each other at mealtimes and talk to the people around you instead.

4. Sometimes the best connections are formed after conference hours, since most conference days end in the early evening. Networking is a lot like dating--if you feel like you're making a connection with someone, suggest you continue the conversation over dinner or drinks.

I'm off to the Midwest Writer's Workshop this Thursday for the second year in a row, so I'll get to put my own conference survival tips to work. Maybe I'll see some of you there!