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!

How I Got My Agent!

I am so, so, so excited to announce that I'm now represented by Jennifer Azantian of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency!

I've always found "how I got my agent" posts to be very motivating--so in the hope that others might feel the same way, here's mine. (Fair warning: it's long!)

THE LONG-TIMERS is the third novel I queried. I started writing seriously in 2010 and banged out what I thought was a pretty decent YA paranormal novel by the end of the year. I sent off a whole bunch of email queries (75 or 80, maybe? I remember it was a lot!), to pretty much anyone who represented the genre. This shotgun approach resulted in a handful of requests to read fulls and partials, and while every single one ended in a polite form rejection, it was enough to convince me I wasn't completely nuts.

Figuring I'd probably do better with another genre, one that wasn't quite so saturated, I decided to try writing a MG sci-fi novel next. As with my first manuscript, I got a handful of partial and full requests, but each one ended with a polite rejection.

But around this time, I lucked into my first real critique partner (hi Laura!). We met through our husbands and discovered we both wrote YA, so we decided to meet once a week and work through our previously completed manuscripts, critiquing a chapter a week.

Holy crap. Seriously, if you've never had a real CP, one who's also a writer, one who's willing to dig into your work and discuss it with you for hours, you NEED ONE. My writing improved immensely after just a few months of weekly meetings.

In late 2011, I figured I'd try my hand at another YA manuscript. I'd just finished the first draft of THE LONG-TIMERS when I stumbled across an agent's blog post promoting the 2012 Big Sur Writing Workshop--which was only a six hour drive away from where I was living at the time. The idea of going to an actual writing conference terrified me, to be honest. I wouldn't know anyone there. I'd never had more than one person actually critique my work. I'd have to meet (and talk to!) live agents. But somehow I screwed up my nerve and signed up. And I'm so glad I did! The conference was amazing. Not only did I meet my future Thinking to Inking co-bloggers there, but I also had actual conversations with several agents and got amazing feedback from editors and fellow attendees.

Just as I was finishing up the revisions from the conference and getting ready to start querying, I found out about a Twitter pitch party and signed up for an account. Suddenly (seriously, I still can't believe how fast this happened), I was a member of a thriving, awesome, incredibly supportive Twitter writing community.

I started querying THE LONG-TIMERS in June of 2012. This time, I was determined to query in small batches. This turned out to be really smart, because I got some tremendously helpful feedback early on which helped me make the manuscript much stronger. While I was waiting for responses, I entered contests--and to my surprise and delight, I started getting lots of requests! One of these was the Gearing Up to Get An Agent (GUTGAA) blogfest pitch contest, hosted by the lovely Deana Barnhart. I was thrilled when I made it to the agent round of the contest and even more thrilled when I got multiple agent requests to read partials--one of them from Jennifer.

I had over three times more requests to read material for THE LONG-TIMERS than my previous two manuscripts combined, but then the rejections started to roll in. Most of them were personalized--a big change from my first query attempts--and they were incredibly nice (I'm convinced literary agents are some of the nicest people on earth). But almost every rejection said the same thing: I really like these specific parts, but I'm not connecting with the whole thing/don't love it enough to represent it.

Well. As you can imagine, I felt a little discouraged. At the end of November, Jennifer emailed me to say she had loved the first fifty pages of the manuscript and wanted to read more, but I told myself not to get my hopes up. She probably would be another in the string of agents who liked it, but didn't like it enough.

So when I got Jennifer's email telling me she loved it, I just about fell off my chair. When she called me to offer representation, I was bowled over by her passion and excitement for the manuscript. I am beyond thrilled to be working with her and so happy that I finally found the exact right advocate for my work.

The moral of this particular story: get yourself out there! If I hadn't gotten together with critique partners, gone to conferences, and hooked up with a larger writing community, there's no way I'd be writing this post today.

I am incredibly grateful to the friends who helped me get to this point: my wonderful first CP Laura; Jenn, Stacy, and Lauren (seriously the nicest co-bloggers/critique partners I could ask for); Erin and Andrew for the great critique notes; Dee and Summer for being amazing and awesome and incredibly supportive; and my husband Gavin, who's stuck by me through all this craziness and makes everything possible. I love all of you guys!

Stats (because I know I always like to see them, heh):
Queries sent: 55
Rejections: 31
No-response: 13
Partial requests: 14 (9 from contests, 3 from queries, 2 from in-person pitches)
Full requests: 15 (8 from queries, 3 from contests, 4 upgraded from partials)

Writer's Resource: Absolute Write Forums

Absolute Write is a writer's resource extravaganza. Arguably the most helpful part is the vast online community of the Absolute Write Water Cooler.

Working on a novel in any genre, nonfiction book, short story, or freelance pieces? There's a section of the forum for each at the link above. There you'll find tons of information on writing, editing, and publishing your work. A tip: if there are stickied threads at the top of a forum, read them through before posting a question. The regulars sometimes get a little testy if they're answering the same question for the eighty-ninth time that month.

Another area to check out in the Water Cooler is Share Your Work (SYW). Free registration is required to view this part of the forum. Here you'll find hundreds of people sharing their query letters, synopses, and pages for peer critique. Once you accumulate 50 posts, you can post your own work for critique.

A very important word of caution: SYW is not for the faint of heart or thin of skin! People will be completely, sometimes brutally honest about their reaction to your writing. Keep in mind that a lot of it will be subjective--but if you get more than one person posting the same comments, you would be wise to consider their suggestions.

The Absolute Write Water Cooler isn't right for everyone, but it can be a great way to connect with like-minded writers and find critique partners. Check it out and see what you think!

Writer's Resource: AgentQuery Connect Part 2, Community Resources

As I mentioned in my last post, AgentQuery Connect is an incredibly valuable resource that should be in every writer's toolkit.  Last time, we focused on query writing resources.  This time around, we're going to chat about some of the writing community resources and tools beyond query writing.

If you're new to the site, make sure to introduce yourself.  There is also a great section where newbies can ask questions to the group via the guppie pond.  Think your word count may be too high?  Want someone's opinion on how best to follow up to an agent?  Not sure where to start?  Post your question and let the vets respond.

In addition to writing resources, the site is an excellent way to connect with other writers.  Had a bad day or just need to vent some frustrations?  Check out the litter box.  Finally made it through your revisions, or received your first partial request from an agent?  Share your good news in the good news boast bar.  There are even boards for genre specific topics, where you can connect with other writers from your genre.

If you're starting your agent hunt, check out some of these handy sections:

1.  Agent Updates - this section includes updates on agency moves, blackout periods, new agents, etc.
2.  Agent Submission Process - this section allows you to post any and all questions about the submission process.  I'd recommend scrolling through the existing content before you post your question - there's a good chance you'll find your answer in the existing archives.
3.  Contests and Conferences - here you'll find posts about upcoming contests and conferences.  It's a great resource if you're interested in getting involved with some of the agent blog contests that happen each month.

If you're looking for a critique partner, or just need someone to review your first few chapters, check out the wanted ads.  There, you can post an ad or respond to other posts.  I've found a number of beta readers this way, and every one of them has been fantastic!

Every time I login to AgentQuery Connect I find something new - this post only begins to scratch the surface.  I hope you'll spend some time exploring the site and the wonderful community of writers you'll find there.  And don't be a lurker!  You'll get so much more from the site if you join in.

Happy Writing!