Events: February 2008 Archives
Borrowed Rexroth's car last night to drive on up to Boulder to meet with the writers of Murphy's Fiction Collective, a group of creative souls who gather with some regularity, as is appropriate, in a local Boulder bar. They were the hosts, along with other local writers and creative types, of a fun networking party for the local writing/publishing community.
I had a great time meeting and chatting with teachers at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop, the founder of Sub-Scribe magazine, and the books editor for NewWest, among others. I was reminded once again that just because people in New York consider themselves the epicenter of the publishing community, that doesn't mean that the rest of the world is empty! In just a short time out here, I've already come in contact with representatives of multiple writers groups, heard of at least three or four local conferences, and met a ton of writers. Maybe it's that -- outside the bustle of NYC -- people with an interest in writing and publishing become more vocal about their interests, more keen to gravitate to each other. Whyever it might be, it's great fun to be a part of.
I'm grateful to the writers of Murphy's Fiction Collective for the invite!
Had a fun brilliant time at the SCBWI Annual Winter Conference this weekend. I was asked to be a part of the Writers Intensive on Friday, and though I spent most of the day sniffling and sneezing, I also had the opportunity to help 15 writers polish their manuscripts, proposals and synopses. The most common note the writers received? (Not just from me, mind you, but also from the other writers at the table.) Be aware of where you start your story. A number of the samples I saw featured prologues or long introductions, and almost every reader wanted to get to the story more quickly. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have any prologue, ever, but consider if you couldn't give that information to the reader in some other format.
Friday night was also the SCBWI VIP cocktail party, where I had an opportunity to mix and mingle with my colleagues in children's publishing, pitch some upcoming projects, and meet some new contacts -- as well as toasting to our future success.
Saturday, after gaining some additional insight into the interests of several top editors, I sat in the audience of a panel featuring some of the top literary agents in our industry, hearing what they think are the emerging trends in the market. Good news for writers? No one wants you to follow a trend. Every agent up there said a version of the same thing -- write the story you have to write, and if it's strong and well-written, it will find readers. It's not about finding the next Big New Thing -- the next vampire, or faery, or princess novel -- it's about the Next Great New Book. And yes, there IS a difference.
