Two weeks ago, I was at the Writerās Conference in NYC. I canāt believe two weeks have already passed. š² Iāve met some amazing writers here. The four day conference kick-started with everyone getting drawn into groups. So, mysteries and thrillers had a separate group. Sci-fi authors seemed to be another big group. I was part of the womenās fiction/literary fiction/historical fiction group. Literary agent Paula Munier and author Michael Neff. Michael didnāt mince words and sugar coat things. He was very blunt. Writing is hard and getting published is harder.
Venue
The writerās conference was at the Ripley Grier Studios. It was a great venue at 8th Ave, NYC, because you can almost palpate the nervous energy of the dancers who audition here for plays. You can hear the whole musical range of a soprano and the tune of a piano never escapes you. Itās a great place for artists and as soon as you enter the place, you find yourself swept away in the magic of creativity and artistry. Has anyone noticed the piano in the corner? š¤ Yeah, I keyed some during the lunch break and didnāt let Gary, the only literary author in our group, have his noon nap!!!
The Actual Writerās Conference
I have to admit this was harder than I thought. Our biggest blessing was author Susan Breen. šAs a cozy mystery author and alum of the writerās conference, she was by far the single best thing at this conference. Susan brought her decade long experience as an author for Penguin Random House to our group. Over four days, she pored over our stories, pitches and first pages. She patiently listened with keen interest, offered pointed advice and helped us hone our pitches to a shine. She also offered developmental advice and what to do after the writerās conference. I cannot help but remember the moment Susan championed me from her seat when I pitched the editors. I was super nervous and just having her nod and smile, made the world of a difference.
Writerās Conference Authors
I also believe we had a good mix in our group. No two stories were alike and so there was this huge melting pot of cultures, ideas, thought and emotions in the stories. One of the major advantages of the conference was hearing the opinions of other authors writing within the same genre. Authors shared some truly objective advice here that authors about the stories and pitches.
You can tell this is after the fourth day of the conference where Iām sooo happy after a successful pitch round!!! šWoot-woot!!! I think we all are and Susan was nothing but ecstatic about our success. All her hard work proved fruitful.
Author Friends for Life
Iāve made some amazing author friends. Lucie calls us the Sisterhood of the Pitch Conference. The above picture is one of many lunches we had together. Anne Marie Romer was one of the few non-fiction authors writing her sisterās story and she was super positive. I have to say sheās one of the most put together women Iāve ever met. Her laughter was infectious and she was such a rock during the four days. Angel Di Zhang, writing fantasy, womenās fiction is definitely a firecracker. If you ever meet this author, you should buy her whiskey! š„ Lucie Lehmann, a Swiss miss, was our āComp Godmother.ā She knows books like the back of her hand. She recommended Kristin Hannahās Night Road for my comparative title and it worked beautifully. She also didnāt laugh when I didnāt know what a Shirley Temple was and bought me a fruity concoction š¹ at my first bar social (OUR POST-PITCH COOL DOWN). (Thank you Lucie!!) Cathy Parill, whoās a musical genius, and is writing nonfiction based on her experiences in Haiti, offered vocal lessons to me. If I ever turn into a soprano, this woman deserves all the credit.
Post Writerās Conference
After the conference, I was in such a celebratory mood, that I went to Macyās for the flower show and ended up buying my signature fragrance, Daisy! Thanks to Susan thereās a lot of work that needs to be done on the manuscript but having been surrounded by amazing authors and their work, makes me want to deliver the best story. So fingers crossed as I go back to the drawing board and obsess over every word and line of my manuscript!
I highly recommend the Writers Pitch Conference. Maybe Iāll do another post on the finer details of what went down after Iāve edited my manuscript. In the mean time, I have to get back to editing!!!