So lots of people attending RWA this week, and are probably still there! I do believe the Golden Heart Awards are tonight as well. Best of luck to all nominees (especially our fellow Book Cents authors!!!)
We read and hear about conferences/retreats and lecture series all across the country and abroad, making it quite easy for any writer to stay on top of their craft and the current market trends. Depending on your financial situation you can experience many different venues throughout the year and possibly get in a little research or even find the perfect setting for your next story. And booyah, it's a tax deduction!
Now, my CP and I will drive up to 5-6 hrs for a conference. For years we would tackle a spring conference and a fall conference, usually NEC & New Jersey. It was awesome! Every six months we'd make a road trip! In our "early year" it was all about the craft and workshops to learn new ways to plot, and if we were lucky maybe get to talk to a published author or two during lunch or dinner or at the bar. Of course, the whole road trip experience was a much to look forward to event in itself! 7 kids between us and husbands that tend to travel quite a bit for work & leisure...you do the math people. Writer's Gone Wild, about sums it up.
Then we discovered the HUGE RWA conferences. Our first and I believe best experience was RWA in Dallas. And honestly nothing has compared to the glitz & glamour, the hotel setting, food, etc... Where at that time, we were still all about craft but on a bigger scale because of the conference. But we also attending workshops on marketing, promotion and branding. Fantastic experience. But yes, it was still about the travel adventure! :-)
After attending 3 National Conferences, I can honestly say I'm in it for the networking and fun socializing with my peeps. If there is a workshop that totally interests me (depending on what I'm writing at the time), or is being given by one of my favorite authors - I will go. But I don't knock myself out to go to everything. I'm not good at networking, so to me conferences have become more about volunteering and getting myself "out there", so folks will recognize my name by the time I get a book published - if I'm not dead by then (ha ha ha).
And now I've discovered Mystery Conferences!!! This opens up a whole new world for me and I feel like I'm starting over. I will be going to Crime Bake in November and can't wait to attend workshops and see the differences just based on a genre change. I know the "basics" will be the same, but I'm sure there are some awesome tips and tricks that will help me make my mysteries shine! I can't wait!
So what's in a conference for you? have you travelled all over? Where was your best conference experience? And if any of our followers are at Crime Bake, don't forget to look us up!!!!
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9 comments:
You know, second dream after getting a book published is to go to a writer's conference! One day...
Oh I so agree with you, Barbie Jo. I live in Connecticut and did not head to NYC for Nationals. A mere 2 hours away. I need to keep writing.
CrimeBake is wonderful and I WILL be there. We need to organize a full-team get together.
One conference I can really recommend is the Women's Fiction Festival in Matera, Italy. Yes, I know---Italy. But it is fantastic and very affordable after you figure out how to get there. Happy to fill anyone in on it if interested.
Dallas was my first RWA National conference also. Wonder if we saw each other there. And I've done NEC and New Jersey. Both for networking and workshops. One thing I noticed, it doesn't matter what genre you write, a lot of the basics are the same so going to a romance conference or mystery conference doesn't really matter.
As with Cassy, I'm only a medium drive from the Rotten Apple but money and wanting to write kept me away this year.
Last year when I attended my first Crime Bake I knew I'd found the perfect conference. And immediately signed up for the alerts so when they announced it was time to register I was right there. And boy does it fill up fast.
I'm looking forward to the one this year. See you all there maybe.
I've been to a few conferences: 2 RWA, 1 conference in Mass., where I met Christine, and I've been to my local chapter retreat, which is like a conference. I love the atmosphere, all those writers in one place. It's so inspiring and gives a sort of validation to what we do. It's great to socialize, chatting with new friends and old. I'm hoping to go to Crime Bake, but not sure yet.
At the Crime Bake this year I'm still undecided if I'm going to pitch and if I do which book.
Sarah - here's hoping you get the book deal and a conference real soon!!! Be sure to let us know when and where you go!
Cassy - we definitely have to plan a get together while at CrimeBake. I'm really looking forward to it. And one day I would LOVE to get to the Italian conference. But that is one trip I would need to take the husband on for sure! I couldn't go all that way without him.
Lindsey - I'm sure I'll get hooked at CrimBake! I've just got that feeling. And good luck pitching (if you decide to).
Anita - I wish our local chapter conference was a bit longer. I've been to one, I think. They always seem to fall at bad times for me. While I love RWA, I like being able to split the cost of one big conference into 2 smaller ones.
I love conferences,too, and like you, I go for the networking. Unless there is an exceptional workshop on a new subject, I skip them and go to the publishers' panels to find out what they're looking for. You can only go to so many workshops on craft. If I don't know it by now, God help me.
That doesn't mean I always do it right, though.
The Awards banquet is tomorrow night, BTW, so our three compadres will have to wait one more night. Tonight is the big Harlequin party, and boy do those people know how to have fun!!
This year, Crime Bake is already sold out. I will be there, too, so look us all up if you're there.
Great blog, Barbie. Can't wait to see you.
I cannot wait for Crime Bake. It's about time we met other mystery authors. It's going to be a blast.
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