Posted January 25th, 2011 under Conferences, Writing
Writer’s Digest Conference 2011 Recap: On Not Pitching
This past weekend was the Writer’s Digest Conference 2011 and it ROCKED! It really exceeded my expectations. The speakers were inspiring, the topics were informative and the other attendees were super-friendly. I broke out of my shell and met other writers, several of whom write YA like me. It was a huge success!divbr //divdivIn the next few posts, I’ll share the things I learned that resonated with me the most. If you’d like to read a play-by-play of the whole weekend, you can check out the a href=”http://www.writersdigestconference.com/category/live-from-the-conference”Writer’s Digest’s live conference blog/a.divbr //divdivFor most writers at the conference, the highlight was the Saturday afternoon pitch slam. It was all everyone talked about. As I mentioned before, the pitch slam is like speed dating with agents. It’s a great opportunity to present your work to an agent in person and get instant feedback and–if you’re lucky–manuscript requests!/divdivbr //divdivThe pitch slam wasn’t the highlight for ime/i because I didn’t participate. Actually, I was one of the few people at the conference NOT pitching to agents. At first I felt weird about it because, well…I was one of the few people not doing it! When I met writers, after exchanging names, genres and business cards, the question that came up next was typically, “What are you pitching this weekend?” At first I felt like I had to defend my position not to pitch. Then I reaspanspan/span/spanlized I made this choice for a reason and confidently declared “Oh, I’m not pitching” from then on./divdivbr //divdivWhy didn’t I pitch? Because my novel isn’t ready./div/divdivbr //divdiva href=”http://ghenetwrites.blogspot.com/2011/01/2011-year-to-make-it-happen.html”/aspanspanAs I’ve mentioned before,/span/span a href=”http://ghenetwrites.blogspot.com/2011/01/2011-year-to-make-it-happen.html”my first draft isn’t finished/a. Finishing it is my biggest goal for this year. The danger of pitching before your book is complete is: what if the agent likes your pitch and asks for your manuscript? What if they want to see the whole thing and soon? If an agent expressed interest in my book, it would still be months before I’d feel comfortable enough sending it out. I might feel the need to rush through the end of it, which would mean I wouldn’t be submitting my best work./divdivbr //divdivIf there’s one thing I learned at this conference, it’s that while the publishing industry is tough and competitive, if your writing shines and you have a compelling story, you’ll eventually get that book deal./divdivbr //divdivMy manuscript just isn’t there yet. But it will be! I know that and feel even more confident of it after this conference./divdivbr //divdivWhat I want to tell YOU is: /divdivbr //divdivb1) You don’t have to have a finished manuscript to go to and benefit from a writing conference./b The Writer’s Digest Conference gave attendees the opportunity to pitch their work to agents, but it also had sessions on various aspects of the craft of writing. I took advantage of those sessions and focused my energy on learning how to finish my book and make it awesome. /divdivbr //divdivb2) Great writing gets you published, so focus on that. /bYou need to make sure your book is just right before sending it out into the world. I’ve heard stories from many writers who queried or pitched their work too early and got a ton of rejections. Don’t put yourself in that position. Don’t let your desire to be published rush you through the process./divdivbr //divdivI’m so glad I didn’t pitch this weekend. The agents will still be there when I’m ready. In the meantime, I’m going to use what I learned to finish my book and make it kick-ass./div
This is such an important point and I#39;m so glad you shared it!br /br /While the Pitch Slam is a fantastic opportunity for writers who are ready, I totally agree with you that writers can get a TON out of this conference even if their books are still works-in-progress. Writer#39;s Digest did a good job of striking a balance between publishing/business-related sessions and craft/writing-focused ones.
1To be honest, I feel like genre-specific conferences(RWA, SFWA, SCBWI) are better suited to writers in your position, whereas WDC was really geared for those ready to publish.br /br /Frankly, I thought they could do better by adding more specific panels, but that being said, the sessions they idid/i have were terrific, and yes, people could get a lot out of them.
2I#39;m so glad that you had a great time at the conference.br /br /I#39;m also glad you stuck to your guns about not pitching. Each writer#39;s needs are different and it#39;s refreshing to see a writer who knows where she currently is in her journey.br /br /And you#39;re right, great writing gets you published.
3@gabi: Thanks! I agree with you that WD did a great job striking the balance.br /br /@Andrew: Thanks for your comment and for checking out my blog! But br /I have to disagree with you. I#39;ve been to two SCBWI conferences and I thought this past WD conference had more sessions on the craft of writing. I thought a bunch of the WD sessions were perfect for writers still working on their books (quot;Building the Perfect Plot,quot; quot;Putting Fire in Your Fiction,quot; quot;The Art of the Page Turner,quot; Using Story Maps to Build Better Fictionquot;) and I got a lot out of them. I bet a lot of the writers with finished manuscripts in these sessions realized they actually had a lot of work left to do. br /br /Of course, there were also a lot of sessions on querying/pitching, etc. I did attend a couple of the publishing-themed sessions because it#39;s good for writers in all stages to have that information.br /br /I feel like by next year, when I am ready to query, both my book and pitch will be stronger as a result of having attended this conference this year. br /br /@Karen: Thanks! I think it#39;s important for writers to realize where they are in the process and not get ahead of themselves.
4Hmm…I stand corrected then. Remind me not to go to a SCBWI conference.
br /br /And I ialways/i feel like I have a lot of work left to do, even though I#39;m out pitching my book. 
5I think it#39;s wonderful you had a great experience and didn#39;t have to deal with the stress of the pitch. That can zap the fun out of the conference. Like you, I go to grow as a writer. I hate workshops which are nothing more than a pimp session for the author#39;s books.
6@Andrew: Noo! You should still go to SCBWI, if that#39;s your genre.
That conference is awesome too (hence while I#39;ll be there this weekend) but it doesn#39;t usually have sessions on specific writing techniques. It does have other things to offer. I#39;ll recap my SCBWI experience after this weekend so you can see the difference.br /br /@Stina: The best part of not pitching was fact that I didn#39;t feel stressed like those pitching. It was nice, just learning and interacting with other writers.
7I actually have a YA/SF concept that I#39;m working on (not the one I pitched). I#39;m definitely interested in hearing how your SCBWI goes.
8I am SO grateful for this post! I feel pressure all the time to get quot;caught upquot; to where I think everyone else is. I see contests for query or partial MS critiques and think, quot;I should be doing that! I don#39;t want to miss out!quot; But like you my MS just isn#39;t ready. Not by half. And though I may miss out on a current opportunity, as long as I make my work quot;kick-assquot; as you put it, I#39;ll have opportunities again in the future.br /br /Thanks, Ghenet! Love this post! Sometimes I just need a reminder to stop stressing about future steps and focus on the current on… writing!
9@Deborah: You#39;re very welcome! I#39;m so glad you liked it. It can be hard sometimes to see other writers taking the next step when you#39;re not there yet. We all have to learn to be patient and our time will come.
10Ghenet,br /br /What great advice! You#39;re so right that getting attention too early (while it may feel awesome and fantastic!) might do more harm than good. br /br /Great post and hope to see you at SCBWI!
11@Jenny: Thanks! And yes – I#39;ll look out for you this weekend!
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