The Southern California Writer’s Conference (SCWC) was held this past weekend in beautiful San Diego at the Crown Plaza Hotel. I went to the Saturday/Sunday portion so this review will not include any information from Friday’s workshops. Overall, the SCWC was an incredible experience, and I want to thank everyone involved for putting on a wonderful and beneficial conference. Writers from all over came together to share their writing journeys and connect with people who can relate and revel in everything writing!

The writing conference review:

Pros and cons.

• Pros:
  • A variety of workshops
  • Thorough workshops for ways to improve your writing
  • Thorough workshops for creating and using an online platform
  • Advanced manuscript critique submission option
  • Rogue read and critique option
  • NovelCram

• Cons:
  • No workshops on how to decide on a publishing house
  • No workshops for contract bewares
  • Parking fees: $14.00 per day
  • No optional food establishments close by

The conference schedule included morning and evening speakers, a variety of workshop options, an agent panel, pre-submitted 50 page manuscript read and critiques, and evening rogue read and critiques. The San Diego SCWC was organized, informative, thorough, and offered something for everyone in every stage of writing. Let’s look at some examples:

Workshop Examples:

The Truth is in the Detail and 20 Ways to Make it Better by Judy Reeves. Both of these workshops were incredibly helpful for tweeking manuscripts. Reeves took her time talking about the importance in picking the right verbs, using the senses to describe scenes, and keeping the world alive even when a lot of dialogue is involved.

Marketing the Muse: Query Letter Critique by Marla Miller was a great workshop for anyone working on query letters. Miller was able to give everyone individual feedback. Every writer read their query aloud and was given direct advice on how to improve their query letter. This workshop was focused, pointed, and determined to give each writer something they could take away and directly use to improve this platform. Bravo!

Your Book as a Business: The Ultimate Guide by Charmaine Hammond.

• Highlights:
  • Write magazine articles to promote your published book (some magazines need a six month lead)
  • Find associations that will be interested in your published book
  • Make a website for the book
  • Blog purposefully about your published book
  • Offer to speak wherever you can
  • Create a daily marketing plan

Hammond’s workshop was very informative and focused on things to do after our book has gone under contract to be published. Even though this information was great for contracted authors, the majority of writers at the conference were still seeking agents. A suggestion would be to add more information that includes getting to that point, i.e., getting under contract, telling tells for the right publisher, and how to spot those awful contracts.

Social Media + Game Plan by Indy Quillen and A Writer’s Website by Jeremy Lee James were two workshops that described how to benefit from social media without it consuming all your time. Quillen and James went over the major social medias and how important it is for writers to have an online platform and how it can help grow your business.

The agent panel:

Wonderful idea! The conference invited agents to come and answer a set of pre-determined questions. All of the writers gathered to hear the thoughts and perspectives of actual agents. This panel went over the basics, discussing the following: “Send in edited work: “Make sure the agent is accepting queries: “Make sure the agent can represent your genre.”

However, all of this can be found by googling tips for submitting to agents. A suggestion for next time would be: Give us something more.

Read and Critiques

What a great thing to offer! The read and critique allowed writers to send in a portion of their manuscript, and with a fee, have a part of it reviewed and then critiqued during the conference. Writers spend a lot of time in isolation, and after hours and hours working alone on those pages, it can feel like we’ve served a solitary confinement sentence. Therefore, getting that one-on-one consultation time with a professional in the industry is invaluable.

NovelCram

This is a great jump-start technique to cover a lot of content over a small amount of time. Drusilla Campbell conducted a one-of-a-kind weekend intensive, and covered everything you need to know about putting together a novel.

Rogue Workshops

LOVE this! Unlike the 3-hour daytime read & critique sessions, the Rogue Workshops began at 9 p.m. and went as long as the stamina of their participants allowed. These sessions lasted until 2-4 a.m. There is something about the magic that happens late at night.

Thank you

Thank you SCWC for providing such a great conference where writers were able to connect and share our passion. We look forward to future workshops, and if possible even more workshops that dive deeper into the publishing stage, querying agents, how to decide on a publishing house, how to e-publish but maintain traditional publishing benefits, and how to recognize publishing contracts that can hurt the author.

A huge and special thank you to Michael Steven Gregory and Wes Albers for putting this on and for all of their help.

Let’s turn the platform over to all the lovely readers out there. Have you attended a writing conference? What was offered? Also, if anyone attended the SCWC please share your experiences.

Follow @genesedavis on twitter for more writing resources, relevant websites and writing tips & tricks.

© 2012 RamonaDavey

Last week I entered my first ever pitch contest over at Julie Hedlunds – Write Up My Life Blog.  The incentive for doing the pitch was to a) do something I hadn’t done before, b) challenge myself, c) it was a great opportunity to win a manuscript critique from Tamson Weston (a published book author), at $300 value!!! Thank you for the opportunity Julie and Tamson…

Here is my pitch, hope you like it.

Pitch:

Libby watches all the other young limpets play in the waves. She doesn’t feel she will ever be brave enough to join in, or will she?

First line:

“Incoming!” The young limpets squealed in delight as the wave crashed over them.

Author: Ramona Davey

“Cold to the bone!”

I’ve never fully understood the phrase, “Cold to the bone.”  I thought I knew what it meant, but I guess unless you’ve been cold to the bone, you never truly know.  That is until this morning.  Because in Russia it’s -15° degrees Fahrenheit and it is COLD TO THE VERY DANG BONE.  It’s really much like if you would walk outside completely naked because during Russia’s wintry weather, the winds go right through your gloves, scarves, coats, and hats.  And let me tell you, it burns.  Everything burns and irritates like tiny needles prickling you.  Oh, and my face that I always considered oily?  Dry all around my cheeks.  Even the load of chap-stick I smear on every morning and night isn’t helping my crackling lips anymore.

I guess after living in the good ol’ south — North Carolina — for 8 years, I have finally faced real winter.  I just can’t imagine that there are parts of the world where it gets worse.  I’m already contemplating whether or not I’ll be able to crawl my way to school tomorrow morning.  I just wish they would cancel school, but the public here is so tough to these chills, most likely because they’re used to them.  But I’m not used to these low temperatures!  And I wish that spring and summer would be here already.

But for any other Southerners that are also lost somewhere in a cold and freezing mass, here are so tips of survival:

• Wear gloves.  They might have been an unnecessary accessory before, but they have now become the main protection of your hands.  Without them, you’ll find your hands to be red, numb, and in prickling pain.  Trust me.
• Hats/Headscarves are a MUST.  This may seem obvious, but I was one of those girls that for beauty reasons would ditch my headscarves and opt for letting my long locks fly loose.  NOT A GOOD IDEA.  This resulted in a horrible headache that lasted for days.
• Wear something underneath your pants.  Besides Underwear.  My mom bought me cotton shorts that I wear underneath my skirts.  You can also wear leggings, but just jeans or stockings won‘t do the job.  This will prevent a whole row of illnesses for both genders.
• Make sure your boots are not slippery.  One of the first few posts I wrote talked in detail about how I slipped and fell.  It happened again today, and didn’t hurt any less.

But most importantly, hug your loves ones.  Nothing keeps your heart warmer and helps you brace the cold more than the love of your family!

Much love,

I provide a constructive developmental critique service for fiction and non-fiction writing, undertake specific research projects, including literary, environmental, and family tree research, and deliver creative writing workshops and other literary projects in Lancashire and the North West.

I am also available for academic or creative writing mentoring from A-Level through undergraduate to postgraduate work, and have mentored students during literary work-placements.

~

I am a highly-qualified creative writing and academic tutor, researcher, and literary critic, and I am also a writer.

I provide constructive critical feedback services for literary fiction, non-fiction, and academic manuscripts, especially novels and short stories for adults, fiction for younger readers, and academic theses from undergraduate to Doctorate level in the fields of literature, the humanities, and social sciences.  As I am also a writer, I understand the importance of well-considered, detailed, and constructive feedback from a knowledgeable yet sensitive critic, and my critical appraisal of your writing will aim to enhance your development as a writer.

I also undertake specific research projects – apart from assessed academic work.

In all of my services – for creative, literary, academic or other forms of writing - I aim to respect your style and intentions as a writer, and offer you a first-rate and reliable service at a fair price. If you are looking for a highly-qualified and meticulous manuscript critique service, or would like to discuss a specific research project or require further information about my creative writing workshops and other writing-based projects, please feel free to get in touch with me by leaving a comment at www.jabrunning.co.uk  

Welcome to Successful Scholar, academic tutoring and writing service.

Proceeds from Brenda Novak’s Annual Auction for the Cure of Diabetes 2011 will go to the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami. The online auction is a registered 501(c)3.

Brenda Novak’s bestselling novels are published by Harlequin’s Mira imprint. The popular romantic suspense author holds a fundraiser for diabetes research each year, because her youngest son, Thad, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Last year, Brenda’s auction raised $303,000, and this year she’s aiming for half a million.

Brenda has gathered sixty agents and sixty editors to participate in this year’s auction. You’re certain to find someone whose tastes and experience align with your writing.

There’s much more on offer! You can place auction bids on vacation getaway packages, lunches with your favorite authors, jewelry, iPads, (of course) books, and more—but only until the end of May. It will make you feel good about helping researchers find a cure for diabetes.

At the Whidbey Island Writers Conference set for April 1-3, 2011 in Coupeville, WA, there will be copy of The Best of Bombeck on display. For those of you too young to remember, Erma Bombeck was one of America’s foremost family humorists. Millions mourned her death in 1996; but her memory is alive and well and celebrated each year at the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop where computers crash on the first day of registration as hundreds vie for the limited number of slots.

Early-bird registration for the Whidbey Island Writers Conference is underway. Go ahead, do a “Bombeck.” Crash our computers and register now for a three-day event that will rock your writing world.

Friday, April 1, Puget Sound Energy is sponsoring 14 intensive, instructional, collaborative and intimate workshops offered by the following writing professionals: Bob Mayer, Matt Gano, Susan Rich, Jeff Kleinman, Q. Lindsey Barrett, Jennifer Basye Sander, Sheila Bender, Jennie Shortridge, Priscilla Long, Mary Buckham, Pat Brunjes and Helen Sears, Andrea Hurst and Carolyn Tamler. Friday evening, conference participants will be treated to an evening of interactive poetry presented by poets Lana Hechman Ayers, Matt Gano, Tara Hardy, and Peter Ludwin. Friday night, conference goers can mingle with their peers to play word games, try some interactive poetry, attend a live performance or share their works at an open mic event.

Friday and Saturday attendees can pitch an agent/editor or review their previously submitted manuscript with an author, agent or editor. Agents and editors looking for fresh works include Andrea Brown, April Eberhardt, Mandy Hubbard, Andrea Hurst, Jeff Kleinman, Laurie McLean, Bree Ogden, Andrea Walker and Gordon Warnock. Agents’ and editors’ preferred genres plus criteria for agent-editor consults and manuscript critiques can be found at http://www.writeonwhidbey.org.

Saturday, April 2, at 9:00 a.m., Keynote Speaker Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain, solicits the audience’s promise to hold sacred the trust between writer and reader. Then, the remainder of the day is filled with the Whidbey Island Writers Conference’s distinguishing event, its Fireside Chat Houses, where participants are invited into the living rooms of some of Coupeville’s most beautiful homes and quaint B&B’s for an opportunity to meet personally with the conference presenters. In addition to the workshop presenters already mentioned, Fireside Chat Houses will be conducted by Anjali Banerjee, Antoinette Grove, Bharti Kirchner, Candace Dempsey, Carolyne Wright, David Williams, Deb Lund, Garth Stein, Janna Cawrse Esarey, Jo Dereske, Mandy Hubbard, Delle Jacobs, Michele Torrey, and Sarahlee Lawrence. Then, following a Book Signing Reception, participants may choose to attend the $50 per person Dinner with the Authors, Agents and Editors.

Sunday, April 3, from 9:00 a.m. to 10: 00 a.m., Amazon Publishing’s Jon Fine, Greg Spils and Jason Kuykendall, along with agent Jeff Kleinman, online marketing expert and author Tom Masters, and authors Terry Persun and Bob Mayer, will provide a broad look at current publishing opportunities and pitfalls. They will share their knowledge about the state of publishing today, from traditional forms to using the cloud. Following this lively and informative panel, there will be several workshops to choose from dealing with marketing and publishing. The workshops, which run from 10:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., will conclude the conference.

The Conference is priced by the day with costs averaging about $100 per day. Agent-editor consults ($15), manuscript critiques ($75) and Dinner with the Authors, Agents and Editors ($50) are extra. Participants can choose to attend only one day or all three. (Costs quoted here are based on Whidbey Island Writers Association member discounts. Participants are encouraged to join the Association to enjoy the discounts and be part of a dynamic group of writers helping writers.) To join the Whidbey Island Writers Association or to register for the Conference, visit http://www.writeonwhidbey.com or call 360.331.0307.

Whidbey Island is located in the Puget Sound region of Washington, approximately 40 miles north of Seattle. More information about getting to Whidbey Island is available on the Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce web site at centralwhidbeychamber.com or by calling 360.678.5434.

For detailed information, visit:

Most people would rather leap off this rock than pitch face-to-face with an agent. My huge fear of heights, however, does not make me one of them.

Since I signed up for an agent pitch at Crimebake, I also signed up for the seminar on pitching. It was extremely helpful. There was an overview of pitching with handouts conducted by Lynne Heitman and Paula Munier.

Here are some of the key points:

• 50 word opening pitch including:
  • title
  • word count
  • type of book
  • unique selling point

Titles can be based on: objects of desire, action, one liners, setting, twist on a poem, song, book, or cliché, theme, symbolism, or character.

With wordcount read agent blogs and do Google searches to make sure your wordcount is inline  with industry standards.

For type of genre, research the conventional genre names.

The unique selling point is what differentiates your book from every other book. It can be:

• High-concept premise
• Unique setting
• Unique characters
• Unique voice
• Author credentials

During the rest of the session, an agent sat at each table and helped the author’s hone their pitches for the next day. We had Ellen Pepus whose insightful comments helped get my pitch in shape.

The pitch should tell what the story is about and what makes it marketable. The thing mine lacked was specificity. Ellen also stressed the need to be colorful and catchy.

There are great resources on the web about pitching–some of which I list in my blogroll. My favorite is this Nathan Bransford’s blog on pitching.

I also had a manuscript critique done by Kate Flora. She raised many good points. Having digested them, I’m working on serious revisions again. Manuscript critiques with published authors are offered at most conferences and are a golden opportunity to get critical feedback. I recommend getting one if you can. Take lots of notes and give yourself a few days to process it all. Several points that Kate pointed out were also mentioned by a couple beta readers. Whenever 3-5 people point out a similar issue/concern, I know there’s a problem and I have to figure out how to fix it.

Crimebake was a huge learning experience and I can feel my manuscript improving because of all the amazing people I met who shared their knowledge with me.

Now, Irene has announced that on December 1, she is going to host a “crit marathon,” and will be putting out FIFTEEN auctions for critique. According to RKL, Ms. Goodman is very hopeful that she will one day sign an author through this endeavor, though she hasn’t, yet. People have also said good things about her crits, which is no surprise, as she’s been a successful literary agent for about 30 years.

Here’s a link to the web page: http://www.irenegoodman.com/ebay.php

Good Luck!

The Whole Megillah now devotes a page to helping writers ensure their work is the very best it can be. See our new page on Editorial Services to learn more about the services experienced professionals offer and be sure to visit their web sites for contact information and more.

And be sure to tell us of your success!

During the Sherrilyn Kenyon panel, she talked about her career with Clay Stafford (who is the founder of Killer Nashville).

• She sold 24 million copies of books in 40+ countries
• First started out, there was no recipe–each time is different–every time is like first time
• Everything she did may not work for others or for her again. At that time, it worked
• Sold first piece at 14–mostly wrote magazine articles and short stories. Took her several years to get first book published
• In 1995, market changed and her career as vampire writer came to an end. Once top-selling authors stop selling, agents and editors nervous and marketplace looking for something new
• At one point she was homeless with a child, but she didn’t give up. She went back and worked her way back up to the top again
• Publishing industry very hard. Decisions not made by authors and publishers, but by MBAs–number crunchers–so bottom line is how am I going to shelve it and market it?
• Her husband was very supportive in her coming back to market. She wrote another book–everyone of her beta readers loved it but publishers refused to publish it
• Went through tremendous struggles–dad died of cancer, mom had cancer, and son severely sick. She promised her husband she would give up writing
• Finally found agent again. Everything went slowly and she started writing historical romances, which sold
• She tried to go back to paranormal mystery and time was right–people liked it again–it felt new again
• Built website–early adapter and did website by herself and used it as marketing tool. She used character profiles online and message boards–very interactive and innovative at that time
• She was very interested in learning about web and PCs
• Promotion ideas–be true to self, know your weaknesses. Be careful about putting unique plot ideas on your website before a book is published/sold to a publisher. If hate Facebook, don’t use it. People will realize you hate it. If you are not a people person, don’t tour for your books
• To market book, figure out what makes you buy stuff? Cool cover, great back cover, good review
• Always be nice to people. If ask for autograph give it to them. Always be on best behavior–these are your readers who buy your books. If they tell you a story, try to remember it so you can talk about it in future
• People will read your books if they know you or have a personal connection with you
• At bookstores, get to know the staff, ask if you can leave bookmarks
• Libraries buy your books so support them with readings there
• Having a website is important–especially if you make it an extension of you
• For first time authors, to get noticed participate in online readers sites–be a fan first
• On Twitter or Facebook, don’t be in your face about your book–talk about other stuff most of the time
• Every writer has their own road to an agent, but keep in mind an agent is a tool and you need to find the right one that works for you
• Get to know agents before pick one–this is a marriage of sorts
• Think long-term with your career
• Make sure foreign rights are negotiated well–don’t leave them with the publisher
• Try to keep every right that you can–if she hadn’t she wouldn’t be able to put out graphic novels
• The book cover has to tell you what the book is about
• Some people aren’t good at pitches, try your best and then use that time to get to know agent/editor
• She works on more than one series at a time and produces up to 7 books a year as a solo writer
• Some books take 4-5 months and others take 3-4 weeks
• For her a book isn’t working if it is not entertaining to her
• She uses beta readers and critique groups
• Her website is database driven so it is dynamic and site updates itself when new book is coming out

So, I was a little overzealous in the bidding and ended up winning several auctions from Do The Write Thing For Nashville. But it was for a great cause, and the prizes were pretty awesome. I thought it might be useful to talk about what happened after winning.

In terms of collecting the items, the auction organizers e-mailed me the contact information for each item. Then I send a brief e-mail to the individual who donated the item,  she responded with details on how we would do the critiques and the lunch meeting.  It really was that easy  and seamless. So if anyone worries about how the auction was run, this one was super well organized.

First off, I won a critique of my  young adult manuscript from Tricia Mills. She critiqued my first thirty pages and my synopsis.  This was extremely helpful to me. I’d had a few beta readers but none of which were published authors. She pointed out  where the transitions were bad in the first few chapters and gave several important examples of  how to improve my scenes. Worth every penny I spent. The most important take away was that my writing of the manuscript was far better than my synopsis writing. That’s really essential to know because the synopsis is supposed to sell the manuscript. Her comments helped me to improve the synopsis tremendously. I also won 2 signed books from her!

Second off, I won a critique of my young adult manuscript from Lisa Desrochers. She critiqued my first three chapters (50 pages)  and my query letter. I’ve been struggling with the query letter. She gave some super helpful insight and showed me how to rework it. When it came to critiquing the manuscript, she was great about pointing out what worked and what didn’t. She was tactful but honest, which meant the manuscript and I both benefited from her feedback. Another wonderful experience. I’m also receiving an ARC and the first 4 chapters of her next book! (After reading the snippet she released on her blog, I’m happily anticipating their arrival!)

Third off,  I won a critique of the first 10 pages and the synopsis  for my romance novel from a senior editor at  Pocket Books, Abby Zidle. When I won this auction item, I had only written 10,000 words of the story. I had a synopsis but it hadn’t gone through as much critique and editing as the other book. I was kind of testing the waters.  One of the most important takeaways from this critique was that the synopsis was badly written.  But this is good to know because now I can work on it.  This is my first foray into romance writing and I also had the genre wrong.  Originally, I thought it was romantic suspense, but  after reading her comments I realize it’s more of a paranormal romance.  She gave honest, straightforward feedback and advice. I am planning to rework the synopsis and first 10 pages in July.

Fourth off, I won a lunch with the amazing Rose Fox, who is a SF/fantasy/horror and mass market reviews editor for Publishers Weekly. I met her at Grand Sichuan, which is a delicious Chinese restaurant. Having received super valuable written critiques and feedback, it was a nice change of pace to sit down with someone and talk about my story, show her a few pages, and have more interactive feedback. I got to pick her brain about potential publishers for my story, what should being included in a one line pitch,  and whether my story was young adult or adult (which seems to be the most difficult question about my book).  We also talked a little bit about my new paranormal romance story but since that’s still in draft, we focused on my young adult paranormal mystery. Besides sharing some of her awesome knowledge of the publishing industry, she also ordered the most delicious dishes! We had pork soup dumplings, smoke tea duck, and a lamb dish.   I left there feeling completely satiated and excited to getting back to work on my novel.

I still have one auction item left, but because of my neck problems I haven’t been able to send in the materials.  The agent, who will be  giving me feedback, has given me a couple months to get it together. I’m hoping to work on it soon.

Lastly, I want to say 1000 thank yous to all these people for donating their time and expertise to help out the people of Nashville. And a big thank you to the tireless and dedicated people who ran the auctions. Can’t wait to see the T-shirts!

First, the manuscript critique… I’m still mulling over the advice. I thought of one of them after I’d sent it, so that’s something. And my critique group had been wondering about another thing she brought up. I have to figure out how to fix the things she pointed out. I’ll owe a thank you to Laura Arnold from HarperCollins when Don’t Tell Your Mother gets somewhere.

Second, I managed to meet some members from my area. I haven’t been able to connect with them around here, though I keep running into the Romance Writer’s group. They say they do all genres, but there’s something to be said for joining specific organization that you write. SCBWI focuses on the children’s genres from picture books to young adult, and this is very different from the focus of RWA, who will tell writers all about romance, erotica, and the other shades of love writing. SFWA will tell still different things, taking a turn for the speculative. If we could easily get lumped into one genre, we wouldn’t have them.

But that’s just my opinion.

Third, I got to listen to some great speakers. I learned things about picture books, so of course now that’s what’s running through my head thinking about coming out. I doubt it’ll come out soon, maybe not even this year, but it’s bouncing. One day it’ll gel.

I’ll just worry about capturing it at that time. I’ll keep pen and paper by my side. (Like any good writer should do.)

I’m also seeing some growth with my manuscript. As you know, I entered the ABNA contest, but didn’t make it past the second round. After I entered, I discovered the wonderful book Manuscript Makeover, which really opened my eyes to some of the mistakes I was making. I deleted some irrelevant parts, particularly in the beginning, reduced my number of POV characters and changed how much face time each one had. I moved the supernatural element closer to the beginning so it wasn’t such a surprise. And I kept revising with so many more things in mind. Here’s the growth part: I got my ABNA reviews, and was delighted. The first reviewer said it was all around good, I have an excellent grasp of grammar, structure, characterization, and so on. She just had a few problems to point out – and they corresponded exactly with the elements I had already recognized and changed. So nice. The second reviewer was less kind. She did have some token nice things to say, but there was no practical advice I could take back to the manuscript with me to improve the story. Her main criticism was this: Why would I be reading this story instead of any other story? That took me aback; why indeed? On one extreme, you could say that no story has any value unless everyone who picks it up is enthralled and would rather be reading it than anything else. On the other extreme, you have the idea that every person has their own preferences, and we don’t all enjoy the same types of stories. So I’ve been thinking about this spectrum of story appeal, and where a writer should try to be. If you want to be published, your story has to appeal to enough people to make it viable in the marketplace. If you’re writing purely for yourself, then it doesn’t matter if anyone likes it but you. I do want to be published – and I wonder if my book had already had the corrections and improvements, would this judge have liked it at all. Or possibly it just isn’t her type of story. I don’t know. All of this thought is making me grow as a writer, though, and ultimately increasing my personal success and my chances of being published eventually, whether with the current manuscript or another. Growth is always good.

Registration for the 2010 Pennwriters Conference, May 14 – 16 in Lancaster, PA, opened January 11, 2010, and with apologies to a certain late night host, we’d like to present the top ten reasons to attend this year’s conference – in reverse order, of course.

The #5 reason to attend the 2010 Pennwriters Conference: Top-notch workshop teachers.

We’ve invited a long list of well-published authors, well-known agents, and highly qualified editors to teach the 35-plus one-hour workshops that will be held during the conference.

Some of the names you’ll recognize as Published Penns:

- Martha Johnson (Marta Perry) has written for Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired for years and just signed a three-book contract with Berkley for her Pleasant Valley Amish series

- Jonathan Maberry is following up his success with Patient Zero with book two of his Joe Ledger series

- Maria V. Snyder is writing her second series of fantasy books for MIRA;

- Loree Lough continues to write romance for Summerside Press

- Cyn Balog joins us after writing her debut YA fantasy for Delacourte

- Timons Esaias is adjunct faculty at Seton Hill in the Writing Popular Fiction MFA program

Other authors are just as well-published, but because they are special guests, you won’t recognize them as Pennwriters:

- Donna Fletcher now writes romance for Avon and has 18 novels to her name

- CJ Lyons writes medical thrillers for Berkley

- Ramona DeFelice Long is a professional writing coach and writes short stories and nonfiction

- Pam Jenoff writes historical fiction for MIRA

We’ve also invited a handful of industry professionals: Barbara Lalicki, David Pomerico, and Leis Pederson are editors; Jenny Bent, Janet Reid, Jennifer Jackson, Miriam Kriss, and Alex Glass are literary agents; Nancy Daversa is an executive producer for a local television station in Philadelphia, and Anita Nolan edits Sprouts for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

To learn more, visit www.pennwriters.com, follow us on Twitter, or become our fan on Facebook.

Stay tuned for #4……

————————————————————-

2010 Pennwriters Conference – The Writer’s Craft
May 14 – 16, 2010
Eden Resort, Lancaster, PA
www.pennwriters.com
Ayleen Stellhorn, Pennwriters 2010 Conference Coordinator
conference2010[at]pennwriters[dot]com

Registration for the 2010 Pennwriters Conference, May 14 – 16 in Lancaster, PA, opened January 11, 2010, and with apologies to a certain late night host, we’d like to present the top ten reasons to attend this year’s conference – in reverse order, of course.

The #6 reason to attend the 2010 Pennwriters Conference: intense
preconference classes.

[Note: Application materials must be received by February 11.]

The #6 reason actually comprises four reasons: two full day and two half day preconference seminars on May 13, the day before the conference. Our goal with these classes is to provide writers who are a little farther along in their “journey” with an intense, personal experience that includes direct feedback on their work from the instructor. Registration for these classes opens January 11, class sizes are limited, and in three of the four classes, participants are chosen by the instructors. Application materials must be received by February 11. Follow the links below to learn more.

Two Full-Day Seminars
Fiction Writing with Timons Esaias
Join Tim, an instructor in Seton Hill’s MFA program, for a full day of instruction on how to make your manuscript shine. Requirements: Must have a finished first draft of a novel; instructor will be critiquing your first three chapters prior to class. Limited to 15 writers.

Nonfiction Writing with Jonathan Maberry
Multi-published in fiction and nonfiction, Jonathan will help you fine-tune your outline and idea, and delve into the whys and hows of nonfiction publishing. Requirements: Just a killer idea for a nonfiction book. Limited to 15 writers.

Two Half-Day Seminars
Crafting Your Fiction Query Package with CJ Lyons
This class is designed to help you get your work in front of an agent or editor. CJ, an award-winning and best-selling author, will critique your query letter and focus in class on blurbs, high concepts, pitches, and long and short synopses. Requirements: Must have a finished first draft of a novel. Limited to 16 writers.

Plotting and Subplotting with Loree Lough
Want to know more about plotting before you get started on your work of fiction? Stuck in the middle of your current WIP? Join Loree as she walks you through all you need to know about plots and subplots and their job in your manuscript. Requirements: An idea for a fiction book. No class limit.

Note: Fees for these four workshops are not included in the weekend workshop price. Acceptance into classes with limits is based on the instructors’ choices. Full application instructions are included in the individual listings.

To learn more, visit www.pennwriters.com, follow us on Twitter, or become our fan on Facebook.

Stay tuned for #5……

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2010 Pennwriters Conference – The Writer’s Craft
May 14 – 16, 2010
Eden Resort, Lancaster, PA
www.pennwriters.com
Ayleen Stellhorn, Pennwriters 2010 Conference Coordinator
conference2010[at]pennwriters[dot]com

Yes, aside from visiting the Fountain of Youth and returning to one’s college days of commune-like dormitories and unabashed dope smoking, Tin House really is all about the writing…and partying…and writing…and did I mention…?

To gain the privilege of attending Tin House’s Writer’s Conference, one must first submit a writing sample. Depending on your genre (notice my foul use of the word “genre” here.  The Tin House folks and adjunct faculty generally snub anything categorized by “genre.”  This is not the conference for romance novelists, mystery or thriller writers.  This is hard-core literary instruction for literary writing.  So what is literary? It is anything deeper, more obtuse, wordier, character-driven, and philosophical than what you’ll find in a Dan Brown or James Patterson novel.  Not that those books aren’t wonderfully captivating and well-written.  But literary writing certainly serves a different–perhaps more discerning audience.  It’s not exactly mainstream, folks.

So, anyway, you must submit a piece of writing you’ve been working on to the Tin House crew prior to acceptance.  One can submit a work of long fiction, short fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir or poetry.  Then the Tin House staff gets to review your work and decide whether or not you can cut the mustard with the rest of the accepted attendees…and hopefully send you an acceptance letter.

Of course, many of us were wondering if the “acceptance” process was a bit of a farce.  None of the folks I spoke with had heard of anyone actually being denied acceptance to the workshop…so perhaps the submission-acceptance thing is a clout builder.  And if so–so what?  The conference still totally rocks.

Over the course of seven days, Tin House offered 22 lectures (almost none of which were scheduled concurrently, meaning, as a workshop goer, you had all the reason and no excuse to not learn a hell of a lot about writing).  Some of  my favorite lectures were:

-Obsession, A New Musk (Steve Almond)
-The Agent Game (a panel discussion with literary agents Denise Shannon, Bonnie Nadell, Julie Barer and Betsy Lerner)
-Query Letters to Agents (Betsy Lerner)
-Dialogue (Keith Lee Morris)
Character & Plot (Bret Anthony Johnston)

My second time seeing Steve Almond lecture at a conference, I am even more convinced he is a truly brilliant man set in the body and consciousness of a stand-up comedian.  Somehow, Almond captures an audience by the end of his first spoken sentence and gains momentum until the audience is flogging him with applause at the end of his talk.

Almond suggested that upon picking up a book, the reader begins with a basic question:  what will I care about over the course of reading this book and what do I think the writer cared about while writing this book?  Translation: what obsession does the reader get to hang onto over the course of two-hundred-some pages.  In essence, after deciding what the prevailing obsession throughout the book will be (getting the girl to love the guy, vindicating a loved-one’s death, winning the national hot dog eating contest, etc.) frame obsession into every scene, story character (each character can have his/her own obsession).

Aside from the largely fantastic lectures (yes, there were a few that were not entirely fantastic) Tin House lined up eighteen author readings…not to mention the readings and discourse conducted at the Tin House Tenth Anniversary Celebration held in Portland’s downtown Newmark Theater.

Aside from the above-mentioned goings on, each participant who opted into small group workshops met for 2 1/2 hours each morning with their esteemed leader and eleven other participants for hard-core critique of each others work.  My group leader was Walter Kirn, writer for GQ, New York Times Magazine, Vogue and Esquire, reviewer for the New York Times Book Review, and  author of several novels, along with his recently released memoir Lost in the Meritocracy.

Aside from a few organizational and personal hiccups (one guy stormed out of our workshop on Day One because he felt he wasn’t receiving an adequate critique on his work) we had extraordinarily in-depth discussions on each person manuscript submission–and on various writing techniques in general.  Each person took their turn going on the hot seat for over an hour…listenting to discussion about and, when invited, commenting  on their manuscript (the twenty or so pages submitted to the group, anyway).  I left my small group experience with a spinning head, and overwhelmed psyche, and an idea of where to take my fiction manuscript next.

As you can see, the Tin House Summer Writer’s Workshop is an intense experience.  It’s well worth the $1500 (this includes all workshop activities, a meeting with a literary agent or Tin House Literary Magazine editor, housing and food for the entire week) and equally deserving of a following week of exhaustion and navel gazing.

If you’ve happened upon this blog post in your own search for a writer’s conference to attend in the future I can tell you I’d highly recommend this one.

It’s true that not all commentary is helpful, and too much criticism can be confusing, but surely zero product testing is not the solution. I continue to recommend that writers find comfortable, but not too comforting, critique partners or writing groups to help polish their manuscripts before they query editors or agents.

Meetup and Facebook are two sites where writers can find or establish a critique group that meets in person. I’ve also updated a previous post listing more than two dozen online critique groups for writers.

I’d like to know if anyone has another suggestion for finding a good writers’ group. Feel free to post links along with comments.

[Updated on February 17, 2009: Agent Chip MacGregor offers good advice about the value of critique groups. Updated again on November 10, 2009: More good advice from Chip MacGregor about creating a critique group.]

[Updated on March 29, 2009: Zinta Aistars has started a discussion thread, Perfect Writers' Groups for Imperfect Writers, on the Smoking Poet Facebook group page.]

Ostensibly, the goal of Web-based manuscript submission services is to make connections among authors, agents, and book publishers. Readers come into the mix if the hosted submissions can be viewed by the public. They might be required to register as members in order to gain access, but visitors to open manuscript submission sites can peruse, comment on, and sometimes rate the work of writers who hope to gain recognition by displaying their manuscripts on the Web.

The open manuscript submission services have taken their cues from YouTube, Digg, and MySpace. They now need to attract enough contributors to improve the odds that some of the submissions will stand out. They also must solve the riddle of crowdsourcing efforts to cull the best writing from what could be referred to as Web-based slushpiles. The open sites crowdsource the job by enlisting readers, including book publishing professionals, who sift through and sometimes comment on or rank the posted manuscripts. The fee-based sites leave the job of evaluating the manuscripts to those who subscribe.

If you’re looking for new writing from unknown authors, you can read the unpublished work submitted to the following online services; however, some of them are restricted to subscribers only:

Authonomy
Owned by HarperCollins, which launched the site earlier this year, this online community is still in beta. You can request an invitation to become a member by registering online. There are no fees. The Authonomy Blog offers occasional updates as the service is tested and refined.

Authonomy Christian [Updated on January 6, 2013]
See the instructions on the Zondervan website.

Authorlink
This pricey subscription-based service is affiliated with Authorlink Press and Fusion Press.

AuthorConnect
A free online service, this site claims to have no affiliation with a publisher, producer, or agency.

Bookkus Publishing [Updated on May 8, 2012]
This Canadian company crowdsources the manuscript screening process in order to select books for publication.

Bowker Manuscript Submissions [Updated on April 29, 2010]
This fee-based service is designed to match authors with trade and higher education publishers.

ChristianManuscriptSubmissions.com
In an exhibit hall at BookExpo America last month, I spoke to the representative of a small Christian book publisher who said her house’s editors checked this fee-based service weekly for manuscripts they might want to acquire. She said she recommended the service to aspiring authors, because the press she worked for charged a reading fee, which could be avoided when the author paid the slightly higher fee charged by ChristianManuscriptSubmissions.com to reach a potentially larger number of book publishers. The publishing houses said to use ChristianManuscriptSubmissions.com, a service of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, are listed on the site.

Creative Byline
This service charges writers a monthly fee to make unsolicited submissions available to the publishers listed on the site. Publishers are also charged a subscription fee.

Figment [Updated January 6, 2013]
Merged with inkpop, this site (comparable to HarperCollins’ Authonomy) is devoted to the YA market.

InkTip [Updated on August 13, 2009]
This site provides a secure, searchable database of screenplays.

Inkubate [Updated on October 21, 2011]
Publishers and literary agents pay to read excerpts uploaded by writers.

Issuu
Billed as an online publishing service, this site lets unpublished authors upload PDF manuscripts, which are converted to attractive ebooks or magazines that Issuu currently hosts at no charge. You can display Issuu ebooks on sites that enable Flash embeds, such as Facebook, Blogger, and MySpace. (This service resembles YouTube.)

Long Tale Press [Updated on August 13, 2009]
Writers submit excerpts from their manuscripts, and readers vote on which ones should be published.

Maui Writers Conference – Manuscript Marketplace
This fee-based service was one of the frontrunners. Currently closed to submissions, it might reopen in 2009.

Night Reading [Updated on May 1, 2011]
On this network, writers post samples of their manuscripts, then readers vote on which should be published as ebooks by Night Publishing.

NovelMaker.com
This site lets readers download, rate, and comment on ebooks posted by members. It was founded and is managed by individuals with backgrounds in the technology industry.

PatronQuo.com [Updated on May 25, 2010]
In this free forum, writers submit their work, visitors track each manuscript’s popularity, and patrons are encouraged to contribute financial support.

Publishers’ Desk [Updated on October 3, 2011, and February 9, 2012]
This service charges writers an annual fee to upload samples of their manuscripts. Publishers and agents can view the posted writing samples for free. For Victoria Strauss’s opinion of the service, see “Publisher’s Desk: Display or Misplay?” on Writer Beware Blogs!

Pubmission [Updated on July 14, 2010]
Using this service, writers can upload sample chapters. Publishers and agents pay a fee to search the manuscripts. Writers also pay a fee each time they use the site to submit their work to the publishers that appear to be the best matches for their manuscripts.

Publetariat Vault
For a fee, self-published authors who want to sell publication or performance rights can upload their books to this service.

Slush Pile Reader
Writers upload their manuscripts, and readers vote on which ones should be published.

Timbus Books [Updated on March 8, 2012]
Writers pay a monthly fee for this service, which makes their submission packages available for literary agents to view at no charge.

WEbook
Though it calls itself an “online book publishing company,” this site could be a source of innovative writing. For one person’s opinion of the program, read the critique on Writer Beware Blogs!

ZudaComics.com
Aspiring comic book creators can display their work by registering as members of this online community sponsored by DC Comics.

Remember that some well-known publishers, such as Avon, a HarperCollins imprint, accept email queries from aspiring authors. Using any sort of Web-based manuscript submission service is neither a requirement nor a recommendation; it’s an option for some adventurous writers.

Take the time to learn how to evaluate manuscript submission services by reading the tips posted on Writer Beware, a free consumer protection service provided by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.

If you’ve heard of other Web services whose primary purpose is manuscript submission (in contrast to book marketing, which is a different enterprise), please let me know what they are. I’ll be happy to add them to this list.

I’d also like to know what you think of these manuscript submission services and whether you would use (or have used) any of them. Feel free to include a link, if you have a manuscript hosted on one of these types of sites.