Last year, I went to my first writers’ conference – Pike’s Peak, down in Colorado Springs, CO. To summarize, I was terrified that I was either unprepared or would come out of feeling dejected, but I had a lovely time, learned a lot, and promised to go again.
So we are.
I made a list of things to do different this year, last year:
- Register early so I can get pitch appointments with people who represent my genre
- Try to get the panel critique instead of the individual critique
- Bring earplugs and shoes that are not boots
- Get business cards earlier than the day before (where Ian and I were, literally, at Kinko’s at 10 PM)
For the most part, I have done all of the above. I got the pitch appointment I wanted and the panel critique (though, alas, at 8:30 am Friday morning – very first thing). There is a circumstance I am not talking about here on ye olde blog that means I am staying at my sister-in-law’s instead of stuffing in a hotel with three of my friends, so the earplugs and not-boots are less necessary. And I ordered my business cards last week. They are supposed to get here today. Not the best, but still earlier than last year.
On the other hand, I still feel unprepared. The book that I’m pitching this year is not as ready to go as the one I pitched last year (that one’s in ABNA at the moment). I hoped to be further through my edit than I am, but alas, I am not. I’m far enough for pitching and first-page critiques, but if I do get partial requests, well, there is yet more polishing to be done.
I don’t know what workshops I want to go to, and I need to figure out when I’m heading down. I need to pack. I need to print out all sorts of things and wonder why UPS has yet to bring me my business cards. Instead I will probably run around for a bit, flailing wildly and babbling incoherently. Somewhere out there, there are writers who have been ready for weeks.
I dislike those people.
Wish me luck, Squiders. Oh, and by the by, no Friday update here as I’ll be busy learning (and possibly panicking). But except fairly regular tweets from the conference itself, assuming there’s decent wifi.
Where Landsquid Fear to Tread 
Posted by Anne ♥ Marie on 2012/04/18 at 2:55 PM
Since there are a bajillion of us going, I really hope we can all attend different sessions and have a confab. That was so so helpful last year. I’m so wearing boots. And whore shoes. But mostly boots. Word!!
Posted by ianmdudley on 2012/04/18 at 3:31 PM
You guys should use your smart phones to record the different sessions, and then share them amongst yourselves. This will save you from comparing notes with horrible note-takers (such as myself).
I want to read that next year, PPWC explicitly bans recording sessions on phones…because of you guys. 🙂
Sad I won’t be there this year. But then again, I never got around to making a new batch of writer business cards, so clearly I would have gotten NOTHING out of the conference.
Posted by Are Writers Conferences Useful? | Where Landsquid Fear to Tread on 2015/04/21 at 2:15 PM
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