Attending a writing conference is one piece of advice floating around the writer’s sphere. So I did. Brandon Sanderson talks about how that ended up being his winning strategy, getting his work in front of enough industry people until a publisher said, “Yeah, I want to publish this.” I had just gotten to the point of feeling confident enough in my writing abilities to go to a conference, and then, what would you know, COVID hit. And then I didn’t try to go to one for another three years.
Last year, one of my writing goals was to attend an in-person conference and try out this thing I’d been told would be great. I’ve run a critique group for the Atlanta Writers Club, which hosts multiple conferences yearly, and initially, I planned to attend the one in May; however, by the time I tried to register, all of the agents I’d wanted to pitch were waitlisted, and since the plan was to attend only one this year, I tried to get the most out of it. I set my sights on the conference in November and was ready to sign up when it opened.
Cost Breakdown
Most of this blog is meant to be more general regarding my experience and what others might gain from participating in a conference. However, I want to provide the costs of the activities for full transparency, even if they vary by conference.
Since I was putting all my eggs in one basket and wanted to get the most out of this conference, I signed up for the whole package:
- Registration fee: $65
- Pre-conference Edit: $75
- Manuscript Critique: $180 x2
- Pitch Session: $80 x3
- Total: $740
Disclaimer: I get this is a lot of money. And I fully acknowledge the place of privilege I have to be able to afford this. My day job 100% pays for my writing, which I hope to one day make money from, but for now, it’s an investment into myself.
With that out of the way, others could have done any mix and match of the above. You could have only done critiques; you could have only done pitches. You could have only registered for the lectures and used the opportunity to meet other writers. There are multiple avenues to get something out of the conference that doesn’t cost as much.
Conference Activities
I registered within two hours of registration going live, and by the time I completed my form, some of the agents and editors I chose only had a few spots left. So, if you’re planning on registering for a conference, it pays to research all the agents/editors ahead of time and have your list ready because spots go fast.
Since I’d never done this before, I had no clue what went into each activity I signed up for.
Pre-conference Edit:
What is it? This entailed sending my query letter, one-page synopsis, and the first twenty pages of the manuscript to an editor of my choice (done at registration) a few months before the conference. They provided edits with suggestions on how to clean up grammar and general tips on what might improve the flow, characters, etc.
Experience: Other than completely missing the date these materials were due and rushing at the end to submit them by the deadline, this pre-conference edit was useful, if nothing more than to give me confidence going into sending them to the two editors I’d selected for the manuscript critiques. Others’ experiences may vary.
As a side note, I’ve been working on this book for about two years, with multiple rounds of edits and critique partners. The editor’s feedback focused primarily on weak sentences and opportunities for more world-building. But I’m happy they thought the writing worked for the most part. So yey!
Manuscript Critique:
What is it? At registration, I chose two editors who work at actual presses (i.e., these are acquisition editors for publishers) to provide manuscript critiques. The thought process (if I can even say there was one) was that editors would have a better eye for what was working and what wasn’t in the manuscript. Thus, the feedback might be more insightful than from an agent (more on this later).
About a month before the conference, they requested the same package (Query letter, synopsis, first 20 pages). Then, about a week before the conference, the editors send back a 3-4 page letter with their notes/feedback, along with a Word doc with inline notes.
Experience: I failed to understand when registering that if the critique editors or agents (whoever you chose) like the book, they can also request a full or partial. You’re essentially paying to skip the cold query process and get these industry professionals to read your work, which is never guaranteed when cold querying. You also get a 10-minute face-to-face meeting to ask questions and chat about your manuscript.
If I had it to do over again, I might have agents do the manuscript critique instead of the editors if your main goal is to find an agent. You’re paying to get them to read your pages, and if you did the pre-conference edit, they should be good enough (you hope) to get at least a partial request. This is the magic of these events: you get at least the promise that industry professionals will review and give feedback.
Conference Pitch Session:
What is it? While a manuscript critique is done before the conference, with the in-person session held during, a pitch session is only at the conference. This means you’re going in cold, with only your query letter to do the heavy lifting. I’ve heard that pitch sessions at other conferences work differently, so understand the format, as it could change drastically.
At the AW Conference, you give the timekeeper your printed query letter. The agent gets five minutes to read it, and then you go in for a 10-minute sitdown. This means the agent is ready to chat but only has a few minutes to synthesize it. However, they are professionals, they do this all the time, and what really struck me was how fast they can make up their mind. And honestly, 5 minutes is probably more generous than you get with a cold query.
Experience: time goes FAST. The first agent I spoke with didn’t represent the type of fantasy I write. However, she gave me a lot of helpful feedback about drilling into the specific form of fantasy for the query letter. She remarked on the strength of the query letter, which felt good for how long I’ve been working on it.
Agents might want to delve into the story’s details if the query letter isn’t working. So, you must know how to succinctly express most of the plot points, as time is precious.
What the agents don’t get here is your synopsis or the pages. You’re relying on the query letter to get them to request more. If nothing else, it gives you ten minutes in a room with an agent/editor to ask all the questions you’ve always wanted to know and never got to. I highly recommend it.
TL;DR
1. Of all the activities I paid for, I might have skipped the Pre-conference edit and just submitted to the manuscript critiques.
2. MS critiques were well worth it and BOTH of the editors I submitted to asked to see full manuscripts after I make edits per their suggestions! This is the most traction I’ve got with this manuscript and well worth the price.
3. Of the three pitches, two agents asked me to submit pages. Which again, is further than I’ve ever gotten while cold querying.I’m well aware that all this isn’t a guarantee that any of these people will want to move forward, but in one weekend, it feels like I took a huge step forward where months of cold querying left me with all rejections.
How does this compare with your experiences at writing conferences? I’d love to hear how others have faired. Please drop me a comment below.
In the next blog, I’ll explore how the meetings went, the takeaways, and all the other fun activities at the conference.
Stay tuned.