Mixing and Mingling: The Door to Publication?
Mixing and mingling with industry professionals is an opportunity that you should NEVER let slip by. Here are some tips from my own experience to help you make the most of your conference:1. Agents and editors are people too. Just like you, they have an agenda as well as their anxieties when attending conference. As an agent or editor walks into the party, she might be thinking: will I find that writer who will get me promoted, or will I have to get a restraining order from the lady in purple? A slight exaggeration that I hope illustrates the point.2. Introduce yourself if you do, and especially if you don’t have an appointment with that person. Be a familiar face when you walk into your appointment; you’d be surprised how much more comfortable you feel and how much she pays attention. Or, seize the opportunity to chat up your first-choice agent who was booked by the time you signed up for your appointment.3. Small talk doesn’t have to be small. When I attended my very first writer’s conference in 2001, Red Dress Ink Senior Editor Margaret Marbury sat next to me during the keynote lunch. Rather than pester her with my pitch or worse, ignore her, I said hi and then complimented her on her dress. We started talking about life in New York versus L.A. and then, she told about the new line she was starting called Red Dress Ink. From that chance meeting, I didn’t get a six figure offer for my book; rather, I got a valuable education on the editorial process (especially submission faux pas that irritated editors the most), what makes a book marketable, the books she had edited, etc.4. Don’t drink and drive. Keeping the previous point in mind, don’t fuel up on liquid courage even if you are at a wine and cheese