Archive for the ‘Books & Authors’ Category
I’m about to attend my first writer’s conference, and boy am I nervous! I want to be as prepared as possible. In particular, there is a 30-minute one on one session with an editor who will be evaluating on the first 50 pages of one of my manuscripts.
I figure I should be prepared to give a brief, on-the-spot summary of my book. After all, the editor will only know a portion of the plot. The question is, how brief should I make the summary? (I don’t want to sound too rehearsed, but I’m fairly shy so I’d like to organize something to say and reread it a bunch of times.) I’ll also have a copy of my summary and a chapter outline on hand, just in case. So how long do you think an oral summary should be?
So the book in question is for middle schoolers. In a summary for the editor, should I try to use language that’s representative of the language in the book, or should I feel free to summarize using more challenging words? (The editor will know my actual writing style is age-appropriate for my book’s reading level since s/he’s read some of it.)
Also if the evaluation doesn’t take my full 30-minutes, should I feel free to mention other things I’ve written that are for an entirely different audience? Or do you think the manuscript evaluation session will just deal with the manuscript I submitted?
Some web sites I’ve read about writer’s conferences recommend having business cards on hand to pass out while networking. I’ve got some from the small freelance proofreading work I’ve been doing on the side. Would those be appropriate, or would people think that was weird? (I’m not really going to the conference to solicit more proofreading. I’ve got all I want of that. But it’s the only business cards I’ve got.)
What should I wear? I’m more comfortable in things like jeans and sweaters, but maybe I should look more professional - especially for the session with the editor.
Any insight you can give would be appreciated!
And yes - I realize I’m probably stressing too much about this! But that’s my style!!! 