The LDStorymaker Writers' Conference is coming in a week! I'm not sure if you've had the privilege to attend one of these before, but the lineup this year is exciting.
Timothy Travaglini, Senior Editor at G.P. Putnam's Sons (a division of Penguin Group, USA) is the Keynote Speaker. He has worked at Henry Holt, Scholastic, Walker & Company (to name just a few of the publishers).
In addition to Mr. Travaglini, Jamie Weiss Chilton will also be in attendance. She is an agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. Ms. Chilton represents children's books, teen novels, picture books, amongst other genres. Her most specific interests include literary fiction with intense emotional content. She too worked at Henry Holt, amongst other companies such as Bantam Delacorte Dell and Knoft & Crown Books.
The beauty of attending conferences such as these is that in addition to workshops presented by published authors with an expert eye of what constitutes an excellent book, you also meet national individuals who work to make literature a fine experience. For example, Mr. Travaglini and Ms. Chilton will have private appointments with writers attending the conference.
Here are just some of the topics being addressed in this year's conference:
"Getting Out of the Slush Pile," by Mr. Travaglini
"Writing in Spite of a Busy Life," by Rachel Ann Nunes
"Writing a Synopsis," by Josi Kilpack
"Writing about Real Issues for Children & Youth," by Tamra Norton
"The Middle Grade Writer: Character, Voice & Audience," by Lael Littke
"10 Things That Get You Noticed/What LDS Publishers are Looking For," by Kirk Shaw (of Covenant)
""Your First Novel: Step by Step Basics," by Heather Moore & Julie Wright
"Creating Your Inner Writing Team," by Carroll Morris
"The Editing Process," by Lisa Mangum (of Deseret Book)
"Non-fiction - Finding Your Niche," Shirley Bahlmann & Jaime Theler
A Publishers Panel
General Session Speaker, Chris Crowe
And all this in just the first day's line-up! Day two of the conference contains even more, including the Whitney Awards Gala. You may check to see if tickets are still available by visiting the LDStorymakers website. But if not, make sure to mark your calendar in January 2009 to purchase tickets for the 2009 LDStorymakers conference. It will be well worth your time!
(Did I mention a writer's best friend, an Alphasmart Neo, is being given as the grand prize to the First Chapter contest winner?)
Showing posts with label professionalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professionalism. Show all posts
Friday, March 14, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Count to ten before shredding
by Patricia
The SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) is the author's boomerang -- pitch it in the mail, and it comes right back.
Over the years I have come to accept that, when I open the mailbox and find my name and address, written by my own hand, staring back at me, I have been rejected.
Usually, dejectedly, I will remove the envelope from the box, open it, and cringe as I read the cold, impersonal rejection slip. When I'm finished, I send it to live with the other rejection slips in my office and I try not to think about it. Discouragment, I have learned, doesn't offer much to encourage me into action.
A few months ago, however, I learned an important lesson about SASEs: never take the contents for granted.
I went to the mailbox, and groaned when I saw the 9X11 envelope inside. I brought it in the house and headed for the shredder. I knew which submission the envelope had been mailed with. There was no need to even open the envelope and read the rejection.
I started to tear the envelope in two, right down the center, before feeding it to my little friend, Jaws the Junk Mail Shredder. What would it matter? I thought. There was only a rejection slip inside. No need to even look at it.
Still ... curiosity got the best of me. At least I could add the rejection slip to the stack. At least, after all the effort put forth by the USPS to get my SASE back to me, I could open the envelope.
I opened the envelope, pulled out the letter, and began to read.
It was an acceptance letter.
The moral of the story: Count to ten before shredding your SASEs.
The SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) is the author's boomerang -- pitch it in the mail, and it comes right back.
Over the years I have come to accept that, when I open the mailbox and find my name and address, written by my own hand, staring back at me, I have been rejected.
Usually, dejectedly, I will remove the envelope from the box, open it, and cringe as I read the cold, impersonal rejection slip. When I'm finished, I send it to live with the other rejection slips in my office and I try not to think about it. Discouragment, I have learned, doesn't offer much to encourage me into action.
A few months ago, however, I learned an important lesson about SASEs: never take the contents for granted.
I went to the mailbox, and groaned when I saw the 9X11 envelope inside. I brought it in the house and headed for the shredder. I knew which submission the envelope had been mailed with. There was no need to even open the envelope and read the rejection.
I started to tear the envelope in two, right down the center, before feeding it to my little friend, Jaws the Junk Mail Shredder. What would it matter? I thought. There was only a rejection slip inside. No need to even look at it.
Still ... curiosity got the best of me. At least I could add the rejection slip to the stack. At least, after all the effort put forth by the USPS to get my SASE back to me, I could open the envelope.
I opened the envelope, pulled out the letter, and began to read.
It was an acceptance letter.
The moral of the story: Count to ten before shredding your SASEs.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
A Writer's Reputation
by Terrie
When I started out in writing, I sent out nearly everything I wrote. I figured no one would remember me if it was bad. Unfortunately, of course, some of the bad stuff got published, but no problem. A magazine is only around for a month…at least it was then.
Today, some of my bad writing has been posted on the Internet, as magazines put up online archives. Those stories I figured would disappear are still floating around, ready to be found.
Thanks to archives, sites that do nothing but archive the internet, and Google, what we write may still be floating around long after the Second Coming. It’s there for agents and potential publishers to track down. It’s there for readers to find. It’s there to hurt or help your reputation.
Everything you put online is important. You just don’t know who is looking. My publisher found me through a free online column I write, which led him to my website. If I hadn’t been taking my work in those places seriously, I wouldn’t have been offered a contract. Those bits of writing were my resume.
Often when I review applications at BellaOnline, I google an applicant. Sometimes what I find gets them rejected. Sometimes it strengthens a weak application. Your past writing and activities matter.
Whether you are blogging or keeping a family website, make sure every bit of writing you do is worthy of a publisher’s eye. You don’t know who is checking your out because they need a project. If you want to write LDS books, be sure you speak well of the church. If you want to write a parenting book, eye your online writing for suitability. Don’t lose a great opportunity over a little bit of thoughtless writing!
When I started out in writing, I sent out nearly everything I wrote. I figured no one would remember me if it was bad. Unfortunately, of course, some of the bad stuff got published, but no problem. A magazine is only around for a month…at least it was then.
Today, some of my bad writing has been posted on the Internet, as magazines put up online archives. Those stories I figured would disappear are still floating around, ready to be found.
Thanks to archives, sites that do nothing but archive the internet, and Google, what we write may still be floating around long after the Second Coming. It’s there for agents and potential publishers to track down. It’s there for readers to find. It’s there to hurt or help your reputation.
Everything you put online is important. You just don’t know who is looking. My publisher found me through a free online column I write, which led him to my website. If I hadn’t been taking my work in those places seriously, I wouldn’t have been offered a contract. Those bits of writing were my resume.
Often when I review applications at BellaOnline, I google an applicant. Sometimes what I find gets them rejected. Sometimes it strengthens a weak application. Your past writing and activities matter.
Whether you are blogging or keeping a family website, make sure every bit of writing you do is worthy of a publisher’s eye. You don’t know who is checking your out because they need a project. If you want to write LDS books, be sure you speak well of the church. If you want to write a parenting book, eye your online writing for suitability. Don’t lose a great opportunity over a little bit of thoughtless writing!
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