It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good to be home. Flying from Baltimore, Maryland to Santa Barbara, California makes for a very long day, especially when I just made the trip going the other direction two days earlier. <\/p>\n
Today, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m playing catch-up again. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been setting priorities all morning. Paying the first-of-the-month bills was first on my list. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also been reflecting on the writers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 conference, the people I met and the things I learned. I hope that all conference presenters and attendees take the time to do this. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sometimes enlightening, sometimes painful and always worthwhile. If we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t learn from our experiences\u00e2\u20ac\u201dboth positive and negative\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhy bother getting up each morning.<\/p>\n
I meet the same hopeful and struggling authors at every conference I attend:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tThose who have just emerged from their writing rooms and are eager to quickly land an agent or publisher.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tHopeful authors who have collected so many rejection slips they are practically despondent and terribly discouraged.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tThose who are still in the writing stage and who are curious about what publishing is all about.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tThose who have done some research about aspects of the publishing industry and have formed some definite opinions and biases.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tAuthors who have \u00e2\u20ac\u0153self-published\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with a fee-based publishing service (they paid to have their books published) and are overwhelmed by the task of promotion and marketing.<\/p>\n
Everyone comes to a writers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 conference with an agenda. Which attendees are most likely to have a successful experience at a writers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 conference?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tThose who are open to at least hearing the material and messages presented.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tThose who network with other writers on a give and take basis.<\/p>\n
As a presenter, I also have the opportunity to learn at events such as this. I always learn something about people in general and about writers and authors in particular. I find it fascinating to discover what drives them, what motivates them, what resonates with them, what inspires them. I always learn something more about the publishing industry\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand if I do, you know that you will\u00e2\u20ac\u201dif you will just pay attention and care. I learn about my peers and, most importantly, I learn something about myself. <\/p>\n
If you haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t yet attended a writers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 conference, I recommend that you do this year. Tell me where you are or where you want to go and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll find a conference for you. PLFry620@yahoo.com. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good to be home. Flying from Baltimore, Maryland to Santa Barbara, California makes for a very long day, especially when I just made the trip going the other direction two days earlier. Today, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m playing catch-up again. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been setting priorities all morning. Paying the first-of-the-month bills was first on my list. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t