Leveraging the Conference

The Value of Leveraging
The Value of Critique Groups Before the Conference
Before the Conference
Getting the Most Out of the Conference Materials
Networking
After the Conference

The Value of Leveraging

Leveraging the conference means finding ways to gain the most from the conference experience. By following the tips below, you can multiply the value of your experience many times over.

It is important to choose a conference where you can get the level of writing help you need now. Investigate the conference's format, speaker list, workshop titles, critique services, and whether they offer meetings with editors and agents. Beginning writers may want to select a conference where they can receive instruction in the craft of writing. Intermediate writers might want more in-depth workshops on specific genres.

“Where unseasoned conferees make their mistake is that they spend too much time chasing down editors and trying to push their stuff. They should be concentrating on polishing their writing and learning from the experienced writers who are there.” - Susan Osborn, Director of the Christian Communicator Manuscript Critique Service, author of 28 books, most germinated at writers' conferences

Work on creating your sales pitch-your 30-second sales pitch about your writing. When an editor asks you, “So, what are you writing?” have your answer ready. Imagine you're talking to an old friend, be comfortable, and be ready with your pitch. Have your business cards handy, preferably one with your photo on it.

If the conference has a book table, peruse the books on writing. This is a good opportunity to see what books speakers have recommended on the craft of writing. Buy a few of them.

Try to meet at four or five new people each day. Find out what genre they write in and exchange business cards if a good match is made.

Editor Terry Whalin suggests getting to know different editors, even those outside your genre. We often change what we write and editors change houses.

“I've taught at a number of conferences and try to attend at least one conference each year. I know that topics are repeated from conference to conference and that information may at first seem repetitive, but I disagree that intermediate and advanced writers do not need to attend. Maybe its just me, but I've never been to a class where I didn't find a new way to approach an old problem, or discover a tried and true method to attack something that was a new issue to me. There are also plenty of classes that point out the areas where I've gotten lazy. They teach me what I've forgotten to apply and help me to freshen old skills. I watch those who skip the classes at conferences because they are only there to network and talk shop. These individuals are missing a tremendous opportunity to encourage other writers and add insight to class discussions-not to mention possibly learning something themselves. I've found that individuals, who feel that they don't need the classes, eventually find themselves on the downslide. Those who constantly seek to hone what God gave them, those who lift others up, humble themselves, and continue to take in those even the smallest of lessons-these are the ones who gain the writing community's respect.” - Louise Bergmann DuMont, author & speaker, www.cafemochalight.blogspot.com & www.njcwg.blogspot.com 

Attend conferences with a servant's heart. Offer to assist speakers with handouts and rearranging chairs. Having someone to watch for late comers and give them handouts is a great thing to volunteer to do - and can provide a connection to the speaker.

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The Value of Critique Groups Before the Conference

Get involved with other writers through a face-to-face critique group or if one is not available, an online group. Listen and learn. Then listen some more. Learn from each other. Critique groups will help you refine your craft. They'll challenge you to write better and stretch your limits. Often unbiased, constructive criticism is necessary to bring out the best in your writing. A critique group can help you polish your writing so it is ready for submission. Their support and encouragement, with the occasional push to send out your material, can be worth it's weight in gold.

For more on critique groups, how to start one, and how they work, check out the Critique Groups page on this site.

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Before the Conference

Attending your first, and even second, writers' conference can be overwhelming, intimidating and even scary. It's hard being there and not knowing the tricks of the trade. All kinds of thoughts go through your mind. Am I good enough? Will I fit in? Is my writing OK? What should my attitude be? What do I need to know before I go? How can I best use the material handed out? What sessions should I attend? What if the sessions I pick are the wrong one? What should I say to an editor or publisher? How can I best present my writing? What do I need to take? What do I need to do after the conference is over?

Attending a writer's conference can be an overwhelming experience, but with good planning and preparation, you will be blessed many times over. Rather than go blindly, here are some tips to make your conference productive and enjoyable:

1. Prepare by bathing your writing in prayer. Pray for an open mind and a teachable spirit.
2. Make a list of your goals and expectations. If you don't know what you want to learn, it will be harder to choose the right workshops.
3. If you will be allowed to submit articles, proposals, or manuscripts, finish whatever writing is necessary to submit the best work possible. Take several extra copies of each item.
4. Make a list of questions you would like answered.
5. If you can submit your work, be sure you know how to write the appropriate cover letters, query letters, and proposals, and how to format your sample chapters or manuscript. If the conference gives guidelines, follow them.
6. Review the conference brochure to determine which workshops might be best for your type of writing.
7. Study the list of speakers and their subjects, or attending editors or publishers to see to whom you want to submit material. This may mean reviewing publishers catalogues to see whether your writing is a possible match for their house, checking which speakers have books in Amazon.com to see what they write, or doing a search on their names in Google to find articles they have written and whether they have a web site that shows their writing interests.
8. Make business card, preferably with a photo, to give to contacts. Vista Print is a good source.
9. If the conference allows for meetings with editors or publishers, consider making a small binder with sections showing clips of your previously published works, works-in-progress, or ideas you are interested in developing.

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Getting the Most Out of the Conference Materials

Here are nine tips to get the most value out of your conference materials. Key to this is going through the material as soon as our get it.

1. Review the conference materials you receive when checking in. See whether there are any changes in the schedule and in the workshops-comparing this to the sessions you highlighted. Mark your materials so you know where and when each workshop is.
2. If the materials have workshop outlines, review those for the first day or evening, so you are certain the workshop you go to is the best one for your writing for each time slot. If you find the outlines of your pre-selected workshops are not what you expected, or find outlines that appear to be a better choice, change your schedule accordingly.
3. If the conference is two days or longer, at the end of each day, review the next day's schedule and workshop outlines to determine which you want to attend.
4. If a workshop starts and you sense it is not what you expected, choose another as long as you do so in the first five minutes. Have a backup choice for each workshop session.
5. Be proactive in asking questions, participating in discussions, and in talking to the speakers and other writers.
6. Take notes liberally.
7. Make friends. Find other writers who write in the same genre as you and build a support network or a critique group that can meet in person or online.
8. If there are editors or publishers at the conference, be prepared if you meet with them. Meet with those who publish in your genre, pitch your writing, answer any questions they may have, and respect your allotted time.
9. If the conference offers tapes, review the workshops and their outlines to determine which tapes you want to order. Check to see whether you can get copies of handouts from workshops you could not attend.

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Networking

Networking can also be called connecting. It means meeting editors and publishers, speakers, agents, fellow writers, and conference organizers-and even fellow writers. Often you can meet these people over meals, during breaks, and between and after sessions. Many conferences offer critique and manuscript services where further networking with advanced writers is possible. These face-to-face networking opportunities provide access to valuable contacts, new learning's and information that cannot be duplicated elsewhere.

Many of those attending conferences report that connecting with fellow writers is the most valuable part of the experience. Networking at conferences also gives writers access to information they cannot learn through books, magazine articles, or through the Internet or emails.

“Networking is absolutely wonderful and essential for writers today. I wouldn't argue against their value. I'm an established writer and I still network and keep connections going.” - Cecil “Cec” Murphey, author and ghost writer

“If you've achieved success [at writing], you need to consider how you can share your wisdom with some first-timers or newbies. That's the path we tread-experienced writers help less experienced.” - Chip Macgregor, Publisher, Time Warner

“When you find yourself taking a step up on the ladder of success, turn around and look behind you. Then reach a hand down and help another writer up.” - Kay Marshall Strom

“Keep in mind that everyone who attends writers conferences has the same goal you do: to be part of this industry in one fashion or another. Don't discount anyone. You may meet an unpublished author who ends up multi-publishing in the exact way you hope to go. If you're friendly and treat everyone with the same respect, you'll be on your way to creating a good reputation for yourself in this industry-which really is smaller than it seems when you go to your first conference.” - Maureen Schmidgall - aka Maureen Lang, Pieces of Silver, Kregel Publications, March '06

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After the Conference

Your job is not done when you arrive home after the conference. You can take six steps to leverage the conference and gain the most from the experience:

1. Send thank you notes to staff and attendees who helped you by providing encouragement, reviewed your writing, or asked you to submit any writing material after the conference.
2. Follow-up by sending any requested writing samples, articles, proposals, or manuscripts.
3. Go through your conference materials, filing them in whatever file system you have. If the conference provides a binder, use that. If not, make one, or file the materials in folders based on their subject matter.
4. If you bought tapes or CDs of sessions, mark the handouts so you remember which tape/CD goes with which handout.
5. Discard any conference material that you do not need. Eliminating extra material will make it easier to get the most use from the materials of the sessions you attended and keep you from information overload.
6. If you received a list of attendees, review it to see if there are any writers in your local area that might be interested in a critique group or any that might do so via email.

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