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Hey! I’m back! Yes, I know this is coming in a day late, but there is a reason (which I’ll get to in a moment.)
The short story is that I survived my first trip to New York City and my first time ever at a writers conference!
I say “survived” because I feel completely and utterly wrung out, physically, mentally, and emotionally. There was a lot of interesting and valuable information I got from the various panels, and I had some enjoyable chats with other writers. But I think that the looming shadow of the Pitch Slam and the high emphasis on networking cast a pall over the experience. If I do decide to go back to the Writers Digest Conference, I may stick with the panels and forgo the Pitch Slam.
Speaking of the Pitch Slam, it went about as well as I expected, perhaps even a little better. The agents were all very nice (albeit exhausted) and I got to see everyone who was on my list. My pitch itself still felt a little stilted in delivery, but I think the content was okay. (No one had any comment on that part, so I can only assume it worked… more or less.) But four out of the five agents I talked to requested queries and/or pages of my manuscript, so hey! Not bad! The one agent who didn’t ask was enthusiastic about Courting the Moon, but since steampunk wasn’t her bailiwick, she kindly directed me to a colleague whom she thought would be better suited for my genre. So I kind of worked myself into a nervous wreck for no reason, as everything went much faster and smoother than I initially feared.
There’s a lot of content and notes for me to go through and organize, plus of course prepping query letters, looking over the requested manuscript pages (which will probably make me panic again), and continuing research on potential agents in case these folks decide that Courting the Moon isn’t for them.
Sorry, I know this entry doesn’t sound very excited, but I’m just too exhausted to work up much enthusiasm at this point. Right now, it’s back to work. If I can manage to drag myself out of this comfy chair…
The Cat's Cradle : On Hiatus! 