The plusses and minuses of a writing convention

[mesh138]

I have never been to a writer's conference before and am debating whether or not it's worth my time to attend one that's a 7-hour drive from my house. From what I understand, you sit around and listen to writers and other industry people talk about writing. But I'm not sure what else happens. They say you get 15 minutes with an agent, but how does that work? What if they sit you down with a sci-fi agent and you write romance, or if you write something like "Fight Club," and they give you a little ol' lady who is looking for the next big cat mystery?

any advice or information on what happens at these gatherings? Is this a good place for me to go to help push my novel closer to publication?

[Maryn]

I've been to two, not the big ones in my genre but regional conventions (that later folded quietly).

What the ones I attended offered was days with panel discussions with authors, agents, publishers. Several were scheduled at the same time. Most of the time it was a matter of picking which one was of more interest to me rather than finding one I had at least a little interest in. Which of the authors in attendance was on what panel greatly influenced my selection. If my memory is accurate, most of the panels I attended were not about how to write but about marketing, agents, and publishing. I took notes, since at the time I didn't have a novel completed.

There were also scheduled social times--meals with open seating, book sales times where you could purchase attendees' novels and maybe get an autograph, banquets with assigned seats that might place you with a 'name,' evening get-togethers, parties in some of the people's rooms. These social events were also valuable, since at those times most of the authors and agents didn't talk shop but were just friendly strangers connecting and networking. Since I don't know many authors on sight, nobody's fame or success stopped me from being myself, and this was to my advantage.

There were no scheduled meetings with agents at my convention, but I would think that any one that's well-run would not put writers with agents who didn't represent their genre.

If you name the conference you're considering, maybe someone here will have direct experience.

Maryn, who made Lawrence Block laugh several times (merely returning the favor!)

[Cathy C]

Here are a few tips from a couple other threads that are running right now, mesh.


http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20000

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20563 (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20563)


As for the 15 minutes with an agent, generally you're allowed to select the agent you want to pitch to, so as Victoria says in the second thread, take the time to research your agent so you don't wind up in the scenario you suggest (pitching Fight Club to the cozy mystery agent.) Admittedly, it's always a risk when attending a general writer's conference about the type of agents there. You might consider a specific genre conference, which is more likely to find you an agent that already represents what you write.

Good luck!