WriteOnCon online kidlit writers' conference

Oh, it wasn't any of them - I really like Entangled, and I've subbed to them. I'll definitely keep this other publisher in mind, they're just a lower priority to me right now than finding an agent.

Thanks guys

NP. I have a sub with Entangled now, I'm definitely a fan. But yeah, its probably best to wait on the publisher if you're querying agents and aren't a 100% sure about it. Just sticking my nose where is doesn't belong

BTW, anyone ever consider having an entire conversation, or even a coherent story using the smileys? There are some seriously cools ones... Off topic, I know.

Dang! Why isn't there a favorite or a like button? Haha.

auriel said:

Oh, it wasn't any of them - I really like Entangled, and I've subbed to them. I'll definitely keep this other publisher in mind, they're just a lower priority to me right now than finding an agent.

Thanks guys

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I posted this same situation in the Ask an Agent thread a while ago. I had a couple of small pubs inquire about submitting during contests but also felt like I wanted to focus on agents.

Congrats to everyone on the WriteOnCon successes! I am continually amazed by how awesome the writers community is, especially the YA community. There are so many cool opportunities for learning, pitching, networking, friend-making, etc.

WoC was interesting, but hard to keep up with while doing anything else. I still haven't done 5 critiques for each thread I posted. (I'll try to get to more later.) I did get some good feedback from the folks, but no ninja visits.

I totally missed how to sub a first page for Marietta Zacker.

I don't have a twitter account. All of the advice on marketing says don't just start accounts for things that don't interest you and you can't keep up with. Now I'm thinking I'll need to join twitter just for WoC next year. I did take some notes on the agents and editors who commented. One person sounds like a good fit for one of my books. I'll query when the query is ready.

I actually didn't mind seeing the same pitch in more than one event. Reactions differed by personality. It told me more about the agents, though it does suck for those who submitted and never got seen.

All told, next year I'll have twitter pitches ready and participate in live events. I'll look at the videos and articles after the fact.

Does anyone know if they've announced winners to any of the giveaways?

@Debbie, I don't know if they announced the winners yet, can't find anything on the website.
I saw they're offering a new prize though, to people who fill out the feedback form: http://writeoncon.com/

I really enjoyed WriteOnCon.
I didn't go in for the critique and stuff, b/c I wasn't looking for an agent; I 'just' attended the lectures (and started live blogging about the conference, just for fun).
My god, there was so much information, I'm glad all the lectures and live events are still online for future reference!

I did attend three live events, which I enjoyed, and hung around on the forum too, and although I didn't participate, I certainly learned a thing or two.

I think it's such a great initiative, I'll definitely come back next year!

Becca C. said:

Wow, just checked my query thread, I got a great ninja comment too!

From Ninja Agent Tangerine:



Yay! So encouraging.

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I think I read your query in the forum and really liked it, but there were so many posts it got overwhelming. Congrats on the good feedback!

RaggedEdge said:

Netz, thanks for adding me!

Congratulations to those who got Ninja feedback and requests! Fun!

I was a little surprised they didn't leave more feedback on the forums... it seemed like some agents were reticent to say much at all, or maybe I missed their comments somehow.

Now, if OceanWaves will do my OC's graphic sketch from that thread, I'll be a happy camper.

The best thing I got out of WriteOnCon 2013 was that I learned I wasn't happy with my first 250 words and promptly realized how I needed to fix that. Something about putting it out in public really made me think that through more - even before it got any comments. I took it down quickly and figured out what it needed. Then I tweaked it more based on the comments and I'm much happier with it now.

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I was ninja stalking for a while and it really didn't seem like all the agents actually made an appearance.

I agree, I didn't think they would get to ALL the posts but I thought there would be way more comments.

FMAnderson said:

Hey guys!

I had a great time with WoC, but didn't get to participate as much as I'd have liked to. Still, I hit one of the agents that seemed inclined to my type of novel and she requested! I doubt she'll offer, since I stupidly had a few mistakes in it, but it was worth it.

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Congrats on the request! I did the same thing on my request. I've been having a hard time getting my 2010 Word programs to save edits, maybe its because I'm not used to it yet, but I also had a few typos.

From what I hear, most agents wont blacklist you for a few typos as long as your MS isn't completely filled with issues. As long as it has been obviously edited to the best of one person's ability, they tend to be pretty understanding.

Good luck!

Tromboli said:

NP. I have a sub with Entangled now, I'm definitely a fan. But yeah, its probably best to wait on the publisher if you're querying agents and aren't a 100% sure about it. Just sticking my nose where is doesn't belong

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Don't worry about it ;P

Dang, Netz, that was amazing. Like a book in smiley form.

Yeah, I thought there would be more comments from ninjas too (one of them I saw only left 2 comments in total!).

I enjoyed watching the live twitter pitch sessions with agents (although as someone mentioned earlier, the same ones got used a few times), and participating in the forums. It was fun - I'll be back next year (hopefully with something ready to query)!

I feel like there were more comments from ninjas last year. I agree that it would have been nice to see more. I always like to see what they think is good or needs work. It seemed like they were all-stealth, all the time this year.

ETA: The WoC people did a "Luck O' The Irish" pitch contest last March where agents got assigned a bunch of pitches and commented on every single one, and that was awesome. Hopefully they'll do that again next year.

I noticed an agent looked at my profile but no comments or messages by them. Not sure what it means. Did they ever say who was who so I could at least know who it was?

Two agents revealed themselves on Twitter: Dan13lle Sm1th was Lavender and Pam v@n Hylck@ma was Cupcake.

A little weirdness I wondered, when your pitching a short story collection, is it the first five of the first story? Or the first page of each story, stopping at story five?

Netz said:

I think there was a thread in the forum about submitting the first page for MZ.

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There was a link from the schedule page, but it wasn't active before the conference. I never saw the forum thread. It would be nice if they threw a blog post in when some of these things opened up.

I suppose I just find the format overwhelming. I'd read the new post, then go to work on something else. It's hard to remember to come back for the next post. It makes for a fragmented feel. Perhaps next year I'll be able to spend in between times on the forum. I didn't feel I could just take the two days off this year.

I will be going back to some of the articles though. I've already reviewed the one on query pitches. There were some other really good ones too.

I've been wondering when that was. I'm not sure if I'll join or not since I don't have a new MS for it but we'll see.

And the 2014 dates are (finally) announced, with some changes in store to focus more on agent and editor interaction.

So get to polishing your pitches, queries, and opening pages!

Ooo, this is happening again? I actually have something ready this year. Fantastic.

Sounds like it's going to be really extra fun this year!

Even though I don't have anything agent-ready this year, I'm still excited. I had a blast last year.

I just looked for info on this last week. Thanks for letting us know.