Writer's Conference Debrief

The Writer's Digest Conference was a mixed bag for me. As a virtual event this year, the sessions on writing and marketing were no less effective had they been held in person. Some sessions were better than others, but I did pick up some valuable tips on handling dialogue and setting more effectively.

The main reason I attended was to pitch my book, which ended up being a bust for me. In a real one-on-one pitching event, authors meet agents in the flesh and try to establish some rapport. That was, of course, impossible this year. Instead, agents were assigned to visit my virtual "booth" (see my previous post), view my video pitch and then to engage in a typewritten (not video) chat to discuss my project. 

What happened in my case was five agents visited my booth, expressed no interest in the project, and took off. There was no chat--no back and forth . The one agent who did ask a question left my booth before I could finish typing my response. In other words, the pitching session was no more valuable than if I had cold queried those agents. My main regret was I paid extra for the pitch session, a total waste of money.

I did gain additional insight into why my book hasn't gained traction in the marketplace. Nearly all the writers and all the presenters at the conference specialize in genre fiction. The lesson constantly hammered home was you must become an expert in your genre, whether it be romance, mystery, fantasy, YA, sci-fi, etc. Every genre has specific components and formulas that readers expect, and successful genre authors always put their readers' desires first. If they don't deliver on those expectations, they will lose their readers. In other words, authors become slaves to their genre if they want to make a living writing books.

Unfortunately, I do not write that way. I write books involving themes and characters that excite me. I never consider genre. I worry about the audience after I write a book, not before. This goes back to my unfulfilling days as a marketing writer and generating sales collateral under very strict guidelines. I used my fiction projects as an outlet to let my creativity flow.  My books, as a result, are mongrels of various genres. COME THE HARPIES is part science fiction, part political satire, part YA, and part literary thriller.

In other words, this and my other books pose a steep challenge for agents pitching to publishers who are looking for the same old genre formulas. I do understand agents who don't want to touch my stuff, since they're trained to focus on categories. Most likely I'll end up being another unpublished writer with a good book.

In my next post, I'll explain why straight white males have an uphill climb in today's literary markets.