For the last ten days I was working in my old technical writer/proposal manager capacity – helping a small business write and deliver a proposal to the National Science Foundation. The proposal was due yesterday, and I’m proud to say we got it in electronically as required with two hours to spare.
Within minutes of finishing the proposal work, I changed modes and started thinking about the Greater Los Angeles Writers Conference happening this weekend. I’m scheduled to appear on two panels tomorrow, and up until yesterday I had done nothing to prepare.
This morning I went into my files and found notes from past panels I’ve appeared on, and found what I needed to provide some good information on writing a memoir and building a marketing platform, using the social networks. (This blog was the first thing I did to start building my platform prior to the publication of my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On.)
eBook Cover
One more thing that’s happening at the conference is an opportunity to tell an agent about a book in progress. I’m going to sign up. I feel my novel is ready to talk about – after all, I’ve revised it seven or eight times guided by comments from two sets of beta readers, my writing group, and a novel revision workshop at UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. However, I have no idea how to approach this – is it a pitch or will we just have a back and forth conversation? I look forward to this experience with a lot of fear and trepidation. Please wish me luck.
So there’s no rest for the wicked. I just finished working ten days straight, and tomorrow I’m going off into the land of writers to impart what I know to new writers – and then find out what an agent thinks of my book idea. Yes, I definitely need whatever luck you can send my way.
My dear friend Eleanor Vincent will be with me again, at this conference. This photo was taken at a conference last February.
Anyone else ever talked to an agent, pitched a book, been on a panel at a writers conference or any other kind of conference? Please tell your story in the comments below.
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