So, in my last post I told you that I was going to spend a few days at the Backspace Agent- Author Seminar billed as All Agents All Day. Click here My good friend Deb Lacy flew in from California and fortune smiled on us when, at the last minute, another New York Sister in Crime, Tama Ryder decided to join us. Click here to meet Tama.
I read in the blogosphere that Patti Abbott Click here would be at Backspace and I made it one of my primary missions to find her and say hello. I am happy to say that I did and happier still to report that Patti has just received word that her short story “A Saving Grace” has been selected for inclusion in THE YEAR'S FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg. "A Saving Grace" originally appeared in The Thrilling Detective. You can read it here
This was my first venture into the realm of writers who don't write mystery. I mingled with the non-fiction people, the memoir people, the literary people and the sci-fi people. Who knew we would have so much in common? A writer is a writer is a writer, regardless of what they write. Every panel was packed with attendees taking notes and asking questions. And the panels covered topics that only a writer could love: First Contact: Queries That Work; The WOW Premise-What it Is -How to Articulate It; The Dreaded Synopsis to name a few.
Backspace provided authors to be with a great opportunity to understand the kinds of books agents are seeking. Besides the panel discussions, we attended “Two Minutes, Two Pages” workshops where writers were given a rare chance to see and hear two agents react to the first few pages of their manuscripts. This was a no holds barred approach and for the most part, it worked. At worst, an agent explained why she or he would not keep reading the manuscript, and at best, why they would. A writer who received positive feedback could then follow-up with that agent.
Our major recommendation for Backspace would be to add more of these workshops at the next conference. Our minor recommendation—do something to shorten the lunch line. A final note – a key component of this conference was meeting other writers. At the end of two long days, an encouraging word from a fellow writer can be all it takes to make a conference worth your while.
SPECIAL NOTE: Tama Ryder contributed heavily to this blog post and (Oh, I am so full of happy announcements today) has graciously decided to add her voice to Women of Mystery. Watch this space, Tama will be appearing here soon.
Terrie
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Backspace Agent-Author Seminar
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10 comments:
I found you Terrie and thanks for the plug. My recommendation for Backspace, and this is based only on my one day and workshop with Bella Stander, is to find more positive agents. It seemed to me that many of them thought they were were to discourage submissions and make clear how little chance you had of success. I thought the best panel was the last where they took you through the entire process and laid off the negative comments.
Hi Patti,
Congrats on being selected for Ed's anthology.
I'm wondering if Backspace is a little like boot-camp. Some of the agents may have seemed tough in their criticism but we were able to hear what they had to say and understand their objections to our work. If that had happened to a written query in the privacy of the agents office and I received a form rejection, I would never know exactly what the agent was thinking.
I keep reminding myself that all criticism is subjective.
Thanks for stopping by and please come back, I love hearing what you have to say.
Terrie
Congratulations, Patti!
I glanced over the list of agents on the site and saw quite a few names I recognized. I'm sure the feedback was really interesting. Did you guys get to chat with the agents at all when they weren't in the panels, or was it mostly audience/panel interaction?
Hi Laura,
Basically, you could talk to the agents anywhere. On Wednesday, Tama, Deb and I had lunch with a couple of agents. There was always hallway talk, lobby talk, etc.
Terrie
Terrie- Great summary of the conference with juicy links. I always ask people what events are like, if they're good, and I rarely try new ones anymore unless a few people rave (positively).
Tama- Welcome Aboard! We're delighted to have you join the confab!
Hi Clare,
Glad you enjoyed the post. And I agree, Tama will make a great addition to Women of Mystery.
Terrie
Sounds like a great conference and the contacts made are always good. You just never know when one will unexpectedly turn everything about for you.
And, hey, we can handle criticism. We're writers!
Dawn,
You are so right. We can handle criticism. I'd just like to handle a little less of it. ;)
Terrie
Sounds like a really educational experience. And it's great to hear you're out recruiting for Women of Mystery! Always good to know there are more mysterious women out there with interesting things to report!
Yes, Crabby, I think you are going to enjoy Tama's posts.
Terrie
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