The Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine

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Publisher: Randy Ingermanson ("the Snowflake guy"

Motto: "A Vision for Excellence"

Date: April 7, 2007
Issue: Volume 3, Number 4
Home Pages: http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com
http://www.RSIngermanson.com

Circulation: 8000+ writers, each of them creating a
Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

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What's in This Issue

1) Welcome to the Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine!
2) Anatomy of a Writing Conference (Special Report)
3) Watch For My New Blog . . .
4) What's New At AdvancedFictionWriting.com
5) Steal This E-zine!
6) Reprint Rights

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1) Welcome to the Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine!


Those of you who have joined in the past month (nearly
500 of you are new since my last issue), welcome to my
e-zine!

You should be on this list only if you signed up for it
on my web site. If you no longer wish to hear from me,
don't be shy -- there's a link at the bottom of this
email that will put you out of your misery.

If you missed a back issue, remember that all previous
issues are archived on my web site at:
http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com/ezine

After last month's issue, which contained an article on
writing conferences, a reader wrote to me asking
EXACTLY what goes on in a writing conference. Since I
have just returned from teaching at a major conference,
this month's issue will be a special edition dedicated
exclusively to dissecting a writing conference.


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2) Anatomy of a Writing Conference (Special Report)


This e-zine is a few days late because I was at a large
writing conference in California for an entire week. I
got home three days ago and have been in recovery since
then.

Every writing conference in the world is different, and
yet every writing conference in the world is alike,
both at the same time.

Different conferences target different niches, appeal
to different writers, attract different editors and
agents, line up different topics, and schedule events
in different ways.

And yet all conferences are designed to help writers
get published. Any conference that forgets to help
writers is a conference that will go out of business
quickly.

Back in 1996, I decided that I was tired of the way my
writing career was going. I'd been writing for 8 years
and hadn't sold a blessed thing. I thought I was due to
get published. I decided to invest some serious money
in my career. I decided to start going to a major
writing conference and to keep going every year until I
broke in.

It paid off very well. Three years later, I went to
that same writing conference with two recent book
contracts in hand. I won Writer of the Year that year
and my career has been on a crazy ride ever since.

A quick word about niche markets. Most writers write
for a niche market and may well benefit most from a
niche conference.

For example, if you write romances, then you'll
probably do best at a conference specially designed for
romance writers. If you write mysteries, then a
conference for mystery writers might be just your
ticket. If you write science fiction or fantasy, then
an SF/F conference might be the right universe for you.

I write for the Christian market. It's a good market
that has grown rapidly in the last decade. So when I
decided to go to a major writing conference, I chose
the Mount Hermon Christian Writing Conference, near
Santa Cruz, California. Mount Hermon is the largest and
most prestigious Christian writing conference in the
country and it was close to me.

I've been going there ever since, now 12 years in a
row, and have been teaching for the last 5. If you fit
in this niche, then Mount Hermon is awesome.

I got back from Mount Hermon 3 days ago. Here is a
detailed account of what I did, from the plane ride in
until the plane ride out. To protect the privacy of my
friends, I'm not going to give any names, other than
that of my co-author, which is a matter of public
record. And to keep my agent from freaking out, I won't
reveal any business details. Everything else is fair
game.


Wednesday, March 28: My wife drops me off at the Portland
airport with a suitcase bulging with books and another
holding a few clothes. Of course, the book suitcase is
overweight and I have to repack at the airport. I toss
half a dozen books in with my underwear while the
airport guy grins at me.

When I get to my gate, I see a writer friend of mine,
"Joe," in line. He's not going to the conference; he's
going to speak in San Jose to promote his books. We
talk about marketing straight through the plane ride.
By the time we get off the plane, Joe has a sheetful of
ideas I've given him on how to promote his books on the
internet. And I've got some hot new ideas of my own.

After collecting my bags, I head out of the terminal.
My cell phone rings. It's the driver assigned to pick
me up and bring me in. (I'm coming to the conference
two days early because I'm on the critique team, and
today is the day we'll sort hundreds of manuscripts and
assign them each to a faculty member to read.)

Quickly, I'm in the van and talking up a storm. An hour
later, when we reach the camp, I've got two new
lifelong friends.

I get my room key and leave my bags in the lobby
because the critique team meeting is just starting.
It's a big group, and within a couple of hours, we've
got all manuscripts assigned to somebody. A couple of
faculty have had to cancel due to emergencies, so the
manuscripts they would have gotten are reassigned to
someone else. This requires that somebody scan the
manuscripts and figure out who best to receive it.

After the meeting, I wheel my suitcase of books to the
bookstore and leave it there. Then I grab my other
suitcase and head up to my cabin. I'll be sharing it
with four other faculty, but they won't arrive until
tomorrow, so for now, I've got it all to myself.

At supper, I spend time renewing friendships with the
two dozen early-bird faculty and staff. I know most of
them from past years, but a few are new. Pretty
quickly, I have a couple of new friends and have got
caught up with all the old ones.

After supper, I check email at the wireless hub in
Central Lounge and then head up to my room to wrap up
the notes for my talks. I'll be teaching on internet
marketing and my talks are only half done. By midnight,
my notes are all done and I'm happy.

I call home and talk to my wife. She tells me that the
stray dog that was on our porch this morning has been
hanging around all day and trying to eat our compost
heap -- so she fed it. I groan. I really don't want a
stray dog, but . . . she couldn't just let it starve.
And it's a gorgeous dog, a young Irish Setter. But I
still don't want a dog.


Thursday, March 29: After breakfast, I get my laptop
and check email. I'm hoping to break away for a long
walk in the redwoods. Mount Hermon has spectacular
trees and every year I vow to spend some time looking
at them. But I quickly get enmeshed in conversation
with some of the other faculty. Before you know it,
noon has arrived and we head off to lunch.

By now, more faculty and many students have arrived.
The conference doesn't start until noon tomorrow, but
it's become popular to arrive here a day early and hang
out. At lunch, I talk to more of my friends. Afterward,
I get my conference notebook and consign my books into
the bookstore.

By mid-afternoon, a walk in the woods has become a
forgotten cause. I'm seeing new friends arrive every
few minutes. Hugs are administered in massive
quantities. The afternoon passes in a blur, then
supper. I go to the faculty meeting. This year we have
70 faculty! I know many of the teachers from past
years, but there are plenty of new faces. I'm NOT good
with face recognition, so my brain is on overload by
the time the meeting ends.

By 9 PM, I'm hanging out in Central Lounge. I shoot one
of my story ideas at one of my friends and she loves
it. I'm glad, because I plan to run it past some
editors this weekend, and it's nice to know the idea
isn't horrible.

By midnight, I'm back in my cabin and calling my wife.
The stray dog has settled in. My wife has put up "Lost
Dog" signs all around the neighborhood and the kids are
looking glum whenever the phone rings. I think we've
been adopted by this pup.


Friday, March 30: Breakfast is noisy and enthusiastic.
I can't walk ten feet through the cafeteria without
seeing friends or having my name called. I'm getting
excited about the conference.

I check email in Central Lounge and talk with a few
friends. A writer asks me to look at her work. Her name
is "Jane," and it takes me about five minutes to figure
out that she's extremely talented and has a strong
manuscript. I suggest one agent and one editor who I'm
certain will love her work and tell her I'll introduce
her to anyone she wants to meet. Jane is jazzed because
she hasn't realized until now just how good she is. I'm
jazzed because the conference hasn't even started and
I've already found a writer who can be helped. I come
to these things because I like connecting the right
writer with the right editor or agent. Most unpublished
writers just aren't ready yet, so it's really fun to
find one who is.

By lunchtime, Mount Hermon is a sea of writers. Total
attendance is a record 450 this year, and the cafeteria
is bulging. The mood is one of high hilarity, as it is
every year. Several people are asking me what grand
scam I plan to pull on April Fool's Day, which is this
coming Sunday. I've got nothing in mind, but nobody
believes me when I say so. I retired from scams four
years ago after lucking into one so absurd and so
perfect that it makes no sense to try for another. Best
to go out at the top of your game, that's what I think.

After lunch, attendees split into two groups.
First-timers go to the main auditorium for orientation.
Alumni go to a smaller building to learn how to get the
most out of the conference. I slide into the Alumni
meeting late. It's a good talk, but I've heard it
several times before, so I daydream about what this
conference will bring.

I mentally review the email my agent sent me yesterday,
letting me know which editors are currently considering
proposals of mine. There are about eight editors I'd
love to make appointments with, but I doubt I'll have
time for all of them. I decide to make appointments
with whomever I run into first. Mount Hermon has no
formal appointment system. To make an appointment with
an editor or agent, all you have to do is ask. They
don't have to say yes, but in 12 years, I've only been
refused once.

The meeting breaks at 2:45. I walk out the door and
spot one of my editor friends, a guy I'll call Editor
A. I ask if he's got time for an appointment tomorrow
afternoon. He does. We mark our schedules and then
compare notes on the work of "Jane," the writer I met
this morning. Editor A received her manuscript as a
pre-submission to the conference. He's already read it
and thinks her writing is excellent. I'm happy because
I told her this morning that he'd like it.

The next event is the kickoff meeting with everybody in
the Main Auditorium. The purpose is to introduce all
the faculty to all the students. We get introduced in
groups and then the director goes over last-minute
changes to the schedule.

We break for the first workshops of the day. At Mount
Hermon, there are major morning tracks that run for 8
hours of instruction through the conference. Those give
you a lot of continuity with one instructor. Then in
the afternoons, there are one-hour workshops that you
can pick and choose at random. There are 12 major
morning tracks and 70 workshops. The number of choices
is vast and nearly overwhelming.

The one oddball that doesn't fit this pattern is the
Career Track, which runs both mornings AND afternoons.
It's only open to multipublished book authors. I'll be
teaching for several hours in this track, so my plan
for the conference is to attend this track whenever I'm
not required to be elsewhere.

I head for the brand-new Fieldhouse and join about
three dozen other writers for the first session of the
Career Track. I spot an editor I don't know very well,
Editor B. It's been quite a long time since I talked
with her, and I know from my agent that she's got a
couple of my proposals on her desk back home, so I ask
for an appointment. We figure out that we both have
time on Monday afternoon, and we mark our calendars.

I should note my philosophy about editors here. I see
many writers at conferences who look at editors as
targets to be cornered and pitched at. All too many
writers don't even seem to know the editors' names and
simply refer to them by their publishing houses.

Please, please, puhleeze! Editors are real people and
you need to treat them like real people. Relationships
are very important in publishing. Your relationship
with each editor will be different. Some will never be
more than casual acquaintances. Others will become good
friends. A rare few may become close buddies. None of
these relationships can be forced. It's downright silly
to try. Either you'll click with an editor or you won't.

The important thing is to simply be yourself and spend
a bit of time with various editors. You'll find out
quick enough whether you hit it off or you don't. You
do NOT need to be bosom buddies with an editor to get
published. What you do need is the editor's respect.

I don't generally pitch things to editors. I regard
that as my agent's job. I prefer to spend the bulk of
my time just learning how editors think, what kind of
books they like, what kind of person they are.

Enough on philosophy and back to the Career Track. We
spend the first hour doing a little hands-on project
with clay that mainly serves to get the writers talking
with each other. Soon, we're all having fun and
talking. When the class breaks up, I make an
appointment with Editor C, whom I know very well. She's
also got one of my proposals on her desk back home. We
mark our calendars for Sunday afternoon and head for
supper.

Because I'm a faculty member, at meal-times I have an
assigned table with my name on it. Whoever wants to sit
with me can come sit at my table and be sure of
spending an hour with me. My policy at meals is to go
around the table and spend about five minutes talking
with each person to see how the conference is going,
what their goals are, and if their needs are being met.
I require everyone else at the table to give full
attention to whomever I'm talking with. This system
keeps the noise down and makes sure that nobody gets
overlooked.
Steal This E-zine!


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. . .

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Randall Ingermanson, 2007.

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