Hey squarepeg --

The price of a conference, I think, depends on what they have to offer, particularly the agents, editors, and guest authors/speakers.

I've been to the Faulkner conference in New Orleans twice, and it cost, if I remember correctly, $380 for its entirety, plus an additional $50 per agent/editor to review and discuss your writing project which I had to submit in months in advance.

I'm going to the Space Coast Writers' Guild conference here in Cocoa Beach this Jan 28 and 29 (fortunately, this time it's right up the road from me--I can walk to it), and will be the third time I attended. Frankly, I got a lot more out of this Space Coast conference than I have from Faulkner's. Faulkner has author panels that discuss their work. The Space Coast conference has practical workshops put on my published authors, which helped me a lot more. And it provides face time with agents and editors as well.

The Writer's Digest conference is in NYC the end of this month, and I considered going, but thought the entire expense, for the conference, air travel, hotels, etc, made it prohibitive for me this time around.

Overall, I'd say conferences are great. You meet aspiring writers like yourself, can get really motivated, and meet agents and editors which provides a back door when you're ready to submit, or have something ready to submit. Saying you met at a particular conference will usually have them dive through the slush and look at what you got. If you met at a conference, I think they might consider you're more serious about writing than those who send in "over the transom." One agent at the Faulkner conference said to me, "You have no idea the garbage we get." I said, "I can imagine." He replied, "No. You can't imagine!" :0

Good luck!

Last edited by jaames (01-17-2011 14:26:46)

It's not the conference cost but the travel/hotel expenses that kill me.

Research them.  Some conferences are very much worth it.

Others not so much.

I think the 10 agents for 2 minutes would be more advantageous. You just have to have an excellent two-minute pitch memorized. However, what happens is Agent #1 might advise changing something in your pitch. You go to Agent #2, and you're trying to change your pitch from what you memorized to include what Agent #1 advised. So you could blank out.

I used to be in sales (old-school type from long ago). We were taught that sales people could talk themselve out of a sale. I saw this happen many times. The salesperson didn't know when to shut up. To sit face to face and discuss your book for ten minutes may be like writing a too-long synopsis (been there, done that) which turned out to be a turn off.

You should have various items prepared and carry them with you when you sit down to do these meets. One is a one-page synopsis you can leave with the agent if they are interested. Kristen Nelson, agent from Denver, Colorado, has an online newsletter, and a few months ago addressed these very meetings and what you should take. You might want to see if you can call it up on her website -- the Kristen Nelson Agency.

Some agents will ask that you email your manuscript to them, and you should be set up to do this right from the conference, not have to wait until you return home.

For some reason, Kristen advised that if you are a blogger, make sure to update your blog right before the conference, with a message that you are attending that particular conference.

Last edited by crazeesharon (01-19-2011 15:44:12)