If I’m being honest, it all came down to money (that’s what it always is, isn’t it?). As a person who is currently unemployed, but still has a fighting dream, I understand that I’ve got limited resources. Prior to this, I was considering first that I should first get my manuscript edited by a professional editor. That was the advice across the internet, of course. That prior to sending it to any literary agent or editor, I needed to have my novel perfectly polished. This is advice, that I would love to take and was happy to take, until I realized a very important opportunity standing right in front of me: The San Francisco Writers Conference.
If you’re not familiar (and I’m not too familiar either, this conference will be my first one), but a writing conference is basically this big event where writers come to connect with different aspects of the publishing industry, such as other writers, agents, editors, etc. There are sessions throughout the conference, that teach writing professionals or novices different topics. These topics can run from self-publishing to representation to marketing tools. There are smaller events to network with these professionals like at cocktail hours or even during lunch. However, the most important thing to keep in mind, is that there are industry professionals who WANT to be pitched to. There are literary agents or acquiring editors there who are looking to take on new writers.
You can see the opportunity forming in my mind right?
I did a little bit of research on how much a book editor costs. Prices can vastly range from around $300-$2000, depending on what your project is. Upon further reading, most sites advise to not skimp on this process, because you really want to find a high quality, seasoned editor over an editor who won’t catch all of your mistakes. Again, I would love to pay for this service, which I do think is vital, I have limited resources. I’ve got to be mindful of my money.
However, the conference isn’t cheap either. Since I’m quite late on deciding to attend the event, tickets costs $900, not to mention any additional costs for 1v1 meetings I might want with any literary agents.
I do see both options (paying for a book editor vs. the writing conference) as vital for my writing project. However, if I’m going to be spending $1000 anyway for my vignette collection, I’d rather it be for the SF Writers Conference. Although it pains me not to have a fully edited manuscript, to me, I think I get more bang for my buck if I do attend the conference. That amount of learning about the industry and very natural encounters with already open literary agents, is kind of priceless. Think about it, I’d spend months basically cold-calling literary agents who would spend months responding back to me. Or perhaps not even respond at all. If I’m being honest, I see this writing conference as an investment in my writing career.
I’ve been wanting to go to this conference for years. YEAAARRSS. Back then, I was either stopped by not enough money, COVID, or plain being in school. Across the internet, professionals also advise to have a complete manuscript before attending, which I didn’t have. So I thought that I’d save up and wait for the right time, but things never seemed to align. Until now.
I’ve always known the importance of networking, however I’ve had an apprehension to it. I think that to most people, networking is basically a bad word that conjures up oily, unwanted sales pitches. However, after reading books like Big Magic and Show Your Work! I’ve really come to understand just how essential networking is. It’s not about doing a bad sales pitch, but rather connecting with people who have similar interests and being genuinely interested in what they do. That’s how I’ve rectified it in my head, that networking is a genuine connection first and foremost. Later, it might turn into a collaborative project of some sort, but we have to concentrate first on the people in front of us.
Almost in the same thought, it’s important to remember that great art is not done in a vacuum. Nothing great is accomplished solely in one’s room. But rather, we have to learn from other people and share our own experiences so that the curve to success isn’t so high.
Look, I know that I shouldn’t expect to walk away from this conference with a book deal (though that would be great, wouldn’t it?). At the very least, I’m trying to tap into a writing community that I’ve been apart from for so long. I want to learn so much and absorb every single lesson that they have. There’s so much that I don’t know about the publishing industry, or even writing in general, and I see this as a great opportunity to simply be a sponge to it all.
Now of course, I’m also going to squeeze every opportunity I can from this conference. You can bet your ass that I’m going to practice my book pitch and not be afraid to really sell it at appropriate times to agents and editors. You can also bet that I’m going to prepare anyway I can: planning business outfits, doing research on agents, bringing business cards, getting enough rest, brainstorming ideas for post-event social media posts.
I’m finding the right balance to approaching this, but at the end of the day, I’m stoked that I get to go.