Writing Conference Part II: Feeling Inspired

Last week, I wrote about some of the general benefits of attending writing conferences and feeling inspired to take chances. This week, I’ve compiled some of my favorite parts from a few of the sessions at the Wyoming Writers, Inc. 45th annual Writers’ Conference.

The first class I attended, given by Angie Hodapp from Nelson Literary Agency, was Query Letter Bootcamp.

While I won’t go over the entire session, I’ll give you a brief overview of the four parts of a query letter and a few important points.

Angie described the space on a query letter as real estate, where you want to pay attention to what you’re giving space and how much space you’re giving it.

The four parts of a query letter include a greeting (which is optional), project summary (title, genre, word count), pitch paragraphs (think back cover blurb), and bio and credits.

• You may choose to include a brief (brief being key here) greeting. This is where you remind them of meeting them at a writing conference, for instance. But if you don’t have a personal connection to them, skip the greeting and move on to the project summary.
• Agents and publishers are most interested in the project summary. They may not read anything other than this. They want to make sure the book is in a genre they represent and the word count is appropriate for the genre. If not, there’s no point for them to continue reading. So this information should lead your letter.
• Most of the space, or real estate, of your query letter should be dedicated to your pitch and be somewhere between two and three paragraphs.
• The last paragraph is a brief bio, which can include education, experience/publishing credits, writing association memberships, etc. This is not meant to be an exhaustive bio.

Other general information about a query letter:

• Single space
• Block letter format
• 12-point font
• Only one page

Angie also gave fantastic information about query letter pitfalls and examples of good query letters, but you’ll have to attend a writing conference where she speaks to hear more. And because I’m not so mean to leave you hanging, I found her website Tighten Your Query where you can find more tips on query letters.

Before I move on to the next session, there are two additional points Angie gave that I thought were really important.

1. If you’re not getting requests for sample pages, your query letter needs work.
2. If you’re getting requests for samples, but it doesn’t go beyond that, your manuscript needs work.

Keep in mind that a query letter for an agent or publisher is different than a cover letter you send when submitting your work to a literary magazine.

The next class I attended was given by author Sarah Reichert called Out in the World: Publishing Your Novel in Today’s Market.

As a bit of a side note, Sarah said that out of all writers who start a novel, only 1-3% finish it. Of that small percentage, only 5% go on to do something with it.

Sarah also mentioned that she took Angie’s Query Letter Bootcamp three years ago, and now has an 80% success rate with her query letters.

The advice Sarah gave that I found particularly helpful was that in order to determine whether to pursue publishing through a traditional publisher (big house or small house), small press, or independent publishing, you must first examine your goals as an author.

Consider whether you desire money and fame, you just want to have your work read, your writing supplements your business or platform, to provide a free resource, etc.

Also, think about how much control you want over your book. The traditional publishing route will give you less control, you’ll have a little more with a small press, and you’ll have the most control by going the independent publishing route.

How soon do you want your book published? It will take the longest with a traditional publisher, while the quickest path is going with independent publishing.

Even though there was so much more I learned and participated in during this conference, there’s only one last session I’m going to highlight.

Jovan Mays is the emeritus poet laureate for Aurora, Colorado, and while he gave several classes on poetry during the conference, I’m discussing his session called It Started as a Whisper: The Art of Performance Poetry.

There were so many insightful tips Jovan gave about spoken word performances, I don’t think I captured even half of them as I scribbled my notes while he spoke, but I’m going to list some of the advice he offered.

• Read to an audience instead of at the audience.
  • This has to do with being engaged with the audience while you perform, and you accomplish this by first engaging yourself with your poem that is so full-bodied that it impacts yourself first.
• In regard to people who have trouble memorizing their poems for public readings, Jovan said to write a poem into your bones. You have to spend time with your poems and know the feeling and purpose of the poem so well that you won’t forget it.
  • Practice. A LOT. While you’re driving, for your friends, for your dog.
• In regard to nerves before/during a performance: Get out of the way. Your nerves (in other words, you) are getting in the way of what the performance is supposed to be about — the poem.
• Regarding getting too emotional when performing a poem: Some poems you have to be deliberate about manning the gate, about the emotion wanting to overtake you, you have to brace yourself.

Before closing this post, I’d encourage you to check out the speakers above and find out what they’re doing and what other great advice they have on their websites. I’ve included a link for each one of them above.

I leave you with one final piece of advice from Jovan about spoken word performances. “There’s no reward for withholding something from your performance. Your job is to put it all out there.” And to carry that idea a little further, I suggest the same is true with your writing.