Submissions: how to, tracking them, etiquette, types (flash to novel)
Agents: researching and querying them
Conventions: why go, what to do to make the most of them, top cons
Workshops: why do (or not), how to make the most of them, top ones
Blogging & websites: why, BRIEF discussion of mechanics
Publications to follow
Networking
SFWA and other professional organizations
Writing groups
Resources
Keeping yourself motivated
So here’s my question. I’ll be glancing back at this list when thinking about future blog posts and drawing from it as well as from what I’m experiencing in my own writing. What would -you- like to see?
What would I have given for a class like this in college. I had to spend the following decade learning all this stuff on my own. There’s just so much! I feel like I’m still learning the basics in some of these areas.
What would I like to see?
-Agents: Are They Really Necessary? Why or Why Not?
-Networking: The Best Free Avenues to Network and Advertise One’s Writing (I suppose Facebook and Twitter are a given, but there must be others that don’t sap all one’s writing time)
Networking fits in well because I teach my blogging class, which talks about a lot of that, the next two Saturdays.
Agents – I can say some stuff, and I’ve got one, sure, but I’ve yet to sell a book through her, so I may not be the best qualified to talk about that, heh. I’ll see what I can do. 😉
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"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
~K. Richardson
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Links from Blogging 101 Class - General Social Media Links
As part of the Blogging 101 class I just finished up teaching for Bellevue College, I organized a bunch of my links into a handout. Here is the General Social Media Resources section.
Mentioned in class:
(We didn’t actually get to this, but it’s a good way to track which of your links are getting shared.)Way to shorten URLs and monitor which are being reshared: http://www.bitly.com
(Also didn’t get a chance to hit in class, but is a good way to see if your name is available on various social networks as well as a pretty comprehensive listing of such networks.) Way to check your name on social networks: http://namechk.com/
Way to look at your social media presence: http://www.klout.com
Cartoon History of Twitter and Social Networking: http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/cartoon-history-social-networking_b6160
For me it was a pretty productive con – I connected with a few people that I definitely wanted to meet or see, I got a chance to hang out with some favorite peeps, I got a little writing done, and I did some career/work stuff that I wanted to get done. And I got the photo of Howard Waldrop with my brother and Gene Ha’s Project Superman.
Beforehand I did some stuff – I made a list of what I wanted to get accomplished, wrote to a couple people who I wanted to make sure to spend time with, and I went through the con program to identify some of the panels/features that I really didn’t want to miss. I also blocked in plenty of time for hanging at the bar, which I consider a crucial part of any con. I didn’t plan out every waking minute, to be sure, but I did make sure I knew what I wanted to do. I volunteered for programming and set up an individual reading as well as being part of the Broad Universe Rapidfire Reading.
This is, I think, the sort of thing you need to do if you’re going to cons and justifying the expenditure as work/career related rather than fun. Otherwise you end up sitting in your hotel room thinking that you should be doing something or being somewhere but not quite sure what.
Absolutely, cons are about friendships, that’s one of the more enjoyable aspects. But some you know a lot of folks at and others you have to push yourself a bit. I tend to retreat when around people I don’t know, but I’ve found that if I push myself out of my comfort zone some, I end up having a much better time.
If I’d been more diligent, I would have done the following:
Found the con organizers and thanked them. The con was well run and trouble free, and the panels were a nice mix.
Organized some sort of Broad Universe coffee or lunch meet-up, as well as something with the Codex peeps.
Gone through the dealers room and introduced myself, making sure book dealers had the card for my collection. I know no one had my book for sale, which was a little dampening, but I don’t know the best way to prevent that. Do folks write to dealers ahead of time in order to make sure they know where to get the books?
How do y’all prep for conventions? Or do you even bother about this sort of thing?
3 Responses
What would I have given for a class like this in college. I had to spend the following decade learning all this stuff on my own. There’s just so much! I feel like I’m still learning the basics in some of these areas.
What would I like to see?
-Agents: Are They Really Necessary? Why or Why Not?
-Networking: The Best Free Avenues to Network and Advertise One’s Writing (I suppose Facebook and Twitter are a given, but there must be others that don’t sap all one’s writing time)
Anyway, thanks!
Networking fits in well because I teach my blogging class, which talks about a lot of that, the next two Saturdays.
Agents – I can say some stuff, and I’ve got one, sure, but I’ve yet to sell a book through her, so I may not be the best qualified to talk about that, heh. I’ll see what I can do. 😉
That class sounds amazing! Lucky students 🙂
I’d definitely love to hear your thoughts on networking and querying, as well as working at the sentence level and ways to revise/rewrite.