Meet Agents! Take Workshops. Learn all kinds of things Writing! Have a Great time!

The James River Writers Conference things are Hoppin’ !

If you’ve had your eye on one of the one-on-one talk with / pitch the Literary Agents, you might not want to wait -

One agent’s time slots are already filled - Gone.   Sorry, you missed it.

Others are still open — but filling fast!!!

David Henry Sterry is almost filled up!

Time’s a-awastin’ people!   

Need to sign up for the JRW Conference Soon!  Especially if you want your pick of one of those Agent one-on-one slots!

Well, the ones that are left.

But if that’s difficult for you this year check out the Friday Workshops.  

There are Really great Workshops!   Really!

You don’t have to come to the Conference to sign up and take the workshops.

Of course we’d like for you to sign up, and come to the Conference.   We’d REALLY Like it!

But you’re going to want to come to a Workshop.

Just take a Look!  

Choices and help for your writing, your writing career.  All Kinds.

Publishing help.   Query Help.   If you’re a writer trying to get your work out to agents to get published (hopefully) then you’ll know what that means.  And how valuable that is.

 Uh-huh.  See.   You can learn a lot from them.   More if you come to the Conference too.   *Grin*

James River Writers has been kicking off our conference for several years now with Pre-Conference Master Classes. Absorb the wisdom of the experts and gain hands-on experience, whether you want to discover that perfect angle to get published or explore nuances of your craft.

The Pre-Conference Master Classes take place on Friday, October 17, 2014, at the Virginia State Capitol, Capitol Sq., Richmond., from 9:00-11:00 a.m., 11:15 a.m.-1:15 a.m., and 2:00-4:00 p.m., with two options in each time slot. You must be a registered conference attendee to sign up for the Conference Master Classes. After October 1, if space remains, classes will be available to those not attending the conference.

Friday, October 17th, 2014
9:00 am – 11:00 am	Literary Agent Jody Rein To Self (Publish) or NOT to Self? How to Decide! with Jody Rein A personalized step-by-step workshop on the key decision every writer working today must make. What is the best publishing path for you, your book and your writing career? A self-published ebook or an agented, traditionally published hardcover? Or something in-between? What are the options? What are the real costs–in time, in money, in reputation, in sales?	Author Kelly O’Connor McNees Point of View: Who’s Telling and Who’s Listening? with Kelly O’Connor McNees Fiction writers have to make choices about how and why our narrators tell their stories. Does your novel call for a first-person point of view with a strong voice but a limited scope? Or an omniscient narrator to tell the story of a whole town, allowing us to peek in the windows? Through exercises and short readings, this class will explore the role of point of view in crafting compelling fiction, and how to find the perfect storyteller for your tale.
11:15 am – 1:15 pm	Author Hugh Howey Author Platform: What You Need to Know with Hugh Howey With so many books competing in the marketplace, how do you get your fair share of attention? An effective platform has never been more important for authors than it is right now. Learn how to build your author platform by increasing your discoverability, extending your network, and reaching your target audience.	Editor Jane Friedman How to Get Your Book Published with Jane Friedman This class covers all the basics on how to get your book published. Topics include how to research markets and contact agents; how to capture the attention of a New York publisher; what expectations you should have when it comes to the marketing and promotion of your work; and how to analyze publishing options.
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm	Author Sheri Reynolds Speed Up, Slow Down, Cast Forward, Flash Back: A Multi-genre Exploration of Pacing with Sheri Reynolds Update your writer’s toolbox with a firm understanding of tempo. What makes a narrative speed up and slow down, zoom in and zoom out? How does a writer shift gears smoothly from scene to summary to scene again? Analyze excerpts from fiction and nonfiction to see how successful writers manipulate time. Get hands-on experience with techniques to control the tempo of your narrative.	Editor Jane Friedman How to Write a Query That Gets Manuscript Requests with Jane Friedman If you’ve written your query like a pro, then you should be getting requests for your manuscript (or proposal) about 50% of the time. Learn the five key elements of every query, what it means to sell the sizzle, and how to avoid problems that plague (and sabatoge) queries.

- See more at: http://www.jamesriverwriters.org/what-we-do/programs/annual-conference/friday-master-classes-2014#sthash.LaZNxAbM.dpuf

Reasons to Come to a Conference

Well, reasons to come to the James River Writers Conference in October.

I keep hearing more and more people talk about they’ve been thinking about writing or they have thought about writing.   Or variations along that theme.

Literally Everywhere I go, there are people talking about writing.  

In all it’s forms.

If you - or Anyone you know - has expressed those sentiments, thoughts, or dreams,  Or anything of the sort.    Or near it.

Now would be the time to have them sign up for the 2014 James River Writers Conference

Why, you say, the James River Writers Conference -    So Glad you asked!

There’s the Friday Master Classes -

Where you can learn from agents, and writers, and ….

Hugh Howey !!

Yes - you read that correctly   ----    The Hugh Howey !

If you are still scratching your eyebrow then just google him 

- and check him out on the JRW site

To give you brief teaser of why you should google …..  

           He self published and went on to make Big deal with publisher.

Yeah, thought you’d want to google him.    

Just as I am Sure you are going to want to some see him and hear him at the JRW Conference.

And even check out the Master Class he’s doing for the Conference on Friday.

At the Conference you can Meet Hugh,  and have one-on-one talk with Literary Agents !

No matter where you are in the writing journey, even if you are just thinking about it, the Conference will have something for you.

Working on your writing, whether characters, pacing, etc….  

Thinking about self publishing and if that’s going to be right for you.   

How to get yourself noticed and build a platform.

Need some help with query letters and pitching?

Or even want all the above.

You’ll find it all at the JRW Conference.

And More.

A Whole Lot More.

So check it out.     Registration is open now.

James River Writers Conference 2014

When to put away childish things

Okay, so I’m taking a little license with that title.  I mean, after all, we are writers, we don’t exactly have to.  Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t, but that’s for a whole different discussion.  One that you should probably have with a professional.  Know what I mean?

Yes, you do.

But sometimes it does make you wonder about dreams, you know?    If your dream is to be a writer, is that something you should put away for the ‘real world?’

Only you can really answer that.    Being a writer is not easy.   Or perhaps I should say being a Good writer is not necessarily easy.

It’s a lot of hard work.    Least it is for a lot of writers I know.

Which some people who just decide they are going to be writers and crank out that book to sell, find out.   

Or maybe they don’t until they try to sell it.    And make enough money to take themselves to dinner maybe.

I’ve seen that a lot.

Especially once you’ve gone beyond selling it to all your family and friends.   And sometimes maybe their friends.  If you’re lucky.

And do you want to do more than one book?   Are you going to force them to buy it too? 

With the world the way it is today with self publishing so easy, and cheap, it’s so easy to be a writer.   Or think of yourself as one.   Or tell everyone.

But are you a Good one?

And working all the time to be better?

These days there’s still a lot of discussion about self-publishing.  

Or no discussion, just publishing that way.

Which gets mixed feelings.

There can be good out there that is self-published.

And as a lot of us have seen, there’s a lot that ….isn’t.

There’s a lot of feelings, on both sides of the issue.  For self-publishing, or for going the traditional hunting down an agent [yes, that rather does sound like a sport, huh.  Hmmmm…] and going with the traditional publishers.   

And to contort the issue even more — there’s the ‘traditional’ agents who will help you self-publish.  Uh….  ???

Or even the small publisher route, which I know a few authors who are extremely happy with that option.

Recently Hugh Howey did a really great post.     If you don’t know who he is, do a quick google.  He’s one of the Great success stories of Self publishing.

“This past week, my latest self-published book debuted at #7 on The New York Times bestseller list. Crunching some numbers, it appears that I’ve sold a million books in the last two years.”

But I met Hugh this year, and I can tell you, he’s not the ‘normal’ writer, that I’ve met anyway.  Including me.  

Yes, writer friends kid around with each other about not being normal, but I think the most normal thing about most of us, is the tendency to not be super social outgoing people.    In the computer jargon of the past, people like that were referred to as ‘back roomers.’     

Most of the writers I know and have met are not the tops of the social outgoing personality scale.  

There are exceptions to that of course, the Great Adriana Trigiani is one of the big exceptions.  But she is one of the traditionally published authors.

Hugh Howey is one of the other Big exceptions.    And Successfully self-published.    He’s a success for part of the reason, is his wonderful outgoing personality.   He’s nice.   And very personable.

So if you are going to self-publish, it wouldn’t hurt to read his blog.   

And interviews he has done.

Like this.

If you are a writer.   Or thinking about it.   Or even dreaming of it.  You should read it.

He gives you some great perspective and thoughts.

Told you.

And after you finish reading Hugh’s great post, take a look at this one I found about looking at your writing and knowing when to put it away.

Gulp.

Yeah, Hard one, Huh?

It came to mind because of all the self-published books out there - and no, I’m not saying some aren’t good.  Maybe they could have been better.

Maybe they should have read this first.

All I’m saying.

Writing Inside the Drawer

I’ve put away a few of my own stories.

*Ahem*   quite a few.

I don’t consider my ‘drawer’ a never-never land of ‘lost things.’   

I am always growing and learning as a writer.    

The things that made me spend time with those stories are still there, but maybe I wasn’t the writer I needed to be to do it justice.  Right then.   Doesn’t mean I can’t get there.  Someday.   I’m working on it.

And if this is all getting you down — or making you think too much.

If you need encouragement — I mean, Really, are you a Real writer?   Then you need encouragement.

At least some time you are going to need it.

Join up with James River Writers.

We are great people.

And if you really want encouragement and an atmosphere of it, come the JRW Conference in October.

There’s still openings, and openings in some of the Terrific Workshops being offered the Friday before!!!!

We have Literary Agents coming.    So you don’t have to go safari game hunting.  They’ll be right there for you to talk to.   And if you move quick, even get one-on-one pitch time.

We make it easy.    Or easier.

Hey, I'm a writer, I take all the help I can get.