So not much time to blog today...I guess that is a pretty good indication of how busy I was!
To be honest, I woke up kind of grumpy this morning. I was really disappointed about yesterday, and as hard as I was trying, I couldn’t put it behind me. I was grumbling to myself as I got ready to head downstairs, when a thought hit me. They were having more agent reading sessions today (in the morning). I hadn’t signed up for them as I figured I would be worn out after an entire day of pitching (little did I know!). Plus, these session during the main conference were supposed to be reserved for people who didn’t get in to Agent/Author day.
Anyway, in all my pouting yesterday, it hadn’t dawned on me that the simple solution--or perhaps I should say reasonable reparation--to what happened yesterday would be to get a chance to read my pages to agents who were interested today. Unfortunately, I got this brilliant idea at about 8:15.
So rushing to get ready, I raced down to the sign in desk early...and was politely told that the sessions were full.
"We need to reserve today's sessions for the people who couldn't come yesterday," the woman at the desk told me.
Yes, I can see why you need to take special care of the people who *didn't* feel like paying you an extra $250 for this week. Make sure they get a chance to read for free today instead of me. Ugh.
Anyway, I politely explained my problem, and asked in a very nice way if there was anything they could do so I could get at least some face time with a commercial fiction agent. The woman who runs the conference overheard my plea, and took pity on me.
"I'll sneak you into the second session," she said.
And just like that, my conference week was saved. I learned a valuable lesson here. When you are dissatisfied with something, you really have two choices. One, you can pout and write about it in your blog. Or two, you can try asking someone nicely to fix it. I am glad I figured that out before the train ride home.
So, my second reading session went much better. I got through both pages without being told to stop (though to be fair, so did most of the room). And I got some really valuable feedback from both agents, both of whom said really nice things about my writing. So I got to feel special and got some good note on how to make it better. Win-win!
The rest of the day was awesome. I felt a million times better after getting to read, and was able to relax and enjoy myself. I talked to a lot of people. For some reason it seems like there are a lot more "new" writers here than last year. Last year I felt a little intimidated as it seemed most of the people around me had a lot more time into this than I did. Not getting that this year for some reason.
Anyway, I am resting up now after a long, exhausting day of conferences. The cocktail reception thing starts in an hour, so I will probably be head down for that soon.
Good Luck!! Keep energized, it is all good experience!
Posted by: Shaun Toomey | May 29, 2009 at 09:36 PM