Reno – I’m back. 

This past weekend, I was at the Truckee Meadows Community College Writers’ Conference (usually just called the Reno Writers’ Conference) and everything went well.  Conference attendance was near an all-time high despite the recession. 

It was my first trip to Reno (and Nevada, for that matter).  Reno is like Vegas’s little brother—only it doesn’t like to be called that.  The second I stepped off the plane, I was greeted by slot machines.

Welcome to Nevada.

The town sits between several mountain ranges (The Sierras, etc.) and that was breathtaking.  I've only had two conferences in the so-called Mountain West and it's always spectacular.  My room was at the JA Nugget in Reno, which was some sort of mega-complex with a casino and lots of restaurants, but I ended up seeing nothing because I was in and out of town so fast.  (Too bad, because the Nugget seemed quite nice.)  I was in town for about 32 hours, which is probably a record for me.  In that time, besides speaking at the conference, I did get to eat authentic Basque Food at Louie's, and discovered there is a surprisingly high percentage of Basque people in the city. 

Verna Dreisbach of Dreisbach Literary was there, as was Amberly Finnarelli of Andrea Hurst Literary Management.  The three of us were doing one-on-ones with writers all day when we weren’t presenting.  They were taking pitches.  I was helping writers rework their pitches. 

The conference was a short-and-sweet one-day deal.  Everyone seemed pleased with the speeches and the meetings.  The crowd was a mix of Reno locals, and people from California and beyond.  It's an intimate conference, but attracts agents and editors, and is very affordable, and put on by people who care.  Definitely worth your time next year.

The glow of Reno at night.
The WAC college basketball
championship conference
was going on at that pink casino on
the left when I took this picture.
Sadly, Nevada lost the game.

A writer friend of mine who does a lot more than write, Kerrie Flanagan, has a nice blog post up about what it's like to go to a writers' conference for the first time, and her "Four Rules" for getting the most out one.  It's up on her blog, which is called "The Writing Bug."

Here's an excerpt:

"I remember the first one I attended. I felt like Captain Kirk landing the Spaceship Enterprise on some alien planet. I felt out of place, I didn't speak the language and at times I wanted Scotty to beam me up. BUT, once I made it through, I realized all my doubts and apprehensions about whether or not I belonged were self-inflicted. No one cared that I hadn't published anything yet. It was clear we were all there for the same reasons; because we were passionate about writing and because we wanted to continue to hone our craft. Over the years, I have attended many other conferences and found them to be a valuable investment of my time and money."

It turns out agents of all nationalities
have similar pet peeves.  A panel of
agents spoke at the WFF here in Italy
and were asked about their pet peeves. 
Here is what they had to say:

Sabine Schultz (editor, Tea, Italy): "The biggest reason your book won't get published is because you didn't write it.  You must write.
      "I get queries saying 'This is the first draft, and there is much I want to change, but I just wanted to see if you are interested.' "

Loredana Rotundo (ARR Literary, Italy): "Don't tell me you'll be on bestseller lists.  Lack of humility is a red flag.  Forget instant stardom and be happy with whatever happens."

Judith Ann Miramontez (Book Cents Literary, US): Avoid sad, sappy statements about your personal life.  It's not professional.

Leah Hultenschmidt (editor, Dorchester, US): Don't bind anything with staples or anything else.  She wants unbound, single-sided, double-spaced, numbered pages.
      "Also, when I ask for three chapters, don't send chapters 5, 14 and 23 because 'they're the good ones!' "

Georgia Garrett (AP Watt Literary in UK): She hates reading a partial overnight only to see an e-mail the next day from the author saying "WAAAIIIT!  Here is the NEW draft!"
      It's not a pet peeve, but she reiterated that it does help when you start a query with a sentence in the vein of "Because you represented such-and-such work, I think you would be a good fit for my book."

The book festival here in Matera, Italy
is a big to-do, and these panelists
were sitting down to be filmed for TV.

Want more on this topic?

• 5 Signs a Literary Agent is a Good Match For You.
• See examples of Successful Queries that agents liked.
• Check out The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters.  
• How to Write a Synopsis for a Novel.
  
• Facebook, Twitter and Literary Agents.
• Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.
  
• Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.
• Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today

Ciao!  I arrived in Italy this past week for the International Women's Fiction Festival in Matera, Italy, and it has been nonstopping walking and talking since then.  I saw Rome briefly during a long layover and got to do some basic sightseeing.
      I memorized about a hundred words and phrases in Italian and was very proud of myself.  But it was all for nothing when I stepped into my first cafe and had a Roman woman say "Prego," and shoot me a look like "God, I hope you're not an American who can't speak Italian to save your life."

Trevi Fountain in the heart of Rome (Roma!).

I then flew to Bari on the east coast of Italy, where I was picked up and driven with other presenters and attendees to the south central region of Italy - where Matera is.  The city itself is a world heritage site and old as can be.  It's famous for the communities that were carved out of caves over thousands of years.

The stone communities (Sassi) of Matera
are thousands of years old and have
been developed by each generation here.

My panels have gone well so far, and I've met with writers and heard some book and article pitches.  About half of the pitches were in Italian, and it's quite a thing to have someone explaining their book, and then have that explanation told through a translator who then has to translate your reaction. 

The Italian woman in the middle
is telling me about her romance book
and looking for advice. The woman
on the left is translating.

So far, it has been a lot of work and my sleep schedule is chaotic, but the country is amazing.  I will be posting a lot more in the coming days - interviews with agents and panel summaries. 

• The theme this year is "Books Without Borders."
• Different sessions in the conference will talk about multicultural writing, as well as how to slowly build a worldwide readership.
  
• "Memoir Writing as Therapy" will be taught.  If maybe you just need to get away from it all and relax (perhaps there has just been a death in family, etc.), a session like this can do wonders.
• The whole conference program, naturally, is available online.  You won't see my name anywhere yet, though, because I was originally lined up as a presenter for next year's conference.  They had a cancellation for this year, and I'm filling in.
  

I love this photo. The
man on the left is Uwe Stender
of Triada U.S. Literary Agency.
He's talking to writers and hearing
pitches, but secretly I think
they're all playing Texas Hold 'Em poker.

Each day had a cocktail party where
writers, editors and agents all
informally schmoozed and talked.
Pictured here: Agent Andrea Somberg
of Harvey Klinger (right) listens to writers.

So many things to say... 

I'm traveling home (connecting in Charlotte) from the conference and BookExpo in Los Angeles. Just like last year, BEA was insane.  So many people wheeling and dealing.  "Buy this.  Sell that.  Did you see that one book?  Is it hot in here or just me?"  As usual, there were plenty of free books around for attendees (advanced reader copies) that I snatched up for future reading.  Score.

Before I forget them or lose my notes, here are some things I learned at the conference and expo that I want to pass on to other writers.

Concerning memoir and femoir, agent Sharlene Martin of Martin Literary Management said that she wants to see a full book proposal with a memoir and not the full text, continuing the neverending debate on whether you treat memoir like nonfiction or fiction regarding submission instructions.  This just seems to vary with every agent, so it seems like you may have to do both, which sucks.  Also, there was some subtle memoir bashing at the conference because, frankly, there is just too many of them out there.

Concerning YA and MG, agent Andrea Brown of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency told conferencegoers that these markets are still red hot, and publishers really want to gobble up authors, which is why it's very common to see a six-figure deal upfront for multiple books.   That's pretty cool.

Concerning queries and submissions, Brown also had some more advice.  She advised those writers who doubt their query writing skills to include the first page (yes, just the first page) with their query.  She encouraged writers to write the query and paste the first page below the query in the body of the e-mail.  Although this goes against the "Submit how the agent tells you to" advice, I kind of liked this tip.  It's only one page, and it may show that you know how to write and hook in an audience quickly.  Interesting tip, and you rarely hear something like this from an agent.

Concerning water pipes, was anyone else staying at the Historic Mayfair Hotel downtown?  This hotel's faucets had no rhyme or reason as to what degree water temperature you would get at any time.  Disaster.

Concerning graphic novels, they are in!  I don't know if this is your bag or not (and I have to admit that I don't know much), but there was some buzz at the expo about these properties.  Mike Kuciak of AEI Entertainment and Literary Management was at the pitch slam, and he ended up sitting next to some literary agents and the three of them talked graphic novel business all afternoon.
      If you're interested in this, see the interview below (in May) with agent Bernadette Baker of Baker's Mark Literary.

This was a panel of script managers who
shared secrets on breaking into Hollywood.
From left: Ken Sherman of Ken Sherman Associates,
Garrett Hicks of Will Entertainment, Margery
Walshaw of Evatopia, and Marc Manus of Manus Entertainment.

Lunchtime speaker Blake Snyder kept the
crowd laughing as he spoke on "What Hollywood
Has Taught Me About Storytelling."

I included this photo of Blake at lunchtime
so you can see how big the conference is. I'd say
the amount of attendees you see is about
60% of all that were in the room.

The Pitch Slam, which featured agents, script managers
and editors, went very well. Here you can see
four different agents sitting down to talk with
writers and listen to ideas.

Barbara Poelle

Just got back from Vermont and the League of Vermont Writers' spring session, where I spoke on all things agents.  Good little group up there, and everyone was quite nice.

I got to see plenty of the state (it's not exactly that big...) as we traveled from Burlington - the super green-liberal upper northwest section where the University of Vermont is - to Rutland in the middle of the state.  Just like you would expect, the state is chock full of these small cities, towns and "junctions" that each have their own small white churches with steeples.  Check out the pictures below to get some more Green Mountain State flavor (and I'm not just talking maple syrup).

Me taking "practice pitches" from
writers. They were practicing in
preparation for agents coming in July.

Off to Rutland, Vt. in a few days for the spring session of the League of Vermont Writers.  It's not exactly a conference, per say, as I am one of the only speakers.  I'll be doing a lot of speaking on queries, pitching and agents so attendees can soak up info in preperation of a mini agent pitch slam that the league is hosting in July.  (If you live in/near Vermont, consider going.)

I'm critiquing work and meeting with writers up there to talk.  I'm looking at fiction, mostly - synopses and manuscripts.  Here are some thoughts after reading samples for a while:

• Always include a header on your work.  That's the thing up top (not part of the regular text) that says NAME / PAGE NUMBER.
• Synopses have a very specific format.  I've blogged about this before, so I won't go into everything, but remember that characters are CAPITALIZED when introduced.  Also, the more names you have in the synopsis (and pitch, for that matter), the more confusing it is for us. 
• Avoid super-general sentences, such as "She overcomes her fear to achieve self-confidence and happiness."
• Avoid scenes where characters converse and summarize a scene that just happened.  We were there.  We remember.  Perhaps worse: Try not to skip a potentially awesome scene, only to tell all about it through dialogue as someone tells another character what happened at this awesome scene we missed.  This is telling, not showing.
• In queries, avoid telling the agent how the story should make readers feel, such as "this will make readers smile" or "my story will hopefully brighten your day."

State and Main was set and filmed in Vermont. 
GO YOU HUSKIES.

Check out Kristin Nelson's
Pub Rants blog here.

Want more on this subject?

• How to Write a Query Letter. 
• What Should You Write in the "Bio Paragraph" of a Query Letter. 
• Why Your Manuscript Can Get Rejected, by Hallie Ephron.
• 10 Hidden Gifts of Rejection Letters.
  
• Confused about formatting? Check out Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript.
  
• Read about What Agents Hate: Chapter 1 Pet Peeves.
• Want the most complete database of agents and what genres they're looking for? Buy the 2010 Guide to Literary Agents today!

How about this view?
I need a home in Fort Collins.

I presented on query letters and gave the keynote speech after dinner the first night.  Of note was my speech on query letters titled "How to Snag an Agent" that was misspelled "How to SHAG an agent."

That's me (Chuck Sambuchino) during the keynote speech:
"What Editors Want."

On Saturday night, some of us headed out to downtown Fort Collins and tasted the famed local brews.  I proceeded to talk mega trash regarding a highly anticipated game of pool, and then sucked big time during the game.  Agent Jessica Regel is doing her best to not let me live this down.

Spent the weekend in Newport News, Va., on the coast, at the CNU Writers Conference.  The moment I landed, it was a joy to feel 65 degree weather for a change.  (Ohio is still in the 40s right now.) 

The conference went very well.  It was held on the campus of Christopher Newport University, a college where every building is made with bright red bricks, giving it a modern colonial feel.  To Virginians, this is nothing notable, but I enjoyed it.

Attendees read a little of their
work aloud at the start of the
conference to get the ball rolling.

I gave one speech on agents and sat on a panel about publishing.  Michelle Andelman was the only agent in attendance and I don't envy her, as she was deluged in pitches and meetings.  I'm betting her brain was mush by the end of Saturday.  Speaking of Michelle, she gave a good presentation on query letters and I will post more about that soon.

The publishing panel, with me,
romance novelist Michelle Willingham,
and romance novelist Marla Cordle.

The conference happens every year, so consider it for 2009 if you're in the area.

This past weekend, I presented at the San Francisco Writers Conference. It was, as you probably guessed, great - and a lot of power players were there, from big-name authors (Clive Cussler, Tess Gerritsen) to numerous agents and more. I did two sessions, and sat in on a few more.  There was literary agent "speed dating" and "table sessions" with acquiring editors.  It seemed to be moving at a mile a minute, which is a good thing.

I got to talk with lots of agents, and shared many a laugh over dinners.

Being that this was my first trip to San Francisco, here are several things I learned about the city:
       1. Parking there is a Manhattan-esque nightmare.  Sometimes you have to park perpendicular to the street to avoid rolling down the hill.  Even if you do park normally along a street, once you put the car in park, you jerk the wheel left to make your front tires sideways - again, to prevent "runaways."
       2. No matter how much I was warned about how hilly the city is, it's worse. My legs hurt.
       3. Hawaiian restaurants are still alive and well.  
       4. Oh yeah, and I discovered that an agent at the conference used to date Jim Morrison.  Not a joke.  Awesome.

Just got back from the La Jolla Writers Conference outside San Diego and I'm trying to stay awake long enough to write this post...

The conference was a lot of fun, and the Southern California coast, as expected, was beautiful. It was my first visit to San Diego. The conference attracted a lot of screenwriter attendees and instructors, which was a nice change. There was much talk about how the WGA strike was affecting things and potentially opening the way for new writers. The conference was jam-packed and a lot of work for writers, but I heard nothing but good things from attendees.

Me (Chuck Sambuchino) teaching a workshop in La Jolla

This was the first of two keynote addresses
on Saturday. The man at the microphone in
the distance is none other than David Morrell, the
novelist who wrote First Blood (Rambo).

I just got a copy of the latest Writer's Digest magazine (the Nov/Dec issue) and, as usual. it's packed full of great info. It won't hit bookstores for a few weeks, I take it, but here are some article teasers:

• Ideas for unlocking your creativity
• An interview with author Tom Perrotta
• Agent Sharlene Martin shows actual real-life queries that bombed - teaching you what not to do

As reported by WDEditors.com: For six consecutive weeks, our top selling book was The Little Red Writing Book by Brandon Royal.

It's never too early to start planning ahead. The next writers' conference organized by WD Books will be on May 28, 2008 in Los Angeles, just before the BookExpo America trade show. 
      Here's one great reason to be thinking ahead: There will be oodles of agents there to hear your pitch. At our 2007 conference, there were 60 agents - probably the biggest agent pitch slam gathering of all time. The conference in LA will attract not only a good number of literary agents, but also a large number of script agents and producers, as well. 
      The 2008 Web page isn't up yet, but I will let you know when it is.

At Killer Nashville, a trio of extremely knowledgeable publishing pros held a panel on the most common reasons why a manuscript is rejected by an agent. Below you'll find part two of this post series.

Keep in mind that the panelists were discussing why a manuscript will be rejected, not a novel synopsis or query letter. They were talking about problems within the writing.

Panelist No. 2: Donna Bagdasarian

Agent at Maria Carvainis Agency, Inc.
Formerly at William Morris
http://www.authorsontheweb.com/features/0105-literary-agent/carvainis.asp

Donna's top reasons why your manuscript can be rejected:

1. Problems with basic writing skills—grammar, syntax, defining who the protagonist is. To be successful, aspiring writers must learn how to write—well. 

2. Bad dialogue. Write like people speak. 

3. Too much plot. Writers may read a variety of books by bestselling mystery authors and then try to take plot elements from several of these books, combining those elements into one convoluted tale. Write one book, not eight books crammed into one. 

4. Not having the protagonist involved in the climax.

5. Spending too much time at the beginning of a story on a character who seems to be the protagonist, but isn't.

6. Supplanting quality for a gimmick. Take a moment and examine certain gimmicks, such as the following: 
      - Writing in the second person

      - Having many points of view
      - Having your book be very, very dark in nature
      - Having scenes in a backwards order

      - Hopscotch (where you can jump around anywhere and the story still makes sense)

      These gimmicks are unique, and can produce an extraordinary book, but they can only be pulled off by the most superior of writers—and most writers are not superior writers. Therefore, writers should pass on all such gimmicks and just try to tell a good story. 

7. Excessive and salacious material. When your manuscript is complete and a peer/editor says "It needs more violence/sex/action/dialogue," they may be right, but inserting these aspects in the book must make sense. There can’t just be violence or sex in a story simply to have it. Make it work. 

8. Know how much is too much. If you can cut a scene and the story still works, you must cut it. Ask of the scene: "Why is it here? What does it do to further the plot?"

9. Purple prose—writing where the reader is conscious that these are the author’s thoughts, not the character's. This is prose where the language is excessively flowery and/or lyrical.

After speaking in Maine last week, I flew directly to Tennessee for the mystery writers' conference, Killer Nashville (see post about losing luggage below to get a sense of my Friday).

Missing luggage aside, the conference was great. There was a great variety of speakers, including agent Donna Bagdasarian, as well as mystery authors Hallie Ephron, Chris Roerden, P.J. Parrish and Don Bruns. All these great writers were in attendance, not to mention, the man himself, Michael Connelly, who spoke as well. At one point, during author signings, I was sitting next to Michael at a table. He had a line about a bazillion people long waiting for autographs. I sat there, tapping my pen, looking at his line, and thinking "I'm nothing!"

Those in attendance at the Saturday night dinner were privy to Don Bruns picking up the guitar and singing. The man can sing - and I can prove it. See this link to watch him play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVcNFtN5N1c

Conference coordinator Clay Stafford (left) presents
keynote speaker Michael Connelly with his gift: a
sweet six-string.

Me, on the breakfast panel, listening to Oceanview
editor Maryglenn McCombs.

If writing thrillers, mysteries, suspense, etc. is your bag, try and make it next year. The dates are already set: Aug. 15-17, 2008. Word on the street is that the coordinators are planning on getting more agents and editors in attendance for writers to pitch, and making the conference a little longer.

Before I forget, I want to mention that editors from Writer's Digest Books will be appearing at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Aug. 22, in the evening. Editors will be going over the basics of publishing before opening it up for any and all questions.

I'm not exactly sure who will be there besides me, but the other editors who usually attend such events are the following:

      - Robert Brewer, editor of Writer's Market
      - Alice Pope, editor of Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market
      - Rachel McDonald, editor of Novel and Short Story Writer's Market
      - Nancy Breen, editor of Poet's Market

Hope to see you there! In the coming weeks, we will also be presenting at bookstores in Lexington and Dayton.

Let me take a moment here to inform readers about helpful writers' conferences for mystery writing, while also laughing out loud a bit. Mystery conferences have the wackiest names, and every new one I hear sounds just a little crazier than the last. See for yourself:

Hardboiled Heroes and Cozy Cats
      Mystery Writers of America Southwest Chapter
Magna Cum Murder
      Muncie, IN; Oct. 26-28, 2007
Scene of the Crime Conference
      Kansas
No Crime Unpublished Mystery Writers' Conference
      Summer 2008; Arcadia, CA
Deadly Ink Conference
      New Jersey
Bouchercon
      Alaska; Sept. 27-30, 2007
New England Crime Bake
      Massachusetts; Nov. 9-11, 2007
Murder on the Rocks
      Denver, CO; March 6-9, 2008
Bloody Words: The Canadian Mystery Conference
      Not till 2008; Toronto
Murder in the Grove
      Idaho; 2008

The crazy thing is I know there are many more and I'm missing some conferences with doozies for names. My favorite name of the ones listed above is Hardboiled Heroes and Cozy Cats.

Remember: Conferences are great opportunities to meet literary agents face to face and establish contact.

The logo for Bloody Words... bwahahaha

My Georgia odyssey is over (...for now). I returned yesterday from the Harriette Austin Writers' Conference in Athens, Ga., and, of course, immediately passed out on my bed at home. How quickly one passes out when returning home is a true sign of how intense the conference was.

The conference was packed—approximately 200 people—and everyone seemed pleased with the sessions and events. I heard several attendees explain how they weren't writing anything at the current time, but were at the conference specifically to "recharge their batteries." That's what conferences do—they motivate you and help you network.

Following the long days, everyone was quick to relax by the bar and schmooze. It only took a few drinks before I sat down at the piano in the hotel lobby and started to play. We had some nice sing-along moments going here and there. I played some oldies, some Beatles, some Pearl Jam, some Van Halen ... you know—"the works."

I've got plenty of great information to post—including a full interview with leading literary agent Chip MacGregor. Stay tuned.

More to come!

Inspirational writer Lisa Samson and I at the book signing event.

Keynote speaker Terry Kay, an accomplished Southern writer.