In my experiences speaking at writers’ conferences, no two subjects generate more disagreements from attendees than 1) the value of self-publishing, and 2) how any one human being can exactly define “creative nonfiction.” (From time to time, this results in people standing up in the crowd and saying, “I think you’re dead wrong about that, Chuck. Dead wrong.”)

Because of all this, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to talk about creative nonfiction with an aficionado on the subject: Richard Goodman, who recently spoke on the topic at the Tennessee Writers’ Alliance Writers’ Conference in Franklin, Tenn.

There are many writers out there composing memoirs, stories based on truth, stories influenced by truth, historical fiction and everything in between. If you're going to write creative nonfiction and query an agent, be sure your story is truly creative nonfiction.

GLA: Richard, what, in your opinion, constitutes “creative nonfiction”?

RG: My opinion is that creative nonfiction is nonfiction that strives to have many of the same qualities of fiction.

GLA: What are some good examples that really fit this definition?

RG: There’s quite a few, actually. Starting back in 1976, with Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior. That’s a fabulously well written book. I think In Cold Blood is another example. It’s no wonder (author Truman) Capote called it a “nonfiction novel.”  Actually, I think Seabiscuit is a good example. The story is not about a horse race as much as it is about character. (Author Laura Hillenbrand) draws character beautifully - the three main characters in that book - Charles Howard, the owner of the horse; Tom Smith, the trainer; and Red Pollard, the jockey. Actually, there are four characters, with Seabiscuit. And just looking at the way she writes the horse races - there are three or four of them in the book and they’re all compelling. That’s the combination of incredible research and elegant, careful writing. 

GLA: What often gets confused with creative nonfiction but is definitely not?

RG: A lot of ordinary journalism. I think a lot of biography. It’s definitely not creative nonfiction, but that doesn’t mean it’s not (excellent).

GLA: If someone comes up to you and says they’re writing a memoir but taking liberties with it and calling it “creative nonfiction,” what would you say to them?

RG: I would say I don’t agree with that. I don’t think it’s right. I don’t subscribe to that. If you’re going to do that, why not just write fiction? That’s what fiction is. You’re deceiving the reader. If you do something such as make up an entire character, I don’t see how that could be nonfiction. 

Richard Goodman is the author of French Dirt (Algonquin); his next book, set for a spring 2008 release, is The Soul of Creative Writing (Transaction). He has written for numerous national publications, including The New York Times, Vanity Fair and Saveur. Learn more about him at richardgoodman.homestead.com.

Author/editor/speaker Richard Goodman

(You may have seen this article already, but it's worth mentioning again just in case.)

A few months ago, Writer's Digest asked me to compose a list of agents who were open to reviewing work from new writers. The result: a list of 23 representatives, with genre matches for every writer.

While plenty of agents out there are actively seeking clients, many aren't. To save time (and postage), writers need to know which agencies are currently giving unsolicited submissions a fair read. That's why we asked agents about their submission openness and compiled the list.

Happy agent hunting!

I had an amazing opportunity last week. A representative from the International Mystery Writers' Festival, a new festival in Owensboro, Ky. celebrating mystery writing in all forms (plays, screenplays, novels...), called me out of nowhere and asked me to come down and help high school drama students write a play. I almost turned down the offer, because I was already traveling to three conferences in seven days. Adding a fourth would be killer. But ... I'm a sucker for any chance to write a play, so, like you guessed, I accepted.

The students (highschoolers from all around the Midwest) and I only had one day to write a short five- to seven-minute original mystery play. I won't lie - it wasn't easy in the least; it took three hours just to decide on a premise. (Winning premise: a murder on a movie set. Don't lie - you're intrigued.) When we did finally lock down our premise, the kids really started to toss ideas around. I had to lasso them in every now and then, but they all did a great job. After seven hours of work, we had a complete story, but no line-by-line dialogue. I whipped up a first draft and turned it over to them for as much editing as they wanted.

The finished product will be performed by students at the end of the festival (which happens all this week, by the way) on Sunday, June 17. If you're around the area, or just love mystery writing, check out the festival!

Me and the kids map out a plot for our original mystery play. The play will be performed as part of the International Mystery Writers' Festival in Owensboro, Ky., on June 17. Check, check, check it out!

Whew. Sorry it's taken longer than expected for new posts, but I've been a travelin' fool throughout the Midwest. (More on that later.) Now, back to the WD Books Conference and BEA.

Our conference ran only one day: Wednesday, May 30. It was held on the lower floor of the Jacob Javits Conference Center in New York City. Bestselling fiction author Jodi Picoult was our keynote speaker, and her speech was a very entertaining way to start the day. Following Jodi's talk to all 500 or so attendees, the real fun began. Sessions commenced, and I ran over to Les Edgerton's workshop and videotaped him speaking.

At 10:30, I was part of a panel called "Ask the Editors," which also featured Lauren Mosko, editor of Novel & Short Story Writer's Market; Alice Pope, editor of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market; and Robert Brewer, editor of Writer's Market. The session was basically a big Q&A, and a lot of questions were about agents - probably because of the Agent Pitch Slam at the end of the day - so I pretty much monopolized the panel's responses. Robert shot me many bad looks. Psyche, he wouldn't do that. He just kicked me under the table several times.

After lunch, I moderated a panel: "Ask the Agents." The panel was well attended and audience members had plenty of questions. One agent on the panel - Linn Prentis of Linn Prentis Literary - got caught in traffic (thank you NYC cabbies), so I called upon Elizabeth Pomada of Larsen/Pomada Literary Agents up to help us and fill in. Five minutes into the session, Linn arrived, and we had a terrific five-agent panel.

Great panel moment No. 1: An audience member raised his hand and asked the question, "How valuable and trustworthy are the resources from Writer's Digest Books?" I told the panelists to answer carefully.

Great panel moment No. 2: An audience member remarked that one panelist, agent Jessica Regel, looked young to be an agent. Jessica, in the kindest way possible, put the audience member in his place. It was awesome.

Then came the Agent Pitch Slam, where 58 agents and two editors heard pitches from writers. Overall, the slam went amazing. We had no real incidents of note. With so many agents there, it seemed like everyone met with their agents of choice. At 5 p.m., the conference abruptly ended and I got to talk with many of the agents. It was the end to a fantastic day. The conference truly was the best writers' conference I've ever been to - and I go to plenty.

Conference = over. We = all needed to let loose. WD editors, conference speakers, and other friends met at a bar/restaurant somewhere in Midtown and enjoyed many a drink.

At the bar: Me, Writer's Digest Editor Maria Schneider, WD columnist Kevin Alexander (drinking straight whiskey) and WD Books author John Warner.

Wednesday was so exhausting that I needed 24 hours straight sleep to catch up. Unfortunately, I was granted six. It was time to face BookExpo America (BEA) head on. What is BookExpo, you ask? It's the world's biggest gathering of publishing professionals, where book buyers and sellers wheel and deal till they can wheel and deal no more. F+W was there promoting some great new titles, and I saw many of the high-ups in what looked to be super-important meetings.

BEA was also held in Javits, and the seemingly huge center was now packed full of people.

Javits and BEA. So many people...

To make a long story short, I spent the next two days talking with agents, attending workshops, looking at the books of many publishers and seeing as much as Manhattan as I could with limited time.

Awesome moment: I got to meet actor Bruce Dern, who was in the cult classic, The 'Burbs, a movie that I may or may not watch every week. He was there promoting his new memoir, Things I've Said But Probably Shouldn't Have. Bruce signed a book for my wife, and inscribed it "Go 'Burbs!"

Bruce Dern (left), a.k.a The Man, along with some actor I don't recognize, in The 'Burbs.

All in all, my five days in NYC was exhausting and very hard on the feet - but well worth it. Central Park was more beautiful than I expected. I saw the building that served as the setting for the finale of Ghostbusters. I brushed by L.L. Cool J. And, perhaps the most valuable thing for you the reader, I interviewed several agents who gave great feedback on agenting and publishing. Those interviews will be published on the blog in the coming days/weeks.

This is the view of Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey from the plane ride in. Amazing.

It was the start of many amazing things to come. We landed on Tuesday, May 29, and waited in a line for about 30 minutes to catch a cab to Midtown in Manhattan. The day saw us check into the hotel (The Affinia Manhattan) and scope out the conference center (The Jacob Javits Conference Center on the west end of the island). I won't bore you with Tuesday details because the good stuff starts on Wednesday, my friends ...

More details coming tomorrow. I'm a writer on deadline over here. If you're also a writer on deadline, I salute you.

Welcome to "Agent Advice," a series of quick interviews with agents who talk with Guide to Literary Agents about their thoughts on writing, publishing, and just about anything else.

This installment features Laurie McLean, a literary agent with Larsen/Pomada Literary Agents in San Francisco. McLean is a member of the Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR).

GLA: What’s the most recent thing you’ve sold? 

LM: A romance called Extra-Sensory—a paranormal romance—to Harlequin.

GLA: Bottom line: What attracts you to a book?

LM: It’s got to be the writing—the quality of the writing.

GLA: Do you think beyond the project when you consider it, in terms of foreign rights, film rights and stage rights?

LM: Absolutely. I try to keep as many rights as I can myself because I have a whole network of subagents; also, I have 25 years of marketing and public relations experience, so I really feel like I can have my authors go for movie deals and go for merchandising deals.

GLA: Can that influence your decision to take on an author? If the work isn’t as good as it should be, but you see potential down the line in terms of rights across the spectrum?

LM: Absolutely. When I ran my own business, the thing I did most was edit. If I think someone has a lot of promise but there’s a problem with the plot, characters or writing, I tell them where they should go to get help—to a conference, buying a book, whatever—or I edit it myself. I’ll edit the first couple chapters, then I give it back to them to finish it out.

GLA: You were part of the Writer’s Digest Books conference Agent Pitch Slam. What do you think is the most common mistake writers make when they give a short in-person pitch to an agent?

LM: They get into too many details right off the bat. They should think of a pitch like a movie trailer.  So as they’re going to blockbuster movies this summer, they should look at the trailers ahead of time—not for entertainment, but for education. How do the trailers get the message across about what that movie’s going to be about?

Laurie McLean represents adult genre fiction—romance, fantasy, science fiction, horror, Western, mysteries, etc.—and graphic novels, as well as children’s fiction and nonfiction. She loves quirky, dark, edgy fiction and prefers her queries and submissions via e-mail. Check out her blog at agentsavant.com.

A sad day has befallen us. As you may already know this, Miss Snark, an anonymous literary agent in New York City who used to write an immensely helpful blog, has officially stopped writing.  Sometime in past weeks, she gave one final posting saying the blog was no more, citing the fact that, after two years of posting and answering just about every question imaginable concerning submissions and agents, she felt like the blog was becoming repetitive.  Although it is no more, the many blog postings (more than 4,000) are still online for all to see.  See her blog work at misssnark.blogspot.com.