Newbie No More (part 2)
Encouraged by the friendly, helpful environment of everyone at the conference, I made an appointment with the editor I'd been looking at to help me with my novel. He also owns an indie publishing company and publishes the genre that I write.
I made the few small corrections suggested by the author I met during the Friday manuscript CPR session and printed out a new copy to take to my appointment on Saturday. I could go on and on about how nervous I was. I kept telling myself that I really just wanted feedback on my idea and writing, that anything he could tell me would be a huge help. But who was I kidding? Without intending to, I'd come to pitch my novel.
Time ticked slowly and far too rapidly toward the moment of truth...
I told him that pitching hadn't been my original intent so things were a little rough. (Conferences are a place where editors extend great grace in that area!) I read him my little two sentence "elevator pitch" (Joe came up with a great one right before we went to the conference) and the Christian message (that we'd honed while on the way to lunch Friday afternoon).
As I explained more about the concept of my novel, I realized that he had the same look on his face as the author the night before. It says, "I'm not sure about this. It has the potential to work or totally bomb. I'm doubtful that you pulled it off."
The author verbalized it as, "I'm intrigued by your idea." :-)
Then, Mr Editor, holding a key to my future, began to speak. "This beginning is very boring."
The clouds parted and Angels sang.
I swear I must have been in shock because it didn't phase me. He was right, and having sat in his class for 3 days already, I knew why.
He continued, flipping through the rest of the first chapter, "I don't have time to sit here and read this, but everywhere my eyes are falling, I like what I see. So I know you'll be up to the assignment: rewrite the beginning." He went on to give me some ideas and we talked a bit more about the concept.
I faltered when he asked how it resolved. (WHY couldn't I figure out he was saying, "Tell me how it ends"?) So he doesn't know how the novel ends, but as the girl with the next appointment approached, he said, "Rewrite the beginning then send me the whole thing."
And so summed up my first experience at a writer's conference. I went, looking for help to get this story ready to send to agents and instead, the very person I'd gone to see was interested in it.
I made the few small corrections suggested by the author I met during the Friday manuscript CPR session and printed out a new copy to take to my appointment on Saturday. I could go on and on about how nervous I was. I kept telling myself that I really just wanted feedback on my idea and writing, that anything he could tell me would be a huge help. But who was I kidding? Without intending to, I'd come to pitch my novel.
Time ticked slowly and far too rapidly toward the moment of truth...
I told him that pitching hadn't been my original intent so things were a little rough. (Conferences are a place where editors extend great grace in that area!) I read him my little two sentence "elevator pitch" (Joe came up with a great one right before we went to the conference) and the Christian message (that we'd honed while on the way to lunch Friday afternoon).
As I explained more about the concept of my novel, I realized that he had the same look on his face as the author the night before. It says, "I'm not sure about this. It has the potential to work or totally bomb. I'm doubtful that you pulled it off."
The author verbalized it as, "I'm intrigued by your idea." :-)
Then, Mr Editor, holding a key to my future, began to speak. "This beginning is very boring."
The clouds parted and Angels sang.
I swear I must have been in shock because it didn't phase me. He was right, and having sat in his class for 3 days already, I knew why.
He continued, flipping through the rest of the first chapter, "I don't have time to sit here and read this, but everywhere my eyes are falling, I like what I see. So I know you'll be up to the assignment: rewrite the beginning." He went on to give me some ideas and we talked a bit more about the concept.
I faltered when he asked how it resolved. (WHY couldn't I figure out he was saying, "Tell me how it ends"?) So he doesn't know how the novel ends, but as the girl with the next appointment approached, he said, "Rewrite the beginning then send me the whole thing."
And so summed up my first experience at a writer's conference. I went, looking for help to get this story ready to send to agents and instead, the very person I'd gone to see was interested in it.