In a few weeks, I will be at RWA’s 2011 conference. I’m really looking forward to this for a number of reasons.
What does that mean? First, if you live in the vicinity of New York, I’ll be signing books at the annual “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing. I’m not the only one (of course)–there will be hundreds of other authors there. It’s a wonderful event, full of readers and authors and energy. The publishers donate the books, and the proceeds all go to local literacy efforts. So I’ll be there, signing copies of my print books. If you already have a copy and just want to drop by to say hi, that’s cool, too.
Second: Many people have noticed that there is nothing on the official RWA schedule about self-publishing. I don’t blame RWA for this; the call for workshops went out at a point when self-publishing was barely on the horizon. But I do think it’s a shame there’s nothing out there. So a group of us are putting together an informal breakfast meeting to chat about self-publishing. It will be at 7:30 AM on Wednesday, June 29th. The info:
We’re a little unsure whether there is a continental breakfast included in the conference price this year (I’ve heard a rumor it’s not), but if there is, then let’s meet in the breakfast area. If not, we’ll meet at Starbucks.Feel free to spread the word to others who might be interesting in the topic. This will be a very casual discussion, nothing formal.
I’m looking forward to this.
Finally, if you’re attending the conference, I am on a panel entitled “The Seven Deadly Sins of Second Books,” talking about why the infamous “sophomore” book is so infamous. Also with me are Tiffany Clare, Kris Kennedy, Susan Gee Heino, and Susan Sey. I’ll be talking about Trial by Desire, a book I spent so much time on that even today, the thought of having to look at one word of it make me feel ill to my stomach. Everyone else on the panel has lovely, awesome second books, and naturally I have no idea what they will have to contribute, since obviously, boring.
Our workshop will not be recorded, mostly because we cannot talk about our second books without using profane, obscene language. This is on Wednesday, 3:15 PM, in Chelsea/Gotham.
Courtney, your second-books panel sounds really intriguing. I won’t be at RWA this year, and that makes ME want to use profane, obscene language, because I hate to miss this.
Sorry, but I have to disagree about TRIAL. I thought it, too, was lovely and awesome. But I know your experience was nothing of the kind–I’ve read your past posts on TRIAL and the challenges you had with shaping it. Do you know what the bugaboos were for the other authors? Are they really all tied to deadly sins? (I stress-eat when I write, so whoever has gluttony: right on, sistah.)
Best of luck with your formal and informal panels!
For those of us not attending RWA this year, could I beg of you to tweet either one or both of these? I would be happy to offer bribes…
Courtney, for what it’s worth, I love Trial by Desire. It was one of my top three favourite books of 2010. Be proud of what your blood, sweat, tears and loss of hair helped create :-).
Have fun at RWA.
Hi Courtney,
I will definitely be at the breakfast/chat! I’m published with Ellora’s Cave, and signed with Carina, but have also self-pubbed a backlist title and a couple of new titles. Would love to get some other self-pubbed opinions and mingle! Thanks for setting this up!
Cheers,
Eliza
Hi Courtney!
I’m terribly curious about all this self publishing stuff. I do believe it is the future. I’m unpubbed, but repped by a lovely and very intelligent agent. I’m a Golden Heart finalist this year in the Historical Category. Should I attend your discussion in the sense that knowledge is power? Right now, I know I will be going traditional publishing to build my name etc. But I want to no more about the realities of the way the “future” is going to work.
Thanks!
Knowledge is power, and these aren’t mutually exclusive options. It’s like asking, “Should I have yogurt or cereal for breakfast?”
You can have one. You can have the other. You can mix them together and have a yogurt parfait.
I’m so looking forward to going to NY and definitely plan to crash your informal self-pubbing seminar. I’m very happy with my current publishers, but I do have a backlist looking for a home. Self-pubbing might be the answer.
I am excited and already exhausted just thinking about the RWA conference. I’d love to attend wednesday but will be, ironically, at a breakfast with my publishing house. Congrats on all your success with Unlocked. And I agree that Trial was an excellent, memorable book. I look forward to seeing you.