Conventions are good for you

Rather than give you a run down of my weekend, let's talk people, starting with David Pomerico of Del Rey Spectra.

He gave a panel on the state of the publishing industry, what was in demand, what they looked for in new authors, etc., then opened it for questions, which sparked a debate over internet platforms. David maintained that a wannabe writer should have an internet presence, and that readers should be able to google their name and find them online.

This made total sense to me: as a writer, you have to promote yourself, and you have to be out there. Also, the guy works at a big time publisher and he was telling those present how to make yourself more attractive to publishers.

However, a few people in attendance took up issue with this. They didn't want to have to go through all the time and effort to build a platform. At one point, a woman asked what they (the publishers) wanted: the authors to be writing or blogging?

David handled the heat very well, answering their questions while explaining himself, and man, did I want to chime in, but I didn't want to add fuel to the fire or start a discussion. I was there to be a sponge, not argue. But what I wanted to say was:

BOTH.

They want you to write and be out there, promoting yourself. They want to know you have the tools to get your book out there, and that you want to connect with readers. They want to know you want to be part of the process.

Hell, I want that too. I want people reading my books, its why I want to be published. Second to that is the idea of making money doing it, and as a newcomer, let's face it: I'm not going to be there for a while, if ever.

I can't write for eight hours a day (unless I am on tear) anyway. After 2,000 (or around 6,000 on second drafts) I start to slow down a bit. That usually runs around three to four hours. Blogging and website stuff is a cooldown while I make notes and chart the path for tomorrow.

In the end, to quote Stephen King quoting someone else: The Book is the Boss.

If you have a good book, that has some sort of audience, you'll get published. I really do believe that.

But if you want people to read it, you should do everything you can to make it happen, up to and including shoving the book in their hands.

Back to David Pomerico. I spoke with David several times during the weekend and was encouraged by him. He knows his stuff and he loves books. That's what you want in an editor. He offered to talk about my book more than once, and genuinely wanted to help writers. He's got a good feel for stories, and improved my first few pages dramatically with a few comments.

It's important to remember that editors aren't the enemy. They love books and they want to read and work on good ones.


P.S. On getting home, I immediately learned how to submit my site to search engines. The process takes around two minutes to do and six weeks to take effect