1. In the Myths and Misconceptions vlog with Agent Holly Root and Editors Molly O’neil and Martha Mihalick, Holly talked about confidence. Really, the whole vlog was worth watching.
Confidence doesn’t mean your work or writing doesn’t need strengthening. It’s okay to wait for publication.
Take away: I need to be confident in whatever stage I’m at. (Really this topic could be a whole blog post.)
2. Jay Asher’s post on Author Collaboration. But his topic wasn’t what made this stick out to me. He intended to write humorous MG and then went out of his comfort zone to write his bestselling novel, Thirteen Reasons Why.
Take away: Be willing to go out of my comfort zone! (That means you too!)
3. Beth Revis’s incredibly inspiring vlog: Never Give Up. Watch it and be encouraged!
Takeaway: Treat each manuscript as if it’s the one, even if it’s not.
4. Live chat with Michelle Andelman, Emily Meehan, Annette Pollert, and Jim McCarthy. Annette touched briefly on revisions. I scribbled this down in my note book.
Why are you telling me this? (relevance)
Why are you telling me this now? (placement)
Yeah, I know. Heavy. Let it sink in and think about it for a while.
Takeaway: Ask these questions every scene, every paragraph, every line.
5. Lisa Schroeder vlogged about openings.
Be intentional with your opening.
Start with a moment of significance.
Take away: Never open my story in any old spot even if it’s hilarious or brilliant prose.
There were so many brilliants posts. The live chats and Questions and Answer times were all helpful.
And one more since I’ve covered the self publishing topic this summer.
Agent Sara Megibow answered questions about self publishing. Check it out!
Thanks to the founders, agents, editors and participants for an incredible conference!
If you followed the conference, what was one of your highlights?
I also liked Scott Tracey’s vlog on LGBT characters in YA and Emma Hamilton’s live chat on marketing.
It was a great conference! I’m inspired to do my own vlog (really, I’ve already scripted something!)
I loved the first one! I missed some of these though. Thanks for sharing the links!
Your Welcome, Laura
Kris – There are still a couple I haven’t seen yet only because I haven’t had time and I got a little burnt out. But I plan on going back and catching the ones I missed!
Great list. I’ve enjoyed writeoncon so much. I’m still wading through all the information.
What an amazing conference! So inspiring–I loved seeing agents go crazy for stuff in the query and pitch threads.
All the live events were awesome too–what kind and intelligent professionals WOC had!
Loved Sara Megibow especially. That chat about self-pubbing vs. traditional pubbing was incredible.
And Ammi-Joan Paquette was great. She said something I needed to hear right now:
“New work reflects your current growth and is so important. Revising is fine, but keep writing new as well.”
I gathered a great list of new favorite agents (although Sara and Joan have always been favorites).
Thanks for this rundown! I’m going to be cruising the WOC blog for a while, catching up on the events I couldn’t take in at the time.
Thanks for all the links! I missed most of the conference, so it’s nice to be pointed in some specific directions!
Lots of great takeaways there! Since I’m an unconfident soul, the first one sings to me. Yay, I can be confident knowing my learning will never end and that’s totally okay!!!
Heather – yes, Joan’s wisdom was timely. We shouldn’t’ spend years revising without writing new stuff too!
Sarah – It can be overwhelming – where to start?
Eileeen – I loved the confidence part b/c it really comes across in your writing and presentation!
These are some fab highlights! I thought I would be able to sneak in a few moments but I got really busy at work.
I’m going to catch up this weekend.
This is a great recap, Laura. I loved Beth Revis’ vlog entry. That’s what stuck out the most. I’m still pushing through a lot of the blogs and vlogs.
Karen – I’m still catching up too. I can only process so many live chats all at once!
Alicia – I think it’s Beth’s vlog that will stay with me the longest. Possibly forever.
Really wish I’d had time to dive into all of it! But thanks for the recap!! 🙂
Thanks for sharing those. I especially liked your take on them.
I loved the whole thing! I especially loved Jay Asher’s post. There was just something about it that really resonated.
Shelley
Thank you for this one-stop shopping for all the best WriteOnCon stuff…will check out a couple I missed.
Thanks for this summary, Laura, as I didn’t get to WriteOnCon this week. But, since the stuff stays up…I can still go later! 🙂
Thanks for the recommendations! I didn’t have a chance to see many, but plan to make up for it this weekend. I did see Shelley’s vlog and the agent-editor discussion (#1 on your list) and they were both excellent.
Didn’t follow, but found your summary a great help.
SO much awesomeness! I got to do more than last year, but still not nearly enough. Lucky for me it will be around for a while so I can go back and check out the links. I enjoyed the live chats I sat in on, and Beth Revis’ vlog was really great. 😀
Excellent links! What a great recap Laura, thanks for this! I love the vlogs, they’re fantastic. 🙂
GREAT post. I wasn’t able to participate as much as I wanted to this year. These links and vlogs are very informative and fun! Thanks!
Loved your highlights, Laura. I found Emma Walton Hamilton’s Picture Book queries reviews super helpful
The whole thing was awesome, wasn’t it?
Great highlights– I took away so much and came away with improved queries! #win-win
Thanks everyone! I’ve been hiking all day. That’s the great thing – we can go back and catch what we missed!
Thanks for posting this! I couldn’t “attend” a lot of the conferences, so this was super helpful!
I’m soooo behind on WOC. I’m almost caught up on yesterday, but I still have Tuesday and Wednesday stuff to go. I spent more time than I’d planned on the forums. I know what I’ll be doing on vacation. 😉
Thanks for the summary. I didn’t get a chance to hang out much this year, but I hope to catch up this weekend, and you’re tips on where to start really help!
Super info, Laura! I didn’t get a lot of chances to check everything out, so it’s awesome to see a quick recap!
I’m playing catch up on WOC. Thanks for the road map. You’re my WOC GPS.
Awesome post! My favorite was Beth Revis’ inspirational video. What a great reminder of what these published authors have gone through to “make it.”
Great takeaways, Laura! I’m so glad you enjoyed the conference.
This is a great post, Laura. I’ve copied into my notebook much of what you impart here, and am now going to read Jay Asher’s post. I’m glad I dropped by today. Thanks!
I was there for some but still have to go back and catch up on a lot of stuff. It was a great event and Kudos to all the great folks who put it on. 🙂
Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse
I am so grateful to the organizers of WriteOnCon, because it’s so valuable, especially when you can’t get to an “in person” conference.
Thanks for highlighting these, Laura. I’ll definitely check them out!!