Friday 5 – My highlights from WriteOnCon

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?

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36 Responses to Friday 5 – My highlights from WriteOnCon

  1. Kris August 19, 2011 at 10:52 am #

    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!)

  2. Laura Marcella August 19, 2011 at 11:17 am #

    I loved the first one! I missed some of these though. Thanks for sharing the links!

    • Laura August 19, 2011 at 11:30 am #

      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!

  3. Tricia Clasen August 19, 2011 at 11:46 am #

    Great list. I’ve enjoyed writeoncon so much. I’m still wading through all the information.

  4. Heather Kelly August 19, 2011 at 12:05 pm #

    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.

  5. Sarah August 19, 2011 at 12:11 pm #

    Thanks for all the links! I missed most of the conference, so it’s nice to be pointed in some specific directions!

  6. Eileen Astels August 19, 2011 at 12:13 pm #

    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!!!

    • Laura August 19, 2011 at 12:36 pm #

      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!

  7. Karen Strong August 19, 2011 at 12:59 pm #

    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.

  8. Alicia Gregoire August 19, 2011 at 1:04 pm #

    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.

    • Laura August 19, 2011 at 2:03 pm #

      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.

  9. Susan Kaye Quinn August 19, 2011 at 2:05 pm #

    Really wish I’d had time to dive into all of it! But thanks for the recap!! 🙂

  10. Donna K. Weaver August 19, 2011 at 2:06 pm #

    Thanks for sharing those. I especially liked your take on them.

  11. shelley moore thomas August 19, 2011 at 2:18 pm #

    I loved the whole thing! I especially loved Jay Asher’s post. There was just something about it that really resonated.

    Shelley

  12. Anita Miller August 19, 2011 at 2:19 pm #

    Thank you for this one-stop shopping for all the best WriteOnCon stuff…will check out a couple I missed.

  13. Susan Sipal August 19, 2011 at 2:29 pm #

    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! 🙂

  14. MG Higgins August 19, 2011 at 2:59 pm #

    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.

  15. Carole Anne Carr August 19, 2011 at 3:17 pm #

    Didn’t follow, but found your summary a great help.

  16. Lisa Green August 19, 2011 at 3:17 pm #

    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. 😀

  17. Ava Jae August 19, 2011 at 3:55 pm #

    Excellent links! What a great recap Laura, thanks for this! I love the vlogs, they’re fantastic. 🙂

  18. Ansha Kotyk August 19, 2011 at 4:05 pm #

    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!

  19. Joana August 19, 2011 at 4:07 pm #

    Loved your highlights, Laura. I found Emma Walton Hamilton’s Picture Book queries reviews super helpful

  20. Susan R. Mills August 19, 2011 at 4:38 pm #

    The whole thing was awesome, wasn’t it?

  21. write-brained August 19, 2011 at 5:23 pm #

    Great highlights– I took away so much and came away with improved queries! #win-win

    • Laura August 19, 2011 at 6:16 pm #

      Thanks everyone! I’ve been hiking all day. That’s the great thing – we can go back and catch what we missed!

  22. Lydia K August 19, 2011 at 9:54 pm #

    Thanks for posting this! I couldn’t “attend” a lot of the conferences, so this was super helpful!

  23. Stina Lindenblatt August 19, 2011 at 10:54 pm #

    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. 😉

  24. Elle Strauss August 20, 2011 at 12:41 am #

    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!

  25. Carolina Valdez Miller August 20, 2011 at 4:08 am #

    Super info, Laura! I didn’t get a lot of chances to check everything out, so it’s awesome to see a quick recap!

  26. Leslie Rose August 20, 2011 at 5:15 pm #

    I’m playing catch up on WOC. Thanks for the road map. You’re my WOC GPS.

  27. Julie Musil August 20, 2011 at 9:37 pm #

    Awesome post! My favorite was Beth Revis’ inspirational video. What a great reminder of what these published authors have gone through to “make it.”

  28. Casey McCormick August 21, 2011 at 2:44 am #

    Great takeaways, Laura! I’m so glad you enjoyed the conference.

  29. Ann Best August 21, 2011 at 5:36 pm #

    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!

  30. Angela Ackerman August 22, 2011 at 5:24 am #

    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

  31. Andrea August 26, 2011 at 9:46 pm #

    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!!

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