2018 Philadelphia Writing Workshop

I’ll say it again…

BEST.DAY.EVER!

Yesterday I attended the 2018 Philadelphia WritingWorkshop. As I said, it was my firsttime attending such an event so I really didn’t know what to expect. Of course, that’s when your brain starts toimagine all of the things that will go wrong. Well actually something did gowrong. I left my portfolio on the trainto Philly! I was kicking myself for that one for a bit. The rep at the customer service counter at 30^thStreet Station gave me the number to call lost and phone by a nice woman. I didn’t dwell on it for long as I was firstto pitch Gunslinger Witch to the lovely KellyPeterson of the CorvisieroLiterary Agency. I had a fab timespeaking to her and she requested pages, which I sent when I got home! She’s very pleasant and professional and Ireally want her as my agent! Fingers andtoes crossed for me, peeps!

I must say though, pitching isn’t as hard as I’ve seenpeople make it out to be. Besides mypitch, Ms. Peterson I had a nice chat about ourselves. Maybe it was just me,but after I got over my initial nervousness, I was fine. I’ve seen it written before that agents arejust regular folks like the rest us with a specific job. As long as you treat them with respect and beaware of their personal space – see my previous post Musing11/5/18 ~ Follow the Rules! – You’ll be fine.

There were several separate workshops, and you could choose inblocks, three each. It was touch todecide which I wanted to attend. Thefirst block I did half-and-half, first attending A Bird’s-eye View Publishing & Books in the Year 2018 and at the end of the night, Twenty Questions You Need Answered After You Seek an Agent or Self-Publish Your Book. Presented by the charming Brian A. Klems, then I hopped over to Create NewWorlds: A Guide to Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, with the talented A.C.Wise and got some more books for my TBP list.

Then it was to back to Kelly Peterson with How to Write A Successful Query Letter, which I had in my (!$$#@@!) portfolio but of course, by that time, it was all good. And you wouldn’t believe the surprise I received when Ms. Peterson actually mentioned Gunslinger Witch during one of her talks as an example of how to present a book during a pitch! Excuse me I forgot to faint. I let her know later that she made my whole night.

Then off to Writing for the Little Ones: How to Craft an Amazing Picture Book For Kids and Keys to Writing Great Young Adult & Middle Grade Fiction by the witty Madeline Smoot. Ms. Smoot gave me some insight on what I should do with my short story, The Girl of Morning Glory, which I wanted to turn into a picture book but it is apparently too long. Solution? Expand it and make it into an MG Chapter Book. Cool.

And yes, I’m going to thank them again for their professionalism and insightfulness, not the mention taking time out of their busy schedules to participate.

Well, now I’m looking for my next venture. As soon as I start the new job, I’m going to be certain to put money aside. Yes, I can do it, that’s how I got to Cancun, saving money for six months. I would highly recommend getting yourself to a workshop or conference if you haven’t already. It’s worth it.

Peace~

Wendy

aka CJBlack