Over the weekend I attended the Vegas Valley Book Festival. I got to meet Jo Wilkins over at Mystic Publishers, and hear from local poet James Joseph Brown.
At the festival there was a panel on "New Technologies in Publishing". Here are a few words of wisdom from the panelists:
- Buy your own ISBN. Don't buy a Create Space ISBN.
- Go to literary events where you can meet publishers like the Vegas Valley Book Festival, and events at Writers Block in downtown Las Vegas.
- When you are reading a book of the same genre as your own book, check the acknowledgements page. Chances are that author thanked his agent, and that's how you know that agent is legitimate.
I read in Writer's Digest that the first thing a writer should do is read. The second thing is read some more. The third thing a writer should do is write.
After the Industry Insights Panel, I went to the Q&A session for Local Literary Journals to learn what editors look for in submissions.
A cover letter should list your inspirations as a writer and a short bio, not necessarily a description of the piece. Less is more. The work will speak for itself. Humility is important. Titles are important.
As for the work itself, there should be no grammatical errors, and the prose should be polished and economic. A story should not be one-dimensional. Any story has to have two things going on in it.
And finally, I went to a discussion of "The Art and Business of Blogging" and picked up a few tips:
- You need lots of new fresh content to keep your readership up.
- 1/3 of the blog should be about yourself, 1/3 should be about your readers, and 1/3 should promote your work.
- The best way to get new readers is to trade links with similar blogs, join associations relating to your blog, and add your blog to registers.
I had never heard of the Vegas Valley Book Festival until this year, and I'm glad I went. I can't wait to go back next year.
