Monthly Archives: May 2013

Part 3: Three Writers’ Conferences: Marshall Writers’ Guild

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

The Marshall (M0) Writers’ Guild holds an unusual form of annual meeting, one that features a guest writer. Other small local groups may want to consider MWG’s model.

I learned this by serving as the guest writer at the 2013 meeting. I presented a two-hour morning workshop on turning an idea into a book, fiction or nonfiction. Before beginning, I surveyed the twenty or so writers to find out what they’re working on. A surprising number are writing memoirs or history, so I drew most of my examples from my nonfiction work. Participants commented and asked questions as we went along.

Such informal workshops work well at meetings where offering sessions on multiple topics simply isn’t feasible.

After a booksigning and a potluck lunch, this guest writer met individually with several writers to discuss their works in progress. That’s an unusual item on the schedule, but a major reason to meet is to have the opportunity to talk about your lonely occupation with objective peers.

Meanwhile the other writers listened as the brave ones read aloud portions of their manuscripts.

We vacated the hall by 2 p.m., but we’d had a full day. I enjoyed it.

—Carolyn Mulford

 

Part 2: Three Writers’ Conferences: Malice Domestic

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

The one conference I go to every year is Malice Domestic, a national celebration of the traditional mystery that meets in the DC area in late April or early May. A spinoff of Sisters in Crime, Malice is heavily skewed toward women crime writers and their predominantly female audience (http://malicedomestic.org).

Although a fan conference, I estimate a third of the attendees are published writers and another third want to be. The readers, many of whom return each year, include librarians, reviewers, teachers, and a mix of other people devoted to mysteries. Malice introduces numerous debut and established writers’ mysteries to this influential readership.

I attended my first Malice some 20 years ago as a mystery reader. I loved listening to authors talk about their books on panels and rubbing shoulders with them between panels. They were much wittier than the nonfiction writers on how-to panels that were my usual conference fare. I didn’t learn a lot about writing mysteries, but I had a great time going to sessions and chatting with people. That enjoyment kept me coming back and encouraged me to begin writing mysteries.

This year I went to Malice as the author of a debut mystery, Show Me the Murder. That meant business trumped pleasure. I went armed with bookmarks and a resolve to promote my new series in sessions and informally.

I’d won one of 42 slots in the lottery to give a two-minute pitch in Friday’s opening event, the Malice-Go-Round. The catch was that I had to give the pitch 20 times at 20 different eight- to ten-person tables in a noisy room. I teamed up with Susan Froetschel, author of Fear of Beauty, a mystery about an illiterate Afghani woman who secretly learns to read in hopes of discovering who killed her son. Our pairing worked out well because our books and pitches were so different that no one confused our books.

The Round tested our voices and challenged us to beat the clock without giving a boring rote pitch. I was surprised how attentive readers were and how many took notes. In that hour and a half, I introduced my book to more people than in all the rest of the conference.

Later I realized that by pitching rather than listening, I had missed Malice’s best opportunity to learn who’s writing and who’s publishing what. Oh, well. You have to sacrifice something.

The rest of the day featured interviews and panels with big-name authors, including Peter Robinson, Laurie King, Laura Lippman, Aaron Elkins, Carolyn Hart, and the Agatha nominees for best novel. Entertaining and thought-provoking.

That afternoon my panel—Kate Carlisle, Peril in Paperback; Judy Hogan, Killer Frost; Maddy Hunter, Bonnie of Evidence—met with super-prepared moderator Patti Ruocco to get acquained before our Sunday session and discuss any uncertainly about our topic, Loveable Sidekicks. Our books and sidekicks vary greatly, so we offered different perspectives. Judy and I are seniors in life experience and juniors in mystery credits, but we functioned as equals on the panel. No one tried to dominate or hog time.

Malice applauds cooperation rather than competition. Most authors don’t need reminders of that, but program czar Barb Goffman reminds moderators to enforce it.

Five panels run concurrently most of Saturday and Sunday morning, often forcing participants to agonize over what to attend. Whatever the topics, the most popular writers draw the biggest crowds.

Malice’s major common events are the new authors’ breakfast (a must), interviews with the stars (always good), the Saturday-night banquet (most exciting for Agatha nominees), and the Sunday afternoon tea (a treat).

Good as the panels and special events are, people come back to Malice year after year to catch up with old friends, meet online friends (notably the Guppies) face to face, and chat with strangers/friends who love mysteries.

No matter how much business you do, attending Malice is a pleasure.

—Carolyn Mulford

 

 

Part 1: Three Writers’ Conferences Serve Different Audiences

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

At local meetings and on national listservs, writers often ask for advice about which conferences to attend. Having attended many, I can only say that the best conference depends as much on what the writer seeks as what the conference offers.

This spring, with promoting Show Me the Murder my top priority, I chose three annual conferences serving different audiences:

  • Missouri Writers’ Guild conference for writers with varied interests,
  • Malice Domestic 25 national convention for mystery fans,
  • Marshall (MO) Writers’ Guild workshop for their members.

 

Here, in Part 1, is what the state conference offered.

This estimable annual three-day conference (http://www.missouriwritersguild.org) features solid how-to presentations on topics appealing to beginners and professionals but focusing on writers hovering between those levels. Attendees are serious writers eager to establish careers.

From my conversations and observations, more than half have finished at least one unpublished manuscript (usually a novel) but don’t know much about the route to publication. The self-publishing and social media sessions here (like everywhere else apparently) drew a big crowd.

Many come to the conference hoping to hook an agent or a publisher. Quite a few skipped the how-to seminars to concentrate on pitching to the half dozen East and West Coach agents and regional publishers in scheduled five-minute sessions and in informal conversations. One of the advantages of a relatively small (around 200) conference is that you can sit next to an agent at a meal or corner her (usually not him) in the bar or hall. The toilets are off limits.

Agents who fly from either coast to the heartland usually agree to look at anything that might possibly interest them. And almost every year at least one writer signs with an agent or sells a manuscript to a publisher. Even those who don’t sell get valuable feedback.

This friendly conference also gives writers a chance to socialize, exchange information, and feel part of a community. Writing may be a solitary activity, but networking never hurts.

As for carrying out my special agenda, I handed out bookmarks and a fast pitch for my new mystery series to dozens of writers/readers from around the state.

—Carolyn Mulford