RWA Conference – Day 4

My conference experience was almost over. The anticipation for the event is so huge that you want to cram as much in as possible and it flies by so quickly. Sometimes you just want to grab it and hit the pause button – one so you can catch your breath and two so you can make it last even longer!

Friday was the first full day of workshops and I had planned to do a few, but then other things cropped up, but more on that later.

The first workshop I attended was how to create an integrated marketing plan for writers. Now this I knew would be good for me. I have a new release coming in October so I needed to know what is the best way to market it. The workshop talked about press releases and book signings. Unfortunately I don’t have a print book – yet, so book signings are out, but I can create a press release for future. It was a great workshop and the speaker was very informative.

After the workshop I headed to the Harlequin Signing. I wanted to say hello to a few of the Aussie girls again and I had a bit of time to kill before I had to head to another hotel where Entangled Publishing were.  They announced on the Friday before I left that they would be holding pitches. I took the plunge and signed up for a pitch and I got a time. I worked through a very short pitch with my roommate Vicky and felt confident. The 10 minutes I spent there felt like 2, but at the end I got a request for a full which was exciting.

I headed to the lunch with Robyn Carr as the speaker.  What a fantastic speech she gave.  After lunch I headed to a meet and greet with an Agency – it literally was a hello, little chat and goodbye. I kind of feel I handled it all wrong but that was fine. I then headed back to where Entangled were staying and listened as they talked about what they were looking for, how their business model works and how they promote an author. Fantastic opportunities with them and a great business model.

The final session of the day for me was one on being an effective critique group. I’ve been with the WinkGirls for 6 years and we have a good system and we’ve grown so much since we first started, but you can always learn some new things. It was a great session.

My mind was buzzing with all that I’d learned that day, but I’d made arrangements to run with a girl I’d met on Tuesday and we caught up at lunch. She’s a beautiful, warm hearted lady. So I headed to the fitness centre and we did our run together. As weird as it sounds, it was a good way to end the day.

I caught up with some friends in the bar and had a bite to eat with them before I headed back to the room to chill for a bit before heading off to a room party put on by one of the NorthWest Houston girls. I will say after the buzz of pitching, the late nights and the amount of information I’d taken in, I faded pretty fast.

The next day was our last day 🙁 but it was also the day my family arrived I couldn’t wait to see them.

Day 5 coming up!!