I recently attended my first Writers Conference, and I can absolutely tell you I learned a LOT.
So much goes into being an author. When we first start out, we think “oh, writing the book is the hard part.” And while at first glance, its a good thing to believe because without the initial book, you don’t have anything else that you can work with.
But once you start to learn about the industry you learn that the writing is the easy part.
If you are seeking an agent, you need to find the right agent and the right hook to catch their attention. This may mean several rounds of revision to get your book as tight and as ready as it can be. And once you have the agent, it is likely they will suggest even more edits before they send it out to editors or publishers to purchase the title. Once you get to this round, you may think you have it made, but you don’t, because while your agent loves your book and you love your book, editors and publishers may not, so it may not be sold. Even if it is, then you have more rounds of edits and polishing before they begin to look at covers and sales strategies.
If you are a Self-Published author, you are doing all of these things.
And no matter whether you are self-published or represented by a publishing house, marketing will be its own world of “what the heck am I doing,” where sometimes you feel like Toothless in How to Train your Dragon 3, trying to get the attention of the Lightfury and failing.
It was intimidating, but also, it was inspiring. Because we heard from writers who were both traditionally published and self-published, their successes and their failures, their journeys and their tips. And each person you listen to, each slide deck you scour, you are learning and preparing for the next time you release or the next time you go to query for a book.
If you have any interest in being an author, whether part time, full time, or if its a side hustle, I definitely recommend going to a conference, you will learn so much from not just the lectures, but the stories and personal journeys of the speakers and other attendees.
