Agents and Editors Conference:
Sunday, June 22

I woke up at 6 again. By this time I was starting to think there was something seriously wrong with me. Then I remembered that I paid for a second pitch session – this one with Katie Sulkowski of Creative Trust, Inc. By the time I scheduled the second appointment, selections were limited. She reps fiction, but I really picked her because she's from Nashville. I went to college there. It makes a good icebreaker.

As it turned out, I didn't need it. My session with Ms. Sulkowski was by far the best of the conference. She was tough. She asked a lot of questions. She dug. And she was the only one who asked me to reveal the ending, which produced an interesting and unexpected result.

She laughed. Hard. When I asked her to share the funny, she said, “The imagination of writers amazes me. How did you come up with this?”

I wasn't really going for the laugh. But she wasn't yawning, so I'll take it. She asked for a synopsis and sample chapters.

Sunday was the short day; all the official events wrapped up at 12:30. After that, a giant foot pounded down out of the heavens, scattering us all like cockroaches. It was over.

I was sad. Still buzzing from the contact high of being in close proximity to all those creative people, I didn't want to leave. Finally, I did.

By the time I got home, I was happy to be there. The weekend was amazing, but I needed solitude and space to lock it all down. I wrote a little over the weekend, but this – three days later – is my first real attempt to capture it all in writing.

I know I'm not getting it all. I hope I'm getting some of it.

What Does it All Mean?

It was amazing, inspiring, gratifying and validating to be surrounded by people who share my passion. I don't know how things are for you, but I had grown accustomed to being “the only writer in the room.”

It's incredible to sit at a hotel bar with six writers. You can talk about characters taking over your narrative and everybody just nods. You can talk about waking up in the middle of the night with a scene writing itself in your head, rolling over to fetch your notebook from the nightstand or just getting up, trudging to the computer with your eyes still glued shut to get those ideas down before they vanish like dawn mist.

Dawn mist. Yes. You can say that and everybody gets it.

You can talk about the muse, the work, the life, agents and publishing and how nobody seems to understand how the industry works and the death of midlist and how you really need to know what goes into a book contract, even if you have an agent.

All around the table: yes. Yes. Yes.

So here's my takeaway, and I don't mean Szechuan dumplings with a side of almond chicken salad.

Everybody talks about how the market is contracting, controlled by conglomerates, no midlist anymore, harder than ever to find representation.

Controlled by Warner. Controlled by Random House. Controlled by ... what? Fear? Ignorance? The love of money?

William Goldman says nobody knows anything. If anybody knows, he does.

Maybe I sound presumptuous, but I think the answer is pretty simple.

There are 22,000 new books published every year. Even if you're a glass-is-half-empty thinker, that's a huge number. New writers are signed daily. New books are published weekly. New authors are “discovered” at all hours of the day and night.

The market is smaller, yes. But it's still enormous. Besides, it isn't about numbers. And it isn't about corporations.

So who controls book publishing?

We do.

If the conference had a theme, it's this: you are driving. If you want representation, write an amazing book. Agents will fight over you. If you want a fat advance, write a book that commands it. I don't mean write something because you think it will make you a ton of money. It won't. “This is a craft you get into because you can't help it,” Sara Nelson said in her keynote speech. “Write for a market? That way lies madness.”

Tell the truth and shame the devil, the adage goes. That's what we have to do. We have to take James Magnuson's advice, and take control of the only part of the process we can.

So simple: find the most powerful experience in your life and write about it.

Tell the truth. Read. Find out everything you can. Learn. Grow. Write. Study craft. Write some more. Live. Learn. Watch and listen. Write more, more, more. Stay open.

Be in the moment, every moment. Maybe that's hardest. We think ahead – to success, to deals, contracts, advances, book tours. Stay present. Be here now. All we have is now. Live in that. It's hard, but it's worth it. Do the work you love and mean it. Mean every word.

Money, agents, book contracts, interviews, tours, success ... all of that will follow.

For now – write! And plan to attend the Agents and Editors Conference next year. You won't regret it.

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