Be Prepared

Last year I went to LDStorymakers writers conference for the first time. It was there that I decided I wanted to have a novel written and ready to pitch to an agent this year. There was a dinner one night, and everyone at the table was either signed or published. Then me . . .

“Oh, I love to write. I just finished editing this awesome novel that makes me laugh, but I can never publish it because I borrowed the characters from a friend who wrote the first book and never finished it.”

True story. Mine, not the fictional one—obviously.

So that's where my novel New Sight came from. It's a bit of a story, so I won't bore you with it. Suffice it to say that this is why I've been so determined to finish the darn thing and to make it good. It's still not great. I'm still not there, but considering the conference is in two weeks there isn't a whole lot I can do about it now. Anyone want to read the latest greatest version? It might be better than the last one, but I can't tell anymore.

Back to my original point. I have an appointment with an agent at the conference. Since I don't like going into things unprepared if I can at all help it, I figured that I ought to do some research.

Much to my chagrin, I've figured out that basically you're selling a product to this person.

I am not a salesman.

Now I'm in trouble. Sell myself and a novel? Yikes! Good thing I looked this stuff up at lunch today. It'll give me time to prepare. Maybe I should get some new shoes for the occasion. That always helps.

Anyone good at writing 3 line book blurbs?