LBF Conference Seminar: How to Get Published
This Saturday past – 17th April 2010 – I popped along to Earl’s Court for my second How to get Published seminar. I attended last year and still remember walking up to a line of around 200 – 300 people thinking to myself: oh. my. god. THESE people ALL want to published.
This year I came close to not attending. I woke up late but decided that it would be silly of me not to go; I had paid the money, it’s only for a few hours…so I pootled along and got there at twenty to ten…and was one of the first ones there. Colour me surprised. I got chatting to two other aspiring writers who incidentally have both written kids books. So I did everything in my nefarious powers as SCBWI Volunteer to sway them to the Dark Side. I think I may have succeeded.
Anyway – the talk got underway in a packed out auditorium. I have no idea how many people there were. But I’d say around four to five hundred, if not more? I am rubbish as guesstimating crowd size!
The panelists were: (as nabbed off the LBF website)
| Chair: | Ms Danuta Kean Journalist |
11 Comments for “LBF Conference Seminar: How to Get Published” TrackbacksLeave a comment
1Susie Day
wrote on 20 April 2010 at 13:52
This was a fantastic write-up, thank you! Valuable stuff even for those of us who’ve had our foot-in-the-door moment of luck already. Meg Rosoff’s ‘Write a fucking great book’ is going on the Inspirational Quote board!
2Liz
wrote on 20 April 2010 at 13:59
Susie – so true! You couldn’t have asked for a bigger boot up the backside than that, right?
3Marsha Moore
wrote on 20 April 2010 at 14:04
Great overview, Liz! I feel like I was actually there. And Lionel Shriver – wow! I’d be starstruck, too.
4Kath
wrote on 20 April 2010 at 14:23
Great write-up of the day, Liz. I was there, too, and I think you pretty much covered everything.
I was a bit surprised when someone complained that the panel wasn’t being positive enough. I thought they had been up to that point and it’s not like we don’t all know that it’s not easy to get published. I got the impression that some people turned up expecting to get a fail-safe 5-point plan on How to Get Published which they could take away with them and implement for instant success.
5liz
wrote on 20 April 2010 at 14:32
Liz thanks for that great write up – I knew most of what was said but hearing them again is important because we get so wrapped up in the writing that we forget!!!!
thanks,
lx
6Liz
wrote on 20 April 2010 at 14:40
Marsha – yeah, I just sat there stupidly smiling at her every time she spoke. *geek love*
Kath – you know, I do think you are 100% correct. Some people wanted a step by step how-to and it does make you wonder how much research they’ve actually done into this whole writing lark, you know?
Liz – thanks Ms. Liz! I utterly agree with you on how we sometimes need to be shaken up a bit, even me as a newb. You really do get bogged down with the every day writing of the words, you forget the bigger picture.
7Liz Harris
wrote on 20 April 2010 at 15:29
Brilliant feedback, Liz!
Many thanks for posting such a full account of the discussion so that those of us who didn’t get there actually felt as if we were there.
8Sharon
wrote on 20 April 2010 at 16:50
Thanks for taking the time out of your writing schedule to write this up for us dopes who didn’t go! Sounds like it was a great session.
I know that much of the time the advice is the same at these gigs, but it really does me good to hear it again and again.
Like…. if you write a good enough book, someone will pick it up!
I’m going off to stare at my inbox until the complete Djinn arrives. End of April did you say…?
9Sarah
wrote on 20 April 2010 at 17:53
Brilliant write-up, it sounded like a great event. Also, I’m also putting Meg’s quote up on my pin board!
10Liz
wrote on 20 April 2010 at 18:24
Liz – thanks. It’s no hardship. Writing it down sort of makes it stay with you longer!
Sharon – dude, I’m utterly and completely terrified of this next big step! You sure you want to read the WHOLE thing?
Sarah – yes, I’ve now decided to put up a board too. Too much advice flying around not to tack it all up somewhere!