I’m jumping on the ACFW Conference blog tour with a bonus Top 5 List this month!
We’ve all heard advice about the do’s and don’t's of writers conference etiquette. And all that advice is valuable. But I thought a few more items needed to be addressed. So here it is…
The top five things you should never, ever, ever tell an editor or agent at a writers conference:
5. [in one-on-one appointment] “This manuscript is my best work yet. Oh, and by the way, my mom wrote half of it.”
4. [to Amish fiction editor] “I don’t get all this Amish craze. Who gives a rip about bonnets and buggies?”
3. [at the lunch table] “You’ve got a strawberry seed the size of Russia between your teeth.”
2. [at the dinner table] “I came out of the womb with a pen in my hand. Wanna see pictures?”
1. [sliding proposal under agent's hotel room door at 6am] “Newspaper delivery!”
Have you made any embarrassing comments at a conference that you’re willing to share? How would you tell an editor or agent they have a strawberry seed between their teeth? And to those of you joining me in St. Louis, SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER! (Don’t worry…I’ll bring the dental floss.)
Pretty sure I was about to tell an editor and an agent that I loved them. Just the gushy kind of gal I am.
Thankfully I refrained.
Fun list!
~ Wendy
Ha! You might have to refrain from the L-word at this year’s conference. Then again…
LOL! Good tips! Will keep these in mind the next time I go to a conference.
Glad you enjoyed them, Karen! I should have put a side note that finding the agent’s hotel room is just the first misstep among many.
LOL, like these
Thanks, Julia!
I ran into an editor in the ladies room. Said hello before realizing who she was. Then I saw her name tag and I said, “Oh, I have an appointment with you later! I can’t wait to talk with you.”
Gasp! Realized what I was doing. Stopped talking. Apologized.
At least I didn’t slip a pitch sheet under her stall door, which I’ve heard has happened.
We’re good friends now and she uses this story when she talks at conferences. I don’t think she uses my name . . .
That is too funny, Beth! I pitched my story to an editor in the bathroom last year. Seriously. BUT, she initiated the conversation. How could I turn her down?!
The first time I met with an editor, I had no idea I was supposed to start right in with a pitch. I sat and chit-chatted about every little thing for five minutes until he finally said, “What can I do for you today?” The good part is, he buys my articles on a regular basis now, and has become a good friend.
Strawberry seed? If I was an editor or an agent, I’d want to know, so I’d probably mention it to the side, when no one else could hear.
You’re so right, Jen. Those 15 minutes go fast, don’t they? I wasted my first ever appointment by pitching for 10 minutes. Yikes! Thankfully I premised it as a practice pitch, but still… I’ve since learned to cut to the chase as quick as possible.
When I went to ACFW for the first time last year, I didn’t know that lunch was for pitching to the agent/editor at the table. I fumbled through something, totally caught off guard and embarassed. Thankfully, I was much more prepared for my actual pitch appointments and they went awesome.
Have such a fabulous time at ACFW this year! I’ll have to catch up with you there in 2012!
Oh no, Stacy! I’m glad you had good pitch appointments. And by the way, some of the tables I sat at didn’t even do pitches, so you must have just been unlucky in that regard.
The pitch makes my blood run cold. Usually, I just hand them a one-sheet and hope they don’t ask me what the story is about. I know, I must overcome this fault.
LOL, Susan. I’ve learned they’re people just like you and me (and nice ones at that!). But it’s still intimidating to know they hold our writing futures in their hands, isn’t it?
As a girl who’s never attended or pitched at a conference, I’ll file this for future reference.
!! So the newspaper trick doesn’t work, huh? Duly noted.
Waving and grinning,
Rhonda
I’ve never been to a writers’ conference, but I can imagine that a really embarassing thing to say to an agent or editor would be, “Here’s my manuscript. The other editors/agents I’ve shown it to have passed on it, but I think you’ll like it!”