Today was the official first day of the conference, but nothing started until 2 pm, so i took advantage of the beautiful day and toured around the city a bit.
Visited the place where I spent many a happy day as a NYC college student, The New York Public Library on 42nd street and Bryant Park
Okay, go ahead and laugh, because my eyes really do look crooked int this photo!
I passed by my favorite street address in all the world
and two buildings I’ve visited more times in my life than I remember.
SO when the festivities began at 2, I spent the rest of the day learning, networking, eating, and visiting with the best people in the world: My romance sistahs from from and near!
Today is the INDIE BOOK signing, so if you’re attending, look for me! I’ve got free books!
but apparently you can never take the city out of the girl.
I arrived yesterday in NYC from sweet home New Hampshire, and the heat slapped me silly the moment I stepped out of Grand Central Station. The Hotel this year is only about 3 avenues and 2 blocks from GCS so, ever the money conscious chick, and knowing this burg like I know the back of my hand – having spent my youth as a citizen of these fine streets – I hoofed it from the train to the hotel.
In the heat.
At midday.
In the busiest city in the world.
Lugging my suitcase behind me.
Yeah…didn’t think that one thru all the way, did I?
Got here ( sweating like a working farm animal) and THANK YOU JESUS my room was ready because if they told me it wasn’t, it wasn’t gonna be a pretty sight.
My room is big enough to house 4 people comfortably and no, I’m not offering any space to anyone, so get that outta your heads asap.
DOn’t have much of view by daylight
But night time is pretty cool, with the lights of 42nd street lit…
Oh, and that heat that was apparent when I arrived? About 5 pm tonight severe weather loomed in, enough so that a storm hazard warning blared on my phone. Torrential rain for 2 hours. Flash flood warning. Whipping winds.
Remember that tootsie pop commercial “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Toostie pop?” If you’re over 40 you do.
I’m waaaaaay over 40.
But I digress.
I’ve been TRADITIONALLY published for 4 years now. My first book hit the shelves from The Wild Rose press in 2015. Since then I’ve had 3 books published with Kensington/Lyrical, 9 more published with WRP and 3 more contracted, one ( so far) published with Limitless and 3 more planned for that series. I’ve won over 20 industry writing awards for my books, the most recent, the 2018 OKRWA International Digital Award and the 2019 Golden Quill Award. I’ve done speaking engagements on romance topics, I have a fierce social media presence and a good following of readers and bloggers and I’m an active member of my local RWA chapter.
I’ve done all the work to get those books contracts, too. On my own. No Literary Agent. And let me repeat – these are traditionally published, not self-pubbed books.
So, why am I still trying to land a Literary Agent when I’ve had such success on my own getting book contracts?
A good question and one I’ve had a lot of people ask me.
I see having a Literary Agent has having someone who is always guarding my six ( or, at my back for those of you who don’t watch NCIS). Someone who will do their best to try to find the publishing contracts for me, instead of me having to invest so much time and energy in doing so when I could be writing. A literary agent knows the ins and outs of the publishing community, what’s new, what’s going out of style. They’ll be able to garner you international rights so your books get to other readers in other countries; they know what conferences to attend, what CONS to do books signings at to increase your exposure and get you more sales. They are your first professional reader and editor, able to tell you where you need to make changes to your manuscript to get it “publishing ready.”
Having a Literary Agent may seem old fashioned to some of the new wave of Indie writers, but I still see having one as an entree to places in publishing I could never go to or get into without one. Literary Agents have relationships with publishing houses that I never will – or can. Editors for those houses trust their judgement. If they talk up an author and her work, those editors will listen instead of unknown me writing a query letter that will probably go into a spam file.
I respect Literary Agents and think they are so worth having. You have a doctor to protect your health; a dentist to protect your teeth. A literary agent protects you and your work. Makes sense, no?
And yet, I still haven’t been able to get any LA’s interested in representing me, so I ask again, how many published books – traditionally published books – does it take before someone will be interested in representing me?
The answer to the tootsie pop question was 3. It takes 3 licks to get to center of a tootsie pop.
I’ve queried upward of 25-30 Literary Agents the past few years. And I’m still not …at the center of the tootsie pop.
Le sigh. Maybe this year at #RWA2019 I’ll finally meet the Agent of my dreams. I can always hope and dream……
Hey, did you know my current book is currently on sale exclusively at AMAZON and KU?
Here are the links:
So today’s the day I start to try on clothes I haven’t worn in a while ( okay, a year!), figure out how many “travel sized” personal care items I need to buy, do laundry to ensure I have enough underwear to last a week, and find shoes that go with more than one outfit so I don’t have to pack my entire shoe closet.
Stress, they name is Margaret-Mary.
Cause of stress? I need to pack for RWA.
I am, usually, a fabulous packer. I just came back from a week in London with one suitcase and a backpack, and my packing skills are enviable. When you fly international, you’re only allowed so much poundage per stored luggage. I came in under, more than 20 pounds lighter than what they allow.
Score! If the plane had crashed due to overpacking and overweight, it wouldn’t have been because of anything I’d contributed to.
You’d think since RWA is in NYC this year, I wouldn’t have to worry. No planes, no airport parking, just a drive to MetroNorth, hop on a commuter train and then hail a cab from Grand Central Station to the Marriott Marquis.
Easy peasy.
Yeah., not so much.
Backstory: I have 2 torn rotator cuffs and a bunch of ancillary damage to both shoulders. Due to scheduling issues I’m not having my first surgery to repair one shoulder until the end of august. What that means is that I’m severely limited in how much I can pull/lift/push with my arms. I’ll be attending RWA solo, as always, and getting my suitcase filled with a week’s worth of stuff and then carrying it to NYC is going to be a pain in the…shoulder.
So that’s one point.
Point 2 is since I haven’t been able to exercise much due to the pain and immobility issues of the shoulders, I’m a little….chubbier….than usual, and I haven’t bought any new clothes, so I need to be able to fit into the stuff from last year. And fit into stuff where I won’t look like a stuffed sausage!!! Can you lose 4o pounds in a weekend?
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
Le sigh….
Oh well. Let me go try stuff on and see what — it anything — fits and doesn’t make me look like a tent.
And don’t forget to come see me in NYC. I’m doing 2 book signings this year:
My very first RWA conference was in San Antonio in 2015. First timers are given an actual stick-on to place on their name badges stating they are first timer conference attendees. Like everyone else, I attached my badge banner after registration. I was standing by an escalator nervously trying not to look conspicuous and awkward in my solitariness, when ubertalented multipublished author Shirley Jump approached me and introduced herself. She stated she was an RWA Board Member and asked how I was liking my first conference. She asked what I wrote, was I published, what chapter did I belong to, all questions that engaged me in conversation and put me at ease. She was absolutely charming, lovely, and (if you’ve never seen her) gorgeous. She made me feel so special, I went about the rest of the day feeling less like a fish out of water.
Knowing that she took the time to reach out to me, a total stranger, to welcome me to RWA and to encourage me to take advantage of the parties, courses and workshops, gave me such a feeling of acceptance and belonging.
The next year, as a seasoned conference attendee now (LOL) I remembered that encounter and did the same thing Shirley did: I reached out to several people who had first timer banners on their badges. I introduced myself and then engaged them in conversation about their experience the same way Shirley had.
It felt marvelous to reach out that way. I met three women who were much the same age as me, who were at that point in their lives where they wanted to devote themselves to their writing more and were attending the conference to network, see what was happening in the industry, and take advantage of some of the fabulous workshops and courses. They even asked me advice on publishing. Imagine. Me!
Ego-boosting stuff to be sure.
Every year since then I’ve made it my business to connect like that with first timers. And every year I’ve made more writing friends because of it.
Every one of us who write has at one time or another felt that solitary, awkward, what-am-I-doing-here feeling. RWA is a supportive community of writers in all phases of their publishing careers and we should embrace one another on all those levels. A smile and a word of encouragement go a long way when someone is feeling out of place or overwhelmed. So, I’m challenging all of us RWA seasoned members to reach out this year to a first-time conference attendee and welcome them into the community we all love so much. You just may make a novice writer’s day. And conference.
Until next time ~ Peg
And don’t forget – DIRTY DAMSELS is available now here:Amazon KU +
In one short week I head to NYC for the annual RWA conference. Can I just tell you how happy I am that I don’t have to fly to the event this year??!! A quick drive to New Haven and then a hop on board Metro North and I can be in NYC much quicker than if I have to fly to ports west of here.
Any hoo…
This annual conference has become for me, a time to re-energize, revitalize, and reevaluate my writing career. I get to see writing friends I only see at conferences since we live in different places, and I get to fan-girl my favorite authors and do a little harmless stalking. Hee hee.
I’ll be updating the blog daily with fun stuff from NYC and the conference, so be sure to check out my hashtag #peggyworksaconference on my twitter and instagram feeds.
The logo/motto for the 2018 RWA conference was RETHINK REVITALIZE RENEW. I think I did all 3.
It’s been a week since I’ve been home and I’ve been super busy trying to finish edits on an upcoming title, due today. Yesterday I completed them and sent them on their way, so now I can start to listen to the RWA flash drive of the classes and workshops I missed, plus put into effect some of the marketing strategies I learned.
Here are a few random pictures I still haven’t posted from the event. Next year, NYC. Can’t wait…truly!
When I had to choose which shoes to wear to which event:
When the menu had yet another thing I was allergic to: (PS I never ate the food at any of the luncheons or dinners because I was allergic to almost everything they served!
My favorite event: The ProLiteracy book Singing!
Next year I’m going to be more diligent in how I take pictures. This year I didn’t take enough!
Peggy Jaeger, Author 