they also let me come back to New York.
And I had a great time.
As you know, I'm not much of a conference 'ho.
"I hate them" is closer to my usual muttering.
"Necessary evil" kind of thing.
Well, the Surrey International Writing Conference made a liar out of me.
It's a GREAT conference.
From a totally selfish point of view, they take great care of the incoming agents. Met at the airport, a hotel room not only larger than my office- it's larger than my apartment, and TV!!!
Mostly though what makes this conference better than most is that I found people who were good prospects. That's a rarity at a conference. A lot of conference attendees aren't polished or prepared enough cause they're just starting out.
Surrey does a really good job about teaching the writing part as well as the "meet an agent" part. They probably had the most stellar roster of published writers offering work shops and "blue pencil" critique sessions, I've ever seen at a conference like this. Anne Perry for starters.
The most fun was the Surrey Conference Idol Contest. Five agents (moi plus four) listened to the first page of writing from about 20 randomly selected entries. (the pages were read aloud)
We then stopped the reading when we'd heard enough to make a decision of yes or no.
It was extremely illuminating to hear what a range of taste and interest there was with just five agents. (Query widely for that reason alone!) Most of the time we agreed on why something was bad or didn't work, but we all liked very different things. If you see anyone mention I laugh at dead frogs..it's a reference to this event.
If you think a conference is right for you, I can't recommend Surrey highly enough.
7 comments:
You see? I TOLD you they had civilization in Surrey. We Canadans know how to do a thing or two right. ;o)
Involuntary frog-slaughter...Oh, yes. That was a great line!
Thanks very much for coming to the conference, Ms. Reid. I saw you speak at both SiWC Idol and the Agent Q & A session, and you were great!
Furthermore, after SiWC Idol, I kept overhearing writers chattering about how cool it was to see those three authors get singled out and asked to come talk to one or more agents afterward. It was the success stories that got us all buzzed, even if the failures were what learned something from. Thanks again for doing it!
*sigh* I do wish you repped my genre.
and now you know how to recognize a 'twoonie.' Now don't forget: a queen in front and... :) Ms Reid you added a special kind of Verve to the conference that has not here-to-fore been seen. Did you ever get rid of those fuzzy slippers?
Ha! Dare I say it? You seem almost...nice. Now that you've been to the SIWC and rubbed up against all those Canadians, it appears you got Canadian all over yourself. (A suitable, classic Canadian riposte, should you wish to use one, would be, "Take off, eh.")
Hope to see you there next year.
From another fan of frogicide.
I have to reply that the writers at the Surrey conference were so glad to have you there! You brought energy and excitement to the sessions, particularly Idol, and made it fun.
Hope to see you there next year!
I love the Idol contest. If the first page doesn't grab you, nothing will. Another idea is what my husband does -open the book randomly and read. He says the first page is always good but is the middle?
I live in Surrey, did not attend the conference and now wish I had. I found this site quite by accident -on a agent search- and I'll be reading a lot more here.
If you like beautiful old houses come visit my new site, househugger.blogspot.com. Houses is my first passion and writing my second.
Hi Janet. I'm the one who was chatting with kc when you checked in to the presenters' desk. (Remember the tall lady with the flowers? That's me.) I'm so glad you found the conference worthwhile. It is one of the best-kept secrets in the writing world, I believe. I hope you'll come back.
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