Community and Confidence

By Jade Goodnough

Community and confidence.

www.nanrinella.com

I would not have connected the two a few years ago. Before I found my path as a writer.

Then so many doors opened in the form of my local network. I have made so many friends and connected with kindred spirits over such a short period of time. Each individual has contributed to my growing sense of self. They've lent me their strength and built a net of positive energy for my creativity.

Yes, it does sound a bit exaggerated, but that doesn't change the fact that it's true.

When I first went to a PPW event, I was the shy gal in the back, the one that felt out of place. The volunteers welcomed me and made sure I had access to their upcoming schedule, their resources, and answered the few questions I managed to ask. With every event thereafter, they recognized me and made sure to include me in conversations. Looking back, I can't picture myself without the friendship that bloomed from that beginning.

At my first opportunity to apply for a scholarship for Conference, I did everything wrong. The second time around, I had an entire community of writers there to advise me on how to better my chances. Without them, I do not believe I would have been awarded the gift of my very first writer’s conference. And I most certainly would not have been as confident in meeting all of the wonderful professionals that presented workshops there.

My biggest realization occurred at lunch on Day Two of Conference. I had tried to sit with an agent, but her table had filled up too quickly. So I made my way over to the table held for the editor I was meant to pitch to that afternoon. I figured that it wouldn't be too stalker-like, as long as I didn't hog the conversation. Someone asked the question, “How would you like to have a pitch given?” I perked up.

The editor thought for a moment and replied, “You know, I'd just like for someone to sit down like we've been friends for years and recommend the next book I should read.” I won't lie, I almost jumped out of my chair and screamed, “I can do that!” Because I'd been doing that for years with friends and family. All the nervous tension and stress I'd been feeling released and left behind a kind of jittery excitement. That's when I learned that industry professionals are just normal people trying to do their jobs. Like the rest of us.

The bonds I've made, at conference and all of the other events I've attended, are life altering. The people I now calls friends are irreplaceable. My community is a broad spectrum of talented writers and editors that show me every chance they get that I am where I belong. No other group of people celebrates me for my accomplishments, big and small.

So, community and confidence. One doesn't necessarily rely on the other, but both are stronger in unison. I am stronger with both of them in unison. There is no measure of gratitude that could ever be enough for such a wonderful blessing.

About the Author:  Jade N Goodnough is a writer who calls the beautiful city of Colorado Springs home. She has a short published in the very first Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group anthology, An Uncommon Collection. Her next short story will be released in the fall of 2014, and her multitude of novels will follow in the coming years. A winner of NaNoWriMo and PPWC scholarship recipient, Jade strives to become a better writer every day. You can find her online at: https://www.facebook.com/jade.goodnough
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@jade_goodnough on Twitter

Seven Things About Pitching You Won’t Hear From Me Live

By Linda Rohrbough

I’ve come up with a pitching workshop that’s also now an iPhone app. It’s a three step formula that works for any book. Want to hear more? I’ll let you in on my secrets when I teach it live in my Thursday Prequel workshop on April 22nd at this year’s PPW Conference, "Pitch Perfect: 3 Steps to Getting Their Attention." But in the meantime, let me tell you seven things I’m sure I won’t have time to say that Thursday morning.

1.      Most writers stop improving their pitch at the point where they sell the book. They do this because they figure if the pitch sold the book, it’s good enough. I agree. However, there are basic ways to make a pitch work and it can always be improved.

2.      Most new writers feel they have to be all things so some editor or agent will pay attention to them. That’s simply not true, and it’s the quickest way to produce failure.

3.      Every writer, no matter how much experience he or she has, has some level of fear when pitching. What’s important is to understand the concept that you can use fear to your advantage, and learn how to make fear work for you instead of against you.

4.      I failed miserably the first couple times I tried to pitch my fiction work. I failed pitching my non-fiction work, too, but the fiction failures were worse because I thought I had enough experience writing professionally to be heard. This is why I did the work to come up with my formula, which I use for my own work.

5.      This is a false statement: “You just need a one-sentence pitch.” I’d like to find whoever started that rumor and straighten them out. Although it’s so widespread now, I’m not sure it’s possible to trace the source.

6.      Most successful writers learned how to pitch by trial and error with years of practice. Yes, you can learn the same way. But do you really want to? Wouldn’t you rather shortcut that process?

7.      I get this question a day or two into a conference from new writers who take my workshop: “Do agents and editors always say yes?” They look at me with suspicion because they have heard pitching is hard. But these fresh writers, who have never pitched before and are using my formula, think pitching is too easy. So there must be a catch, like all agents and editors say yes at conferences and this is a scam arranged to make them feel better about paying extra for this workshop. So those of you with experience, can you tell us, do all agents and editors say yes at conferences? Ask around to the professional writers who learned to pitch by trial and error. Find out how long and how many tries it took them to get a yes.

One thing you will hear me say in my workshop is that pitching is a lifelong skill for a writer. Since writing is a lifelong profession, that makes sense.

I’m smiling as I write this because I’m looking forward to teaching this workshop. It’s one of my favorites and fresh for me every time I teach it. (I’ll be teaching other workshops during the course of the conference, as well.) Plus, I’m looking forward to being back home in Colorado. For those of you who don’t know, I’m a third generation Colorado native transplanted to Raleigh, North Carolina, but always looking for an excuse to come home.

Here’s the link for the Thursday Prequel workshops. Hope to see you there!

About the Author: Linda Rohrbough has been writing since 1989, and has more than 5,000 articles and seven books to her credit along with national awards for her fiction and non-fiction. New York Times #1 bestselling author Debbie Macomber said about Linda’s new novel: "This is fast-paced, thrilling, edge-of-the-seat reading. The Prophetess One: At Risk had me flipping the pages and holding my breath." The Prophetess One: At Risk has garnered three national awards: the 2012 International Book Award, the 2011 Global eBook Award, and the 2011 Millennium Star Publishing Award. An iPhone App of her popular “Pitch Your Book” workshop is available in the Apple iTunes store. Visit her website: www.LindaRohrbough.com.