Should I Attend PPWC? A Q&A With the Voices in My Head

By MB Partlow, Conference Director, 2015 PPWC

I don’t know if I should attend the conference. I’m not a “real” writer.
If you write, or if you want to write, you are welcome at our conference. You don’t need to show ink-stained fingers at the door to prove your worthiness. If you have the desire to write or learn more about writing, you’ll be welcome at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference.

But I’m shy/introverted/antisocial and nobody will want to talk to me.
Then let me teach you the four magic words: What do you write? Ask anyone that and they’ll happily talk your ear off. And if they aren’t socially stunted, they will in turn ask, “And what do you write?” Instant conversation starter!

Aren’t these things often cliqueish?
People do tend to like to talk to people they already know. But everyone on the conference planning committee, and every single volunteer, is encouraged to reach out and be especially welcoming to the new faces in the crowd. Friendships, critique groups and love affairs have all started between people who were strangers before they met at our conference. (Okay, possibly not love affairs. But it could happen.)

Where should I sit during the meals if I don’t know anybody?
Pick a table, any table. For lunches and dinners, every table is hosted by a faculty member. There are signs on every table indicating who is sitting there and what they write or represent. So you could sit at a table with someone knowledgeable about your genre, or you could strike out in a new direction. You might sit with an author you’re a fan of, or an agent or editor you’re interested in querying at some point (a great way to break the ice). And remember the four magic words!

I can’t possibly talk about my writing. I’ll probably vomit on my shoes if a Big Author or Agent asks me what I write. Help!
Relax, Grasshopper. That story you’re writing? It’s your story. Own it. Be proud of it. Remember that people ask because they’re interested, not to trick you out of your inheritance or learn your secret family recipe for barbecue sauce. Also, the people asking the questions are human beings, not deities. They’ve got pets, children, achy feet, cranky coworkers and a mysterious rattle under the hood of their car, just like the rest of us. So erase any pedestals you’ve erected for them in your mind, and you’ll be just fine.

I’m not a beginning writer. Is there going to be anything there for me?
Tons. When we put together the workshop schedule, we try to balance between beginner, intermediate and advanced writers, as well as balancing the craft and the business aspects with the writing life. And we’ve never met a writer yet, no matter how experienced, who didn’t think there was some aspect of their writing they could improve upon. Sometimes just doing the writing exercises in a workshop will spark ideas you can apply to your work in progress, whether it’s your very first manuscript or your seventh published novel. And don’t forget, this is a wonderful time to network with other writers, as well as industry professionals.

Will you be talking about my specific genre?
We do have some genre-specific workshops, plus we take the attitude that good writing is good writing, no matter the genre. We find that elements of different genres, such as romance, horror, suspense and mystery, cross a variety of genres.

Where do you stand on indy vs. self vs. traditional publishing?
One thing we’re never going to do is tell you the exact path you have to travel. We support all paths to publication, because we want the stories to be told. We want to help writers put out their best work. To that end, we try to provide a balance of insight into as many types of publishing as we can. This year we’re focusing on Choose Your Writing Adventure because we want to celebrate all the choices available to writers today, as well as bring back the fun of the most wildly diverse occupation there is—writing.

For more information about the 2015 Pikes Peak Writers Conference: Choose Your Writing Adventure, please visit our website. 

About the Author: MB Partlow
MB's first paid writing gig was for the A&E department of The Independent. She wrote a parenting column for Pikes Peak Parent for several years, and freelanced for The Gazette. She’s a longtime volunteer for PPW, working her way up from chair stacker at Write Brains to Moderator Coordinator, Contest Coordinator, Director of Programming, and now Conference Director for 2015. A voracious reader across genres, she primarily write urban fantasy, although she ventures into space opera, mystery and magical realism. MB is physically unable to restrain her sense of humor, and her mouth occasionally moves faster than her brain. She blogs at PartlowsPool@wordpress.com, and can be reached at Conference@PikesPeakWriters.com.

Good News for all Writers Everywhere! Rejoice!

By Aaron Michael Ritchey

I have a friend, Betsy Dornbusch, who posted on her blog that people think she self-published her book. They just assume it. Now, she’s spent the last eight years working on her craft to get to the point that she is a professional writer, and yeah, she hasn’t self-published, and gets miffed that people just assume she did.

It’s a fascinating blog post. And you can link to it from HERE. 

I commented, which I don’t do often. This is my comment in funky fresh italics:

I have to say, when asked if I self-pubbed, I can honestly say I didn't. I have a publisher. My press is small. Does that make a difference? I don't know. Mark Coker of Smashwords would say the market and the readers will decide.

However, the days of working years on a book only to shove it under the bed because you couldn't find a publisher are over. Good.

Write books. Publish them. Repeat. If you suck, you suck. If you're divine, the readers will come. Perhaps only a few, but better than no readers at all.

I keep thinking, though, that I didn’t capture exactly what I wanted to say. The issue is so deep, wide, and pervasive—it plunges into the murky bottom of my vanity and my fears.

I don’t have a literary agent. I published my first book through a small press. I’ve had to do everything myself as far as marketing and promotion. People are sooooooooo impressed that I got published. Most normal people don’t know the difference between my contract with Crescent Moon Press and Stephen King’s latest contract with Simon and Schuster. I know. And it pains me.

This is hard stuff. Should I stop writing and give up because the outside world has not given me the six figure advance? Or should I rejoice in the fact I have an ISBN?  Shouldn’t I be grateful I have a book in the world, and that readers in Germany and the Philippines get to write negative reviews about my work on Amazon?

Yes, but I have a problem. I have dramatic sensibilities. If I don’t have Twilight fame, I suck. If my work doesn’t win awards, I suck. If I’m not making millions of dollars off my books, I suck. If German teens don’t love my books, I suck.

And yet, there are writers who got the six-figure advance and then got screwed. Who got dropped by their publisher. Who lived a life of woe. There are no easy answers. Good books do well. Crappy books do well. No one knows anything except if you hit it big, people will call you a genius. Take the same book, give it a bad cover and add some misspelled words, the same EXACT book, and the same people who lauded your genius will laugh at you.

I say we should rejoice in whatever path we are on. If you are self-pubbed, rejoice that you live in a time when you can get your voice out into the world. Give Mark Coker a big kiss next time you see him. And pray for sales.

If you have a big-time literary agent with big-time contracts with big-time publishers, rejoice because you’ve done something very few people ever do. And pray for sales.

Above all, write books. Write good books when you can. Write really stupid books when you can’t. And then take the plunge and put your book in the hands of readers, real readers, with hearts, minds, and souls. If some knucklehead shrugs you off because your book is only available online, talk to the next person, who might really need to read your work.

My first book I had printed by a tech manual printer. I had about twenty copies made. The book was unreadable. I dedicated it to my wife and she couldn’t get past the first chapter. It was a disaster. But my friend Peter read it. And he cried because he understood what I was trying to say in that 150,000 word monstrosity. My story touched him down to the roots of his soul. So the disaster was worth every single piece of shrapnel.

Rejoice and be glad! 

About the Writer:  YA Paranormal author Aaron Michael Ritchey has penned a dozen manuscripts in his 20 years as a writer. When he isn’t slapping around his muse, Aaron cycles to look fabulous, works in medical technologies, and keeps his family in silks and furs. His first novel, The Never Prayer, hit the streets on March 29, 2012.