Novel Clique + First Tuesday members
I can’t even begin to describe how awesome OWFI 2012 was. There were a number of informative workshops. I listened to Chuck Sambuchino discuss “Perfecting Your Pitch”, attended session where agents and editors fielded questions from the audience, heard what editor Melissa Frain had to say about genre fiction, listened to a paranormal panel discuss the supernatural, and watched Carolyn Wall ‘fall into’ her characters to demonstrate how to discover voice.
WordWeavers Bartlesville + Me
It was wonderful to see the familiar faces of my Word Weaver friends, as well as meet new people. I had a chance to meet Rebekah Loper, a blogger encountered through the Platform Building Campaign, face to face.
Though, the thing that sets OWFI apart from many other conferences is the opportunity to attend Buzz Sessions with speakers/presenters. My critique group and I (along with a few other attendees) had the opportunity to hang out with agents Lousie Fury, Emmanuelle Morgen, and Jessica Sinsheimer and discuss things like market trends, the benefits of
Agent side of Agent/Editor panel
acquiring an agent, what to expect in an agent/author relationship, and that some agents actually visit blogs as well as search Twitter and Facebook of potential clients before making offers. *waves hello*
The keynote speaker Steven James had me laughing so hard I snorted during the ‘JOY’ part of his speech. Long story short, bad things aren’t a travesty for writer’s, it’s material. He also read snippets of rejections letters, which were funny in retrospect.
On both Friday and Saturday, I had the opportunity to pitch my YA paranormal novels EDGE OF TRUTH and BLINK to three agents. All asked for material. My critique partners also successfully pitched their work to agents.
Novel Clique post Awards Banquet celebration
The conference ended with an Awards Banquet on Saturday. Everyone in my critique group placed in one category or another. My short story ZOMBIE KIBOSH CREW earned 2nd Place in the YA Short Story category (find extended, published version on Kindle or Nook or print).
Overall, I’d say OWFI is an excellent conference and attendees get so much back for the conference cost.
Have you been to a conference lately? Which one and what did you like about it? Or perhaps you’re planning to attend a conference in the future? How did you decide which one?
Writes By Moonlight 
Congrats on all the agent interest – so exciting! Fingers crossed for you 🙂 I love conferences. They’re so inspiring, aren’t they? I always come home full of enthusiasm for this amazing job I get to do!
They are inspiring. I’ve already started applying the things I’ve learned to my work. Plus, I found a few new writers to network with.
Looks like you had a blast! Love the pics!
Thanks. It was a successful outing for my critique group.
Sounds like fun. I’m jealous! 😀
Fun and educational. I plan to write about some of the things I learned.
It was a ton of fun. So good to see y’all!
You too!
It was entirely too much fun. I cannot wait to go again next year. Every other conference we plan on attending has some pretty big shoes to fill, if you’ll pardon the cliche.
In this case a well deserved one. :0)
Sent from my iPhone
Well, other than OWFI this year, the other conferences I plan on attending are the Ozark Creative Writers conference in Eureka Springs, and the Nimrod conference in Tulsa :D. They’re both close, so that’s part of a major decision factor, hehe.
Sounds like you’re a busy woman. Look forward to seeing a post on those conferences sometime. 🙂
Very nice blog and post, Natasha! I forgot to bring my camera, so I enjoyed seeing your pictures. I look forward to seeing you again next year — maybe we can talk more then! 🙂
Luckily, I have a camera on my cell phone. :0)
Great blog and post, Natasha! I think OWFI is one of the best conferences around, and this year was the best of the best. Though I often think about venturing out to conferences outside of my area to I’ll always return to OWFI. Congratulations on your win — see you next year!
Thanks Jan and I couldn’t agree more. People in the midwest are so approachable and friendly.
Sounds like you had a great time! Best of luck with those requests! 😀
Thanks Carrie!