Kyle Kerr

On Agents And Conferences

08/16/07 | Maui, My Writings | 0 Comments

Okay, there are roughly 7 billion people in the world, right?  Now, even if one half of one percent of those people are trying to be writers, that still equates to about 35 MILLION people.

I want to be published.  Now you know the odds.

It may not be nearly that many people, but the numbers are definitely up there.  You look at publisher or agency statistics, and they reject an average of 99% of the unsolicited submissions they get a year (meaning, people who send stuff in without the agent/publisher/editor requesting it first).  And publishers are even worse than literary agencies.  In fact, most publishers now REQUIRE submissions to be sent via an agent; they won’t even look at it if it’s sent directly from you, the writer.

Think of agents as St. Peter; they are the Guardians of the Gates, Keepers of the Keys… and rightly so, if you think about it.  Would books ever get published if publishers had to sift through all of those submissions themselves (remember my above statistics?)…?  So, agents are necessary in today’s publishing world.  (Not to mention that they are able to negotiate the best deal possible for you.)

Agents HAVE to be very picky about the clients they take on.  They have to really love the work if they are going to spend their time trying to get your manuscript into the hands of the right people.  They also have to like YOU if they plan on working with you for however long your relationship lasts (I know of authors who have had the same agent for 20+ years!).

So, how do you get to one of these elusive agents?  Well, there’s the most common way of sending them a query letter, possibly with a few sample chapters and a synopsis of the piece (about 1 page per every 25 manuscript pages).  But, if you want to get some actual face time with these people, you need to go to a writers’ conference.

That’s what I’ve decided to do.  So, in one weeks’ time, I will be boarding a plane and flying out to Maui.  First, I will be attending the Maui Writers Retreat, a 6-day Skulls session with me, about 10 other writers, and one bestselling author (Gary Braver).  All of us are working on novels, so Gary will be facilitating a roundtable discussion about our pieces, which the other group members will offer critiques on, we will revise our work, and then go for a second round.  At the end of those six days, we are supposed to walk away with first (and possibly second) chapters worthy of bestsellerdom.  Should be interesting.

However, when the retreat is over, that’s when the real work begins.  The next three days will be the Maui Writers Conference, attended by us (published author wannabes), actual published authors, and agents, editors and producers alike.  This is where the all important face time comes in.  We actually get to sign up for sessions with these industry professionals, pitch our ideas, and hope for the best.  Talk about skipping the slush pile!

Even before the conference has begun, I’ve already had two agents get in contact with me about my work.  One is interested in my novel, A Song of Sad Lamentation, and the other is interested in my story collection, The Price of Innocence (look for stories that say: “Part of a collection of stories, The Price of Innocence.").  They have both received my samples (believe me, I sent them out the SECOND I knew they wanted the samples!), and so now I pray.

Then, during the conference, it’s important to mingle and make contacts.  Talk about your ideas and projects with people.  All you need is your toe in the door, for them to say the all powerful words “Why don’t you send me a sample,” and then the whole trip has been worth it.  It was so empowering to be able to write “Requested Material” on the envelopes I sent to those two agents.  It’s some vindication that people are at least interested in seeing a sample of the work, it’s at least good enough to get out of the slush pile.

I will be making some Journal updates as the retreat and conference go on, so you can get an insider’s look into the Maui Writers Conference!

Hopefully the conference and retreat will be worth it.  But hey, like everyone has been saying to me, if I don’t get an agent out of this, at least I’ll have been to Maui.

Until next…

Kyle W. Kerr