The Write Conversation: Tips to Begin Your Writing Conference Follow Up Before Leaving Home

It costs money and time to attend a conference, so make the most of your investment. Prepare with setting goals and strategizing to make the most of opportunities. Plans help guide you in how to follow up with people you meet at the conference. Part of this includes studying the faculty, attendees, and schedule. Begin it all with prayer and asking God to help you make the best connections for you.

PREPARE and PRAY-PARE

Decide how to track networking. This could be on your phone notes, in a small conference bullet journal you create, or on a spread sheet. Choose whatever works best for you.

List your dreams and goals for the conference. Understand that unless your work is well edited and you have a great platform, a contract may not come from your first few conferences. That’s okay. God called Abraham to birth a nation and it took 25 years before God blessed him with Abraham. Ask yourself if you want an Ishmael (doing it your way) or an Isaac (God’s way). Set some realistic goals too. Then pray over them and ask God’s advice.

Consider what you hope to accomplish:

Get published in articles or books
Who you want to meet
Your genre and connections with other writers in that genre
Building friendships and community, including people who live near you or can connect online at times that fit your schedule.
What you most need to learn or do next in your writing journey

Study Ahead

Read the faculty bios and classes each will teach. Note what faculty you’d like to meet. Mark what classes most interest you and what ones you need most. For agents and editors, go to their websites and check out what they represent/publish and any guidelines. If they have a blog, start reading it. Check out faculty who publish in your genre as well as ones you read and admire. Follow them. Match up faculty you want to meet with a class the person is teaching and attend it. That helps you get to know that faculty member and learn about what they publish or write.

Prepare Questions

What do you want to know from each person you’d like to meet.
What gets them excited in a proposal?
What are they currently representing or publishing that they are passionate about?
Where do they live and what hobbies do they enjoy.

Pack well

Pack your business cards, proposal one-sheets, and list of article or devotional ideas to pitch. Practice your pitch at home. Bring comfortable shoes for walking and standing. Have jackets or sweaters in case it’s cold. Check the schedule to see if any events are dressy.

START NETWORKING Once You Arrive

Greet and Meet

Talk to people you meet. Exchange business cards and note a detail on the back or a reason to follow up. Be ready when any signups for appointments are schedules. For meals, see if there are assigned tables for editors and agents so you can try to sit with one at a meal. Don’t try to rush or push, but go where there are open spots and trust God.

At meals, be friendly and ask what other people are working on and about their successes. Share when asked.

Rejoice at Opportunities

Be thankful for any opportunities. Take notes of responses to your pitches. If an editor expresses interest, ask for the best way to follow up and what you should send. If they are not interested, ask for advice of what you should do next.

For authors you meet and click with, be sure to ask how you can stay connected. For busier authors, be sure to follow them and make comments on their posts.

Daily Follow Up

In the evening or morning, make notes of any follow up you should do, especially requested articles or proposals to send in. Prioritize these notes, so you can tackle what’s most important first. This includes thank-you notes to send.

FOLLOW THROUGH AFTER THE CONFERENCE

Once back home, take a break for a day or two. Pray. See what remains in your mind and act on those first. Prioritize your follow up notes and schedule at least one network activity a day. This should include applying lessons learned, sending in requested material, connecting with people you met, and rewriting as needed.

Note anyone you had hoped to connect with but never had the opportunity. Send the person a note or message on social media. Make notes of what worked best for you in networking and what you’d like to change of add in the future.

Build on relationships you made by staying in touch. That can be with a regular meet up online or in person, posting comments, reviewing books, or hiring a coach you meet whom you believe can help you move forward. If there were invites to join a critique group, guest blog, or start a genre Facebook group, decide what to do and let the person know your choice.

Review your writing schedule and see if you need to add more writing or marketing time to your schedule. Remember to honor what God has called you to do.

TWEETABLE

Tips to Begin Your Writing Conference Follow Up Before Leaving Home from author @KarenHWhiting on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Karen Whiting (WWW.KARENWHITING.COM) is an international speaker, former television host of Puppets on Parade, certified writing and marketing coach, and award-winning author of twenty-seven books for women, children, and families. Her newest book, The Gift of Bread: Recipes for the Heart and the Table reflects her passion for bread and growing up helping at her grandparent’s restaurant. Check out her newest book Growing a Mother’s Heart: Devotions of Faith, Hope, and Love from Mothers Past, Present, and Future. It's full of heartwarming and teary-eyed stories of moms.

Karen has a heart to grow tomorrow’s wholesome families today. She has written more than eight hundred articles for more than sixty publications and loves to let creativity splash over the pages of what she writes. She writes for Crosswalk. Connect with Karen on Twitter @KarenHWhiting Pinterest KarenWhiting FB KarenHWhiting.