They say writers love to talk about themselves. I used to laugh at this. I'm generally quite shy, and don't tend to be a conversation starter. I certainly avoid being the center of the conversation. If you've ever attended a writer's conference, you can just imagine my discomfort at certain times.
Pitching, for instance. Yes, I know, you make your appointments, go sell your stuff. Nobody forces you to do it.
Ahem. I beg to differ. You all know who you are.
Then there's the meals. I usually dig in and keep my mouth fairly full so when my turn comes I have an excuse not to talk. But usually, at some point over five days, somebody is bound to ask, "What are you working on?" or "What do you write?"
The latter is much easier to answer. Spit out a genre and move on. But what am I working on? This second? What did I come here to pitch and hope to get a good response for?
Yeah.
I need to work on my marketing skills. And a bunch of other issues I have.
If I ever do sell a book, it's pretty much going to have to be one of those million dollar babies that just sells itself. I'll be the reclusive writer hiding away in a cave in an unknown land, such treacherous territory that only the stupidest of journalists would brave the terrain to get an interview.
That's my dream, but it's not very realistic, is it?
So I thought we should all band together, suck it up, and get some practice in here. We've only got nine months until the next ACFW conference!
You can do a full pitch if you want, or just tell me what you're working on at the moment. I'll be nice, I promise. I've had coffee.
I'll go first.
I'm working on a short contemporary romance that we'll pitch to Steeple Hill. It's an old manuscript that I'm rewriting, pretty much completely. So far so good. I haven't worked out a pitch yet. Ha. Good excuse, right?!
I'm also working on getting down some ideas for a new book idea that's rattling around in my brain. It's going to take place in Thailand. I think.
And I'm working on finding a home for my Vietnam book. Am I a little masochistic or what? Time will tell.
Well, that's me.
What are YOU working on?
This post is cross-posted over at Writers' Rest
Why? Because I'm lazy. And I'm actually supposed to be writing all day today, not writing blog posts.
4 comments:
Thailand...interested already.
I am so dichotomous (rhymes with hippopotamus--sorry, need more tea) when it comes to socially mingling. I'm convinced I'm an introvert and extrovert rolled into one.
I'm working on a women's fiction called, Noble Efforts to Engulf the Moon. Not romance, not chick lit.
Hoping to go to the next conference to pitch it.
~ Wendy
I'm writing a contemporary romance about a devoted widow who's trying to keep her struggling cafe afloat. Only this incredibly handsome and charming entrepreneur comes to town determined to buy her out so he can build condos along the town's riverfront.
I'm working on a historical romance set in the 1870s on a windswept island off the coast of Australia.
I am very interested in the Thailand one too!
We lived in Bangkok for a year in 1998.
When and where is your Thailand story set?
I'm in the middle of a sci-fi novel about an Irish scientist who flees across America to escape a deadly plague. If you could end world hunger, you'd do it, right? What if governmental experiments caused your miracle fertiliser to become a weapon of mass destruction? Meet Naomi, the Belfast biologist forced to run from her own creation.
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