In case you have never attended a con, there is a lot to do and see. I have been a lot of years, and so many times never even go into anything but the writer’s track. This part of MSC is something not EVERY con has, so if I ever go to another one, I will partake of all the other festivities. But I digress…

So, the first workshop I attended was Elements to becoming a successful Author. It was held at 9:00 AM and as you may imagine had a lot of Monster Energy drinks in attendance. The authors there on the panel were : H David Blalock, Allan Gilbreath, Stephen Zimmer, and Kristi Bradley.

My takeaway:
1. Build your writing around when you are most productive. Find your own writing rhythm.
2. Be mindful of your branding once you are published. You should try to keep private and published lives separate.
3. Per Stephen Z., the worst thing a publisher can say is no. Submit. What do you have to lose?
4. And everyone agrees that when you sub do as little as possible to end up in the “no” stack. Read guidelines, write tight.
5. Dave Blalock explained that for writers, writing is how we emote. Most writers are painfully shy.

The next workshop I attended was Editing and Submission Etiquette and how deadlines are important. The panelists were: Debra Dixon, Danielle Childers, Kelley Armstrong, Toni Weisskopf, and John William Smith.

My takeaway:
1. YA books are not restricted on word length any longer. The “sweet spot” they told me was around 80-90 thousand words. Big relief here!
2. Used to be self-published books were off-limits to traditional houses. Now, they all accept previously published authors/books. So that really blew me away.

All in all, things have really changed in the last few years, and if you are a producing author you should do your research well.