Write to Publish 2018
Last weekend I went to the Write to Publish conference put on by Ooligan Press. The goal of Write to Publish is to "demystify the publishing industry for emerging writers." I asked around but couldn't find anyone who had previously attended. One of my writing 'goals' for this year was to push myself as a writer, both artistically and professionally, so I decided to register and hope for the best.
Overall it went great.
There were a variety of panels to choose from during the day. These are the 4 I chose:
- Heroes, Villains + Support, Oh My!: Writing Realistic and Interesting Characters with Mark Cunningham
- Your Adventuring Companion: The Ins & Outs of Finding or Being an Agent with Chip MacGregor
- Under One Banner: Writing Mediums and Submitting to Literary Journals with Finn J.D. John, Kathlene Postma, and Matt Simek
- The Finest in the Land: Making Your Mark on the Book Market with Joe Biel, Jessie Glenn, and Kait Heacock.
All the panels I attended proved both useful and interesting, but the panel about finding an agent with Chip MacGregor turned out to be exactly the kind of panel I was hoping to find there. I'm working on a novel and various writing friends have told me that I'm going to have to find an agent eventually. Until that panel I had no idea what the best way to find an agent was or even what an agent did. Finding an agent and getting published still seems like a daunting process that might not pan out but at least I know how the process works.
I think it's a great resource for emerging writings. Especially since writing programs seem to focus so heavily on the craft of writing and not enough on the 'business' of being an writer.
