It's That Time of Year Again!! WriteOnCon!!

With August in full swing, a lot of us are getting our kids (and ourselves) ready for the new school year. My eldest is starting kindergarten this year and I am freaking out. I have to admit it. He and I have spent pretty much every moment of the last five years together (minus a few vacations, dates with Gorgeous, etc.). I just can't imagine him somewhere else for so long every day. It'll be weird.

But do you want to know what else happens in August? One of the greatest writing conventions ever!

And if that's not enough to get my mind off the inevitable weeping I'll be doing in September, I don't know what is.

This is WriteOnCon's third year and those ladies (and one gent) have some great stuff planned. There are agents, editors, authors galore!

And it's free. Yeah, free.

Here's a look at what's going on today:

8:30 AM, EST: Picture book query submissions open. Author Emma Walton Hamilton will be critiquing and offering advice/feedback. Open for 20 hours, so don’t rush! 50 will be selected using random.org.

10:00 AM, EST: Literary agent Peter Knapp YA/MG Pitch Critique submissions open. Open for 20 hours, so don’t freak out! 50 pitches will be selected using random.org

10:00 AM, EST: Building Better Sentences submissions open. Author Gennifer Albin will critique the FIRST 100 WORDS of your manuscript. Submissions will remain open until we receive 100 entries, and Gennifer will select 10 randomly to showcase for her event on Wednesday, August 15.

12:00 PM, EST: Picture book stanza submissions open. Authors Corey Rosen Schwartz and Tiffany Strelitz Haber will be critiquing and offering advice/feedback. Submissions are open for 21 hours, and 20 entries will be selected using random.org.

NINJA AGENT THREADS open! Post your work in the appropriate thread (YA, MG, or PB) and cross your crossables that the Ninjas will take a look!

Isn't that amazing? Get over there and register!

I Am Still Alive

But dead tired.  Wow.  I completely overestimated the amount of activities I could fit into three super WriteOnCon days.

Note to self: Three year olds and one year olds do not care that mommy is working on the computer.

But I am here now (a walking zombie, maybe) and I want to know if any of you, my dear readers, attended the conference.  And if you did, what did you think?

My opinion:

The live chats--awesome.

Panel discussions--awesome.

Basically anything and everything having to do with the industry professionals--awesome.

Mass critique session--still on the fence on that one.  And I'll tell you why.  I've belonged to a few writing communities over the years where critiquing WIPs was the main order of the day, and though you can hit gold and find an amazing critique partner who understands your manuscript and really wants to help you, you'll also run into a lot of people who just won't ever "get" what you're writing and if you're not careful, they can lead you astray.

I've been doing this for so long that I think I'm pretty good at picking the good advice out of the bad advice.  When I first started, though, I made a lot of mistakes because I listened to what everyone said despite the fact I really didn't agree with them.  Clearly, if someone points out grammatical errors or typos, you should listen, but what about the other stuff?

Sometimes these mass critique sessions try to create cookie cutter manuscripts.  I.E. You shouldn't do it this way, but let me tell you how I would do it.  I try to avoid giving those kinds of critiques.

I'm actually not talking about any circumstances regarding my submissions into the critique slush pile.  But I am thinking about a particular writer friend of mine.  His query was ripped to shreds and it ended up winning a contest!  What would have happened if there wasn't a contest to show him just how awesome his query was?  I'm pretty sure he would have ignored the nay sayers, but a lot of people wouldn't.  A lot of people might have listened and destroyed an amazing query because it wasn't written the way others would write it.  And that's pretty sad.

But I remain on the fence with the mass critique stuff because you really can find the most amazing betas that way.  This writing stuff is no longer a lonely man's business.  We've got to get out there, make contacts, and find people who can really help our work shine.

What did you guys think of WOC?  Are you as jaded about mass critique sessions as me?

Cookies and The End of the World

Thanks to all you dear readers for your "happy birthdays!"  I told my son about the love and he was very pleased.  We had a great day--spent some time with the family, ate cupcakes, and went to VBS at night.  

And speaking of baked goods...cookies!  Yes, new followers, you are due some sweet goodness as a warm little welcome.  I'm glad you're here and all your comments make my day!  :D

Last week, Victoria Caswell (aka aspiring_x) gave me the End of Days Award.  Ummm...thanks?  Are you you implying something with this?  Is there something I don't know??  

No, actually, I'm very honored she decided to bestow this award upon me.  

There are some rules to this award, though, that I should get to.  Apparently I have to give you readers a glimpse into my psyche and let you know just what I would do if I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the world really was going to end on December 12, 2012!!!!  Ahhhh!

Honestly?  I'd cry.  I'm one of those parents people make fun of sometimes who are always freaking out about her kids getting hurt.  Seriously.  It's one of my biggest fears that I'll actually have to see my children suffer and die.  So finding out it's going to happen would make me really depressed.

Other than that, I'd probably squat on somebody's 5,000 acre forested property.  I've always wanted to live in the middle of the woods and because my impending demise would not make me immediately wealthy, I'd have to settle for someone else's property.

And guess who gets this lovely award passed on to them?  Every single new follower from 90+.  It's yours.  Take it!  If today wasn't the start of WriteOnCon, I would name each and every one of you.  But today IS the start of WriteOnCon and I have about fifteen more seconds left to finish this post.  Feel free to give yourself a shout-out in the comments.  And leave your links so everyone can go and visit you!  :D

Have a great day, everyone!

~Emily White