Monday, October 19, 2009

What Happens at OCW stays at OCW...

... Except the information I’m about to share. Let’s hope the shiny black SUV’s don’t roll up and take me away.

I attended to Ozark Creative Writer’s Conference on October 8-10. What a fun experience. An author friend of mine recommended I attend. The three keynote speakers were Susan Stoltz, editor for Women out West, Pat LoBrutto, acquisitions editor for Tor-Forge and editorial consultant, and Doug Grad, literary agent.


The Industry Skinny:


All three touched on digital age and digital book publishing. In addition to reinforcing digital rights needing to be hammered out, how this will affect book sales (consensus seemed guardedly positive), and its impact on the author’s future, the other big point that came up several times was how it’ll will affect the publishing side. The publishing industry itself has been slow to change, and worked hard to maintain the same sort of process they’ve had in place for over fifty years; the digital age is forcing them to evolve, whether they like it or not.


So keep an eye out on how e-books affect payment structure (both advances and royalties), and watch the small publishers – their increased popularity may also be another big future wave.


Non-Industry Skinny:


I made several good contacts, and met many wonderful writers, both aspiring and published. I meandered the town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. They have a fun trolley ride, by the by, if you happen to go there.


Best news: I pitched my novel, and it went well. I'm finishing my revisions now so I can take my next step in January, which is sending some pages on. Here's hoping he likes what he reads. *crosses fingers*

2 comments:

The Screaming Guppy said...

Thanks for sharing girly! And congrats! So glad that your pitch went awesome.

I'm sure your pages will dazzle. Keep me posted, of course. :)

maria esperanza georgia noel hale said...

Thank you for sharing...hope the cars didn't show up! Can't wait to read your book!