Conference Preparedness--What's that?

Lovely Georgiana commented in yesterday's post about the one-sheet being the biggest thing for her to create for her conference "package." That made me wonder what exactly is supposed to be in a conference "package"?

Help me out, everyone. I'm going to attempt to list what I think that package should hold, but I'm certain I'll get something wrong or miss something entirely and wish I hadn't have when I get there.

Here's my list so far:

1) Business Cards: Don't need to be fancy, just need to have contact information. Name, Snail mail address, Email address, Website address if you have one, and a stunning picture of yourself would be nice, too, but not a deal breaker. Hand out liberally to fellow writers, etc.

2) Copies of your One-sheet: A One-sheet is an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper with your full name, contact information, bio information with writing credentials/credits, a summary of what you write, branding clause if you have one (mine is Writing Faithful Romances Worth Pondering), and a head shot picture of yourself. This is the sheet that you'll leave with the editors and agents for them to help keep who is who straight in their head once the conference is over. Most say that lots of white space is desirable, or an aesthetic background photo that represents your type of writing. Conciseness is the key, while still presenting enough to sell yourself to the powers that may be.

3) Log line for the story you're intending to pitch. Some print these on sticker labels with the title of your story and then attach them to the back of your business cards. Good for cheating, too. If you get tongue tied around agents and editors in general, just pull your card out and read the back to get grounded. The log line helps you develop your elevator pitch, too.

4) An elevator pitch: Know your story and be able to summarize it in a few short sentences. Memorizing is good here.

5) Longer pitch: What you wish to say while in one-on-one appointments. If you're not pitching a particular story, what about coming up with some good questions to ask instead. Make the most of those appointments.

6) A Proposal Package: This could vary by what the individual agents/editors give as personal guidelines for what they are looking for. But in general, I believe a Proposal Package includes the following if you're pitching a particular story.

• A cover letter on good quality paper, preferably on letterhead.
• Author biography
• Market analysis
• Story Synopsis
• Initial 3 chapters of story wishing to pitch
• A One-sheet
• Business card

Put all this together in a folder and create one for each of your target agents and editors should you be given an opportunity to present it. They likely won't take it with them, but if they request it be sent to them, then you'll be more than ready.

Okay, I think that's it, besides Bible, clothing and toiletries, etc. to pack. Now it's your turn. What did I miss? Help me be prepared, please!

Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

A One-Sheet.

I had planned to submit a critique for the conference I'll be attending in a few weeks, but with my health issues of late and the unexpected upheavel that zapped me of any productivity in my writing arena of life for a while, I just plain missed the deadline. So, yesterday, when the extension news came, I decided quickly to switch which piece I'd intended to submit to make my life slightly easier and take advantage of this valuable service, and then I discovered that they wanted a one-sheet with the ms submission.

"Weird," I thought aloud. Synopsis are often requested, but I've never heard of a one-sheet to go with your ms submission. So, I sent off an email asking what exactly they considered a one-sheet to be, thinking it mustn't be what I think it is. Why on earth does a critiquer need to know my credentials, contact information, etc. to tell me what works and doesn't work in my story. But it appears that they had the same definition as I had on what a One-sheet is, and they like to pass this paper along to the critiquer so that they can get a picture (both literally and figuratively) of the author of the piece they're critiquing.

"Wow," I'm now saying, as some of the critiquers are editors and agents. Now is this not a huge bonus? Think about it, not only do we get to sign up for editor/agent one-on-one appointments at the conference, but we also have the added benefit of possibly getting our work directly in front of those very people with a picture of ourselves and a little information about us as well, even before the conference. And then we also get to reap the benefit of their critiques to help us improve our writing. I'm stunned and so very pleased with whoever came up with this request! Bonus! Bonus! Bonus!

But...

That meant I had to go at a mad rush to create a new One-sheet, as the one I currently have is out of date and I don't have the software to edit it either. (I had it professionally done a couple years ago.) So, I emailed a friend who I knew created her own a while back, and ask if she'd let me have a copy online that I could use as a skeleton. Bless her heart, she sent me three without hesitation, and one of them was done in Word, so that one I could tweak to my heart's content... so I did!

My eldest daughter, Alisha, is great with photography, so she searched through her online album and came up with a picture of me from my niece's recent wedding. She cut and cropped it, to get a head and shoulder shot of me out of it (dear hubby's shoulder keeps me company in the photo, and I love that, because this writing endeavor is really such a team effort with all his support). Then she found a country scene that has my middle daughter riding her pony in an open flowering field toward a wooded patch on the farm and a huge tree to her left. It's the perfect backdrop to my One-sheet that really gives the feel of my stories. Rural settings, country life, and the flowers give a cheerful feel, too, which I strive to end my stories on.

That done, I came up with my writing blocks and had several friends help me edit and revise them. Thank you Jeanette, Jessica and Jody! You guys are so helpful and so quick at it too.

And so now I'm done. All in under a 24 hour span. But I'm not just done for this critique requirement. No. I've got my One-sheet created and ready for printing to take to my next two writer's conferences at least. I'm so excited!

So, if you haven't already, I challenge you to create your own One-sheet. If you're like me, and starting from scratch is too overwhelming, ask a friend to send you one that you could use as a skeleton. It really does help! (FYI: I could be that friend.)

Happy One-sheeting everyone!

Surrendering to Him,

Eileen