The Creative Writer's Survival Guide: Advice from an Unrepentant Novelist

Conferences

163 Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I’ve already written about the importance of conferences for the writer looking for a publisher. For the writer who’s already published a book, conferences can significantly boost book sales, but certain kinds of conferences are better for sales than others. The Associated Writing Program’s conference is the largest writing conference in the country—probably the world—and yet it’s difficult to parlay being on a panel (which is what most writers at the conference end up doing) or giving a reading at an off-​ site location at night into significant book sales. Forone thing, books aren’t available at most of the panel discussions. For another thing, your book might not be available in the book fair, unless your publisher attends. Some writers will do book signings at their publisher’s booth, but the results for these are mixed as well. There are, simply, so many things going on at any given time, it’s likely that even your friends won’t come to the signing. The only way that I’ve successfully sold books at AWP was by renting a table for myself at the book fair. (A table is a smaller, cheaper space, usually reserved by literary magazines or MFA programs, whereas booths tend to be reserved by larger university and commercial presses or by smaller presses like Coffee House Press, which has an enormous backlist of titles.) The year that I reserved a table, I was promoting my anthology, When I Was a Loser. Since the table cost several hundred dollars to reserve, I was hoping only to break even. I brought about sixty copies of the anthology, along with a few of my own titles, and by the end of the conference, I had sold out of all but three books. I gave those three books away later that night. Granted, I didn’t walk away any richer, but sixty people now had copies of the book who probably hadn’t heard about it before the conference. Some of those people told me that they might use it for a class they taught. Others probably told friends about it. A few wrote blog-​ reviews of the book. I’ll gladly give out sixty copies of a book, if I can afford to. The more copies that are in circulation, the more likely it is that my readership will grow by word of mouth. Having said of all of this, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to participate on a panel. I’ve been approached by editors afterward and have even placed one of the essays I presented for a panel in a textbook pub- 164 Publicity lished by a prominent publisher. The guidelines for submitting proposals can be found on AWP’s website. I’ve had much better success, however, at other, smaller conferences , primarily conferences sponsored by universities over a three-​ day period, during which I’ll teach a workshop, be on a panel, give a reading, and socialize.The participants get to know you a little by the end of the conference, and they’re much more inclined to buy a book by the conference’s end, if they’ve enjoyed one or more of the events in which you’ve participated. Occasionally, the conference directors will offer a semester-​ long course that’s tied directly into the conference , assigning books written by the conference faculty as required reading. When this happens, it can boost sales by another thirty, sixty, or eighty books. I’ve also done one- and two-​ day stints at summer workshops for high school students. Fortunately, a lot of what I write taps into that audience, and I’ve been able to parlay a reading into a few dozen book sales. The bonus is that you usually get paid— sometimes extremely well—to be a featured guest at one of these conferences. The rub here is that teaching appointments for these sorts of conferences are invitation-​ only, which is another reason why it’s good to network. Next up are regional conferences and festivals. I’ve participated in a few of these in North Carolina and Nebraska, giving lectures, participating on panels, reading from my books. The more traditional of these conferences have never really yielded much by way of book sales, but I’m really not a North Carolina or Nebraska writer, despite my ties to both states. A writer of Great Plains fiction would stand a greater chance of...