Tag Archives: Writing

Writer’s Digest Annual Conference 2016 In New York

Literary, Writing Conferences & Getaways, , , , , , , , , , ,

Writers Digest Conference

The Writer’s Digest Conference will be held in New York August 12-14, 2016 at the New York Hilton Midtown. The program is designed to give you a balanced education in both the craft and the business of being a writer—all in an encouraging, inspiring environment. Customize your experience by mixing-and-matching sessions among these core tracks: Craft, Getting Published, The Business of Being an Author, Platform & Promotion and Genre Studies. And this is the cool place where Pitchslam happens!

Agents/Editors in attendance will be:

Marilyn Allen Allen O’Shea Literary 
Kurestin Armada P.S. Literary
Noah Ballard Curtis Brown, Ltd
Danielle Burby HSG Agency
Tara Carberry Trident Media Group
Kirsten Carleton Prospect Agency
Marisa Corvisiero Corvisiero Literary Agency
Kaylee Davis Dee Mura Literary
Stephanie Delman Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, Inc.
Elise Erickson Harold Ober Associates
Diana Finch Diana Finch Literary Agency
Heather Flaherty The Bent Agency
Caitie Flum Liza Dawson Associates
Roz Foster Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency
Connor Goldsmith Fuse Literary
Mark Gottlieb Trident Media Group
Shannon Hassan Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Mike Hoogland Dystel & Goderich Literary Management
Andy Kifer The Gernert Co.
Peter Knapp New Leaf Literary
Caitlin McDonald Donald Maass Literary Agency
Kate McKean Howard Morhaim Literary
Penny Moore (FinePrint Literary-website encountering errors but they’re legit)
Dee Mura Dee Mura Literary
Kimiko Nakamura Dee Mura Literary
Beth Phelan The Bent Agency
Tanusri Prasanna HSG Agency
Rita Rosenkranz Rita Rosenkranz Literary Agency
Eric Ruben Eric Ruben
Katharine Sands Sarah Jane Freymann Literary
Lydia Shamah Carol Mann Agency
Alec Shane Writers House
Katie Shea Boutilier Donald Maass Literary Agency
Anjali Singh Pande Literary
Marlene Stringer Stringer Literary
Jaida Temperly New Leaf Literary
Stacy Testa Writers House
John Willig Literary Services
Christine Witthohn Book Cents Literary
Seats are limited so be sure and book right away. As always, good luck!
P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Colorado Writing Workshop

Literary, Writing Conferences & Getaways, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Colorado Writing Workshop is a special one-day “How to Get Published” writing workshop on Saturday, July 30, 2016, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Denver-Thornton. In other words, it’s one day full of classes and advice designed to give you the best instruction concerning how to get your writing & books published. They’ll discuss your publishing opportunities today, how to write queries & pitches, how to market yourself and your books, what makes an agent/editor stop reading your manuscript, and more. No matter what you’re writing — fiction or nonfiction — the day’s classes will help point you in the right direction. And of course, their are pitch and critique opportunities!

Here are some of the agents participating:

  • literary agent Carlie Webber (CK Webber Associates)
  • literary agent Dawn Frederick (Red Sofa Literary)
  • literary agent Alex Barba (Inklings Literary)
  • literary agent Lisa Abellera (Kimberley Cameron Literary)
  • literary scout Angie Hodapp (Nelson Literary)
  • literary agent Greg Johnson (Wordserve Literary)
  • literary agent Becky LeJeune (Bond Literary)
  • literary agent Samantha Fountain (Corvisiero Literary)
  • literary agent Laura Zats (Red Sofa Literary)
  • and possibly more to come.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Writing From Color & Native Voices Contest

Contests, Literary, , , , , , , ,

logo-WCNV

According to the website, there are many paths to publication and one that has risen in popularity is online contests. (Isn’t that the truth!) The W.C.N.V. is such a contest, but also an attempt to directly combat inequality in the industry, by focusing not only on Native characters and characters of color, but authors as well. This contest will feature queries and the first 300 words of COMPLETED, POLISHED manuscripts written by native authors and authors of color. The entry window will be open from 12:00 am (midnight) Eastern June 12, 2016 until 11:59 pm Eastern that same day.

Ge here for submission guidelines and agent/editors (56 so far) participating go here.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

The 2016 Tennessee Writing Workshop

Literary, Writing Conferences & Getaways, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tennessee Workshop

The Tennessee Writing Workshop  will take place July 23, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee and is a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course the event, pitch a literary agent or editor (optional), get your questions answered, and more. Note that there are limited seats at the event (130 total). Some of the agents participating are:

  • literary agent Cate Hart (Corvisiero Literary)
  • literary agent Julie Gwinn (The Seymour Agency)
  • literary agent Tricia Skinner (Fuse Literary)
  • acquiring editor Laura Apperson (St. Martin’s)
  • literary agent Eric Smith (P.S. Literary)
  • literary agent Marisa Corvisiero (Corvisiero Literary)
  • literary agent Victoria Lea (Aponte Literary)
  • and more to come.

So hurry if you want to attend, especially if you want to pitch to an agent!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction

QUERY KOMBAT IS TOMORROW!

Contests, Literary, , , , , , , , , ,

Query Kombat Logo

Reminding everyone that Query Kombat submissions open tomorrow May 16 (9am) and remain open through May 20, 2016 (closing at noon).  Michelle Hauck is the creator of the contest with Laura Heffeman and Michael Anthony  hosting. You can find the instructions to submit here. They have 21 agents (although Michael’s blog says 29) participating this year, so get those queries and first 250 words polished. And remember, this is for completed and unpublished works.

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction

Scrivener for Writers

Literary, , , , , , , , , , ,

win-showcase-scrivener_header

For years I’ve heard writers say they use Scrivener to help them write their manuscripts and I’ve recently decided to give it a whirl with my new manuscript. The software features a corkboard to organize, which even helps with writing a synopsis and moving index cards around. Other features include the Outliner, Scrivenings, Text Editing, Scriptwriting, and more. For a full description of all the features go here. And the best part about this software helping writers with their manuscript is it only costs $40 USD (available for windows and mac).

If you also use Scrivener, let others know in the comments how you feel about the software. Have a great day and happy writing.

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction

The 2016 Cleveland Writing Workshop

Literary, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Houston Writing Workshop

The 2016 Cleveland Writing Workshop will be held on June 4th, 2016 in Cleveland Ohio. According to the website this writing event is a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent (optional), get your questions answered, and more. Note that there are limited seats at the event (125 total). Some of the agents participating are:

  • Kimiko Nakamura with Dee Mura Literary
  • Mallory Brown with TriadaUS
  • Vicki Selvaggio with Jennifer De Chiara Literary
  • Moe Ferrara with BookEnds Literary
  • Kaylee Davis with Dee Mura Literary
  • Fred Tribuzzo with The Rudy Agency

Be sure to register early since seats are limited, especially if you want to pitch and agent in person.

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

FicFest Writing Contest

Contests, Literary, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FicFest

Today the guidelines and theme should be revealed for the FicFest contest on Tiffany Hoffman’s blog. This is another contest where the winners will get help revising their manuscripts for 8 weeks before the agent round.

Update: Go here for guidelines and theme!

Here is a schedule for the event:

March 27, 2016 @ 7:00 PM EST
Meet the Team Leads & Their Members!

April 3, 2016 @ 6:00 PM EST
Agent List Announced

April 17, 2016 @ 7:00 PM EST – 10:00 PM EST
Q & A with Team Leads & Host
(Twitter – Using #FicFest)

April 24, 2016 @ 12:00 AM EST – April 25, 2016 @ 11:59 PM EST
SUBMISSION

April 26, 2016 – May 3, 2016
Teams will chose their finalists/alternate

May 4, 2016 @ 10:00 AM EST
Finalists/Alternate Reveal

May 5, 2016 – June 30, 2016
Revisions

July 8, 2016 @ 12:00 AM EST – July 14, 2014 @ 11:59 PM EST
Agent Round

As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction

Writer’s Digest Annual Conference

Literary, Writing Conferences & Getaways, , , , , , , ,

Writers Digest Conference

The Writer’s Digest Annual Conference is August 12-14, 2016 at New York Hilton Midtown. There are some great agents participating in the workshop and the PitchSlam event. For a complete list of agents, go here. They have an early bird special that ends on April 1, 2016. So if you’re planning to go, now is the time to register. I mean, who doesn’t want to join in the PitchSlam fun!

Happy learning and good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

Monthly Mumbles

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Creative Pencil

I’ve been told that I should occasionally write a post about myself. So I’ll start giving updates on what I’m doing or what I’ve done. Late last year, I got a promotion with my day job (working as an ASM for a fortune 500 country). This is great except I now work 50-60 hours per week, which really cuts into my writing time. So, on my days off I binge write blog posts to schedule (including this one). Then because I’m a glutton for punishment, I decided to finish my degree and signed up for classes. This semester I’m taking THREE! But I will finally be finished with my degree in May. Woot!

So, when do I have time to write? I MAKE TIME! (Even if just a little each day. Refer to an earlier post I wrote.) I recently started a middle grade novel with sort of a Hobbit-ish feel (which I’m really excited about). And for those who knew about my last novel THIS SCARY MANOR BLOWS being in the hands of agents, yes it is still with a few. Waiting can be so difficult. The best cure is to write something new and forget about the old. Speaking of new, I’m up to 106 book ideas that I’ve made notes on (or started in some way). Since I might not be able to write all of them in this lifetime, I’ll need to reincarnate myself. Just sayin’.

Now, I have to tell y’all about a great diversity book I read for my Lit284 class called THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY of a PART-TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexie. But I’ll warn you that sometimes the racist verbiage is a little tough to swallow. But the story is based on Sherman’s own life growing up on the reservation, so it wouldn’t be real if he kept the hard stuff out. Right? And have no fears about it being serious and deep, although there are some deep issues happening. This story is funny and inspiring about the underdog coming out on top. (Seriously, you’ll be asking yourself why you’re laughing when someone just died. So not cool, and yet there you’ll be.) The next book I’m currently reading is THE JOY LUCK CLUB by Amy Tan. (I know, hard to believe I haven’t read this story yet!)

That’s all for now. There be more from me later.

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.