Yesterday a FB friend of mine posted about a so-called 'expert' who was going to be on a panel at some writing conference. My friend decided to look into this person's background to see what made them an expert on writing. They had one book for sale and its ranking was over 3 million. My friend posited that the aforementioned expert had to have not sold much in the past few months. Umm...
I took two years off all things writerly and as of last week - before the sale - Dying Embers was at like 2.5 million, so that begs the question of how poorly this person's book ever sold to be lower than a book I haven't marketed in two years? If sales are that poorly, how does one rise to the level of expert in writing?
I don't pretend to be an expert in anything writerly, but it seems to me that the goal of writing is to get people to read your work. If people aren't reading your work, you've missed the goal somewhere along the way. Of course, this person's writing may be amazing, but they suck at advertising and marketing. Then again, if that was the case, how did they get on the list to be picked for a panel on writing? Jus' sayin'.
The above dovetails into something I've talked about before - taking care to be mindful of the persons from whom you're taking your writing advice. Gah, especially when you're paying for the privilege as with a writing conference.
There's an upcoming writing conference in my area. Ozarks Writing something or other. I hear about it every year. Several of those years, I've checked to see who's on the panels to see if they're anyone I might even think about going to see or hear. Nine times out of ten I've never even heard of these people. I can't afford to spend money going to one of these things to meet people I'm not even sure could add any value to my life.
Hell, there's a writing group I've been seeing in my local paper. I could join. I just can't see the value. Like the cost-benefit analysis is lopsided. I'd spend money (gas, mostly) and time, and I wouldn't recoup those investments. There's also the possibility that I would give my pearls of wisdom and get none back. (Or worse, give them pearls and have them be swine about it.)
I think I got off track there somewhere. Anyway... Yeah, experts. Watch who you're taking advice from and take everything with a grain of salt. Also, watch who you're throwing time and money at. The usual.
If the "local" conference your're referring to is in Eureka Springs, I'd go just to see Eureka Springs. LOL Yeah, I did a little googling because I actually miss conferencing. I actually have meet one of the presenters and the cop dude sounds interesting. Haven't heard of the western guy because I don't read "new" westerns very often but being a Spur winner is a big deal! That's an award through the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum.
ReplyDeleteI did RWA conference every year (and that was BIG $$$$) until they "woke up" and decided mainstream thinking had no value. I did several panels--either as a prensenter or a moderator. Anyway. I also used to hit Heather Graham's down in New Orleans because...NOLA! It was always fun and there were awesome guests, speakers, parties, etc. I was on a few of panels there. I went to a couple of local--either from my local OKRWA group (now defunct, see above because they left the umbrella org not long after I dropped out), one with a state group that encompasses ALL genres (did a panel there on paranormal stuff. I was the writer, along with a medium, and a local ghost hunter. That was a trip! LOLOL) A local best-selling NYT author who has also published writing self-help books (which I've found actually helpful) also puts on a yearly local conference and another that's a cruise. You might check him out: William Bernhardt. He's really good at the thriller, legal mystery stuff and story structure.
Anyway. Yes. Unless you are going strictly for the social/vacation stuff at a conference, then check out the speakers because sometimes, what they have to teach isn't all that great. Sometimes, they're interesting people and you might learn something. (Psst. If you check out Bill and you ever want to come down to one of his conferences, you have a free room! 😉)