RT Convention 2014 Recap

Unfortunately, I usually only have time to fit in one major conference a year. In the past, I've attended the San Francisco Writer's Conference and the New York Pitch Conference. Both had amazing craft workshops which featured everything from sharpening your first chapter to honing your final pitch.


Having these two workshops under my belt, I thought I was prepared for the RT Convention in New Orleans. Boy, was I wrong. RT is like a conference on mega steroids. There is so much to do and see it is almost impossible to fit everything in. There are writer tracks, reader tracks and sessions covering every genre and category. To say I was overwhelmed at the beginning was putting it mildly.


Once I got my footing, I settled in and took advantage of everything the conference had to offer. This  included several pitch sessions where I got to meet one-on-one with editors and agents. It also featured a special panel at the end of the final day featuring Gayle Forman, author of the YA Contemporary novel, IF I STAY, and a star from the film, discussing the movie which will be coming to theaters in August. Very, very cool!!!


Now I will have to admit there were many other great things about the conference. The mega book fair, where I got to have some of my favorite authors sign their books (see photos below), was unbelievable. But the most amazing thing was getting to meet so many writer friends in person. Whether they were published or newly agented, they were incredibly kind to share their stories about the path to publication, and I have to admit this was my favorite thing overall.


If you are interested in growing your craft, and meeting tons of writer friends in person, I highly suggest you check out info on RT 2015 taking place in Dallas next year. Just make sure you wear comfy shoes because you'll be sprinting to every incredible session!


Photos of some of my cool spoils from Leigh Bardugo & April Tucholke: