After our Old Colorado City Writers Group meeting on Thursday evening at Agia Sophia (one of the best coffee shops in town!), I met with group founder and leader, Karen Linamen. I had met Karen several years ago at the American Christian Writers Conference and was instantly taken by her humor, so I signed up for all of her workshops and purchased several of her books (no, I'm not a stalker!). A few years later, I saw her again at the same conference, and this time her agent was a speaker as well.
After getting "rejected" by the first agent who asked for my proposal in September, the agent gave me several agents' names and suggested I query them. She also said I could tell them she recommended me, which is a good sign (see my previous entry). Knowing one of the agents is Karen's agent, I asked Karen if she could meet with me for an hour or so to review my proposal to see if there was anything I needed to change before I sent a query to her agent. She agreed to pencil me in, so we're getting together on Tuesday to review it and see what changes I need to make to improve my chances.
I have to say that writers are as interested in seeing other writers succeed as much as they are to see themselves succeed. The network of writers, the writers groups to which I belong, and the friends I've made are critical to me succeeding in the difficult world of publication (it's not what you know, it's who you know). Not only do writers "get" other writers, but they also help each other, willingly and without charge. Now don't get me wrong, there's a time and place for consultations and conferences, but when a published author takes time out of her busy schedule to help another aspiring author, that says a lot about her character, not to mention writers in general. For that, I am very grateful.
So, wish me luck on Tuesday, and send up a prayer or two that I'll be able to successfully query Karen's agent. And I'm hoping that because I've met him in person, sat with him at lunch at the conference, and am "Friends" with him on Facebook, that that will improve my chances of having him sign me on!
And who knows, maybe I will be the one taking time out of my schedule to help another aspiring writer achieve her dreams of becoming published!
The Pruning Principle
1 year ago
2 comments:
Hey...how did that meeting go?
I completely agree with you that writers are interested in seeing other writers succeed. I have only been blogging as a writer for a few months and I have come in contact with many other writers who endeavor to get their book published. And I follow along with their stories and wait to hear what happened with this or that query and get excited when I hear their good news. I think writers can give other writers the greatest support for the challenges they have ahead. Good luck with your meeting. I'll be checking back to see how it goes!
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