Writing Conferences: Free Margs, Costly Advice
Posted by David Duhr in 
Discussion questions: This week we’ve got a special treat for you: WriteByNight’s own David Bushman, renowned true crime author and founding editor and publisher at Fayatteville Mafia and at Tucker DS Press, reports to us from Killer Nashville.
So… writing conferences: Yes or no? Pros and cons? Your favorites and your least favorites? How about the silliest panel discussion you’ve ever attended? The most useful? Let’s talk writing conferences in the comments below!
Raise your hand if you’ve ever been to a writing convention. I myself had never been to one until 2021, in preparation for the publication of Murder at Teal’s Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery Inspired Twin Peaks, a true crime book I coauthored with Mark Givens. Now I’ve been to so many I’ve lost count. Crime Con. CrimeConn. Bouchercon. Killer Nashville. The International Thrillers Fest. Bloody Scotland (bloody fun, that one).
I’m not bragging. Anyone can go to a writing convention, and if you’re a writer, you probably should. Maybe not as many as I’ve been to, but try one. The best thing about writing conventions (besides the open bar) is you get to spend a weekend hanging out with other writers. And not just any other writers, but other writers who are there to support you, rejoice in your triumphs, share your pain. We all know how lonely writing can be. Spend a weekend at a writing convention and I guarantee you you’ll feel less lonely.
Writing conventions are good for networking, good for promoting, and if you’re lucky, good for educating yourself on topics like “87 Ways to Sell More Books,” “Your Secret Weapon to (More) Writing Success —Tropes…Yes, Seriously,” “Navigating Social Media/Author Branding,” yada yada. With the exception of yada yada, all of the above were titles of actual panels presented at Killer Nashville 2024, which I just returned from. I’m gonna level with you here: I don’t think I learn a hell of a lot from panels. Maybe because I’ve been around the block a few times. Or maybe because I can listen to speakers touting podcasts, websites, mailing lists, and giveaways only so many times, especially because I’m not convinced any of those really work.
Do they? Maybe you’ve had better luck. Write me and let me know. Conventional “wisdom” is a rock star at writing conventions. Innovative thinking, not so much. At least that’s my experience. I say that even though I myself have sat on many panels – again, not bragging, anyone can sit on a panel. I try my best to balance honesty with encouragement, but I worry sometimes that I am better at the first than the second. Who the hell knows why that excerpt my publishing company got in Vanity Fair for our oral history of Moonlighting didn’t seem to bump sales? But that’s okay, because it was a great book (again not bragging – I didn’t write it); I’m proud for having published it, and the author is proud for having written it.
Of course these conventions are not just about sales. A lot of attention is paid to craft: “The Big Bang: Openings That Get Attention,” “Writing Suspense and Adding Suspense to Your Current Story,” “Blood on the Saddle: Trauma and Triage,” “Last Page: Creating the Perfect Ending,” and so on. Personally I distrust formulaic approaches to writing; writing for me at least is almost pure instinct. But yes, opening with a bang is solid advice – especially if you’re writing in the suspense/thriller/mystery genres – because agents and publishers are inundated with submissions and for some reason apparently don’t love reading beyond the first three unless they’re wowed, which is, you know, weird, because isn’t that their job?
Which brings me to another common feature of writing conventions: pony up a hefty chunk of extra cash and you can buy a one-on-one meeting with an agent or editor who will critique the first three pages of your manuscript. Or save a few bucks and have your manuscript read aloud to an agent or editor at a round table along with a handful of other writers. Sure it’s nice to have your work read out loud, but what everyone in the room is really hoping for is that the agent will say “Send me the manuscript,” which they sometimes do, and while every writing convention you attend will boast about all the first-time writers who got published because of their interaction with an agent at their event, I personally can’t attest to it because the only time I ever tried it I was reading from my true crime work about a murder victim who had fondled his young son’s private parts to an agent who said the opening “just doesn’t speak to me,” and who, unbeknownst to me at the time, specialized in Christian lit (definitely not bragging here).
I am absolutely not advising you not to attend a writing convention. In fact, I think every writer should, at least once. True, they’re expensive. Plus you often have to pay for airfare and hotels. Maybe you’ll learn something valuable and maybe you won’t. But you can’t put a price tag on what it feels like to spend an entire weekend thinking and talking almost exclusively about writing and sharing that experience with that happy few, that band of brothers (still okay to say brothers?) who have shed blood with you out on the battlefield.
Plus you get all the free margaritas you can drink in ninety minutes.
David Bushman (New York, NY) is the author of five books, including, most recently, Murder at Teal’s Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery That Inspired Twin Peaks (Thomas & Mercer, January 2022) and Forget It, Jake, It’s Schenectady (Fayetteville Mafia Press, 2023), about police corruption in upstate New York (loosely the basis for the Bradley Cooper-Ryan Gosling film The Place Beyond the Pines). He spent twenty-five years as a TV curator at The Paley Center for Media (formerly The Museum of Television & Radio), two years as program director at TV Land, and four years as a television editor and critic at Variety. David is a board member of the New York chapter of the Mystery Writers of America and founder editor and publisher at Fayetteville Mafia and TuckerDS Press.
I recently attended my very first convention in DFW, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can’t say I learned a whole lot, but to spend a weekend surrounded by like-minded people was exhilarating. It was a wonderful break from a routine where most people are sick of hearing about my book 🤣 and on top of that it helped a lot with the impostor syndrome! So all in all, I’d say it’s worth it.
Seems the most common response to these things: Had fun, enjoyed being around writers, learned nothing. That’s kind of my takeaway from my one semester in an MFA program, too.