Gotham Writers Conference 2020
I attended the Gotham Writers Conference 2020.
Introduction
The Gotham Writers Workshop held the Gotham Writers Conference 2020 as a virtual conference because of COVID-19. Last year they held the conference at the Ace Hotel in New York City on October 25, 2019. This year, they used Zoom to hold the virtual conference from October 16, 2020, to October 18, 2020. On day one they held three presentations featuring writers. On the second day, they held three presentations focused on writers and agents. The last day was for pitching roundtables. They scheduled thirteen roundtables. Each roundtable had eight authors and two agents. Each author presented a query and the first two pages of their work to the agents. The agents gave their feedback.
This is the link to the Gotham Writers Workshop, the sponsor of the event.
https://www.writingclasses.com/
Summary
Friday, October 16 at 9:50 AM
The conference began with a welcome speech from Gotham president Alex Steele.
Friday, October 16 at 10:00 AM
The Writers: How I Got Published Panel with Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, Lev AC Rosen, and Jennifer Marie Brissett moderated by Dave Seigerman.
Jennifer Keishin Armstrong publishes non-fiction. Her Goodreads page is https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4619632.Jennifer_Keishin_Armstrong
Lev AC Rosen is a novelist. His Goodreads page is https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4731557.Lev_A_C_Rosen
Jennifer Marie Brissett is an SF novelist Her Goodreads page is https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9536871.Jennifer_Marie_Brissett
The moderator asked questions of the panel and the panelists answered if they had something to say. Here are three examples I liked.
- What are you looking for in an agent? You need someone who knows what a contract looks like.
- Does the agent say they can cover different genres? I can do anything is a suspect statement.
- What is success? The goalposts keep moving. It’s okay if you are writing for yourself.
Josh Sippe conducted a brief audience Q and A session during the last ten minutes of the panel.
Friday, October 16 at 11:25 AM
The Benefit of Your Day Job (even if you dislike it) presentation by Jacob M. Appel.
Alex Steele introduced Jacob M. Appel. Jacob has written 200 short stories, 19 novels, and has 9 advanced degrees. They featured him in an Amazon Prime documentary linked below.
Jacob believes that having a day job helps you as a writer, giving your writing context.
He gave ten things that he has learned to help him write well. Three of his points follow.
- Make writing your third priority after family and occupation.
- Write a novel to ask a question not to answer a question.
- Readers want to read something they don’t know, but the writer does. Know more than the reader.
Jacob had the audience take part in an eight-minute exercise. He had us write a scene using jargon from your specialized field or occupation.
The talk ended with a Q and A session with Josh Sippe as the moderator.
Friday, October 16 at 12:30 PM
Kelly Caldwell interviewed Erin Entrada Kelly about her writing journey.
Erin Entrada Kelly is the 2018 Newberry award-winning author of Hello, Universe. She discusses her writing journey.
Goodreads link to Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30653713-hello-universe
Here are three interesting observations from the interview.
- Find the thing that makes your character unique and universal.
- Use yourself as a source of inspiration.
- She writes all her works longhand in a notebook because she says using more of your senses engages you with the work better.
The talk ended with a Q and A session with Josh Sippe as the moderator.
Saturday, October 17 at 10:00 AM
Agents: Why We Will Rep You Panel with Stephen Barr, J. L. Stermer, and Eric Smith moderated by Samantha Fabien.
Three literary agents discuss what will compel them to take you on as a client.
Stephen Barr is an agent at Writers House agency representing adult literary, non-fiction, and YA.
J. L. Stermer is an agent at New Leaf Literary Agency representing 70% non-fiction and some YA.
Eric Smith is an agent at PS Literary representing adult and YA science fiction.
https://mswishlist.com/agent/ericsmithrocks
Samantha Fabien is an agent at the Laura Dial Agency.
The moderator asked questions of the panel and the panelists answered if they had something to say. Here are three examples I liked.
- What makes a query stand out? The hook, comp titles, platform (for non-fiction), and compelling first pages.
- What is your deciding question for offering representation? Where do you think your career is going? Do we have chemistry, a working relationship?
- What qualities are most important to see in an author? (JL) content, character, voice. (ES) voice, sell, communication. (SB) connection, sincerity, engagement.
The talk ended with a Q and A session with Josh Sippe as the moderator.
Saturday, October 17 at 11:30 AM
The Agent and Client–making a connection discussion. Josh Sippe moderated the discussion between Amy Bishop, an author, and June Hur, an agent.
An agent and a client discuss how to connect with each other.
Amy Bishop is an agent at the Dystel, Goderich, and Bourret Agency.
https://www.dystel.com/amy-bishop
June Hur’s debut novel is The Silence of Bones, a murder mystery set in 1800 Korea.
This is the Goodreads page for The Silence of Bones
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44280973-the-silence-of-bones
The moderator asked Amy and June questions. These are three Q and A examples I liked.
- How important is a query letter? (AB) a well-crafted query letter says that the author is serious. Queries are hard, but don’t need to be perfect to be effective.
- Can rejections be positive? (JH) Publishing is a marathon. Rejections are subjective and not personal. Keep your perspective as an author.
- What was the timeline for The Silence of Bones? (AB) Query in August 2017, Agreement September 2017, Submitted to editor February 2018, realization that the novel is YA, Big revision to the editor in August 2018, published by Feiwel & Friends in April 2020.
End of discussion.
Saturday, October 17 at 12:30 PM
Alexander Steele conducted the Pitching Game Show with Alec Shane, Alexandra Levick, and.
Alec Shane is an agent at Writers House.
Mina Hamedi works at the Janklow and Nesbit Agency.
Noah Ballard is an agent at Curtis Brown.
The contestant’s goal was to practice their pitching skills. They picked a contestant, and Alex Steele drew a character and a situation at random. The contestant had a few minutes to prepare a pitch. The contestant gave the pitch to the agent panel and ended the pitch with a proposed title for the book. They picked four contestants, and they gave their pitches one at a time. The agents could not reach a consensus, so all four contestants received a $50 gift certificate for a class at Gotham Writers Workshop.
Sunday, October 18 from 12:00 PM to 4:30 PM
The SF/Fantasy Pitching Roundtable #2 with Kurestin Armada and Dong Won Song.
Each session was on an individual Zoom call with eight participants and two agents for each table.
The first group session had six tables: Literary/Mainstream 1, Literary/Mainstream 3, Middle Grade/Young Adult 1, Mystery/Thriller/Horror, Non-Fiction 1, and Science Fiction/Fantasy 2.
The second group session was from 3:00 PM to 7:30 PM and had seven tables: Literary/Mainstream 2, Literary/Mainstream 4, Middle Grade/Young Adult 2, Non-Fiction 2, Non-Fiction 3, Picture Book, and Science Fiction/Fantasy 1.
I took part in the SF/Fantasy Pitching Roundtable #2. In the first part of the roundtable, each participant read their query letter, and the agents made their comments. It took about ten minutes for each query letter. A 30-minute break followed. In the second part of the roundtable, each participant read the first two pages of their novel and the agents offered their feedback.
Recommendation – Conclusion
I enjoyed virtually attending the Gotham Writers Conference 2020. I’m glad they could hold the conference. Last year in New York City I did not have my novel presentation completed in time to earn a spot at the pitching roundtables conducted on October 26, 2019. This year I took part in the Science Fiction/ Fantasy Roundtable #2. My star of the Con was Alex Steele. He gave a great welcome speech, introduced Jacob M. Appel for his presentation, and conducted the Pitching Game Show. The conference was well worth the time invested, and I would like to attend next year.
Links
Recap for the Gotham Writers Conference in New York City, New York on October 25, 2019, sponsored by Gotham Writers Workshop. There were five panels and presentations at the conference. I did not attend on October 26, 2019, for the pitching roundtables.
