Places to go, people to see

I am so excited that this year I have been invited to several writer’s conferences. I love getting out of New York every now and then and getting a sense of what people are writing and reading and talking about in other parts of the country. I think publishing tends to get way too New York-centric. It’s good to be reminded that NYC is not the center of the universe and that most books are actually bought by readers in the rest of the country! So I’m really looking forward to going, and the parties and celebrity author guests sure don’t hurt! Yes, I’m just as much of a groupie as the rest of you, I just try to hide it. New Yorkers pride themselves on being blase when they see somebody famous. Ok, so last month I went to AWP and I even spoke on a panel entitled Is It A Book? It was fun and I’ve decided to make a point of going again. Next month I will be at one of my all-time favorite writer’s conferences: The Muse and the Marketplace in Boston. It’s a really great event. I get to sit at a table with Alice Hoffman! OMG. And my wonderful client Danielle Evans will be there as well.

In May I will be at the Florida Center for the Literary Arts Writer’s Conference. In Miami, folks! (Wish they had scheduled it for January or February so that I could have escaped the snow for a few days, but I’m not complaining.) Betsy Lerner will be there, and Elizabeth Alexander and Madison Smartt Bell.

Finally, I just got invited to participate in Agent Fest in July, which is part of Thriller Fest. Ok, it’s in NYC, but summer in New York is actually pretty fun.

Hope to meet you some of my readers in person at one of these events!