What I Learned at Slice Magazine's Literary Conference

{What I got: Slice tote bag, Slice magazine, Poets & Writers magazine, 

It's Not Love, It's Just Paris & my name tag}

As you know, I attended Slice Magazine's Literary Conference on Saturday and Sunday. It's a conference that I went to two years ago, but for some reason I felt more open to the experience this time around and therefore learned so much more from the authors, agents, and editors that were there. 

Slice is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit print magazine that launched in 2007 by editors Maria Gagliano and Celia Johnson. At it's core, Slice aims to bridge the gap between emerging and established authors by offering a space where they can be published side-by-side. They garnered rave reviews from authors, agents, and editors alike and have had success in the literary community. {Follow Slice on Facebook & Twitter.}

One of the reasons Slice created this conference was to bridge the gap between authors and the publishing world. The founders wanted agents and editors to give insight into what really happens behind the closed doors of big and small publishing houses, and to help writers with how to transform their novel. 

This is one of the main reasons I really loved this conference. It was not only about how to motivate yourself to write and tips on editing your work, but it gave a behind the scenes look. I now have a better understanding of what agents and editors do, how they think, what they're looking for, and what happens when those professionals have my novel in their hands. 

I could only go to half the panels (since I can't be in two places at once), but I learned so much valuable information from the ones I did attend. I picked out a few talking points that resonated the most with me from each panel since I didn't want to keep it all to myself. 

The Self-Publishing Revolution:

• Digital presses have the same teams and resources that a regular publisher has
• You can both pursue agents and self-publish
• Understand your market!

What You Say / What Agents Hear:

• A query letter should be professional, straightforward, and honest
• Address a query letter personally to the agent
• Add comparative titles in the query: (ie. my novel is a mix of this novel and this novel)

How To Promote Yourself Online:

• No one else is going to market you
• It helps you build a readership for the future
• Authentically engage with your readers / followers
• What does your audience engage with?

The Road to Success:

• Success is different for everyone
• Make sure the changes you make to your novel are ones that you are 100% behind because your name is on the cover

What Really Happens in an Editorial Meeting:

• Editors have to really love the book to want to buy it because they're going to spend so much time on it
• Know why your book is different
• Know what hole in the marketplace your book is filling
• Arm the editor with talking points about your book

Changes: What Happens When An Editor Gets Your Manuscript

• An editor shapes your idea of what your book is going to be and helps you with the process
• They don't edit to change it, they edit it to make it its best
• Be honest with yourself about deadlines
• Hone a two-sentence pitch of your book!

Beyond the Book Deal:

• Submit to literary journals to have your platform already (ie. blog, published stories)
• Build the buzz for your book: blog, social media, family and friends can help

Giants: Great Characters

• What draws you to your characters?
• Turn stereotypes into real people
• Nurture the obsession that initially made you want to write the book

There were a lot of authors, agents, editors, publicists, etc. at the conference, so if you want to follow the ones that have Twitter, I rounded them up for you.

Follow authors on Twitter:

Julie Sarkissian (Dear Lucy), Fiona Maazel (Woke Up Lonely), Adelle Waldman (The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.), Joanna Hershon (A Dual Inheritance), Scott Cheshire (High as a Horses' Bridles), Ted Thompson (The Land of Steady Habits), Jennifer Miller (The Year of the Gadfly), Julia Fierro (Cutting Teeth), Francine Prose (Reading Like a Writer), Bill Roorbach (Life Among Giants) & Patricia Engel (It's Not Love, It's Paris).

Follow agents on Twitter:

Kristyn Keene (ICM), Meredith Kaffel (DeFiore and Company), Michelle Brower (Folio Literary Management), Carrie Howland (Donadio & Olsen), Renee Zuckerbot (Renee Zuckerbot Literary Agency), Kate McKean (The Howard Morhaim Agency), Paul Lucas (Janklow & Nesbit), Chelsea Lindman (Sanford J. Greenburger), Katherine Fausset (Curtis Brown) & Vicky Bijur (Vicky Bijur Agency). 

Follow editors on Twitter:

Jill Schwartsman (Dutton/Penjuin), Molly Barton (BookCountry/Penguin), Calvert Morgan (It Books/HarperPerennial), Sarah Bowlin (Henry Holt & Co.), Gabrielle Gantz (Little, Brown), Maria Gagliano (Co-Founder of Slice and editor at Portfolio-Penguin), Michael Signorelli (HarperCollins), Alex Littlefield (Basic Books), Emily Griffin (Grand Central Publishing), Victoria Matsui (Little, Brown) & Maya Ziv (HarperCollins). 

Follow on Twitter:
Ami Greko (Book Marketing Strategist, Goodreads), Eve Bridburg (Founder of Grub Street), Diana Franco (Publicist, Simon & Schuster) & Karen Fink (Publicist, Random House).

P.S. -- Read what my friend Rachel said about the experience!

If you're a fellow writer, good luck with your writing and I hope you learned something!

Whether you're a writer or not, what did you find most interesting?

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