Impression from the Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference

This past Saturday, I attended the 2nd annual Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference in Iselin, NJ.

"Liberty States Fiction Writers is a multi-genre organization dedicated to the education and support of all fiction writers. We provide workshops and networking events to aid both published and yet-to-be published writers. So, whether you’re trying to write and sell your first book of your fortieth, the Liberty States Fiction Writers can help." There are 175 members and one group I am thinking about joining because the conference is one of the best I have ever been to. I went more as an author than a blogger, and here are my impressions of the conference and all the wonderful people I met and talked with.

I arrived at 8am to check in and was given a bag with my schedule for the day. Since I'm all about the swag, I went right into the goodie room that was filled with author promo with pens, bookmarks, candy and the April RT Book Review Magazine that isn't even out yet! There were also some wonderful raffle baskets where you put your business card or name in for your chance to win: (some baskets had bottles of wine. Hm wine)

Author swag! KT Grant bookmarks and cards to grab in the right hand corner.

baskets full of goodies!

The Workshops:

The first workshop I went to was held by romance author, Tracey J. Lyons, called "Gone Fishing- How to catch an agent". Tracey shared advice on how to get an agent from writing a query letter, sites to keep in mind when researching an agent and some questions to ask if an agent offers you a contract.

Some important points talked about:
-When writing your query letter, treat it as if you're writing a blurb for a book. Talk about the characters and the conflict and even check out some reviews for books because reviewers are great talking about a book much  like a blurb.
- Find an agent that will build your career and love your work as much as you do.
-Definitely keep newer agents in minds and ones that are in an established agency.
-Come up with an elevator pitch- 2-3 sentences explaining what you're book is about. Create a tag-line. Tag lines are much like comparing your book to two movies or television shows such as Law and Order meets Mad Men.
- A great way to catch an agent's attention when sending an email query is to put a catch subject in the subject line to make yours stand out such as Multi-Published Author Seeks Representation or mention a conference you may have met the agent at or knew the agent was at or a short few words explaining your book or your book's genre.
- Two great sites to research agents are Querytracker and Litmatch. And always check out AAR- Association of Authors Representation Inc. for information on agents.

When an agent offers you a contract:
- Ask as many questions as you can. The agency percentage is very important and 15-20% is the norm.
-How do they handle payment, what is the schedule of payments and about foreign sales/rights.
-How often should an agent communicate with you? Once a month is key, no longer than 3 months.
-Make sure you can get out of your contract with you agent and a contract should always protect both parties.

The second workshop I went to was the Editor Panel with editors from both traditional and electronic publishers. The Publishers on the panel were:

-Ravenous Romance
-Grand Central
-Harlequin Suspense, Harlequin Desire and Harlequin Inspirational
- Loose-Id
-Wild Rose Press
-Ellora's Cave
-Lyrical Press
- Samhain
-Carina Press.

All these publishers are acquiring and need writers! From what I heard, they're interested in steamy romances. Ellora's Cave has a new fetish centric line and erotic horror. Carina Press's biggest seller is a non-erotic contemporary and Samhain is looking for mystery, erotic romance, M/M and Steampunk. Wild Rose Press is interested in romances with older characters up to their early 50's. Harlequin Inspired Historical published romances up to WWII. Ravenous Romance is big on werewolves, F/F and menages. Lyrical is dying for F/F and paranormal. Vampires are still very big. I also heard cowboys are big draw and as long as your have a story at 15,000 words minimum, you should be good to go. Paranormal and Contemporary are big sellers for Carina Press and Harlequin. Grand Central is big on contemporary as well. Ellora's Cave is interested in erotic and "sex in any form", including paranormal futuristic BDSM. Also secondary romances with older characters are popular as well.

The People...

I met so many people. Some I knew already and a few new ones who may this conference wonderful for me.

The first author I talked to was Ellora's Cave author, Kathy Kulig, who writes contemporary, paranormal and erotic romance. She has a new release coming out on March 23:

I then met blogger and aspiring author, MagdalenB who runs the Promantica blog. We talked about our adventures in Bloglandia as well as what we're writing. Magdalen's business cards are great! She has the blurb for her unpublished books on the back of them and one especially caught my eye called Blackjack and Moonlight:

"Judge Jack McIntyre can't grant Elise Carroll's motion after he falls for her. He presses his romantic suit but her counteroffer is just for sex. They broker a deal- for now. Can Blackjack overrule her objections to a life together?"

Based on this blurb, I would read this book in a hot minute. Magdalen would be a welcomed addition to the romance genre as an author.

Another awesome person I met is Renee Rocco, the founder and owner of Lyrical Press. Lyrical Press has been open for 3 years and Renee is looking for paranormal. M/M and especially F/F romance and F/F Paranormal. She told me her F/F books sell like crazy. If you write FF, submit to Lyrical! Their F/F romances are not selling hundreds a month, but over a thousand, and she hopes to build up this line. You can bet I'll be submitting some hot F/F to Lyrical as soon as I can. And Renee is very honest and forthcoming and a bit brassy. We talked for a few hours and I was so very happy to have met Renee and hear how an epublisher works and how important it is to her for finding authors she can help grow.

Another person I had the honor to meet was Horror, Comic Book and YA author, Jonathan Maberry. Talking to Jonthan was a wonderful experience and I had no idea he wrote the YA zombie apocalypse novel- Rot and Ruin everyone is raving about.

We talked about zombies for hours, the publishing industry and his funny stories about Stephen King who he knows personally! I almost fainted since Stephen is my idol. I think I may have a crush on Jonathan now. But don't tell him I told you because I don't want to scare him. He also wrote the book, The Wolfman, based on the movie.

I also met one of my fellow Decadent Publishing authors, Kathleen Gallagher. Kathleen's debut with Decadent is called Echoes at Dawn. This is a contemporary romance.

I also have to give a shot out to my publisher, Ravenous Romance and Lori Perkins for a wonderful time after the conference ended , as well as agent Louise Fury. Louise is anxious to acquire Cozy Mysteries and Westerns, so if you or anyone you knows has something written in this genre, please get in touch with her ASAP.

The Book Signing! These are some of the authors I chatted with at the book signing...

M/M author K.A. Mitchell with her nom man chesty books.

The awesome Caridad Pineiro

The funny and adorable key note speaker, MaryJanice Davidson and myself (for once I don't look dazed, drunk or high in this picture)

YA author, Jennifer Hubbard best known for The Secret Year

Lyrical Press author R.A Vaughn showing off her hot M/M romance, The Demon He Knows R.A. is a founding member of Liberty States Fiction Writers and should be applauded for all her hard work and putting together an amazing conference!

Huge bong or vase in the women's bathroom?

And the keynote speaker for next year's LSFW conference will be Larissa Ione! Author of sexy alpha demon men is coming to my neck of the woods. I can plan my stalking early.

And so ends my report from the 2011 Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference. If you're thinking of attending a conference for the first time or your twentieth, I do recommend the LSFW Con. Next year it will be on a Saturday, which happens to be St. Patrick's Day. I'll most likely attend again and end up wearing one of these:

First time I went as KT Grant author, but still very much as KB the blogger