Blogger: Mary Keeley
Recently back from the annual American Christian Fiction Writers conference (ACFW), my heart is full, as is the case for most of you who attended, from what I’ve heard. The warm camaraderie with others who understand this writing-publishing journey, the privilege of praying for someone’s important meeting, the inspiration and encouragement received from the worship and workshops and pitch meetings fed our souls. Meeting many of you in our blog community was one of the highlights for the Books & Such agents.
At the same time we’re mindful of those of you who weren’t able to be there, and collectively, maybe we can give you a colorful recap of what went on at the conference.
Our agent schedules involved meetings with editors to pitch our clients’ proposals. I sensed optimism from the editors, same as at ICRS in June, which I’m pleased to report. Some of them still are looking at fall 2017 to begin acquiring certain genres, but that date hasn’t moved further out and every day brings us closer to that time. I encourage you to use this waiting cycle productively by continuing to build your audience and improving your WIP so that you’re ready when the time comes.
The two agent panels were illuminating because of the many great questions submitted by conferees. It was obvious these writers have been studying the industry. Some of them were still wearing their beautiful costumes for the genre dinner that preceded the panels.
Teaching and meeting with writers in the 15-minute pitch appointments filled the rest of our days, leaving no time to sit in on any of the sessions. More than a few of you who attended requested that we have a conference recap for our blog community, so please share from your experience:
Something you learned:
- A tip about marketing and promotion
- A new way to gain greater reach with your social media
- Constructive feedback your writing sample
- General information
Or,
Something you experienced:
- General atmosphere
- Professionalism
- Friendliness and ease of meeting new people
- The Gala
Undercover roving reporters for Seekerville.com, Courtney Ballinger and Natalie Monk, wrote this delightful recap of the Gala awards banquet from their personal attendee experience. If you never have been to ACFW or a conference like it, this will give you a pictorial sense of what it was like being there. You can view it here.
The winners of the Genesis award are listed here, and Carol Award winners are posted here. The Mentor of the Year Award went to Joy Avery Melville. Mary Sue Seymour (The Seymour Agency) won the Agent of the Year Award, and Sandie Bricker (Bling! Romance) won the Editor of the Year Award. One of the most inspiring moments of the evening was listening to the many achievements and impact on readers’ lives that Francine Rivers has made to date in her writing career. She was the deserved winner of Lifetime Achievement Award.
Is there anything you’re wondering about from the agent’s perspective that I didn’t cover here? From the attendees’ perspective? Do you agree with me that the industry needs a comparable conference devoted to nonfiction?
TWEETABLE:
A recap of the 2015 ACFW Conference from agent and attendees’ perspectives. Click to Tweet.
My favorite activity was catching up with writers I met at previous conferences. What a blessing to connect with so many Christian writers willing to share their experiences.
Yes, this conference had a reunion feel to it, which was special. And thanks, Shelia, for catching my mistake about one of the winners in the wee hours of the morning so that I could correct it right away.
I attended Jeff Gerke’s class, and he was amazing. His top two points were to “Start with the dog,” and “Don’t be boring.”
I loved spending time with my writing friends. It’s great to share hopes, dreams, and prayers with these wonderful people.
Jackie, thanks for sharing something you learned. Would you explain what Jeff Gerke meant by “Start with the dog.”
Maybe it was the venue, where it was inconvenient to leave the hotel and go into Dallas. Everyone enjoyed being at the hotel with each other.
Hi Mary,
I missed the very beginning of Jeff’s class, but I think he was saying we need to engage our readers from the very beginning of the story. I ordered his book, The Irresistible Novel, to dig deeper into what he taught us.
Wasn’t there; wish I had been. I look forward to reading all that all y’all’s willing to share.
* I will share a thought, though, which surely should have some analogy with ACFW 2015 –
* Don’t try to weld when you’re too sick to walk. It’s not proof of life; it’s STUPID, and burns take a long time to heal.
Which I guess suggests the corollary that a bad day welding differs from a bad day writing in that when a writer sets fire to a work in progress, it was intentional.
And Andrew, you were in my thoughts continually while I was there … I even mentioned your name … I was posing for a picture and the first thing that comes to my mind is … to smile like Andrew has taught me. 🙂 I may not have accomplished it, but I tried. 🙂 And oh, how I wish you could have been there.
Dear Shelli, when you thought of me, and smiled, I was there.
Andrew – I can see your reply to Shelli in a book: When you thought of me, and smiled, I was there.
Please use it in one that you write, Davalynn…I’d be honoured.
Awww, Andrew, sorry you got burned. 🙁 I wish you could have been at ACFW too. 🙂
Maybe it was that I had just watched a DVD of Denzel Washington in “Man on Fire”?
* Thank, Jeanne. I wish I had been there too.
Well, at any rate, I do lead a charred life.
This year’s conference was wonderful. It was my fourth time attending, and I think this one felt the most peaceful. I got so much out of the workshops, and I so enjoyed volunteering in a couple different positions. I think, if I could only pick one workshop, I think Ronie Kendig’s, “He . . . Giggled?” helped me the most, but all the ones I attended were great!
*Meeting writers–old friends and new–was definitely a highlight. On Tuesday, I did a recap on my personal takeaways on my blog.
*Making connections with people in the industry was also a highlight.
Seeing you that first night, Jeanne … it made me want to clap. Maybe I did. 🙂
Shelli, meeting you face to face was a highlight of the conference this year! I loved hanging out with you some and getting to know you a bit better.
I so enjoyed meeting you in person at the gala, Jeanne. Love these opportunities. Peaceful is a good descriptor for this year’s conference. Busy as it was, the atmosphere was pleasant and friendly and relaxed.
Can you elaborate on Ronie Kendig’s, “He . . . giggled”?
One of the things I enjoy about Ronie’s classes is she brings the scientific elements into her teachings. I won’t go into a ton of detail, but a couple takeaways I gleaned were:
1) men tend to use more determiners (a, the, that, these) and quantifiers and “it’s” because they tend to be less relational, whereas women tend to use words that are more relational–pronouns (he, she) that relate to animate things. They tend to name things.
2) She reminded us that men have more the mindset: “Get the mission done.” and wanting information. Women tend toward wanting to understand (asking Why?), and the relational aspects, if that makes sense.
*I know men focus on getting the job done, but I don’t always remember this when writing male POV. Her elaborating some on this point helped me see how to write my males stronger. 🙂
Mary, I loved meeting you in person too. 🙂
Mary, thank you for this wonderful recap. I’m not ready to let the moment depart. It was beautiful to witness how humble, helpful, and supportive writers and those in the industry are. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t published. It doesn’t matter if you are new. They want to see you grow and succeed in what you do. They want to know what you write … they want to know you. And oh, the highlight was meeting the B&S agents and commenters here … family. 🙂 Having my sample chapters critiqued by Deborah Raney was amazing … I love that I’ll have her touch on my work. The Gala, the speeches given–God-glorifying.
Shelli, meeting you in person, and seeing your sweet smile every time we connected was a real blessing at conference!
Jackie, I felt the same. I’m still hearing your beautiful accent. I was looking at your blog today … your family is beautiful. 🙂
“It doesn’t matter if you are new. They want to see you grow and succeed in what you do.” That’s a good summary of the interactions, Shelli. Hopefully, we in this community can perpetuate that at conferences we attend next year, especially for first-timers.
The momemts will re-ignite in a week!
Yay! There’s Jennifer! Can hardly wait to see you in a week. 🙂
While it’s a bit of learning not directly connected with the conference, I’d like to share, if I may, a writing lesson I learned. Or maybe it IS connected, because it was the payoff from the wisdom I’ve seen here, and by association from ACFW conferences, past and present.
* The lesson was in ‘what to explain,and what to let stand. I participate in a weekly short ‘flash’ fiction contest, and my submission this week had as its climax and denouement a short exchange in Vietnamese. I tried to make the meaning (or its gist) clear through action.
* I looked for ways to translate, or explain what was said to those who might not be conversant, but the efforts only served to dull the ending, the simplicity of which I rather liked. So I let it stand; no explanation in subsequent dialogue, and no afterword translation.
* The response I got was favourable; the ‘experiment’ seemed to be successful.
* If any of you would care to read it (it’s short, around 1000 words) and offer comments or criticism, I’d be honoured. Here’s the link –
http://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-gift-blogbattle.html
I’ve never been to a writer’s conference but it’s nice to know that there are writers from this blog who I would recognize and get to meet should I attend. I’m enjoying reading your comments.
Norma, if you can possible attend a writers’ conference, especially a Christian one, please do. Writers are communicators, but writing is a solitary business, so when we get together we bond right away. And you’ll learn a lot you can’t get from books or online.
I hope you get to go to some, Norma. They are wonderful in so many ways. 🙂
I’m with Jeanne on the peacefulness of the conference. A strange thing to pick up on when conferences are so often full of stress and buy-my-book-or-I’ll-die pressure. I found a bit of reprieve in the Stress-Free Marketing sessions with Melissa Tagg and Amy Green. Also connected with a few authors I’ve become friends with on social media, and was proud of not tripping over my feet when I met Francine Rivers face to face.
Davalynn, yours is the third assertion for “peacefulness” at the conference. How many of you think the venue had at least a little to do with fostering that?
The peacefulness may have been fostered by the lack of transportation issues between hotel accommodations and conference venue. An elevator is an easy car to catch. Courtesy vans to and from DFW. Everything we needed was under one roof: food, meeting rooms, sleeping, etc. Although by Saturday I was sensing a deep need of trees, dirt, and birds. But hey, I write Western. What can I say.
Oh how I wish I could have gone! But hearing the recap is so fun for us who had to stay home. Thank you so much Mary, and everyone who gave us a taste of the conference. “Start with the dog” of course! I can totally do that…and come to think of it, I have, twice…nope 3 times. Maybe next year. Writer’s Conferences are so very fun and ACFW is so fancy what with the gala and now I guess they have a genre dinner which sounds perfect. So come on everyone, bring on the details! I want to hear more.
Hello from New Mexico!
ACFW 2015 taught me:
– to be ready for anything that God might drop in front of you.
-you may end up wearing cowboy boots with your Gala dress.
-Ronie Kendig is gifted! Her seminar taught me a tonne about writing from a male POV.
-Shelli Littleton is far sweeter than you all can imagine! She and I were room mates for ACFW and I cannot wait to see her again!
-prayer is critical, all through that or any conference.
And? You can sleep when it’s over!
Spot on, Jennifer. Thanks for taking time out of your research trip to comment.
Thank you!
And, you’re welcome. We forced ourselves to take a trip to Starbucks. 😉
Thank you, Jennifer! It’s hard not to be sweet when someone gives you chocolate and tea … and you were sweet not to mention I squashed your hand. 🙂
Thank you for this, Mary. For the first time in years, I opted out of the ACFW conference (what a bad chapter president!), but with the good goal of promoting my new release. I will look forward to joining you all again next year. So glad for all the good reports and fun photos.
Thanks for the recap, everyone.
I attended the She Speaks conference in NC in 2011, meeting with editors, pitching some work. I’ve been working on a new project now and look forward to attending it again in a year or so.
Have a great week. Happy writing!
Jennifer Dougan
http://www.jenniferdougan.com
Jennifer Dougan
http://www.jenniferdougan.com
Thanks for the recap, Mary! It was hard to not be there this year, but I used my “pouting hours” to cover your schedule and the conference in general in prayer. Grateful to hear the stories and takeaways that emerged.
We missed you, Sarah. Your prayers surely contributed to the warm atmosphere.
I know the conference was great, because I’ve been to others but missed this one. As an Indie author and ACFW member, I was disappointed that you did not mention anything concerning that aspect. I know from others there that the ACFW has picked up the ball and has welcomed Indie authors. Many new Independent authors are learning the ropes from Indie groups on fb and such, but I think (and I’ve seen one article on this) that it would be great if a new author could find an agent who could help walk her through Independent publishing. And no, that is not an oxymoron. I have done essentially that with an editor that just so happened to be good at cover design and uploading my book to Kindle and createspace. She got paid for her time and expertise (but maybe more modestly than agents with a traditional publisher, I don’t know), and I have a book out on Amazon with another due next month. We started in March. Of course, I had studied the “craft” of writing at great conferences and with books and in critique groups. That is a necessity. Even an agent can encourage an author in that. I know one editor who was very nice and told me years ago that was what I needed to do. 🙂 So, why I pray for all Christian publishing, the route for me has been Independent, and, yes, I’m making sells. Daily. (That’s part of that helpful Indie fb group–they’ve taught me how to market.)
You’re right, Linda. Unfortunately, I had very little interaction with indie authors there, but it was encouraging to learn that several were finalists for awards. It’s good to hear indie publishing is working so well for you.
I so enjoyed the conference! I was a first-timer so it was a little intimidating, but everyone was so friendly and helpful. I do have a question, though. Some agents requested I send my material to them. How long do I wait? I don’t want to wait too long, but I’d like to get my manuscript perfected before I send it off. Thanks!
Jessica, by all means work diligently on your manuscript and proposal until they are “perfected.” Agents should see your absolute best work from the outset. Think first impressions. Send to the agents who requested it as soon as possible but not until it’s ready. Enter “ACFW requested material” in the subject line of your email.
Thanks! I feel better now:) Have a great day.
YES — I’d be most interested in a comparable conference devoted to nonfiction.