First Writer's Conference: Goals and Thoughts

I’m excited to be attending my first writer’s conference this year. The Florida Christian Writer’s Conference starts February 27 and runs through March 3.

As I start planning for it, I just want to share a couple “first time attendee” goals of mine.

·         Be as prepared as you can, but don’t stress about it.

·         Contribute as appropriate, but focus more on listening.

·         Have an open mind and a desire to learn.

·         Enjoy the experience!

As a self-published author, I am also especially curious to see how Christian publishers, agents and authors view self-published authors and their works.

·         Do they respect the entrepreneur spirit and personal discipline of self-published authors?

·         Do they discredit self-published works as second class?

·         Do they want to discover well-written self-published works?

·         Do they welcome or resent self-publishing?

Stay tuned! The writer’s conference experience has been described to me as “drinking out of a hose,” so I know I will be overwhelmed (in a good way) with information which I look forward to sharing with you.

Have you been to a writer’s conference before? What advice would you give first time attendees?

 

Failure: Friend Not Foe

Why are we so afraid of failure?

By nature, I am not a risk taker. I don't like high risk investments. I never liked pop quizzes, because I couldn't predict them or plan for them. And at one point in my life, I remember not auditioning for a team in college, because I knew I probably wasn't "good enough" (whatever that is).

Looking back, I may not have made the team. But I should have tried.

You can probably relate. The thought of failure makes most people cringe, and yet it is the very ingredient that often precedes success.

Someone once told me, "You only fail when you fail to try."

My message - to you and to myself - is short and simple today. Stop worrying...

• that no one will ever notice your writing
• that your project might not produce the ROI you want 
• that taking a chance on something will be the biggest mistake of your life
• that the proverbial "door of opportunity" will never open to you

You fill in the blanks.

I'd like to wrap up this little pep talk by directing your attention to a recent quote by Nancy Sathre-Vogel that Chris Guillebeau posted on his blog.

“Do it. Just do it. You will feel inadequate. You will feel you can’t do it, but you owe it to yourself to try. You might only have a 50/50 chance of making it, but you’re looking at a 100% chance of failure if you don’t even try.”