Paperback Writer has an interesting blog entry up today. My favorite part:
You militant do-it-yourselfers, don’t yell at me and say you can’t afford a professional web designer. Not when you spend a thousand bucks to go to a conference so you can, yes, sit at a card table and sign five copies of your novel.
Professional web designer…check. Not going to conferences…check. It’s nice to do something right first thing in the morning. Although, I did almost not post this because I noticed PW doesn’t allow comments. So, she’s not talking to me, she’s talking at me. But whatever.
And where did Readergrrl and Crimson Ink and Red Pen Diaries go? I even tried hard-refreshing in case I just wasn’t seeing new entries.
And so begins Day 2 of February Vacation. Is it next Monday yet?
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I, too, was wondering where Crimson Ink and Red Pen had gone. It was interesting to hear from an editor’s point of view. Well, hopefully they’ll be back.
Paperback writer’s column was fun to read. I do think (not that I’ve been myself) that people go to conferences for much more than promotion though. Not that a good website isn’t all-important.
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That’s a good point about writers going to conferences for more than promotion. I’m not a writer, so this is purely supposition, but I would think it’s to just BE with people who enjoy the same craft that they do- whether it’s writers or readers. After all, many writers will tell you that writing is a solitary, and sometimes lonely profession so conferernces seem like a good way to make connections and get that face to face interaction that can sometimes be missing otherwise! Just my opinion.
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I definitely agree that conferences are about much more than promotion. I think, coming at it from just my point of view–can’t speak for PBW, that’s it’s more about priorites. If you’re a writer who wants to design your own website because you want to do it yourself, more power to you.
But if you design your own website and claim it’s because you can’t afford a professional design, then you drop a couple grand to go to Nationals, then we’re talking priorities. For making contacts with other writers and industry pros (or some readers in the case of RT), conferences are great. I believe that interacting with other writers is vital. But your website is your connection to readers at large.
I love the New England Chapter of RWA’s annual conference. It’s absolutely wonderful. But I’m not going this year, because I (okay, the husband) couldn’t afford the conference AND a website. I’m going with the website.
To me, going to the conference and then claiming I can’t afford a professional website says that connecting to my fellow writers is more important to me than connecting to readers.
There will be many conferences to come for me, though.