After your register for Write! Canada, you will receive a separate Appointment and Manuscript Critique Information Package by email.
Once you've reviewed that information, you'll be able to request up to three, free, one-on-one, 15-minute appointments with representatives of various newspapers, magazines and book publishing houses, as well as with the authors, freelance writers and editors who are leading workshops and sitting on panels.
Because of time limitations, some appointments will occur during a class. Try to sit near the back of your class and slip out and back in without comment.
Be sure to make appointments with a person who is appropriate for you. Before you book, do some research about the organization that the faculty member represents. Study the biographies on our Web site to learn who would be best to connect with, and study the chart we will provide. Choose based on your level of development and your needs.
If you cannot get an appointment with someone you want to meet, consider other options. You may sit at the faculty member's table during meals, or approach him or her during coffee breaks, for informal conversation; or ask for a business card and state that you would like to e-mail him or her after the conference with a proposal idea.
Choosing Appointments for Beginning Writers
If you are an aspiring or beginning writer, or if you have questions related to self-publishing or marketing your work, instead of trying to make appointments with book publishers or literary agents, it may be more helpful to talk with an experienced writer, author or freelance editor.
Preparing for Editor/Publisher Appointments
Face-to-face meetings with editors are invaluable opportunities to market your work. Publishing houses and literary agents receive many unsolicited book proposals; most will accept only proposals they have requested. Magazines and newspapers are more open, so meeting with representatives may be more productive, but keep in mind they also receive high volumes of unsolicited submissions. A brief meeting at the conference saves time compared to the usual route of querying or finding an agent. The meeting also lets you make a personal impression where an editor or agent is more likely to remember you.
How to Prepare for Your Appointments:
1. Identify your target
Make a list of people you'd like to write for and ask yourself why you have chosen them. Try to choose the editor or publisher whose publication or company uses the type of material you write. Proposing a devotional column to a news magazine or an autobiography to an academic publisher wastes everybody's time.
2. Research the markets
Familiarize yourself with the needs of each publishing house and magazine you are interested in. Check their Web sites for writers' guidelines. Study back issues of magazines for writing style, type of material used, topics, etc. Study publishers' book lists to learn what they are producing currently.
3. Prepare your pitch
Condense your pitch into a 30-second summary. Write it out; polish it; practice it. Be prepared to answer questions about your audience, your purpose, your expertise, and similar material that is on the market.
4. Take back-up materials
An editor cannot be expected to read and comment on an article or a book proposal in these short interviews. Editors who want to pursue your idea further likely will ask you to mail it in later. However, you should be prepared to offer a query letter or book proposal, if it is ready. (Be sure it meets that publisher's criteria!) If you have sample chapters or the article is written, take copies but do not present them unless requested.
5. Don't expect an acceptance on the spot
If an editor is interested in your idea, he or she probably will need to explore it in more depth than can be done in a 15-minute conversation. The editor will probably ask you to send a query letter or proposal.
6. Follow up
Be sure to follow up on any interest the editor shows. Send a query letter promptly, and address any aspects the editor asked about. Editors say that many people to whom they give positive feedback never get back to them.
7. Be flexible
Avoid telling an editor that God has told you that your work must be published in its current form and by that publisher. If God has spoken to you, trust Him to also speak to the right editor. Present your idea and then listen to the editor's suggestions. If your idea does not match this editor's needs, you might pick up useful information on how to repackage it or whom else it might suit.
8. React positively to rejection
Don't be discouraged if your idea is not a match for the editors or agents to whom you speak. Rejection is part of the writing life and it doesn't mean that you can't write or won't eventually have success. Be polite. Thank the editor for his/her time. Remember the rejection is for this particular item and not for you as a person.
The deadline for booking appointments will be midnight, June 7th.
If you have any questions about faculty appointments, e-mail the Coordinator Jayne Self.
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