Why We Go To Writers Conferences

Here is why we attend writers' conferences (excerpted from a speech by Michael Larsen):

Johnny Carson said: "An optimist is an accordionist with a beeper."

But like editors, agents are eternal optimists. They always hope to find writers. Jean Auel and Anne Rice were discovered at conferences.

Writers remember us. One writer sent a query letter because she had seen us at a writers conference thirty years ago.

I like making people laugh so I use as much humor as possible when we speak. Johnny Carson once said, "I was so naive as a kid that I used to go behind a barn and do nothing." I enjoy giving writers the help they need to buy their barns if they want to, to give them the guidance they need to become successful authors, which is how we make a living. This is why I wrote books about agenting, proposals and promotion, and it's why our slogan is "Helping Writers Launch Careers Since 1972."

Also, conferences get us out of the house. We work at home, so conferences give us a reason to travel. We get to meet and spend time with editors and other agents. Some conferences are at places we want to visit.

I always learn things from writers, agents and editors that I can use in talks, articles and books. As any pile of dough will tell you, it's great to be needed. It's a compliment to be asked.