Spoken during a panel on the Nitty Gritty of Publishing. One of the panelists was talking about how many writers think that their audience is just other writers.

To paraphrase: “Don’t think that. All the writers in the country are in this building. I hope your audience is bigger than that!”

That comment sent a roar up from the crowd and for me, a few shivers. Obviously there are more writers in the country and the world than in here. It was a metaphor, but it is exciting to be surrounded by so much talent, and passion, and love for the written word.

Other good advice:

• Everything you can do to promote your book is great – social media, events, etc. Marketing/Publicity departments can only do so much, especially so at the smallest presses.
• Don’t lead with the book. Read other people’s blogs, join in the conversation, but don’t just Facebook and tweet and comment about your book. It’s boring and annoying.
• Be nice to your editor. Stand up for what you believe in but trust that it’s not a battlefield. The editor, publisher, and marketing/publicity people are all in it to sell your book. They aren’t trying to make you a sell-out for suggesting a change in title, cover art, order of stories, etc. Give them a listen and work WITH them, not against them, to get what is best for the book.

Heading now back to the conference and the bookfair. Going to a 3 pm panel on the Future of Fiction. Should be more excellent food for thought.

One look out the window and it’s difficult to imagine spring will ever arrive, despite what the Groundhog predicts.

I am in upstate New York and will leave soon with a fellow writer to drive south to DC. The weather here isn’t nearly as bad as predicted – we are some of the lucky ones. Many other AWP attendees have already had flights delayed or cancelled, or decided not to drive in the icy mix.  But we will forge ahead.

Is it geeky to bring along my books by Junot Diaz and Jhumpa Lahiri in the hopes that they will sign them? I’m not usually a starfucker autographer seeker – I simply want to tell them how much their writing has meant to me and my writing. And to tell Mr. Diaz that his essay on how excrutiating writing can be to one’s psyche was a revelation.

Besides meeting new people and reuniting with friends, I have settled on a few presentations to attend, including “From Short Story to Novel” and “Women Writers and Rejection.” Maybe I should be on that second panel, as I have many years of experience with rejection.

Just the other day I received a rejection email from a top tier publication (which will be represented at AWP). This one stung a little harder than most. I want to go up to the editor and ask in person, why exactly was my story rejected?

Isn’t that what we all want to know?

But asking that, like going to panels that purport to tell you “what editors want,” is a crap shoot. Just like all publishing is.

Editors don’t all want the same thing – except great writing. The same editor may like something one day but hate it the next. Maybe the story “just wasn’t a good fit” even though you read back issues to make sure your work fit in their oeuvre.

I strongly believe that the cream rises to the top. And that some people are published, whether or not they have talent, because of the current zeitgeist (I’m looking at you Snooki). But writing is about the art of creating something. That is where 90% of effort should be. The other 10% should be laser-focused on the challenge of getting published, if that is what you want.

For a long time, I didn’t care if I was ever published. Now, with seven stories published and more on the horizon, I am starting to care much more.

And for that, nothing can keep me from AWP this year.

Well, I had to cancel my plans at the last minute, and can’t attend AWP in DC this year. I’m really bummed, but sometimes life gets in the way – work, family, my MFA thesis, my next novel, time, money, you name it. Sometimes you have to take a pass. When I’m sitting with my son at his first Pinewood Derby I doubt I’ll be thinking about AWP. SO, I’m passing on to you, talented author, dreamer of vision, painter of lives, my list of panels that I was thinking of attending.

My picks have a lot to do with where I am as an author, what I’m looking to do, and who I know. So, I often drop by panels to see friends speak, or maybe it’s a panel on pedagogy or teaching, since I’m finishing up my MFA this year. There are a lot of panels on the future of writing, or publishing, those are always compelling. Sometimes I just want to hear somebody read. So, my picks may not match up with yours, but maybe it’ll give you some ideas.

Obviously you can only pick one panel per time period, so I’ll leave that up to you. I’ll asterisk (*) something if it really jumps out as a MUST SEE.

WEDNESDAY:

Not much going on, mostly people getting into town. I’m sure there are parties Wednesday night.

THURSDAY:

9:00 – 10:15

R110. Hired!: Landing the Elusive Tenure-Track Job.
This looked interesting, as I’m looking for work in 2011.

R113. Hands On: A Conversation about DIY and Craft Culture in a Digital World.
I thought this also had a lot of appeal as I’ve published in some crafty, handmade rags (such as Vain) and wanted to see what they had to say about this whole DIY culture.

10:30 – 11:45

R131. What They Didn’t Tell Us, We Will Tell You: Four First-Time Authors Discuss the Nitty Gritty of Publishing.
Siobhan Fallon is a friend of mine, so I wanted to hear her story about her first novel, and since my first novel came out last year as well (Transubstantiate) I thought it might be of value to me.

R132. Things That Go Bump When You Write: Monsters, Myths, and the Supernatural in Literary Fiction.*
This one looked really good to me, and I’m a fan of Laura van den Berg. I liked to work with fantasy, the supernatural, a bit of magical realism now and then, so this plus the literary angle appealed to me.

Noon – 1:15

R160. The Future of the Book Review: How to Break In.
I write book reviews for The Nervous Breakdown so I thought this might be interesting. And Roxane Gay is on this panel, and I like her work and attitude.

1:30 – 2:45

R174. Representing the Erotic in Literary Fiction.
Sex always gets people to show up. I put a bit of sex, and the erotic, in my work, so this looked like a fun one.

R179. CLMP Keynote—Size Matters: Big Houses, Small Presses, and the Literary Ecology of American Publishing.
I don’t hit TOO many keynotes, but this one covers a lot of things that interest me, small vs. large presses, for example.

3:00 – 4:15

R197. A 45th-Anniversary Fiction Reading by the Faculty of the MFA Writing Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Basically I just wanted to hear Holly Goddard Jones read and speak. She’s a friend of mine, taught at MSU where I’m getting my MFA, and an author I really love.

R198. Honoring Robert Coover.
Worth it to hear Coover as well as Brian Evenson.

4:30 – 5:15

R213. Understanding Comics as Creative Writing.*
This looked really good. I’m trying to break into comics, working on some samples right now, and this should be a fascinating panel.

R221. Fiction’s Future.
I try not to attend TOO many of these kinds of panels, but Lance Olsen and Roy Kesey make it worth attending, IMO. Lance is at FC2 and I’m a fan of Roy’s work. Both good guys, very giving and supportive as well.

NIGHT:

I was supposed to attend a reading at The Velvet Lounge with a bunch of friends, so go do that. It should be a great show. Caleb J. Ross, Brandon Tietz, Jesus Angel Garcia, Nik Korpon, Joe McGinniss Jr., Michael Sonbert, and Jillian Weise. 7-9 pm. 915 U St NW.

FRIDAY:

9:00 – 10:15

F114. Arktoi Books Celebrates Five Years of Lesbian Publishing!
Basically I wanted to see Nickole Brown read, she’s a friend and mentor of mine down at MSU. Very talented poet and author.

10:30 – 11:15

F132. How to start a literary center and thrive through the decades.
I’ve wanted to start a co-op for years, and this seemed like a very informative an useful panel.

F134. To Tell You the Truth: Strategies in the New Nonfiction.
I don’t write much NF, but I wanted to hear Nick Flynn and Stephen Elliott speak, those two are always entertaining and very smart, two talented authors.

F136. Jets vs. Sharks?
Richard Bausch and Jill McCorkle, nuff said.

NOON – 1:15

F146. A Reading by Joyce Carol Oates.
I’ve heard mixed things about her readings, but I’m a fan of her work, so this could be fun.

1:30 – 2:45
Nothing looked great. Have a long lunch instead.

3:00 – 4:45

F191. Hollins Graduate Program 50th Anniversary Reading.
Karen McElmurray is a friend and teacher down at MSU. Another chance to hear Jill McCorkle read too.

4:30 – 5:45

F212. A Reading by Mary Gaitskill and Sapphire, Sponsored by Wilkes University Low Residency MA/MFA Program in Association with Blue Flower Arts.*
I’m a huge fan of Mary Gaitskill, and I’m really bummed that I’ll miss this. Was going to have her sign my copy of Bad Behavior.

NIGHT:

Vermin on the Mount is the place to be. http://vermin.blogs.com/vermin_on_the_mount/2011/01/votm-awp-dc.html

WHO: Kim Chinquee, Roy Kesey, Amber Sparks, Lindsay Hunter, Nicolette Kittinger, Tom Williams, Al Heathcock & Scott McClanahan

WHEN: Friday, Feb 4 at 8pm

WHERE: Mie N Yu 3125 M Street in Georgetown

SATURDAY:

9:00 – 10:15

S111. Small Ships, Deep Ocean: Independent Presses Keep Short Story Collections Afloat.
Love short stories and this seemed cool. Laura van den Berg.

10:30 – 11:45

Nothing jumped out at me.

NOON – 1:15

S149. America Reimagined: Four Contemporary Voices, Sponsored by Blue Flower Arts.*
A great list of really talented authors: Ben Percy, Jennifer Egan, Rick Moody, Joshua Ferris. This should be a great event. It’s in a ballroom, don’t know how big it is, but this should be a really hot ticket. Get there early.

1:30 – 2:45

S171. What We Love; What Editors Are After.
These things are always a crapshoot, just write what you want, what moves you, but sometimes you get a nugget or two from some cool people. Editors from the Believer, Graywolf Press, Milkweed Editions, Orion, Soft Skull Press, and Tin House, so definitely worth it.

S177. The Road Less Traveled: How to be a Writer Without a Full-time Academic Gig.*
Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond, that’s worth it right there, but I love the focus of this panel, and am really hoping I can get some literature or a podcast of this one.

S184. Change or Die: How Established Print Journals are Adapting to Life on the Internet.
Love the title. A lot of journals are adding an online presence or moving online due to the costs and difficulties of having a print journal. Should be good.

3:00 – 4:15

S189. Linking It Up: Working with Story Cycles, Linked Collections, and Novels-in-Stories.
Big fan of Knockemstiff, so I thought this would be a really good panel to attend, fascinating, imo.

S191. Graywolf Press Reading.
Chance to see Nick Flynn and Stephen Elliott again if you missed them earlier. Big fan of Graywolf, too.

4:30 – 5:15

Nothing jumped out, so get to drinking now.

NIGHT:

There’s the Amy Hempel and Gary Shteyngart reading, that looked really good. I’m sure there are tons of parties too.

SO…that’s all I’ve got. Hit the bookfair as often as you can between panels, that’s a great way to do research, get discounted title and journals, and meet some of you favorite authors, network and pimp your wares. Bottom line, have fun.

Wish I was going. Drop me a line at wickerkat@aol.com if you have something to share or any questions.

F152. An Insurgent Surging: The Case for the Novella Now. (Josh Weil, Michael Knight, Tom Franklin, Cynthia Reeves) This panel will examine the novella as a renegade art form whose time has come. We will discuss the underappreciated rewards the form offers writers, readers, teachers, and publishers. But the focus will be on the craft of writing novellas—challenges, rewards, and the unique approaches that the form—all directed towards answering this question: why is right now the right time to refocus attention on the novella?

When and where it be?
Room 110. Colorado Convention Center, Street Level. 12pm-1.15pm

What about it?

I’ve had the good fortune to talk with award-winning author Josh Weil on several occasions and see him read. His novella collection, The New Valley, recently won the Sue Kaufman Prize for first fiction, awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. True, they always say these things, but it really couldn’t happen to a nicer person.

I asked him a few questions about the oft-neglected story form, the novella.

NK: Like flash fiction, novellas seem to be popping up more often. Also like flash fiction, they have a notoriously slippery definition. What is your quick-and-dirty definition of a novella? Does the definition lie more in scope or word count?

JW: Well, if you want really quick and really dirty, then word count. In which case I’d say roughly 15,000 – 50,000 words. But I doubt Don Delillo’s new “novel” is even close to 50,000; I’d bet its more like 40, or even 30. And the longest novella in my collection is around 49,000 or something. So, I’d rather go with scope. And if we’re talking scope, here’s the best I can do: If a short story focuses sharply on a narrow part of the world and treats it with great intensity and a novel approaches the world with a much wider lense and greater sweep and treats what it sees with a broad generosity, then a novella compressess the world with the focus of a short story, but it explores that smaller space with a novel’s generous care.

NK: You’re the writer-in-residence at a private high school. Are you teaching beginning writers the novella as a viable art form, or is it something to pick up later?

JW: Nope. They’re capable of dealing with it, but in an intro to fiction class (which is what I teach), I think short stories work better. I’d love to see advanced undergrad classes (and certainly graduate classes) grappling more frequently with the novella, though.

NK: Are there any contemporary writers you feel are ‘experts of the novella’ or are contemporary writers looking to the past for inspiration, conventions and guidance?

JW: Absolutely. There are contemporary masters of the form. Jim Harrison comes immediately to mind. So does Alice Munro (who write both long short stories and some full fledged novellas). And of course George Saunders, Charles Baxter, Denis Johnson, Annie Proulx…They’ve all written novellas. The form is alive and well; it’s just not recognized the way it should be.