Annnnnd, breathe!
August has been quite the month. It started with my aunt taking a tumble and breaking her hip (she is on the mend!). My first bout of COVID followed (was rampant in the hospital where the aunt was having her hip replaced) and then there was the Romance Writers of Australia 2024 Conference in Glenelg, South Australia. Then I got offered a new job (yay me, but we’re in the final stages of negotiation so I can’t tell you much more about that yet!)
So, this weekend feels like the first time in the month I’ve been able to stop, and take a moment to reflect on everything that’s come before, including my top five takeaways from #RWAus24.
First, write the book you want your favourite author to write for you.
This idea came up a few times through the conference, with presenters (including Christina Lauren) talking about writing the story you want to write, and knowing what you love, and what you want to do. It also came up in response to questions about writing to trend (because, by the time you have finished the book, the trend you may have hated writing has moved on to something else).
And trust me, this one resonates hard because knowing how long you sit with a manuscript, how many times you write and rewrite, edit and re-edit, you have to love the story and the words you are putting on the page.
Second, be authentic. And don’t be a dick.
This also came up on several occasions throughout the conference. And is key – to writing, to marketing, to business and just to being a decent human.
Third, read voraciously.
When I heard this one it burned – because one thing I haven’t been doing enough of lately is reading. I’m trying to improve that (I may have bought/won a number of new paperbacks that grew my TBR pile pretty substantially… and there are a few TBR’s on my Kindle too!)
Four, want more diversity, buy more diverse books.
This came up during the what’s hot and what’s not panel and really stuck with me. In addition to authors making sure that their books reflect the world around us with diverse casts (although not necessarily telling the stories that aren’t ours to tell), it’s important to be reading widely. While I’m working on increasing the diversity of my reading, I recently read The Matchmaker by Saman Shad, which was a fun read, and I’m about to start Love and Other Scores by Abra Pressler (after meeting her at the conference cocktail party, Abra was lovely!)
Five, think about your brand, vs the brand of your publisher.
This was my final takeaway from conference and I’m still mulling it over. It came up in the context of celebrating Mills & Boon’s 50 year anniversary (yay Mills & Boon!) and a discussion about the support traditional publishers provide to authors. My mind then went off on a path of considering the layers between M&B’s brand (and, subsequently, the brand of their authors) vs the brand of a traditionally published author vs a smaller press published author vs the brand of an indie author – and how they vary.
And a final tip, from Jo Mackay’s session on things publishers want (and don’t want) you to know. If you are pitching to a publisher at a conference, send a photo along with your eventual submission – it helps the publisher remember you!
And, lastly, conference always ends with the announcement of next year’s conference venue and theme.
#RWAus25 will be in Hobart (a beautiful city!) with a Writer Wonderland theme (my mind is already spinning with ideas for the fancy dress cocktail event, which is unusual for me as I am not a big dresser-upper!). I’m also VERY EXCITED that both Sarah MacLean and Sarra Cannon are coming Downunder.
I am a big fan of both and will do my BEST not to fangirl all over them (but I can make no promises!)
If you were at #RWAus24, let me know your favourite moments or takeaways?!
wordsbykristinecharles 