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By Rachel Hall
I didn’t do
yoga for writers at AWP ’16 in Los Angeles, nor do I know anyone who did, but
this offering on the official schedule reveals the tone of the conference this
year. Put another, possibly more L.A.-way, I felt the good vibes, man.
Seriously, there
was a decidedly holistic approach to the panels I attended—even those about
publicity and marketing. I hardly expected that, but was pleasantly surprised.
Like a lot of writers, I imagine, I have considered marketing and publicity
necessary evils, the icky part of writing. And also somehow embarrassing, for
if my book were any good, I wouldn’t need to hawk it, would I? It would sell
like a pink-frosted cupcake or feminine protection—something delicious and
irresistible or an absolute essential. Though my first book is coming out in
the fall, (http://newletters.org/writers-wanted/BkMk-writing-contests),
I was initially resistant to the panels on publicity and marketing, pitching
and promoting, because much of the advice I’ve received up until now has been overwhelming:
Do Twitter! Do Goodreads! Do a newsletter! A blog--You should absolutely blog!
If I hadn’t met
Michelle Toth on the shuttle from the LAX, I might have missed the inspiring
panel she moderated: “Book Launch Confidential: Marketing Made Smarter, Not
Harder.” In the conference schedule, the panel promised to teach writers “to
draw on strengths as they align [marketing] activities with values and
priorities, becoming advocates for their work while finding energy and joy in
the process.” Michelle is a former Grub Street (www.grubstreet.org) Board member; the
founder of SixOneSeven, a small press; a novelist; and a human capital
professional. She’s also really smart and organized, as were her panelists and
Grub Street authors: Lynne Griffin, Michael Blanding, and Eve Bridburg. By
posing important questions such as “why do you write? What do you want to
accomplish? What brings you joy and energy?”, the panel eased my anxiety, and it
was fun—yes, fun! The Grub Street approach encourages writers to be honest about
their goals, something I find difficult but that I now see is essential to developing
a plan and measuring success. This panel was the opposite of icky. It was
illuminating and empowering and thought-provoking. (If you missed it, I
understand that the panel was taped for an AWP podcast, so you may be able to
listen at some later date.)
Thus inspired
and centered, I attended a panel on pitching to bookstores and literary
festivals, “Winding Up for the Pitch.” This
wasn’t something I had
really considered before—but what fun these festivals sound like! Presenting at
one would certainly bring me joy, I decided, especially if they have food
trucks.
The other panel
I attended was a discussion on competition and creativity. The presenters were
Lynn Pruett, Lorraine López, Blas Falconer, and Ansel Elkins, all winners of
prizes, honors and awards. This panel explored whether competition and success
fuel writing or hinder it by making us hyper-aware of audience expectations.
The presenters were smart and funny and honest about the ways competition and
its attendants--jealousy and envy and anger—can hamper writing. It was a
necessary reminder to step back from the noisy competition and get back to the
writing, the real work, as well as the real fun. I appreciate the work of VIDA
and newer groups such as WWS (Women Who Submit). Obviously women writers should
take themselves seriously and should be taken seriously and treated fairly by
the gatekeepers, but it was helpful to be reminded that publication isn’t the
only reward. It’s one aspect of the writing life, not the whole story.
Besides these
panels and the yoga, the wide aisles in the book fair and the expansive
conference center made for a mellower AWP, too. And the Southern California
sunshine, the mountains in the distance, the blue, blue sky? These pleasures
were lovely and fleeting: I returned to Western New York in snow. But back
home, I’m still contemplating all I learned about balancing the many aspects of
the writing life.
MORE ABOUT RACHEL HALL’S FORTHCOMING
BOOK OF STORIES:
Heirlooms is an exquisite and thrilling
collection. In fearless and incandescent prose, Rachel Hall traces the fragile
resilience and quiet horrors of those displaced by war. She happens to be
writing about the Second World War, but these are stories that speak to the
essential human experiences of exile and loss and survival. Heirlooms captures what it is to be a
refugee, and an immigrant, with a delicacy and precision that delights and
haunts.
--Steve Almond
BIO:
Rachel Hall is
the author of Heirlooms, selected by
Marge Piercy for the 2015 BkMk Press G.S. Sharat Chandra book prize. It will be
published in September 2016. Her stories and essays have been published in a
number of journals, most recently in Midwestern
Gothic, Lilith and Fifth Wednesday.
She writes, teaches, and attempts to tweet in Western New York. Follow her
@Rach_H_writer or on www.rachelhall.org
