My initial reaction to getting home from PNWA is/was drained and depressed. Part of that was the Agent/Editor interviews, part of it was the heat, some of it was the sessions, and some of it was the state of the industry.
Industry - there are fewer large publishers, and what you get from them, assuming you land a contract, is less help than before. So you'd better learn how to do the marketing yourself. Small Pusblisher? They're great in that it's very likely you can find one, but they'll print 2,500 copies of your book, and that's it. It's up to you. And they go out of business with surprising frequency. POD? Bookstores don't like them because there's no return policy for unsold books. And the sheer amount of garbage that was produced in the first wave of POD printing has led to a stigma that they're all crap. Web? Sure, but find a way to do so so you get paid is a challenge. Remember, it's all a numbers game. People are tight with their entertainment dollars.
Some of this came out in the editor interviews. There are 5-6 of you around the table with the editor. He/she starts with those words: "I can't acquire anything." You give your elevator pitch anyway, and judge the reaction. Then they answer questions and explain how a book becomes published. They have to "love" it. They promote it to the editorial board, who has to "love" it. Then the senior or managing editor, again, who has to "love" it. Then you have marketing. Again, "love" is a factor. Finally, after all of that, it gets put on the schedule, usually a year to 18 months out. Do editors edit? Yes, though they've pushed a lot of that down to the agent. The editor edits, then the copyeditor does his or her thing. The average editor does between 12 and 20 books a year. And did I mention the layoffs in the publishing houses? Since a lot of them were acquired, there have been layoffs and shrinkage as they want their book divisions to be as profitable as possible.
Agent interviews - here's a secret. Constantly check the board near the agent interview rooms. That's where cancellations are put. You might score another interview or two. Know what the agent is looking for. Have your pitch ready and honed. This is your one-paragraph pitch. Know how long your m/s is. First time novelists, they're looking for around 100,000 words. You get 10 minutes. And the agent won't be taking anything back with them. The good news, electronic submission is getting to be the thing. Server space is so much less room than paper. Your goal is to have them ask you for your work. The dreaded words are "I'm sorry, I don't think I can represent that." That is all too common. But did you know that in fully 90% of the time the author doesn't send anything in?
Work on your elevator pitch - this is the 1 minure or less summary. It's called the elevator pitch because you have to be able to give it in an elevator or in a bar. A lot of work gets done at a conference in the bar. One of the people I met spent 20 minutes talking to an agent in a bar. That's a good reason to go to the site and stay rather than commute.
Sessions - these are 90 minutes long, and at most you can get 5 in. That's a depressing ratio of minutes to dollars spent. The good news, there's a lot of really great information. I attended the ones on marketing, small press, and legal affairs. The world-building one was pretty good in that I ended up with a lot of questions to ask about background in a story. And you get an idea of what you should have been writing two years ago because of the way the industry is tending. There are also nuts-and-bolts things you can pick up. For example, writing query letters. Three paragraphs. Writing a pitch, both elevator and sit-down (and you are encouraged to practice it frequently). All of these are things to know. They assume the other nuts-and-bolts things are taught in community colleges, high schools, colleges, or wherever. For sessions in general, you pays your money, you pick and choose.
Overall experience - PNWA this year had the feel of an organization that is changing to suit the member's needs. In the past it was very much an old guard type organization, and they did things, but you didn't see how it benefitted you, the writer. That's changing. The big thing about a conference like this is to give you face time with the agents. Think of going as an investment. And you get free meals out of it at breakfast and dinner. Reaction from others? I met several people who've decided to keep writing, but only for themselves, with maybe a POD contract. I think that was the most depressing thing to come out of the experience.
