5 Life Lessons from the Romance Times Convention

Haley spent last week in LA at the Romance Times Booklovers Convention, and while we missed her and nothing got done at Arch Editing without her home, it sounds like good times were had at RT.  But RT is not just a big party.  It's one of the biggest romance author and reader conventions in the country, a place for people in the industry to network and make connections with other authors, agents and readers.  I asked Haley what she learned or accomplished at the convention and she gave me five lessons that I thought would be helpful for writers who are planning a future trip to a writing convention or conference. 

• A smile and a friendly word will open a lot of doors. Publishing is a business about who you know, and you never know when you're making an important new friend.

• Agents can sense desperation. They're much more responsive when you're not there to sell them anything at all, strangely enough.

• Make it a point to eat breakfast every single morning. When you're at a busy conference, there's never any guarantee you'll get fed again until dinner.

•  It's a very small world. I found a cousin, Vivien found somebody from her hometown, and I watched two women realize they used to be neighbors. And in every small connection and delightful coincidence, there are hundreds of stories.

•  It's always better to dance, to drink, to laugh, especially if you're with hundreds of like-minded fellow authors.