STATUS: Another Gorgeous day! Repeat yesterday’s status.
What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? LADY IN RED by Chris de Burgh
Or maybe you didn’t but are a glutton for punishment anyway. I’m doing my very popular Agent Reads The Slush Pile as an online Webinar coming up on May 2, 2012 6-8 pm MST.
If you can’t make it to Denver for the LitFest version of this webinar put on by Lighthouse Writers (where the price is not to be believed but the travel to get there might be rough!), here’s your chance to finally experience it for yourself.
A couple of things before you click on that button:
1) This webinar is not for the faint of heart. It’s brutal. Now trust me, I will be as helpful and honest as possible. This is not to ridicule writers. But don’t kid yourself, it will be tough. If you are feeling fragile or that feedback might crush your writer dream, now is not the time for this workshop. If you are tough as nails, just about to submit, want an immediate honest response, then this might be worth doing.
2) It needs to be the actual, opening first 2 pages of your manuscript. If you have a prologue, skip it and grab page 1 and 2 from your chapter one.
3) We can’t promise to read every single entry but we are definitely going to try. If I only have a few left over, I’ll respond on the sample pages and we can send to those writers privately. Right now, I know we can get through them all.
4) You can “audit” the class. Sign up to be there and listen in but you don’t send on the 2 pages. This is for those who are curious about it but not ready to have sample pages read.
If you’ve ever wondered how an agent could make a decision so fast on whether to read on or not or to ask for pages, this webinar will definitely answer that question!
I am dying to do this but am still on my first draft. The price looks really good, too!
Good luck to everyone who submits. I’ll catch you in the next round instead. 🙂
I’ve signed up for the webinar and I’m looking forward to Kristen’s honest evaluation of the first two pages!
Sounds like a great seminar.
I was wondering, how many participants it is capped at? Thanks!
I tried to sign up, but PayPal won’t take my card. I’ve checked to make sure the account is ok, but PP isn’t explaining the problem. It just tells me to use another card, which I don’t have. Is there any other way I can sign up?
I’ve signed up, but I can’t seem to introduce the proper double-space (for pages) formatting into my email. Is it alright to send single-space and presume that Anita will (kindly) reformat for reading?
I registered yesterday, but I’ve just found out that I have to work that night 🙁
The registration email says I need to cancel if I can’t attend and get a refund, but I read elsewhere that I can watch it later if I can’t watch it live? Is that not true?
How long should we wait to receive our email or is there a day by which we should follow up that we haven’t received an email to submit pages?
I’m a little nervous, but in desperate need of feed back. I’m signed-up, so let’s get some feedback!
@ Becca, don’t worry, I had the same problem. All webinars are recorded, so you’ll be able to watch it a week later 🙂
@ Joseph, you’ll have to wait for an email to receive registration link. After clicking on registration link, it’ll ask you to submit the first 2 pages of manuscript.
Thank you, T^2.
I assume this is not interactive, right? So is there any advantage to watching it live…? I might choose to watch it later, when the family isn’t hovering.
Perhaps a silly question…do we include our query letters, too, or just send the pages in “blind”?
I’m excited about this. This will be the first webinar I attend. 🙂 I hope she’s brutally honest in that she’ll also tell us if our writing is “weak.” It’s so hard to find quality feedback these days.
Will the webinar be available for non-participants to view later? Ideally for free…but perhaps for a reduced fee?
I am looking forward to this. Thanks for hosting this Kristin.
On a side note, I was able to register by clicking on the emailed link, but I didn’t see (nor haven’t received yet) that special email in order to submit the first 2 pages. I’ll keep checking my email 🙂
Awesome. I love first page reads. You’re right though. they are not for the faint of heart. I’ve had my own heart broken once or twice. 🙂
Anonymous 6:56–if you don’t get that registration confirm email (and give it another day or two) with the special email included, you’ll want to contact us at pubrantswebinars@nelsonagency.com
Anon 6:50
The webinar is recorded and people who have registered have full access to the recording for a full year after the presentation date.
For non-participants, we have not made the video available as of yet for a reduced cost but may in the future so stay tuned.
allian said…
I tried to sign up, but PayPal won’t take my card. I’ve checked to make sure the account is ok, but PP isn’t explaining the problem. It just tells me to use another card, which I don’t have. Is there any other way I can sign up?
Agent Kristin: I’d try again or you might have to call Paypal and ask what the issue is.
Anonymous JenB said…
I’ve signed up, but I can’t seem to introduce the proper double-space (for pages) formatting into my email. Is it alright to send single-space and presume that Anita will (kindly) reformat for reading?
Agent Kristin: Don’t worry. We’ll be dropping the 2 pages into Word docs if not there already. We can fix formatting.
Becca Christiansen said…
The registration email says I need to cancel if I can’t attend and get a refund, but I read elsewhere that I can watch it later if I can’t watch it live? Is that not true?
Agent Kristin: The webinar is recorded and you’ll have full access up to watch the video for a full year after the presentation.
awriter said…
I assume this is not interactive, right?
Agent Kristin: Yes and no. It will be interactive as attendees will be able to ask questions but not to comment on each others works.
Buffra said…
Perhaps a silly question…do we include our query letters, too, or just send the pages in “blind”?
Agent Kristin: No need for query letter. Just the first two pages of the actual manuscript. Include the title and genre so we have context.
How many participants will be accepted? Thx!
Hi Kristin,
If you happen to love the first 2 pages, will you request more? In other words, does this activity count as an actual query to you?
Thank you!
Jen B had asked an earlier question about formatting for sample pages but I’m afraid I’m still a little confused. Do we attach the sample pages in a Word Document to the email or just cut and paste the pages directly into the email? Thanks!
I would like to watch live, but may have to leave. Can I both watch live and again later…or do we only get one shot at it?
Anonymous 3:16
I would like to watch live, but may have to leave. Can I both watch live and again later…or do we only get one shot at it?
Agent Kristin: The answer is yes. And you can watch it as many times as you’d like for a whole year!
Anonymous 10:44
Jen B had asked an earlier question about formatting for sample pages but I’m afraid I’m still a little confused. Do we attach the sample pages in a Word Document to the email or just cut and paste the pages directly into the email? Thanks!
Agent Kristin: You can do either. Sending it as a Word doc is just fine.
Awriter asked:
Hi Kristin,
If you happen to love the first 2 pages, will you request more? In other words, does this activity count as an actual query to you?
Thank you!
Agent Kristin: This is not a query. However, if we like what we see, we may ask that you send us your query and mention we liked the pages so we can ask for more.
Since I’m living in Sweden, I signed up for the webinar knowing it’s the recording I’d be watching. (Knew it’d be valuable information even for us copyeditor types. 🙂 I received the PayPal confirmation of payment, but nothing else.
Where does one access the recorded webinar? Is it perhaps not ready yet? When I go to this link (https://nelsonagency.com/webinar_agent_reads_slush_pile_may_2012.html) I only get a 404 error.
Jessica,
Just email
pubrantswebinars@nelsonagency.com
Lori will make sure you get the link!
Anonymous 12:24 here.
I’m so sorry for posting that message on the blog, but couldn’t get to it in time to delete it. I should have handled it properly by sending a private email.
It reminds me of the sage advice I once got to never respond when you’re angry.
Thanks so much, Kristin, for all you do to help us fledgling writers.