Preparing For National...

…as in the annual Romance Writers of America conference—this year in bone-dry Reno, Nevada. Only ten more days!

Here are some tips for first-timers….

1. Clothes– According to my on-line loops, pre-conference shopping carries an extremely high priority. Maybe I’m aberrant (to me shopping is an excruciating activity). Don’t you people own clothes already? Who are you out to impress? (Shrug)

2. Finish the manuscript—a mental exercise really. No one physically totes their book to the conference, or at least, they shouldn’t. Must I remind you that no editor or agent wants to cart your overweight drivel back to her office?

3. Practice the pitch—(Take deep breaths while your heart resumes a healthier pace.) Time to hone those 400 pages down to one succinct sentence that perfectly encapsulates the essence of your book.

Okay, say it out loud without sounding rehearsed.

Hm. Can you try that again? This time, ditch the uhs, ums, and ers.

All right. We’ll work on that during the flight.

4. Practice packing—pack, unpack, repack. Do this several times until you’re at least 20 lbs. under the airline weight allowance ‘cuz that’s how much the freebies are gonna add to your luggage.

5. Create/buy business cards—Done! Mine arrived today and they’re so cute I wanna hand them out to everyone I see. (It’s sorta funny that I chose them before I started my latest WIP because they ended up very chick-litty…makes me believe I’m going in the right direction. Note to self: don’t forget to bring plenty!)

6. Coordinate schedules/obtain cell phone numbers—Ack. So many people, so little time. Especially when you don’t know someone by sight. I recommend rendez-vous-ing early-on so you don’t end up realizing that the person you’ve been sitting next to at all the workshops is your on-line critique partner. (Scrutinizing nametags isn’t as simple as it sounds, trust me.)

7. Sleep!—Get lots of sleep before you arrive because those 8 o’clock meetings, workshops and appointments are a real bitch when you’ve stayed up half the night gambling, carousing, and schmoozing.

8. DO Attend the Awards Ceremony—no matter how tempted you are to skip it, I promise that watching an unpubbed author win a Golden Heart is truly inspiring!!!

9. Have fun, fun, fun! At every turn—from the woman standing next to you at the bar, to the one sneaking a cigarette, to the one holding the elevator—she has something uniquely in common with you, so savor the connection and strike up a conversation. There are NO STRANGERS at National!

10. Get free stuff!—Be sure to visit the publisher signings. You get lots of free books signed by your favorite authors.

11. Don’t be shy!—Romance authors are some of the most generous people around. If you happen to share an elevator with Jayne Ann Krentz, Patricia Gaffney, Jenny Crusie, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, or Nora Roberts (the list is endless), be sure to smile and say hello.

You are one of them.