RWA Nationals: Day 0 Recap

The conference doesn't officially start until tomorrow, but since many people arrived today, some chapters held private events, and the big annual book signing benefiting literacy programs occurred tonight, it felt like today was the starting point of the conference. So, I'm calling it "Day 0." For me, it was a big switch, even though I came over from a hotel only a single metro stop away. My previous hotel seemed to cater to non-conference business clientele, and so the lobby was small and posh, and there were no lines for check-in/check-out. Contrast that with the Marriott in which the RWA conference is being held -- the check-in and bell desk lines were so long that they started to merge into each other even though the desks were at opposite sides of the lobby. The situation was made more dire by the simultaneous departure of a big teachers' conference that had previously occupied the hotel; this meant that most rooms weren't ready to be turned over, hence the disaster at the bell desk.

However, as I expected, everyone was quite friendly and on their best behavior, and so everything went smoothly despite the lines. I met some new people while eating a sandwich at the bar, including a virtual assistant for some authors, an editor for a small press in Texas, and a teacher who just happened to sit down and started asking me and the editor about the romance industry. The teacher promised to look for my book when it comes out; as that could be years away, I don't expect that it will really yield a sale, but I gave her my card just in case :)

The highlight of the day for me was the Golden Network retreat. I already wrote it up in a previous post, since I had a bit of free time after the discussion, but it was very useful to hear agent/editor perspectives on queries and wirting in general. Luckily (extremely luckily) I've already secured representation -- but the advice is good regardless, particularly since I will need to continue honing my pitch/synopsis skills as I grow my career.

After the Golden Network retreat, I took a break, swung briefly through the book signing, and met up with a college friend for dinner. But tonight I *vow* to go to bed earlier than I did the previous two nights -- Janet Evanovich kicks things off tomorrow at the crack of dawn (well, not really the crack of dawn -- but crack of dawn California time, which is what is relevant to me). So, no more blogging tonight! But, keep checking back for updates -- if nothing else, I will be twittering from various sessions tomorrow. And if you're at RWA and see a woman with dark, tinsel-filled hair and a pink iPhone, stop by and say hi!