When I opened Greyhaus Literary Agency, I had three goals in mind. The first is to focus exclusively on romance and women's fiction. The second was to increase communication between the professional side of publishing and authors. Finally, it was to promote education. Working with writing organizations all around the world is one thing I can do that helps out with all of the goals.
This last weekend, I had the chance to work with Romance Writers Online. It was a fantastic 90 minutes of talking about writing and the role of agents. The next day they reached out to ask how to pay for the talk. I think they were shocked when I said I don't charge. This has actually happened during the last three presentations. I don't charge.
I personally feel that this is a part of the job. If we want to see publishing continue to be strong, and to find some great authors, we as professionals have to reach out with ways to help out writing chapters.
We can teach writing. We can teach the process. We can talk about approaches to writing. We can just motivate authors.
I bring this up again to let authors know I am here for you. If you are in charge of finding speakers or setting up conferences, reach out to me. If you are just an author, let your chapter leadership know I am here.
And if you are thinking, "Our chapter isn't focused on romance and women's fiction, can you help?" The answer is yes! I have presentations on determining the need for agents, figuring out what agents really want, and yes, even motivating people to get over those writing hurdles. The cool part is - when I get to you, I want you to work me. Don't just have me listen to pitches. I'll teach workshops all day. I'll listen to pitches. Use me!
I do often ask to have you help out with hotel and air. If you are in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, I can get to you.
How do you make this happen? It's easy...
ASK!
That's it.
I'll be watching my email. Hope to see you soon in 2024
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