Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Preparing for ACFW Conference

Several months ago I decided that moving to the next level in my writing career required attending the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Conference in Dallas in September. It's September! While I had attended the Greater Philly Christian Conference 2x in the past, the ACFW is much bigger! Here are things I am doing to prepare for ACFW in just a few weeks:
  1. I reserved my hotel and airline. I completed the LONG conference form including the classes I plan to attend, the editors and agents I want to meet, and the meals I hope to eat. By the time I was done, I had no idea what I had signed up for! Hoping I made good choices, I made notes in my journal about what choices I had made, set the conference on the back burner, and paid the bills when they came in (EEK!!! WHAT HAVE I DONE?).
  2. I signed up for the first timer's loop. I've been receiving hints about what I should do in preparation for the conference. Some of those things will be listed here. Unfortunately the loop also has a frightening effect, as in WHAT AM I DOING?
  3. I prepared a "one sheet" describing my new book A Time to Choose in concise and intriguing form in hopes of finding a publisher or an agent willing to take me on. Several iterations later, I printed 6 copies on nice stationary. Why 6? That's how many options I had to list on the conference registration to get 2 appointments with publishers/agents. I'll load it on a flash drive in case I need more copies.
  4. I printed business cards. Lots of business cards. With all conceivable ways to contact me! And with my picture. I also created a label with said contact info to stick on the back of my Gold Earrings business cards.
  5. I have finished, almost, editing and reprinting my new book A Time to Choose. I plan to load the digital copy and several other pertinent documents on $4 flash drives to give to anyone who can help me find a publisher or agent! Prayer for this is much appreciated.
  6. I bought flash drives on sale at Office Max.
I'm sure I'll find many more ways to drive myself crazy in these few coming weeks. Please pray for my anxieties and fears. Please pray that God puts the correct people in my path to allow A Time to Choose to be published. Pray that I feel I received professional contacts and instruction that is well worth the time and cost to go to ACFW Conference. Finally pray for my health, that I would be able to make the most of the time in Dallas, including seeing my brother and his family.