Event: Writer's League of Texas Agents Conference

I'm driving up for Saturday only, as the early morning and Friday events didn't seem worth the price of a room at the Hyatt/hassle of begging a room from friends for my particular conference behavior patterns. I'm not hyped about going, alas. A friend of mine has warned me that it's a "shark tank," not the cozy friendly hyperstimulating place conferences limited to children's and YA authors tend to be. And I hate meeting people. And I don't think anybody I know is going. But I really need an agent and I'm not going to get anywhere racking my brains over pitches, so onward and upward.

If anybody out there in blogland is also going, I'll be the one in the hat, dress, and backpack, quite possibly surreptitiously eating trailmix and clutching an insulated cup. (Can't get through an entire session without drinking something.) The sessions I'm interested in are:

10:15 to 11:35
Welcome to the e-World: What it Means for Authors (Susanna Einstein, Jane Friedman, Kevin Smokler) OR Kid Lit: One Sizzling Market (Laura Rennert of Andrea Brown and Authors still TBA at the time I printed the schedule). The Kid Lit one is kind of obvious, but I'm afraid it'll tell me a lot of stuff I already know; whereas the panel on electronic publishing is almost certain to be full of stuff I don't know but will be inherently disinclined to implement even if I find it out.

1:00-2:00 Sum it Up: Writing a Killer Synopsis. Well, obviously I need help with that. And the Kidlit panel for that hour (YA or Not? How to tell if your book is for adults or teens or both) is definitely redundant for me.

2:15-3:15 7 Secrets of Amazing Author Websites. We can all use that, and again the Kidlit panel is redundant (Tots to Teens; Writing Children's Books. I know I can do that, thanks.)

3:30-4:30 Tales from the Trenches: What Happens After You Land an Agent? and The Ties that Bind: The Author/Agent/Editor Relationship are both addressing my ignorance zone. I'll probably go with the second because that's where the Andrea Brown agent is and the agent listed for the first as participating doesn't do kid stuff.

4:45-6:15 General Session: First Pitch. Where a panel of experts reviews pitches drawn at random from a box that's been sitting at the registration desk all conference long. Kind of a public-dissection raffle. Potentially educational. Of course I'll put a pitch in, but if I'm sufficiently tired, overstimulated, etc. I may just drive home.

Wish me luck on the parking. Austin is also hosting the Republic of Texas Biker Rally (Hey, they've got Eddie Money and the Doobie Brothers performing!) and we're being advised to avoid downtown and be prepared to be stuck in a lot behind Threadgill's or something. At least I can eat reasonably well at Threadgill's.