AW2P 23 in Seattle has come and gone and I think I have finally recovered. What a whirlwind experience. I’m so grateful to Santa Fe Writers Project for allowing me that experience.
My job while working the book fair floor was mostly to take pictures for social media and to walk the floor handing out SFWP swag. Not to brag, but I received feedback multiple times that we had the best swag there with branded lens cleaners. I made it a point to look for all of the vendors that had glasses, and those who looked like they really needed some traffic to their table. I am gregariously extroverted and know no strangers when put in situations like this. There were HUNDREDS of vendors at the book fair. I gallivanted across the entire floor from front to back, twice. It took about three hours to traverse the sea of vendors. I was thrilled to see some of my favorite companies represented, such as Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, and BloomsburyUK.
I had many memorable experiences, including getting invited to queer karaoke, getting coffee with one of my BPU professors, taking shots of whiskey with Whiskey Tit Books, and watching Monica Prince sell out of her upcoming choreopoem. My favorite experience was finally getting to meet the SFWP authors in person.
Over the last several months, I have been working intensively with a small set of books to promote on social media to drive sales at AWP23. Most of the authors present sold completely out of their books at the conference. I got to meet Monica Prince, Lilly Dancyger, Elizabeth Gonzalez James, Stephen G Eoannou, Joseph Holt, and Ted O’Connell. It was surreal to actually meet in person and ask for their autographs.
Since I was surrounded by such expertise, I decided to ask each author if they had some wisdom to share with an aspiring author.
“Patience. Just let it happen. Don't force it. Wait. it may take you seven years for that novel. That’s how it is.” - Ted O’Connell
“Read widely. Read well-known works and unknown works to find what intrigues you as a reader.” - Joseph Holt
“Read voraciously and write as much as you possibly can.” - Elizabeth Gonzalez James
“Just write your fucking book.” - Lilly Dancyger
I think I’ll do just that.
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