Book Expo Writers Conference

I recently returned from the Book Expo America Writers Conference in New York. It was my first writer's conference and I must say well worth the time and money. I learned more in an eight hour day than I have in a year of searching the web.

Everyone there was looking for the "secret" to getting published. I wish I could say that I went, I listened, and I now have the secret. Nope!

What I did leave with was a true understanding that there is no secret. It is all about hard work.

Hard work is key. Write the best book you can. I know we have all heard this, and we all say that we have but have we really?

I left the conference knowing that I could do better. I'm not saying I needed to go home and start over, but that I wasn't done editing. After listen to eight different agents say the same thing, I got it. My manuscript needed to be a bit shorter for the target market I was aiming for - middle-grade fiction.

So, I am cutting some fluff, tightening up some chapters and then I will send it out the agents I spoke with at the conference. I know it is going to improve my chances of getting a request.