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Conferences are very good for making you think about your long-term plans.

There are writers there that have been published for the past 20 to 30 years…and there are writers who are just starting out, too, and thinking about where they want to go.

And there’s nothing like a talk with your agent to help you straighten out your long-term goals. :)

I’ve said before that one of the best things I’ve done for my writing career was decide what direction I wanted to take with my writing. What was my purpose? How many people did I want to write for?

It reminds me of journalism’s Five Ws (and one H) that are needed to get the full story on a subject:

Why are we doing this? Do we only want to share our work with family and friends? If so, then we could consider self-publishing. Or do we want to share a story with a wider audience?

What steps are we going to take to achieve our goals? Take online classes on writing topics we’re weak in? Attend workshops? Go to conferences that sponsor agent pitches?

Where would we like to see our novel or nonfiction published? Where would we like to go with all this…a long-term career or a one-time thing?

When is our self-imposed deadline for completing a first draft? For a submission-ready manuscript?

Who is our ideal agent? We can research agents on Agent Query and check the ones we find against Preditors and Editors and Writers Beware.

How are we going to achieve our goals if our efforts are met with continued failure? Do we have a plan B? Consider pitching to smaller or independent publishers? Try building up our name or resume by getting published in magazines? Enter contests? Consider writing a different genre– a more commercially viable one?

Sometimes I feel like I’m just responding to stimuli and not really reassessing my master plan. Talking to my agent helped refocus me and made me take a look at where I am now and where I want to be—and the steps I need to take to get there.

Do you know where you’re going?

I felt a little out of touch with my North Carolina life while I was in DC at Malice Domestic.

My cell phone decided that it wouldn’t charge with either of my two chargers. I emailed my husband and told him what was up—and to call me only if there was something important. If he wanted to just shoot the breeze, then email me.

So I was one of the first people at the cell phone store when it opened Monday morning.

A young guy in his early twenties helped me out. “I think,” I said, “that it’s the port on the phone and not the charger.”

He looked unhappy because this meant I would have to get a new phone from them with no charge. They’d already told me that they couldn’t fix broken phone ports, at least on that model.

He took my phone off into the back of the shop.

“It’s your charger,” he said breezily when he came back in. “It started charging just fine when I plugged it into our charger in the back.

I opened my pocketbook and took out both of my chargers. “So,” I said slowly, “you’re saying that both my chargers went bad? Simultaneously?”

He swallowed. I raised my eyebrows at him.

“Yes ma’am. That’s what I’m saying.”

“It’s sort of coincidental, wouldn’t you say?” I asked him.

He nodded.

“Do you mind checking it again?” I asked. “Just to make sure?”

Because coincidences do happen. But not all that often.

As a reader, coincidences can be frustrating to read. They can make the story seem really contrived…and make the writer look lazy.

But sometimes—life does work that way. Despite my doubts, the cell phone rep found that my phone chargers were both defective. Suddenly. At the same time. And there haven’t been any lightning storms or anything.

I’ve found that, when I’m reading, I’m more accepting of coincidences in some circumstances.

I think I don’t find it too unbelievable when two people meet as the result of a coincidence. I think I’m more inclined to toss that up as fate.

I also don’t mind small coincidences at the start of a book. Later on, if a coincidence is used to wrap up a book in a tidy way, that annoys the stew out of me. It just reeks of deus ex machina.

What about you? Do you ever use little coincidences or twists of fate as a writer? Do they bother you as a reader or are you able to overlook them?

Writers’ roles in book promotion have changed a lot in the last twenty years. Instead of being expected merely to write and edit, they’re looked at as partners in the publicity process.

If you’re not promoting your book in some way (signings, interviews, blog tours, website giveaways), then you’re really not doing your fair share. This doesn’t come as a surprise to any writers who are plugged into the writing community. After all, with Yahoo Groups like Murder Must Advertise (which is a fantastic group, even if you don’t write mysteries) and writing forums that share tips on promoting, writers would have to have their heads under rocks to not realize the current climate for book marketing.

But when are you too committed to promoting a book instead of writing the next one? Is there an alarm bell that goes off when you’ve spent too much time away from your manuscript?

In an interview with Galley Cat, Sue Grafton confessed that it used to take her nine months to complete a book. “It used to take me nine months to write a book, then ten, then thirteen, and so on,” she explained. “Over the years, the publicity has begun to encroach on the writing process. Around the time of K Is for Killer, I began to realize that every time I had to do a phone interview, I was getting annoyed—’leave me alone, I’ve got work to do!” She said that she went to her publisher to ask for more time to write and less time for interviews, and was able to work out an arrangement with them.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far.

Write First—Your writing is the reason you’ve got something to promote. Make sure you satisfy your writing goal for the day first.

Get Ahead With Your Blogging—Feeling pinched for time? Try penning several blogs in a row. That way, if you have a day when you’re pressed, you’ll have something thoughtful to post on your blog.

Multitask—Okay, I know this is a difficult one. But it can be done (this is coming from a mom who frequently writes at stoplights.) But you can read and post comments on blogs while a pot of water is coming to a boil. You can write your answers to a blog interview while monitoring your kids as they do their homework.

Know When to Say No—Are you getting too stressed out? Is your stress level pouring out into your interactions with family and friends? Consider taking a week off (letting your readers know a date you’ll be posting again.)

Guest bloggers: Are there friends looking for extra exposure or a promo opportunity? Now’s the time to check in with them.

What do you do when you’ve gotten temporarily over your head?

I’d actually planned on putting some great photos on this particular blog post—but then realized as I’m here at the Malice Domestic conference in Washington, DC, that apparently I didn’t pack the cord that connects my camera to the laptop. But I’ll definitely be posting some pictures later from the conference.

Writers’ conferences can be great for everyone—aspiring writers looking for industry info, an agent, or a publisher; readers who enjoy hearing favorite authors on panels; and published writers, who connect with readers, find new readers, and network with other writers.

Here’s what I’ve gotten out of it so far:

Readers: Core readers who love the genre come to Malice Domestic. These are folks who read as many cozy mysteries as they can get their hands on…and I was very glad to be able to visit with them.

Writing friends: I’ve had a great time sharing meals and visiting with writers that I’d only known online. It’s fun to see how they are in person…and amazingly easy to fall into conversation since we’ve already know each other, even though it was a virtual friendship.

Malice-Go-Round—Billed as ‘speed dating for writers’, this part of the program featured 40 authors making snappy pitches to a table of readers before time was up and they moved to the next table of readers. Useful for developing pithy pitches and finding new readers. I sat in as a reader, not a writer and was introduced that way to all the writers that I knew online that I’d yet to meet in person.

Panels—sitting in the audience. I’ve picked up all kinds of information on what other people are working on and the way they handled different topics in their books.

Panels—sitting at the podium. A nice way to reach new readers and promote upcoming books.

Meet people you don’t ordinarily get to see—I’m having coffee with my agent tomorrow. Although we’ve been working together, I haven’t been able to meet her in person.

One of my publishers, Berkley Prime Crime, took its authors to dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. I had an opportunity to meet editors, my publicist, and the actual president and VP of that Penguin imprint. I also had a chance to visit with other Berkley authors and find out what they’ve been working on and maybe the direction that Berkley is going in for its upcoming series.

Promotional ideas. I’ll admit that I’m not the most creative person when it comes to marketing. At the conference I’ve seen some wonderful promotional ideas in action. Several authors came up with baskets for the silent auction–filling the basket with their books and small things that tie in with their book or setting. The conference helped the authors out by having author bingo–the readers walked around looking for authors that fit certain criteria…published by a particular publisher, from a certain region of the country, etc. A group I’m involved with had a button contest: we each had a button made from our book cover and readers could approach us and get our button. Whoever had the most buttons from our group of authors first won a gift certificate to the conference bookstore.

Of course, there were also bookmarks and postcards and business cards galore. At the signing after my panel, I did sign my books, but I also signed anything that anyone put in front of me, whether they bought my book or not. In addition, there were authors giving small things away (with their promotional information tied onto the materials) at their signings….like my barbeque potholders. Again, I didn’t mind if the reader bought my book or not–it was an opportunity for me to meet a potential reader (and readers at these conferences are avid readers) and tell them about my upcoming release.

Getting to conferences can be expensive, so I’d recommend finding conferences that are a good fit for what you write and are maybe, geographically, not too far away. I’ve really enjoyed the connections I’ve made, the industry information I’ve gotten, and the friends I’ve been able to visit.

Have you gone to any conferences, either as an aspiring or published writer? What have you gotten out of it?

I’m not the most relaxed traveler in the world. I checked over my lists at least twenty times to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, rolled my clothes up into my carry-on and finally called myself done. I was ready for the Malice Domestic conference.

I’ve written all kinds of details down for my husband—where I’m going to be, where the kids will be (they were coming and going over the weekend), etc.

My husband suddenly made a face. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I just had this anxious feeling. About you and the plane ride.”

I looked sternly at him. “This is not something you tell a Paranoid Traveler. Besides, everything will be find—it’s a short trip…I’m only going to be in the air for an hour and twenty minutes.”

Everything, for a while, seemed to go well. Oh…except I realized I didn’t have my driver’s license and needed to go back to the house. But I was barely out of the neighborhood.

The security check went well. The plane was on time. I had my laptop and my carry-on luggage with me. I walked over to the bridge to board the plane when the lady at the desk said, “Ma’am, you’re going to have to give that bag to the man at the end of the bridge. It’s oversized and not going to fit in the overhead bin.”

I clutched my bag.

“It’s okay, ma’am,” said the woman in a soothing voice one might use for a fractious toddler. “Just give it to the gentleman there. He’ll take care of it for you.”

The man smiled and nodded and reached out a hand encouragingly. I guess the airline staff is used to taking care of crackpot customers and I must have looked panicky. But this was the reason I’d stuffed everything into my carry-on!

So now I’m feeling really anxious, myself. I’m all twitchy and thinking I’m going to have to wear my black dress for 3 days in DC and won’t that be ridiculous? Or I have to go shopping while I’m at the conference. And my books are in that bag!

Then we’re about to take off and the pilot says there’s a mechanical problem with the plane and a mechanic is coming over to fix it.

Now if this had been a story I’d been writing instead of real life (and this all would have been much nicer if it were fictitious), then I never would have written my husband’s worries in.

The foreshadowing would have been too heavy-handed.

There are different ways to handle simple foreshadowing, and I think—most times—that simple is better with these hints.

We could go with physical descriptions—stomach butterflies, or even my twitchiness at being separated from my bag.

We could even overstate the positive: “This is going to be a great trip,” thought Elizabeth. “I’m leaving so early that the flight is sure to be on time.” This determined embracing of the positive (which I certainly didn’t do) as things start going wrong could help underscore to a reader that maybe everything really isn’t so great.

We could build up a particular mood for the plane ride. Weather would be a pretty easy way to do it,if we’re careful not to be trite. Instead of the clichéd ominous clouds, we could go with weather that wasn’t forecasted and threatens to keep the plane grounded for a while. Maybe it’s icy. Or maybe there’s a lot of lightning.

We could even have a fellow passenger who’s really nervous about flying and have the protagonist reassure her. Although reassurances ring hollow because the reader is starting to suspect that there might be a problem with the flight.

A little foreshadowing or premonition of trouble goes a long way. But it can add a touch of suspense to the story. Will the plane get there in one piece? Will it be delayed so long that the protagonist misses out on all her activities at the conference? (Fortunately not!)