2014 Savannah Book Festival A Hit

The Savannah Book Festival seems to get better each year.  The selection of authors who come to share their experiences includes so many great choices that there simply isn’t enough time to hear them all.  This year, I was only able to attend the free Saturday lectures.  There was a method to my madness in making the selection to hear: Robin Cook, Brad Taylor, Hugh Howey, Patricia Schultz, and C. J. Box (L to R).  Genre and method of publishing were key.  As a result, I was exposed to medical thrillers, counterterrorism, dystopian society, travel bucket list places, and a modern western hero.

Sometimes, as in many Savannah festivals and events, the attendees also offer a lot.  For example, while waiting for Howey to give his talk, I met the lady sitting behind me, who is an author of over a dozen books published in Australia.  In fact, many of the attendees had been published in just about every genre imaginable.  This made the Q & A portion of the session quite interesting.
So, what did I learn from these five presenters?

• Writers comes in all shapes, sizes, and fashion sense!
• There is no one path to writing and getting published.
• Cook recounted that, if not for his circuitous path to a submarine in the Viet Nam years, he wouldn’t have had the dedicated time to attempt a book. 
• Taylor, a special forces veteran, was a natural for counterterrorism thrillers.  His method is immersion in the terrain of his novels.
• Howey began his adventure by writiing for fun for his wife and family.  He created a blog and posted a novella.  The “what happened next” response from readers encouraged him to self publish.  His books subsequently were signed and a Ridley Scott movie is in the making.
• Schultz simply loved to travel and made the transition from working in a stable of authors for travel guides to creating her own series.  It is possible to make a living from your passion.
• Box took 20 years to publish his first book, had his first agent die on him, but now has a book series under consideration from Robert Redford as a platform for a TV series.
• Write what you know and what you like to read. 
• You have to DO something before you can SAY something.  Nevertheless, experience alone doesn’t guarantee success.  Research is vital.
• Stop studying English and have an adventure.
• Your first novel may be a total bust, but even that can be an opportunity to learn.
• Write every day, even if it’s only for 15 minutes.  Otherwise, your thought process can be completely derailed.
• There is no perfect approach.  Some outline the entire book and others drift along, led by the protagonist.
• Most publishers are not interested in a one-trick pony.  Successful authors sign multi-book deals.
• If you don’t have an agent or plan to self-publish, select a good editing group of three people who can help you test the material as well as catch inconsistencies and errors.
• The timetable described for traditional publishing is incredible:  2-3 years to get an agent; 1 year to get a publishing deal; 1 year from deal to shelf.  This results in a 3 to 6 month shelf life in the store.
• Having a correlating blog for your work in progress can be a terrific value add.  (Howey wrote a blog in the form of journal entries from his main character.)
• Put the reader immediately into the scene from page 1.

Overall, the Festival was worth every minute of my time.  The speakers were not only informative, but personable and funny.  The folks in attendance were friendly and hospitable. The venues were great.  I’m already wishing for next year’s event!