I spent all of Sunday designing business cards for conference. I had to design three cards, because I write under two names. How does she arrive at that math, you ask? I needed:

1. One card showing my pen name only, which I can tuck into copies of the book Penny is signing at the Literacy Autographing. I put the covers of Penny’s first two releases on this card. Okay, so the second release doesn’t come out until the end of the year, but the title, cover, yada, are there to hopefully garner reader interest (note the adverb).
2. Another card showing my real name only. This card is to exchange with other writers, which, to be honest, I don’t do a heckuva lot, because it’s the Internet Age after all and I can Google with the best of them. But if someone asks for your card, you don’t want to be caught card-less, so I put the cover for Borrowing Alex on this card to guilt my writing friends new and old into buying a copy if they haven’t already.
3. The last card shows both my pen name and my real name. This is the card I’ll use for my editor and agent appointments, if the e/a’s want them (I always ask, because, frankly, a lot of editors and agents toss out the cards as soon as they get back to their rooms—what, you thought they had ginormous Rolodexes and backs of steel?). However, as per #2, if the editor or agent WANTS to see your card, you’d better have one.

This is where the mugging comes in. Last year on the ’07 Golden Heart Finalists loop, there was discussion as to whether or not it’s adviseable to put your headshot on your business card. I thought, what a great idea—an easy way to help the ed/agent remember to put a name to a face (that is, if they keep the cards, which they in all likelihood won’t, but let’s continue to pretend they will/do/might). However, then I started asking around on other loops, and the general consensus seemed to be that it’s tacky. Like you’re advertising yourself as a real estate agent or something. Well. I left my mugshot off my card, but when I got to National and saw biz cards with mugshots, I didn’t find them tacky at all. I liked them. And I found them useful for putting faces to names when I developed my conference pictures.

So, this year I’m being tacky or clever (pick your poison). My photo didn’t go on the cards I’ll hand out to readers and other writers, but it dang sure went on the card for editors and agents. If that makes me tacky, I can live with it. God knows I’ve been called worse (like weird).

All over my conference clothes. Eek!

Actually, she didn’t. She can’t give birth, because she’s not pregnant. She can’t get pregnant, because she’s fixed. But here I am, doing last minute conference preparation and shopping, a task that quite frankly bores me out of my mind. I am so not a shopper. I know it goes against the Estrogen Pledge, but there you have it. However, I can’t show up at the RWA National Conference next week naked, so shop and prepare I must.

So I’m going through old conference clothes searching vainly for Stuff That Fits, and it makes perfect sense to pile all the Good To Go conference clothes on my bedroom floor beside my nightstand—a constant reminder that it’s not enough to prepare the stuff for conference, I must also pack it. Except, the cat normally sleeps under the side table near the nightstand, and she leaves quite a mess of hair on her blankets, too. Wonder if she decides to start sleeping on my Pile? Wonder if she coughs up a hairball on my Pile? Wonder if she decides it’s a litter box? What if, if she were pregnant, she decided it would be a marvy-lous spot to give birth?

This is why a writer should never be kept from her WIPs. I don’t know about you, but one day without writing whilst doing something braindead like organizing packing lists is enough to send my muse around the bend.

Agh, I still have business cards to create, pitches to perfect. Why did I leave everything until the last week? Why did I ever think I would thrive on the last minute panic?

Do you love prepping for conferences? Or, like me, does it drive you around the bend?

The other day, I received notification of my editor and agent appointments for RWA National in San Francisco at the end of the month. Thought I’d take the opportunity to highlight the following:

Failure to appear for your appointment will preclude you from appointments in future years.

Appointment cancellations must be made by noon on Thursday, July 31st.

Need to see that again?

Failure to appear for your appointment will preclude you from appointments in future years.

Appointment cancellations must be made by noon on Thursday, July 31st.

RWA has sent out a reminder along these lines every year for the past few years. Some years the reminder has said you’ll miss the chance to book appointments for a set number of years—say 2 or 3. Other years, like this year, the reminder sounds more definitive, although who knows what “in future years” might actually mean? Which future years? All of them? Next year, then the following year you can have an appointment again, but the year after that you can’t? On second thought, I think “the next three years” or whatever time frame is actually more definitive, but I digress.

The point is, it’s not cool to skip editor and agent appointments, yet every year at RWA a lot of last minute appointments become available because the writer in question has cancelled…or just doesn’t show up. Sometimes she (or he) cancels for good reason, like sudden (real) illness or an emergency that takes them away from conference, or, hey, maybe they sell the first day of RWA and therefore no longer need the appointment. With a deadline of the day preceding appointments in place to cancel, however, skipping at the last minute (a very last minute illness or emergency aside)…well, I just don’t understand why people do it. And, wouldn’t you know it, I happen to have a Dear Cindy column on my website addressing this very issue. The Q & A goes into greater depth, so if you haven’t checked it out, feel free to do so now. (Yes, you are compelled to read the column, you really have no choice, you WANT to read the column, you want to read it and refer it to all your writing buddies NOW). (After you have read the column, you will wake up and email two dozen writer friends, directing them to the column on my website).

Snap!

Okay, confession time. Has anyone ever canceled an editor or agent appointment at RWA National or a regional conference? Why? Did you regret doing so? Would you do it again?

If RWA didn’t have this “don’t cancel or else” policy in effect, do you think you might chicken out of your appointment? What is it about these appointments that can leave many a writer shaking in their stilettos?

A little birdie told me that the finalists of the Red Sage writing contest will be announced tonight, at the monthly Red Sage chat at Writerspace. Nine p.m. EST. Be there or be…well, uninformed, I guess.

Also, this recently in from the Red Sage blog:

Meet a Red Sage Editor!  

Will you be attending RWA’s national conference in San Francisco?

Would you like to pitch your work in person to a Red Sage editor?

If so, email your name and email address to eredsage@gmail.com and you will be scheduled for a short, one-on-one pitch appointment! Most pitches will be held on Thursday, July 31, 2008, though some may be held on Friday, August 1, 2008.

These are “bonus” appointments. It doesn’t matter if you’ve already scheduled pitch appointments through RWA. You can still get one of these special pitch meetings! All you have to do is email your name and email address to eredsage@gmail.com.

Pitch appointments will be scheduled on a first come, first served basis. Don’t delay! The schedule is filling fast!

Red Sage Publisher Alexandria Kendall, managing editor Theresa Stevens, and senior editor Alicia Rasley will be taking the pitches.

The latest from the Red Sage blog:

Bonus appointments for RWA nationals are filling fast. We will make every effort to accommodate all requests, and are seeking alternate room arrangements to handle the overflow. If you’ve already requested an appointment, you should be receiving an email confirmation within the next few days. If you haven’t already requested an appointment and would like one, please email your name and contact email address to:
eredsage@gmail.com

All appointments are on a first-come, first-served basis, but we really do want to hear pitches from everyone who requests appointments. Details of time and location will follow just as soon as we can provide them.

You heard it here first! (Or second, or third…depending on how blog-hoppy you are).