Last Saturday’s panel discussion on publishing was a huge success. I thoroughly enjoyed being there (as you can see from the photo!). According to our wonderful host, Peter Biello, himself a budding novelist, and founder of the Burlington Writers Workshop, the event was packed and there were many people on the waiting list. Authors Jon Clinch and Jan Elizabeth Watson, agent and publisher Dede Cummings, and editor Jessica Swift Eldridge gave fantastic advice to writers.
“I’ve attended others like this through my MFA program and at the AWP conference, but the one on Saturday was by far the best,” said Annemarie Lavalette, who studies at Goddard.
“Excellent choice of panelists,” said Cardy Raper. “I found my head nodding at much of which they had to say.”
In the podcast, you’ll hear every word that caused such head-nodding. Each panelist shared the story of her/his journey to publication, or the stories of some clients. You’ll also hear some helpful nuggets of information on finding, keeping, and firing agents; what not to say when querying publishers; and why you absolutely must keep trying to get your work out there.
Here’s the podcast for your listening pleasure.
You may also want to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. Just open iTunes and search for “Burlington Writers Workshop.” We had more questions than we could answer in a reasonable amount of time. Fortunately the panelists agreed to respond to all your questions, so I’ll send them questions soon and post their responses when they’re all available. Thanks to VPR for providing space for this and Hotel Vermont for providing some rooms for folks traveling from far away.
It was great to have a night “on the town” in Burlington, thanks for Hotel Vermont! Steve and I splurged, and went to a restaurant called “Hen of the Wood,” to celebrate our 30th (a good excuse anyway to spend money we don’t have!). The next morning, I awoke and walked all around Burlington—along Lake Champlain, and the abandoned pedestrian mall, Church Street, and along the sleepy side streets. Burlington is a great town! City Market is awesome, too—I ended up having my breakfast there, and trying to do some of my own writing! Here is a shot from my walk…beautiful, with the lake and the Adirondack’s, in the distance.
Dede Cummings 
Thank you for posting the podcast. I haven’t yet been to any writing conferences, but plan on going to at least one this year. This has given a good idea of some of the informative panels they host. 🙂
Good luck with your work, Michelle. There is a podcast from the last panel I was on if you go to iTunes U and search for Burlington Writers Workshop… that way you can listen in. I am not sure this upcoming workshop will be a podcast, but I will write about it in February. Good luck with your work and your own writing!