Six Ways Not to Network
1. Do not try to give the editor your whole manuscript. Instead, ask, "May I mail it to you?"
2. Power and push do not work. Do not monopolize mealtime conversations.
3. Do not converge on an editor like a wolf on raw meat at inappropriate places or times, such as camping out at an agent's door, following an editor around, pushing ahead in food lines to stay next to one, or even in airports at the close of the conference.
4. Do not forget time zones; 9:00 P.M. at a conference may be midnight to that editor.
5. Editors are not just a slot for your project. Be respectful and courteous.
6. Do not take rejections personally; your idea truly may not fit a publishing house's goals.
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Ellen J. List is a conference teacher as well as an award-winning author with her by-line appearing in both Christian and general publications including: The Christian Communicator, The Evangelical Christian Publishers' Association's Website, Penned from the Heart (a yearly devotional book), Alberta Ferret Society (Canada), Porsche Club of America, and daily newspapers in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Colorado. She has expanded this article into a class which she teaches at writers conferences and for writers groups. Ellen can be reached at: ejlist@adelphia.net.
See more of Ellen's articles at:Networking: The Writers' Conference Edge and Networking Before and After a Conference.
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