Conference Envy

Okay, some of us are going to have to deal with this.

There is a huge readers' and writers' conference in Florida next week. There is another huge romance writers' conference in Atlanta in July.

I cannot remotely afford to go to either of these, and probably won't next year, or the year after that.

Lots of people are going, and they're going to blog about it endlessly, and we're going to see a lot of "Waves to xxx and yyy!!" and "Drinks at the bar next year with aaaa and bbbb!!" by all the people having fun, likely accompanied by dark and/or blurry pics. There's going to be lots of play-by-play about who met who and who said outrageous things and even the blogging agents are going to be on about it. (Except for Miss Snark - she doesn't do romance, so she'll still be sane.)

I can't be the only one who can't afford it. After all, writers are always talking about how little they make. So there have to be lots of us sitting home. Maybe we're feeling envious; maybe not. Depends on the writer. I think we should band together so we won't all feel like we're the only ones.

For me, I plan to read Paperback Writer to stay focused. PBW hates conferences - she's darned nasty about them, in fact. But she has a point - you don't have to get caught up in the hype. To wit:

Be frugal, pay off your debts and credit cards, and save your money and/or invest in yourself. Rather than financing your writing org's next big con luncheon, save your money or spend it on your writing needs. That $1000.00 you waste on airline tickets, con fees, widgets to hand out to other writers and your hotel room at the national conference could be spent on a better web site, or new computer and printer, or postage for the next year of submissions. If you've got all you need, put that money in the bank and save it for a dry spell. *

Even though it isn't by choice, I actually do live by this. While all those guys are networking, I'll be writing. Writing is more important. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. And I'll be sticking to it next year, and the year after that.

*By the way - the whole post is awesome - check it out.

Abby