ThrillerFest Breeds Success
by Kathleen Antrim
Vice President of National Events
International Thriller Writers
This could happen to you!
Among many exciting reasons to attend, we are learning that ThrillerFest has become the best networking option for both authors trying to further their careers and aspiring authors. Here are just two of the recent success stories we've heard:
Agent Barbara Poelle, of the Irene Goodman Agency, was just beginning discussions with author Jamie Freveletti. Here's what agent Poelle had to say. "I met her (Jamie Freveletti) in person at Thrillerfest. It provided the right kind of environment for me to see how truly dedicated she was to the craft, and I was blown away by her; she has a kind of whip-crack intelligence that comes exploding across in person that I may not have had the opportunity to experience through e-mails and phone calls. So I directly attribute ThrillerFest with signing her."
Poelle sold Freveletti's book to HarperCollins in January.
Poelle picked up a second author at ThrillerFest, Graham Brown.
"This is a funny story," says Poelle. "(We were) at the AgentFest luncheon. I was at the table near the back and when the doors opened many people rushed to sit up near the stage where the presenters would be for the auction. So in the end, my table was the only table that had a few open chairs at it."
"Graham had taken a red-eye in from Arizona and was going on two hours of sleep. He basically staggered in and sat down out of exhaustion at the nearest table he could find. We were casually going around the table and talking about log-lines and pitches, and I turned to him and said, 'So what is your book about?' He proceeded to give me what I can comfortably say was pretty much one of the worst pitches I have ever heard-I tease him relentlessly about it."
"But I heard three things that made me interested: Mayan Culture, mercenaries, female protagonist. So I told him to send me the first ten pages. Later, when I received it, I read the first three paragraphs, said OUT LOUD to myself in my office, 'You gotta be kidding me.' I picked up the phone and asked him to send the full as soon as possible. Graham Brown sold to Bantam last week."
We look forward to seeing you at ThrillerFest this year, and hearing about your ThrillerFest successes!
ThrillerFest
ITW's annual celebration of the thriller world is the largest event of its kind, a meeting place for authors, readers, budding writers, and publishing industry professionals.
This year we're in the heart of New York in July, with two special add-on events, CraftFest and AgentFest, where authors of all levels can meet the professionals.
ThrillerFest 2008 will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. There are limited rooms available at our conference rate. As soon as you register, please make your hotel reservation--don't wait! Once our block of rooms is filled, there will be no space available at the conference rate. You must be registered for the conference before making a hotel reservation. You can use our direct link to make your reservation online with the ThrillerFest rate.
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