Candace Havens

Bestselling author Candace Havens has written six novels for Berkley including, Charmed & Dangerous, Charmed & Ready, Charmed & Deadly, Like A Charm, The Demon King and I and Dragons Prefer Blondes. Her new venture is writing for the Blaze line of Harlequin. Those books include Take Me If You Dare, She Who Dares, Wins, Truth and Dare, and The Model Marine. She is also in the anthology Spirited, and the proceeds go to help literacy. And she had a new steampunk series debuting with Iron Demon in October 2012. Her books have received  nominations for the RITA’s, Holt Medallion and Write Touch Reader  Awards. She is the author of the biography Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy and a contributor to several anthologies. She is also one of the  nation’s leading entertainment journalists and has interviewed countless celebrities including Tom Hanks, Nicolas Cage, Tom Cruise, George  Clooney and many more. Her entertainment columns can be read in more  than 600 newspapers across the country. Candace also runs a free online  writing workshop for more than 1800 writers, and teaches comprehensive  writing class. She does film reviews with the Dorsey Gang on New Country 96.3, and is the President of the Television Critics Association.

Fast Draft

Learn how to write your first draft in two weeks. The techniques in this class can used by everyone from new writers to New York Times Bestsellers, and have been. If you’ve been struggling to finish your manuscript (or start one) this is the class for you. Takes place 8:40 a.m. Sunday, May 20.

Revision Hell

You’ve finished your manuscript. Now what do you do? These revision techniques will help you polish your prose to perfection. You could have your manuscript out the door in two weeks. Takes place 10:40 a.m. on Sunday, May 20.

Candace will also be teaching alongside Rosemary Clement-Moore:

How to Pitch to Agents

Will you be pitching your work this year? Start off the conference with the class that answers the most urgent question for many conference attendees! Relax, agents and editors are people too. Learn techniques to help you develop a pitch that sells.  Takes place 8:40 a.m. on Saturday, May 19.

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• Pitch sessions are up to 10 minutes long. No more time is allowed. Make certain you can present your idea within that timeframe.  
  • Suggestion: It’s a good strategy to keep your pitch to no more than 5 minutes. Use the remaining time for questions and wrap-up.
     
• You will be in the same room at the same time with other writers who are presenting their book ideas to other agents. Don’t be nervous. Speak in a normal, conversational tone.
   
• Do not bring a copy of your completed manuscript. Agents do not accept paper. If the agent is interested in your book idea, he or she will provide instructions on their agency’s preferred submission process.   
   
• Do bring a notepad and something with which to write.  The agents are a wealth of information on the publishing industry.  
   
• Here are a few websites that discuss how to pitch; however, this is not an all-inclusive list.  Surf the Internet for more.
   
• Here are some articles that discuss how to pitch your work to a literary agent, but please search for more. The Internet is a wealth of helpful information.
  ·          The Perfect Pitch: Pitching to Agents at a Writing Conference  A good article to help you prepare. http://www.writing-world.com/publish/pitch.shtml
  ·         “How to Pitch Your Book at a Writing Conference”.  Another great article from the same source can be found at http://www.writing-world.com/publish/pitch2.shtml  
   
• Rehearse your pitch, but pick a listener who will offer you honest feedback, not someone who loves you enough to overlook your flaws. 
  • Suggestion:  Try not to memorize your pitch word-for-word. Instead, strive for a conversational approach. If you memorize your pitch and stumble on a word, or the agent interrupts you to ask a question, it might throw you off. Be prepared, but just talk to the agent as you would any other new acquaintance.
     
• FREE ON-LINE CLASS:  Unlike other conferences, which charge extra for such classes, the DFW Writers’ Conference brings you “Agent Pitches 101″ from author Candace Havens’ Writers Workshop free of charge. The class will focus on the basics of perfecting your agent pitch. After you register for the conference, you will be given the full details.Good luck!  We look forward to seeing you at the 2010 DFW Writers’ Conference.

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