Happy New Year!
As I look forward to 2017 and map out my goals for the year, I’m reflecting back on 2016 with gratitude and joy. I met incredible people, signed on amazing projects, and worked with talented authors.
It all started in May, when I attended the Chicago Writing Workshop and took pitches after our big industry fair, BookExpo America. It was there that I met the fabulous Lindsey Smith, or the Food Mood Girl. Little did I know that I would be signing her on at St. Martin’s at the end of the summer.
Also in May, I acquired an essay collection by the students at the Harvard Crimson, Harvard’s student newspaper. 50 SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION ESSAYS is a collection of successful Harvard application essays from students currently attending the university.
This fifth edition is updated with more comprehensive information and statistics relating to each student, and a dedicated section for international students.
After a successful trip to Nashville in July for the Tennessee Writing Workshop, I hopped on the Amtrak and took the train to Lancaster, PA to spend a weekend at Hippocamp 2016. I wrote a bit about my experience in Lancaster in this post, but it was a wonderful weekend filled with good people, talented writers, and stellar keynotes.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, I signed up Lindsey Smith and her forthcoming Winter 2018 book, EAT YOUR FEELINGS! Shortly after I got home from Hippocamp, we made it official:
Read more about the deal on literary agent Eric Smith’s blog, or directly from Lindsey herself!
I wrapped up the conference year with a relaxing and rejuvenating weekend in Sanibel Island, FL for the Sanibel Island Writers’ Conference. I met the most incredible people during this conference. It’s such a pleasure to just talk books for three days straight—because that’s all anyone wants to do. My people.
And now, here we are, at the beginning all over again. I’ve lined up a few conferences for this year—Atlanta in May, Seattle in July, and Lancaster, PA in September—so if you’d like to meet up and talk books, come find me! And if you have a book idea, come find me, too. You never know what could happen.
Laura Catherine Apperson 