The panel with CS Pacat, Isobelle Carmody and Marianne de Pierres was interesting. They talked about a number of topics including getting published in Australia, how much work you need to do on your manuscript before submitting it to a publisher and their different journeys to publication. Carmody got her start when things were easier whereas Pacat started publishing her writing on a blog before attempting approaching publishers and finally hitting the mark by self-publishing. They also talked about the importance of getting your manuscript edited, talk to editors about their editing before engaging them, not every editor suits every writer. Carmody talked about pitching, where you learn how to talk about your manuscript so as to be able to pitch to the publishers quickly and succinctly, practicing is a must.

Another panel for comic book creators was also interesting. While I’m not so interested in graphic novels or comic books I was fascinated by their discussion. They talked about what publishers do and how important they are in this business, including making sure the talent gets paid and helping make their work better. When creating your story don’t put in cliches and don’t be parochial, make sure to put in the human element with real emotion. There’s not a lot of money in comics so you have to be dedicated. And there is a Melbourne Comics Creators Meet Up, held the first Saturday of every month at the Bull and Bear in Flinders Lane from 2pm till 6pm, I’d say this is a must attend as here you’ll get feedback from those who understand what’s happening and much more importantly, you’ll make contacts which you’ll need at some stage.

I’ve also got some notes for another talk I attended but I don’t understand them. I’ll have a good read through and see if I can knock them into some semblance of understanding for everyone. The big problem with attending talks is being able to write fast enough to take proper notes so I can understand them later and while I managed it for two talks it seems I need to practice this skill a lot more as the third one is just a mess of words.