Studio Blog

Anna (DMS staff editor) and Heather (DMS writer) take a snack break at the Writer's Digest Conference

Editor's Note: We're at the Writer's Digest Conference in New York with the winner of our guest conference pass, Heather Brautman. Heather has been writing full-time for Demand Media Studios since 2009 and leverages her education and experience to specialize in technical articles (she holds a M.S. in technical writing, M.A. in public relations and communications, and a B.A. in writing/English).

To win the pass, we asked writers to tell us the #1 reason they wanted to attend. Heather's submission--a 48-line epic poem in rhyming couplets--blew us away for its sheer creativity.

Heather hails from North Carolina, and presented us upon arrival yesterday with this bag of roasted peanuts, a local specialty.

Without further ado, I give you her impressions of Day One:


“What are you pitching today?”
 
Within two hours of my checking into the Sheraton New York Towers, this question will have been asked of me no less than 20 times. When I started getting looks at my response of “.500!,” I knew I was in some serious waters. Obviously, I mixed up my batting and pitching and all that “sports stuff” that I have no idea about. But let me tell you, pitching is one serious thing here at the 2011 Writer's Digest Conference.
 
I am competitive about exactly two things (if sports don’t count, and only if euchre and ping pong counted as sports anyway). One, that my cat is the cutest cat ever. And two, my writing. All my life, compliments on my writing have been more important than my looks, education, anything. So when DMS announced its contest for the Writer's Digest conference pass, I wanted to WIN. And when I did win, I felt a little overwhelmed, but ready to get inspired.
 
Within five minutes of sitting down at table for the first speaker of the conference today, I was not only inspired, but perspiring. All around me, people were asking about pitching. Not lobbing, not slamming, not swinging, and certainly not batting. Pitching. People were here to do some serious pitching and not a Nolan Ryan among them. As I looked around my table waiting for the speaker, I noticed I was seriously out of my league. Like, not even “send her down to the minors AA league,” but “stop sullying the uniform, step away from the plate, and have a hot dog on your way to the parking lot” out of my league. A lady at my table had a big stack of index cards with a photo, name and personal information of every agent who would be at this conference in a pile in front of her. And she was doing some major studying.
 
It’s okay though. I learned I was coming here exactly one week ago. I didn’t have it in mind to do anything but soak up the inspiration. Being around other writers is, at least for this writer, a huge motivation. I work from home full-time. I chase my cat and try to make her talk to me but it doesn’t (always) happen. Within three hours at the conference, I’ve talked to so many people and if this snail could be any further out of her shell, it would violate the DMS no-adulty-stuff guidelines. And guess what? I’ve never been an autograph hunter or fame crazy (on the record, I have not crossed paths with James Spader YET, so at any point, that statement could be invalidated). But meeting three of the DMS head staffers has been the coolest thing. I’ve never been in a “faceless” work situation before. So when I walked up to the table and saw “The REAL!” Remi, Anna and Yury, it was kind of the coolest thing ever. I’ve seen/heard them in webinars. Definitely seen their forum posts. But I got to see them in action. Recruiting more DMS writers. Chatting about life.
 
In the few hours I’ve been here, I’ve already had New York pizza (which puts my current hometown of Raleigh to shame), a diner-style grilled cheese sandwich (see pizza) and am currently eating a New York brownie with TWO KINDS OF CHOCOLATE CHIPS. I swear, I’m not just here to eat my way around the Big Apple. Actually, now I’m embarrassed that you may be worried I’ll have to buy two plane seats on the way home. In fact, I fully admit that one of my most-anticipated things coming here was the fact that the hotel was .96 miles (yes, I counted) from the flagship NYC Hello Kitty store. I loaded up (why did my parents say stuff like “Please remember you only have one carry on flying home?” as I was getting ready to come?) and even managed tosnag a pack of “I Heart NY” playing cards for my “everywhere I go” travel collection.
 
But enough of the eating and buying. Tomorrow is a full slate of meetings, lectures and the great Pitch Slam. For someone as shy and hermit-like as myself, I picture a massive free-for-all of the 400+ attendees and poor 50 or so agents. But you know what? I may be outta my league, and I may not be “pitching” a no-hitter here, but I kind of feel like a Grand (Pitch) Slam is coming my way. After all, DMS had the confidence to pick me, so I’m not about to let them down. Clear the plate, I’m stepping up to swing.