Veronica Park — or, if you followe her on Twitter, you might know her as @VeroniKABOOM — was at our inaugural HippoCamp, and we’ve been friends ever since. We’re so excited she’s returning this year to lead a pre-conference workshop called Self-Promotion for Wallflowers.
HM: Tell us a little about your involvement this year at HippoCamp. If you’re running a break-out session or workshop, what can attendees expect?
VP: Attendees can expect to be (lovingly) pushed out of their comfort zone, to find out what it means to turn yourself from a mild-mannered person into a Super Brand, and to learn how to pitch themselves (and their stories) painlessly, sweat-less…ly, and overall more confidently.
HM: Our motto is “memorable creative nonfiction.” Tell us about one of the more recent memoirs, essay collections, or individual essays you’ve read and why it was memorable. If it’s online, share a link!
VP: As an agent who is doing a workshop on self-promotion, I feel like it’s fitting to choose one of my own authors’ latest memoirs, the audio rights to which were recently sold at auction, because it’s such a compelling story! A BROKEN TREE by Stephen F. Anderson is a tale of family secrets, broken promises, and what happens when commercially-accessible DNA science reveals the truth. It’s available this fall. Check it out on Goodreads here.
HM: What made you decide to participate in HippoCamp this year as a speaker? If you’re returning, how did your past experiences encourage you to want to come back?
VP: HippoCamp is always one of my favorite conferences, not only because it has the highest concentration of really fantastic creative nonfiction, but also because it has a distinctly friendlier vibe than many of the other “big city” cons I attend. Plus, they tend to have way more cookie breaks, which I sincerely appreciate.
HM: What’s going to keep you busy between now and HippoCamp?
VP: Since I recently moved to a new agency, I’ve spent a lot of time optimizing my agent processes, working with new and existing clients to prepare their work for submission, and negotiating deals as always. I also recently moved houses, so yeah, lots of moving for me this year. No sitting still for me!
HM: Since you’ll also be attending the conference, when you’re not wearing your “speaker hat,” what are you most looking forward to learning or doing?
VP: I’m really looking forward to meeting more promising voices in CNF, networking with colleagues I don’t get to see as often, and enjoying the unique hipster pastoral vibes of Lancaster.
HM: We love introducing Lancaster to attendees. If you live here or have been here before, what would you recommend to other attendees?
VP: Every year I’ve missed the Farmer’s Market, but this year, I am determined to attend!
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Veronica, we’ll try to make sure you get to Market this year, as long we’re not already there eating all of the delicious things when you arrive.
Reader, we have less than a week to go before HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction (from the date of posting), and we still have space in Veronica’s workshop and the conference in general. You can learn more or register here.
— Post by Donna Talarico
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