AWP Survival Guide tips and How to Survive Not Going to AWP 2013

For those of you attending AWP 2013 Boston, there are some great tips for AWP-goers this year at Sandra Beasley here:
http://sbeasley.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-ides-and-awps-of-march.html
and a roundup of survival guides for AWP here at Review Review:
http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=8932d28d7dfbfd59c40907dc7&id=81a3a4a22f

But, for those of you (like me) NOT attending AWP Boston 2013, some survival tips:

1. Try not to spend too much time jealously reading the twitter feeds and Facebook posts about all your friends having a great time at AWP kissing famous poets and drinking with literary idols while ruling their offsite reading. Just remember, they’re not including posts about the bad side of AWP:  bookfair with its inevitable crowding, body checks, odd odors and inevitable dry mouth from making too many awkward conversations with too many strangers, that coughing guy sitting next to them at the bar, how exhausted they are, or how their back hurts from lugging a really heavy AWP tote…not to mention – Boston in March? Brrr….just think of how many layers they’ll be wearing!

2. Do something this week to connect with your local literary community. Go to a reading, or invite some literary friends over for coffee. Visit your local library’s poetry bookshelves – and ask them to order a new poetry book – and visit your local independent bookstore to check out new releases and maybe some lit mags you’ve never read before. (In Seattle, I recommend Open Books, a poetry-only bookstore in Wallingford.)

3. Read something brilliant. Write something brilliant. Send something out. See? You are advancing your career right in the comfort of your own home.

4. Think ahead. Remember, next year’s AWP in Seattle in 2014 will be THE BEST EVER. So, you can look forward to coming, because you are coming to Seattle, right? I will be here to help guide you to the best coffeeshops, bookstores, wine bars, and art galleries as well as cupcakes, and Seattle publishers and poets are some of the most friendly and warm you will ever meet.