Barry Goldblatt on Paranormal and Dystopian Novels, Goodreads Reviews, and Conference Pitches

I was fortunate to be able to have dinner with some writer friends and one of their agents, Barry Goldblatt, last week, and I learned a few things I thought I'd pass along:

1. "Paranormal" and "dystopian" are words you shouldn't use to describe your novel because those genres are on the way out. Use terms like "fantasy" or "futuristic" instead.

2. If you are a published author, don't read your reviews on Goodreads unless you want to feel bad.

3. Conference pitches are useless. He can't tell from a pitch if the book is good or the writing is good. He has to read the first page of the book.

So there you go. What do you think? Any other opinions on these topics? What has been your experience with Goodreads and conference pitches? Has anyone ever had success selling a book from a conference pitch? I almost did. Did a rewrite and everything and then got a very nice and complimentary rejection!