New York City SCBWI Conference
I am back from the Big Apple after having attended the NYC SCBWI party/conference this past weekend! WOW - what a great time!
First, let me say this - if you go to NYC and can take in a show that show MUST be Wicked! It is the perfect, perfect, perfect musical for a children's book writer. It's story fills in the cracks of the Wizard of Oz, and it is funny and poignant and the music is absolutely breathtaking, as were the two lead performers. Simply brilliant.
In keeping with the theme of my blog - to pass on some of the things I am finding out as a debut author in 2009 - I thought I'd give a few of my impressions about the conference for people who are considering attending the NY SCBWI conference in the future.
As I've mentioned before on this blog, I believe that attending writing conferences can be an extremely important part of the process of becoming a published author. It's how I've made some wonderful, lifelong friends in the industry. It's also how I wound up connecting with my agent and meeting my editor - two extremely important events in my writing life. Perhaps equally important, the speeches and workshops at conferences inspire me, teach me more about my craft, and really light a fire under my rear end to keep on keeping on. There is nothing like a conference to jerk you out of complacency and make you realize that published authors aren't necessarily people who have more talent than the next person; very often they just have more persistence.
As my career as an author progresses, I've noticed that conferences are now serving an increasingly different function in my writing life. As many of you know, the NY SCBWI conference provides both inspirational and craft-oriented speakers (although the craft-talk is generally painted in broad brush strokes at the NY conference, not getting into specifics like plot, characterization, setting, etc.). And the three breakout sessions are all with editors from the various publishing houses. It is a spectacular opportunity to hear what specific editors are interested in acquiring and to be able to submit to them for a number of months after the conference - even to houses that are usually closed to unagented submissions. Early on in my writing career, this was an extremely important aspect of conferences - it's a huge opportunity that you don't get anywhere else. But now that I do have an agent, the breakout sessions aren't important to me in the same way. I now rely on my agent to have the contacts in the industry and so my goal in attending is no longer to be able to submit. My goal is now to deepen my knowledge of the industry - to glean bits of information like whether a particular editor has to take a manuscript to an acquisition board or not, and which editors have published titles that I respect and enjoy. I also particularly enjoy the rare but lovely times when an editor really opens up in her talk and lets you have a peek at who she really is inside.
I've found at this stage in my career I am starting to hear the inspirational talks with new ears as well. Rather than simply being inspired, I have started to identify with what is being said. I have experienced some of it, and I enjoy the commiseration, the "we're all in this together" feeling. When famous and not so famous children's authors are mentioned (or shown in a video) I have often read their works or even know them personally. And when my friends and acquaintances are mentioned - or win awards, as is starting to happen - I am excited for them in a more participatory way than I have been in the past. And it is thrilling.
But perhaps the biggest difference I noticed in my conference attendance this time, is that for me the focus is now as much about hanging out with friends and renewing acquaintances as it is about the conference itself. The Class of 2k9 is a perfect example. For the past year the 22 of us in the Class of 2k9 have been "meeting" in cyberspace from all corners of the country and Canada to plan our debut year together. And this year at the conference I got to meet many of them face-to-face for the first time. It was thrilling! And fun! And it felt like we'd known each other forever. We introduced ourselves to each other, and we introduced each other to each other's friends. And before I knew it, the conference was feeling like a sort of homecoming. I could not go anywhere without running into a friendly, familiar face. And it was great!
Okay, there is much more to share about my conference experience, but I will save that for another post. Meanwhile, here are a few pictures I want to share with you (I'm stealing some of them from fellow 2k9er Ann Leal/ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER's Facebook page!)
Danielle Joseph (SHRINKING VIOLET), Ann Leal (ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER), me (WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS), and Elizabeth Bird of Fuse #8 fame and who threw a heck of a kitlit party on Friday night along with Cheryl Klein, senior editor at Arthur A. Levine. That's agent Michael Stearns and author Jay Asher (THIRTEEN REASONS WHY) in the background, by the way.
And here are many of the 2k9 class members who attended the SCBWI Conference - from left to right: Ann Leal (ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER), Janet Fox (whose book is now coming out in 2010 but who will always be a 2k9er in my book!), me (WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS), Ellen Jensen Abbott (WATERSMEET), Suzanne Morgan Williams (BULL RIDER), and Edie Hemingway (ROAD TO TATER HILL).
And here we are again - Ann Leal, Suzanee Morgan Williams, Edie Hemingway, me and Sydney Salter (MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS)
And here we are again, this time at Pershing Square right across from Grand Central Station - Ann Leal, me, Lisa Greenwald (MY LIFE IN PINK AND GREEN), Edie Hemingway, Danielle Joseph and Sydney Salter. I had lobster pot pie . . . mmmmmm!
More on the conference soon . . .
First, let me say this - if you go to NYC and can take in a show that show MUST be Wicked! It is the perfect, perfect, perfect musical for a children's book writer. It's story fills in the cracks of the Wizard of Oz, and it is funny and poignant and the music is absolutely breathtaking, as were the two lead performers. Simply brilliant.
In keeping with the theme of my blog - to pass on some of the things I am finding out as a debut author in 2009 - I thought I'd give a few of my impressions about the conference for people who are considering attending the NY SCBWI conference in the future.
As I've mentioned before on this blog, I believe that attending writing conferences can be an extremely important part of the process of becoming a published author. It's how I've made some wonderful, lifelong friends in the industry. It's also how I wound up connecting with my agent and meeting my editor - two extremely important events in my writing life. Perhaps equally important, the speeches and workshops at conferences inspire me, teach me more about my craft, and really light a fire under my rear end to keep on keeping on. There is nothing like a conference to jerk you out of complacency and make you realize that published authors aren't necessarily people who have more talent than the next person; very often they just have more persistence.
As my career as an author progresses, I've noticed that conferences are now serving an increasingly different function in my writing life. As many of you know, the NY SCBWI conference provides both inspirational and craft-oriented speakers (although the craft-talk is generally painted in broad brush strokes at the NY conference, not getting into specifics like plot, characterization, setting, etc.). And the three breakout sessions are all with editors from the various publishing houses. It is a spectacular opportunity to hear what specific editors are interested in acquiring and to be able to submit to them for a number of months after the conference - even to houses that are usually closed to unagented submissions. Early on in my writing career, this was an extremely important aspect of conferences - it's a huge opportunity that you don't get anywhere else. But now that I do have an agent, the breakout sessions aren't important to me in the same way. I now rely on my agent to have the contacts in the industry and so my goal in attending is no longer to be able to submit. My goal is now to deepen my knowledge of the industry - to glean bits of information like whether a particular editor has to take a manuscript to an acquisition board or not, and which editors have published titles that I respect and enjoy. I also particularly enjoy the rare but lovely times when an editor really opens up in her talk and lets you have a peek at who she really is inside.
I've found at this stage in my career I am starting to hear the inspirational talks with new ears as well. Rather than simply being inspired, I have started to identify with what is being said. I have experienced some of it, and I enjoy the commiseration, the "we're all in this together" feeling. When famous and not so famous children's authors are mentioned (or shown in a video) I have often read their works or even know them personally. And when my friends and acquaintances are mentioned - or win awards, as is starting to happen - I am excited for them in a more participatory way than I have been in the past. And it is thrilling.
But perhaps the biggest difference I noticed in my conference attendance this time, is that for me the focus is now as much about hanging out with friends and renewing acquaintances as it is about the conference itself. The Class of 2k9 is a perfect example. For the past year the 22 of us in the Class of 2k9 have been "meeting" in cyberspace from all corners of the country and Canada to plan our debut year together. And this year at the conference I got to meet many of them face-to-face for the first time. It was thrilling! And fun! And it felt like we'd known each other forever. We introduced ourselves to each other, and we introduced each other to each other's friends. And before I knew it, the conference was feeling like a sort of homecoming. I could not go anywhere without running into a friendly, familiar face. And it was great!
Okay, there is much more to share about my conference experience, but I will save that for another post. Meanwhile, here are a few pictures I want to share with you (I'm stealing some of them from fellow 2k9er Ann Leal/ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER's Facebook page!)
Danielle Joseph (SHRINKING VIOLET), Ann Leal (ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER), me (WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS), and Elizabeth Bird of Fuse #8 fame and who threw a heck of a kitlit party on Friday night along with Cheryl Klein, senior editor at Arthur A. Levine. That's agent Michael Stearns and author Jay Asher (THIRTEEN REASONS WHY) in the background, by the way.
And here are many of the 2k9 class members who attended the SCBWI Conference - from left to right: Ann Leal (ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER), Janet Fox (whose book is now coming out in 2010 but who will always be a 2k9er in my book!), me (WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS), Ellen Jensen Abbott (WATERSMEET), Suzanne Morgan Williams (BULL RIDER), and Edie Hemingway (ROAD TO TATER HILL).
And here we are again - Ann Leal, Suzanee Morgan Williams, Edie Hemingway, me and Sydney Salter (MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS)
And here we are again, this time at Pershing Square right across from Grand Central Station - Ann Leal, me, Lisa Greenwald (MY LIFE IN PINK AND GREEN), Edie Hemingway, Danielle Joseph and Sydney Salter. I had lobster pot pie . . . mmmmmm!
More on the conference soon . . .