I love my local conference. It’s like a Hershey kiss: small, sweet and completely irresistible. The Eastern NY SCBWI was the first conference I’ve ever attended and it’s filled with great memories and wonderful friends. All great conferences start off with the hard work of the Regional Advisor!!!
Nancy Castaldo is an amazing Regional Advisor and I feel so lucky to have her running the show.
Keynote speaker of the day was Susan Campbell Bartoletti.
I wasn’t sure how relevant her talk on non-fiction was going to be for me, but lets just say I gave her a standing ovation when she was done speaking. I was so impressed with her drive to bring the truth out into the light. She had an endless stream of good advice, but here are some of the things she said that touched me the most…
*It takes at least three sense to breathe a story to life.
*8th graders have an unbelievably strong sense of justice.
*You never know if you have what it takes to be a hero-but you can practice every day.
And the funniest one of all, in reference to her being an avid note taker…
*I also take notes at church, which makes the people around me very nervous. LOL!
I’m looking forward to reading her books and sharing them with my boys.
This Keynote Address was followed by a workshop by Susan called–HOME REPAIR TIPS FOR YOUR NOVEL OR YOUR NON-FCITION BOOK.
Again this was a power packed session. I’ll pull out a few of my favorites from the session.
*When you’re writing key scenes, ask yourself what is at risk for your characters? The risk should be as great as the story you are telling. (This means that it may be different in a quiet book than in high concept one and that’s okay.)
*If an editor tells you your novel is episodic, it’s not a compliment–you have no plot.
*Good ideas don’t come in the beginning, they are a result of trial and error.
Next up was PUBLISHING CONTRACTS IN THE DIGITAL AGE with Mary Flower. The most telling statement she made was when she announced that “Everything I tell you today will probably be out of date by the end of next week.” *sigh*
Next up was lunch…
Very yummy and along with our dessert we got to hear Scott Meyer of Merritt Bookstore speak about CONNECTING WRITER TO BOOKSTORES: WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO.
He talked specifically about writers being honest in their stories and my favorite was when he said “Once I have a story about you–it’s woven into my soul.” That is exactly who I want selling my book someday. *heart squish*
We also had Oblong Books as our bookstore of the day.
After lunch I attended a great session on PACING AND PLOT: An Analytical Approach with Katherine Jacobs. Followed by A FIRST PAGES PANEL moderated by Bobbie Wells.
From Left to Right:
*Meredith Mundy-Dutton’s Children’s Books
*Eve Adler-Editor, Grosset & Dunlap
*Jennifer Laughran-Agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency
*Rotem Moscovich-Editor, Disney*Hyperion
*Katherine Jacobs-Associate Editor, Roaring Book Press
AND THEN!!!!!! I got to meet Kate Messner!!!! We’ve been online friends for years now, it was such a wonderful surprise. She was honored as a SCBWI Crystal Kite winner.
Kate has been such a big influence on me as a writer. She crafts amazing books but she is also warm and welcoming to those who are joining the children’s writing community. She is an amazing person and I was so happy to get a chance to chat with her face to face for the first time. Congrats Kate, you deserve it.
There was also some additional faculty who’s presentations I didn’t get to attend.
*Jane Dyer-Author/Illustrator
*Martha Rago-Associate Creative Director for Harper Collins Children’s Books
*Anna Bloom-Assistant Editor at Scholastic
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What fun! Looks like it was a great conference. And how wonderful to finally meet up with an online buddy in person. 🙂