Yes, I didn’t get far. It’s still Friday morning. But I’m liking how the awesomeness of Bruce Coville is followed by the amazingness of Jerry Pinkney.
Jerry Pinkney-A SENSE OF PLACE: REAL AND IMAGINED
What I loved about Jerry Pinkney was learning that he took special care to find the smaller stories, hidden in his own illustrations. I wish I could show you the art work. The example he used, that really allowed me to understand what he was saying, was a red wagon. In the first picture, the wagon, a prized possession of a child, was amongst the things needed to be packed when a family had to leave their home behind. In a later picture of the house, now vacant, the wagon was left in the yard. There was no room for it to be taken. This one little detail, told so much about what was happening in the lives of the characters in the story, yet it was not the story itself. It was hauntingly sad and beautiful at the same time. His artistry had amazing depth.
Additionally, I was encouraged to discover that Jerry was dyslexic and a very reluctant reader growing up. As many of you know, my oldest (10) is dyslexic and I love to find positive role models that he can look too. <3 We spent time talking and he was a very gracious and kind person. I was so proud to bring a signed book home for my son.
I know you’ve been sitting for awhile so it’s time to get up and switch rooms for the first Workshop of the Conference. I decided to do something I’ve never done before and attend an illustrators session. Why? Well…*squee* My cover is being worked on at this very moment and I’m finding it hard to think about anything else. LOL!!! Also, this next speaker just happens to be Art Director for Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers AND he was a puppet designer in Jim Henson’s Muppet Workshop. That is just cool! It was too tempting of an opportunity to pass up.
Laurent Linn-JUDGE THIS! ANATOMY OF CREATING COVER ART.
This session was a journey of beautiful covers coming to life. I was fascinated by how one idea after another grew and changed over time. But the thing that really moved me was recognizing a familiar passion. It was obvious to me that cover art means as much to the people who create it, as words and stories do to writers. As someone who is dreaming, waiting, hoping, wondering about her cover–I was reminded that while publishing is a business, it is filled to the brim with people who love and take pride in what they do. I love that.
Woot! We’ve made it to lunch!!! Now if you want the full effect of the lunch experience, fill a tote bag full of books and stand in a l-o-n-g line for a sandwich. The upside is that you will get to chat with amazing friends while waiting. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll have at least three chocolate bars stashed in that bag of books. Chocolate makes everything better.
When munching turkey on a crusty roll, you can’t go wrong listening to a panel discussion–unless you’re a vegetarian. *sorry*
Panel Discussion-CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING: 5 PUBLISHERS GIVE AN INDUSTRY-WIDE PICTURE
(from left to right)
AJ-Allyn Johnston, VP and Publisher of Beach Lane Books
JSG-Julie Strauss-Gabel, VP and Publisher of Dutton Children’s Books
JH-Jennifer Hunt, VP of Acquisitions and Development and Editor-at-large for Dial Books for Young Readers
BH-Beverly Horowitz, V. P. Publisher of Delacorte Press
DD-Debra Dorfman, VP, Publisher Paperbacks, Non-Fiction & Licensing Publishing at Scholastic
*Moderator-Lin Oliver
Here are the best and most interesting comments that I took from the panel discussion…
BH-Don’t be too tough on the electronic future, it has potential. It is bringing in new readers.
JSG-There is no one right way to sell a book. Every path is different.
JH-Kids are always at the forefront of innovation and technology.
JH-No matter what the format, content is key. Great writing is key.
BH-Sometimes you can be “before” the trend. A strong back list-repackaging. Need to be nimble and think in a new way.
JSG-The only time social media works is when it’s genuine to the author. When it feels natural to the author, they capture their writing voice in their social media voice.
JH-While there is an upside to social media, it can cause a lot of stress and take up writing time.
JSG-I firmly agree in voices finding their way, when publishing doesn’t serve, but at the risk of being unpopular, I firmly believe in publishing.
DD-Adults are buying YA
BH-The teen market has only about 4% of the ebook market.
I know that this was a bit of a mash-up of thoughts from the publishers, but those were the things that jumped out at me. Before I sign off (until the next installment) I thought you might like a peek at the hotel…
This was the Hyatt Regency and I’m just going to put it out there and say that they had one of the nicest hotel staffs I’ve ever met. They were really, really sweet and friendly and I LOVED riding the elevator and chatting with them. My favorite person was the adorable lady helping me get into my room when the key didn’t work. She didn’t even laugh, when she pointed out that I was trying to break and enter into room 1656, when all of my own personal belongings were clearly in room 1652. *head thunk*
This was the line of people at Starbucks in the lobby. Each morning, our eyes propped open with tooth picks, we all descended upon the coffee people. We picked their barista bones clean, leaving empty shelves and discarded coffee sleeves in our wake. The whole scene made me want to write.
THE DAY THE WRITERS CAME…
When the morning sun wakes up,
We writers come to get a cup.
We come from almost all the states
So Starbucks gives us discount rates.
I check my watch, I need to go,
Why is the freaking line so slow?
The staff is nice, they really are,
But god, I wish I had my car.
Should I get a cake pop? NO!
I settle for a cup of Joe.
And perhaps a bagel. :o)
First up on Monday…Libba Bray!!!!
Tags: Jerry Pinkney, LA11SCBWI, publishers
In the past, I’ve always tried to get at least half, if not a full day of conference recap into each of my blog posts. I’m going to be doing something a little bit different this time. I’m going to keep each entry a little bit shorter. This means that I’ll be writing about the conference slower than most people, but for me, this needs to be savored and relived without rushing–it was special.
Of course, no conference can start without a warm welcome from the official mom and dad of SCBWI–Stephen Mooser and Lin Oliver.
We also must begin with some of Lin’s stats for the conference.
There were…
*1,342 people in attendance. (A record number.)
*The men broke the 150 mark. (But we still commandeered their bathroom.)
*42% of those attending were published. (Woot!)
*49 out of 50 states were in attendance. (South Dakota needs to get their act together.)
*There were representatives from 20 countries. (70 people from outside the United States.)
*The Children’s Book Market is doing better than the Real Estate Market. (Fist pump!!)
I also would like to show you what the California Ballroom looked like. I loved the tiers in this room and how they allowed so many more people to have a wonderful view of the podium.
On Friday morning we were introduced to the faculty which had the effect of blowing on an ember. I couldn’t wait to get started after this spark was lit. (Sorry, the picture is a little blurry.) Each person on the faculty was tasked with giving a sentence with “40” in it, to celebrate 40 years of SCBWI. The responses ranged from hilarious to inspirational. So much fun.
I took tons of pictures of everyone (because that’s what I do) but I’ll pick one to highlight. As we all know, we’ve arrived not only at the end of the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, but also the movies. *sniff* The least we can do is send a cyber hug to the man who was instrumental in our happiness. He is perhaps best known as the American editor for for the Harry Potter Books, Arthur A. Levine, the Vice President of Scholastic and the Publisher of his own imprint, Arthur A. Levine Books. I really wanted to meet him, but this was the closest I got, without falling over and melting into fan-girl gushy puddles.
As if being JK Rowling’s go-to guy isn’t enough, he is also the editor for the wonderful, fantastic, debut author Mike Jung. His middle grade novel Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities, comes out in the fall of 2012. I can’t wait to mug Mike and run away with an ARC of this book.
Hmmm…I told you I was going to keep this short. Lets get moving!
The first Keynote Speaker was someone I have been dying to meet and listen to. I was not disappointed.
Bruce Coville–RIPPLES IN THE POND: WHY WHAT WE DO MATTERS…AND MATTERS…AND CONTINUES TO MATTER.
Here are the highlights that stuck with me…
*There are 22,000 people in our SCBWI Tribe, the only other place for us is the Island of Misfit Toys.
*It takes a delusional person to believe we are a society that considers children our most valuable resource. We love our children individually, but we have a hard time showing it collectively.
*Craft without inspiration leads to basket weaving, inspiration without craft leads to modern art. Ha!
*There is a butterfly effect. You never know what kind of impact you will have. The smallest gesture is a turning point.
*If I wasn’t already won over by Bruce (and I won’t lie–I was) he would have had me hook, line and sinker when he quoted from the Broadway play, Into the Woods. I swear, I played the soundtrack to this musical until my college roommate’s ears bled. I love to be inspired.
No One is Alone… a song of responsibility. Our responsibility.
*Don’t start with a message, start with your own heart…You can not know the effect of your words.
*I can’t help but think that we reach a very special, lasting place in a kid’s soul.
*Leave an unfinished chord…
Tags: Bruce Coville, LA11SCBWI
My ability to function–take pictures, remember names (my own included) has deteriorated as the night has gone on. Thanks goodness most people are named Jeff…hmmmm that doesn’t seem right. Bear with me– I’ll be on my game tomorrow. Brought the good camera. But in the meantime, some phone shots to get you in the mood…
I’m getting closer!!! And BTW, it was a -55 degrees up there at 37,000 feet. Much warmer in the cabin though. :o)
Props to the folks at Virgin America, they did a very nice job and I liked the little American flag on the wing.
It was a beautiful, clear day to fly and I’m always in awe of how big and amazing the world really is.
My first view of the Pacific ocean evah!!!!! I’m pretty pumped about that. California, here I come!
Loving this hotel already. Look at that beautiful sun. Even better when it’s 73 degrees, breezy and not humid. *sigh of contentment*
Behind curtain #1…Lovin’ it!
Part of the view. I think this (below) is the site of the 40 Winks Gala (Giant Pajama Dance Party)
The weirdest thing for me is the lack of skyline. Everything is so low to the ground and stretches out for what seems like forever.
That’s you’re taste of LA for the moment. I probably won’t get too much more up on Monday. I’ll do those posts later in the week, but I will be posting tidbits on Facebook and twitter. You can follow the live twitter feed at #LA11SCBWI.
I am so freaking excited!!! I’m leaving for SCBWI LA tomorrow!!! I can barely contain the *squees* that want to shoot out of my body. Last year I was hoping to go to LA for the first time, but I unexpectedly talked myself out of going. It just didn’t feel right. In fact I told my husband, who was encouraging me to go, that I’d decided to wait another year. I told him that at the bare minimum, I wanted to have an agent when I attended and if I got lucky, maybe I could go with a book deal in hand.
Mission accomplished. And I’m so glad I waited. This has been an amazing year for me and I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate than with my favorite tribe of people. I am giddy with anticipation. I’m going to do my very best to write some fantastic blogs when I get back, but please bear with me on Friday and Monday’s installments–I thought about writing them ahead of time, but I can’t imagine posting something that isn’t live SCBWI LA!!!!
As a teaser, here is one of the gazillion reasons I’m thrilled to attend SCBWI LA. For years, my friends have raved about Bruce Coville and how a speech given by him will give you goose bumps and enough motivation to storm the Alamo. Additionally, my boys not only love his books, but they play wonderful, imaginary games based on his characters and the worlds he’s created . I can’t wait to hear him speak and meet him in his pajamas. (The 40 Winks Anniversary Poolside Gala aka a giant pajama party for children’s writers and illustrators)
If you’re interested in following the conference, live tweeting is already happening at Twitter #LA11SCBWI
Tags: Kimberly Sabatini, LA11SCBWI
Just wanted to give you some quick pointers that I’ve picked up as I’ve been revising. Here are some random things that have popped out at me while I’ve been working and learning.
*Although an author’s job is to be artistic and unique. There are certain things that I say that make no sense…
ME: “I could feel the ugly desire like a stench that hung in the room.”
ANICA: “But you can’t feel a stench.”
ME: “Damn.”
There were more, but I don’t love you that much.
*Everyone in my manuscript…
-rolls their eyes…a lot.
-grins, giggles, laughs, chuckles and smiles…a lot.
-has very expressive eyebrows.
*When I like a word, I really like it…
–Look and it’s many deviations may be one of my favorite words in the english language.
-This would be closely followed by my affection for the word voice.
-On the other hand, I think you can’t use snarky too many times in one manuscript. Seriously. Anica is sooo wrong about this one!
*I have obviously not effectively mastered the use of…
– Commas. I believe that a good reader should just “know” where I need to take a breather.
– Semi-colons and colons. *shudders* But I blame that on A DASH OF STYLE: THE ART AND MASTERY OF PUNCTUATION By Noah Lukeman. (Which I was reading while revising for my agent Michelle Wolfson)
“Which brings us to the underuse (or absence) of the colon. The colon is a mark that never truly needs to appear in a work, and thus it is hard to criticize a text bereft of them. Nonetheless, there will inevitably be at least a few instances when a colon can be used to enhance, and thus its absence (when needed) might indicate a writer who, at the most basic level is less seasoned, unable or unwilling to experiment with nuances. He is also less likely to use other sophisticated marks such as semicolons.” Noah Lukeman
In retrospect, I suppose that this was not a punctuation dare. In the future I shall keep my less seasoned, unable, and unwilling experimental nuances under control.
*Odds are…
-If I wrote a very pithy phrase, I repeated it some place in the next three pages. I’m not sure why I did that so much. My best guess is that I was so mesmerized by my own writing technique I got distracted.
-I’ll use two or more words to describe something when one would be effective.
-I like retro references from the 70’s and 80’s that today’s teen might not even understand. Wow, I should have had a V-8!
*I love…
-DASHES–I put them everywhere. When I’m in the throes of writing–I kid you not–dashes are my favorite punctation–besides colons and semicolons–of course.
*I find it really annoying…
-That when you make up an imaginary world, all the rules have to be consistent. Someone is always pulling a fast one on me in my world! Maybe a little inconstancy keeps everyone on their toes. Roll with it folks. No? All right, I’ll work on that. *head thunk*
*EVERYTHING about revision is better when…
-Your editor is a flagrant user of hearts and smiley faces.
-Your editor doesn’t pull out her hair and fire you because of all of the things mentioned above.
-Your editor admits that you made her cry, which makes you cry too.
-Your editor writes on the last page, next to the final word…beautiful. And this gives you enough courage to keep believing in yourself.
Tags: Anica Rissi, Kimberly Sabatini, revision
