And I’m back!!!! And the answer to yesterday’s 2014 LA SCBWI 43rd Annual Summer Conference cliff hanger is that jet lag won again!!!! I WAS BACK UP AT 5 FREAKING 30 IN THE MORNING!!!!! *head thunk* On a positive note, I spent my extra two hours brainstorming my WIP’s while lying in my cozy bed. But that meant I didn’t get out of my room any earlier and this time the Starbucks line was too long to wait on. With a low caffeine and food gauge, I headed to the breakfast kiosk in the lobby where they were out of breakfast sandwiches for the next 5-10 minutes. (Not my lucky morning) With my face half melting off, I glanced back over at the ever lengthening Starbucks line and decided to wait. #teamkiosk I figured I’d purchase my fruit, coffee and my slower than slow sandwich NOW–and then while I drank my coffee and munched on my nectarine, I’d wait patiently for my breakfast sandwich to arrive. Grab and go. No. I was told there would be no coffee until my sandwich arrived. That’s how they did things. What? Obviously that had never met the likes of me before. *snort* I smiled and explained how my method would be so much more efficient and friendly and yummy and caffeinated. And they marveled at my brilliance and my witty banter and I drank my coffee and waited for my yummy sandwich while making friends with all the other people lusting for breakfast sandwiches. We really bonded. It was fabulous. <3

And despite the wait, I was blessedly on time for the first Keynote of the day.

Justin Chanda (Simon & Schuster) THE STATE OF THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

He is an incredible speaker–funny, practical, informative, optimistic, realistic and just plain enjoyable to listen to. Here’s what you need to know…

*We are all in this together.

*Printed things on paper have not been eradicated…and drones are not delivering our books…yet. LOL!

*It’s a cyclical business.

*There is something BIG and NEW in YA–CRF (Contemporary Realistic Fiction) HaHa! It was just “discovered” in the last five years. #trends

*trends are unpredictable–undeniable– and you can not write to them.

*YOUR INDIVIDUAL VOICE IS THE BIGGEST CAPITAL YOU HAVE IN THIS BUSINESS.

*JC predicts YA is going to scale back, but ultimately this is a good thing because the market is saturated and the glut is preventing books from being marketed correctly.

*There is lots of room for books that speak to the true experience of middle graders.

*Great rise in gender neutral books.

*The market for PB’s seems to be strong.

-not enough shelf space for a HUGE resurgence

-PB’s are 1% of book sales

-focus is on 5-6 year olds

-humor is doing well

-strong identifiable characters resonate

*APPS are not books.

*On Common Core: When the next wave of educational stuff comes along we’ll still be buying good books because good books hit the mark without trying.

*No one goes into publishing to get rich–we are here for bigger things.

*We are experts at bringing books and stories to kids. The book comes first.

*We are writers–we need to write–social media and marketing is important but it doesn’t trump story telling.

*There are always readers outside of trends.

See…I told you he was fabulous.

Next up was the Agent’s Panel: WHAT HOOKS ME

SD-Sarah Davies (Greenhouse)

SM-Steve Malk (Writer’s House)

EM-Erin Murphy (Erin Murphy Lit)

AP-Alexandra Penfold (upstart)

RP-Ruben Pfeffer (Ruben Pfeeffer Content)

LP-Linda Pratt (Warnick & Pratt)

LR-Laura Rennert (Andrea Brown)

MODERATOR: LO-Lin Oliver

LO–What hooks you?

AP-I want books that make me feel. Books that are as smart as the kids who read them.

EM-AUTHENTICITY. I don’t want to feel the hand of the author pushing.

SM-Reinventing and layering a fresh point of view over a classic.

SD-AMBITION. Not for money. But someone who works hard and has big ideas. They want to be the master of their craft.

RP-POTENTIAL. I want to make contact with a character that can bring me into their world . Details can be fixed later.

LR-Characrter drive, page turning, emotionally powerful. The exploration of universals in unique ways.

PL-INTRIGUE. Make me feel like THIS character should exist.

     -Also wants a professional cover letter.

LO-Tell us about cover letters?  

LP-A line or two that verifies you’ve done your homework. Followed by a brief summary of what your work is about. Add credentials at the end but leave out the “my kids love it.”

-Avoid comparisons to books that are too big. Comp titles are good to have but use them wisely.

SM-They bring the professionalism. Take it seriously and don’t sell yourself short. Proves your investment

EM-It helps the agent get the bigger picture of you and your potential career.

LR-Reading for a sense of the person behind the story. But remember the process of querying is like dating so don’t over share your scary stuff on the first date. :o)

AP-Don’t over promise and under deliver. Did you say what you meant to say.

SD-Calm down–it’s okay–it points the way to the writing. And writing a pitch is an art–so practice.

LO-How do you see your role when you take on a new client?

RP-I wear many hats–particularly what the client will benefit from the most.

EM-I’ll ask you to revise because it’s a skill and if you don’t have the skill, I can’t talk you up to editors.

SD-Revision–if the bar can be raised–it’s better for the sale.

 -I want to guarantee at the point of submission that we took that MS out as strong as we could make it.

RP-The potential of the brand

AP-Helping to hone their attention towards the second book.

SM-(Cutting in) Brand is a tricky word. Your brand is simply who YOU are.

LO-What makes you cringe?

EM-Submisions from prison. *cue whole ballroom cracking up*

LR-Something that feels formulaic.

LP-Dropped in the middle of ungrounded action. Wants to be vested in the character.

RP-Too much or not enough opening information.

AP-Lot’s of bad rhyme in PB’s–changing the trajectory of the story to meet the rhyme.

EM-Envisioning yourself as a celebrity instead of focusing on the writing.

SM-Making big mistakes that indicate you’re not that serious about what you are doing.

SD-Prologues with car accidents

-Same beginnings all the time.

-Prologue that’s different than the first chapter.

-Wakes up, gets our of bed and looks in the mirror.

*The beginning doesn’t have to be the beginning–fresh language that gets you into the story at a different place.

Even though the morning proved to be off to an amazing start–you can’t stop believing that there’s more. The next Keynote was from Aaron Becker–SOME ADJUSTMENTS WERE MADE ALONG THE WAY: ONE ARTIST’S JOURNEY.

Aaron started us off by getting the whole room to help him sing Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing. You appreciate that transition now, don’t you? LOL! 

Anyway–if I’ve got you mystified and you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about–you might not realize that the Aaron is the gifted author/illustrator of the 2014 Caldecott Honor book JOURNEY.

Love, love love this wordless picture book. You can’t even begin to imagine how much story is hidden between it’s gorgeous, sweet, humorous, creative, magical illustrations. But it all made sense when Aaron talked about how stories are how we understands our lives. That is something that resonates with me down to my core. I also wanted to add that I have two young artist/illustrators at home and I took this shot of one of Aaron’s early masterpieces to show them how we grow as we practice our craft.

It left them with their jaws hanging open and it reminded me that we continually have to work at our practice to reach the vision we have of ourselves in our mind. Time to get out my “red crayon” and make some magic happen on my pages. <3

Mary Lee and Megan

I know my recaps can be a bit lengthy at times, but don’t get moody–get Judy Moody!!!! Next up was my first Workshop of the day with Megan McDonald and Mary Lee Donovan JUDY: FOREVER 8–CREATING AND SUSTAINING A SERIES.

Both Megan (the author of Judy Moody) and Mary Lee (Judy Moody editor-Candlewick) were amazing, funny and informative. The thrust of the presentation was about the unique choices that were made all along the course of Judy Moody’s development. The creativity in writing and marketing led to the launch of a beloved early chapter book series that has become a huge hit. Here are some of the takeaways…

*Megan made “me collage’s” to help her brainstorm and get to know her characters and her world.

*They avoided formulaic packaging. It’s uniqueness helped it to stand out.

*Judy Moody is a 3rd grader but her first book was 150 pages long. This was a little unique for 7-10 year olds. But they liked having a thick book to carry around.

*The book had short, episodic chapters targeting 7-10 year olds.

*The print was large with a lot of white space and frequent illustrations.

*At the time, bright colors were competing on the shelf so the craft paper design and unique shape caught people’s attention.

*Judy Moody was positioned as a new cast of characters that everyone needed to meet.

*Marketing was directed to a kid audience and a teacher audience. Word of mouth then helped Judy Moody reinvent the 3rd grade novel. <3

Next up I grabbed lunch on the go and headed over to my regional get together. I didn’t have time to take pics but there were french fries in my Big Fat Gyro and there was some debate about the authenticity of that. My RA was served in the same way in Greece. So anyone have any thoughts on this? It was a first for me. Very yummy, too.

Next up was a Keynote by Maggie Stiefvater A THEIF AND AN ARTIST STEALING STORIES FROM LIFE.

Maggie is an amazing storyteller–as you might imagine from that series of pics. She’s just too animated to pin down LOL! But after listening to Maggie, I also began to think of her as a modern day renaissance woman. Very intelligent and loaded with all kinds of artistic ability in so many areas–writing, sketching and music. I was relieved that she wasn’t very good in the kitchen because I was starting to get a little intimidated and jealous. But considering how much amazing advice she shared and how it impacted my own thoughts on writing, I’m a fan-girl for sure. Some of Maggie’s best take aways…

*I am rarely creating things form scratch. I steal the soul of someone else and then as an artist I stitch it back together.

*The only way to get better at something is to practice.

*Shallow Thievery vs. Deep Artistry

-Learn to solve for X–things are not what is on the surface.

-It’s not about the punch, it’s about why he threw it and more importantly why he’d never thrown it before.

*It’s not write what you know (we don’t personally know that much to be interesting) It’s about WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW THE ESSENCE OF.

Love that!

And I get to hear the hilarious Megan McDonald talk again at her Keynote WRITER, WRESTLER, STUTTERER, SPY: FINDING YOUR VOICE AS A WRITER.

The really cool thing about Megan’s keynote was that it was completely different than the info I’d heard in the morning. *fist pump* Most of her stuff was side split tingly hilarious stories that I couldn’t even begin to recount here, but I did pull this out and write it in my notes…

*If you want to write–find your splinter–the thing that is embedded, still sharp and hurting you. Write about that.

Day two of the conference seemed to be about repeat speakers, which was completely okay with me because I really enjoyed them just as much the second time around. My afternoon Workshop was with Justin Chanda–YOU HAVE YOUR 1ST (2ND, 3RD) CONTRACT(S) HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP AND HURT YOURSELF. 

A seriously helpful workshop and one of the best PRO sessions I’ve taken. Right up there with those done by Ruta Sepetys. My only complaint was that it was too short. Would love to see the same workshop offered as an AM/PM two part workshop. Justin talked about some of the best and worst practices that could help or hurt an author after they’ve gotten a contract.

*The starting point for everything is your editor.

*Most important people on staff are the assistants–treat them that way.

*Do not say one thing to your editor and another to your agent and leave your agent to solve it. (ex. Editor: Can you have it to me in 4 weeks. Author: Sure, No problem. Author talking to Agent: There is no way I can do that in four weeks—please fix it. *weeps*)

-Run around becomes tedious for everyone

-We are all in this together.

-Always better to be honest.

*You have to stand up for yourself–it is your book.

*A good editor will never rewrite your book, they will help you make your vision clearer. “I will never win that argument if it’s not meant to be won.”

*Everyone is always working towards the same goal.

*Try not to send multiple emails in one week with different subjects.

*Don’t be afraid to ask questions, we love to talk about what we do.

*Remember to work on your book–consumers want books not marketing. You’re first job is to WRITE!!!!

*100’s of people touch your book along the process of publication.

*Everyone wants your book to work–no one is sitting in the back room trying to figure out how to screw you over.

*80% of tanked covers have been at the author’s insistence. Speak your mind but trust your team.

*80% of the books Justin publishes lose money. The top 20% is carrying the 80%

*Good marketing departments need to be nimble.

*There is a finite amount of marketing resources. And it’s usually unpredictable.

*Do not compare your publication plans with anyone else’s.

*Don’t spend your own money in a vacuum. Coordinate with your team to get the best for your money.

*Publication grows with you throughout your career.

*Highly recommends school visits as the best way to self promote. WORD OF MOUTH!

*Social media is the greatest and worst thing to happen to publishing.

-DO NOT VENT ONLINE

-DO NOT PLEAD YOUR GRIEVANCES IN THE COURT OF SOCIAL MEDIA.

*And like Debbi Oh always says…Another writer’s success doesn’t diminish your chance of success–cheer on other writers. <3

Phew!!!! I’m getting really tired. This may be one of the longest conference recaps I’ve ever had. It’s all because there was so much great information and inspiration. Like this next panel…

A Marketing and Sales Panel–PUTTING YOUR BOOK IN THE HANDS OF READERS: HOW SALES, MARKETING AND PUBLICITY BRING YOUR BOOK TO MARKET with Felicia Frazier, Shanta Newlin and Emily Romero

These ladies were fire crackers. This was hands down the best sales/marketing/publicity class I’ve been exposed to at a conference. Entertaining and informative–I wanted to hang out with this smart and charismatic ladies. Here’s my best takeaway from each of them…

SALES:

*We are so lucky–we have a replenishing source of kids EVERY YEAR! ROTFL!!!

MARKETING:

*Our business is a recommendation based business.

PUBLICITY:

*You have to see, hear or read about a book at least 5 times before you make a purchase.

As pumped as I was, my perky personality was getting hungry and starting to wilt. The final Keynote of the evening was Cynthia Kadohata MY LIFE: REAL AND IMAGINED.And yes, I forgot to take another picture. But here is my favorite takeaway…

*No matter what writing problem you have the answer is always somewhere in your life.

There–I did it. I made it through day 2. *nods off* BUT WAIT—It’s time for the 2014 Poolside Gala!!!!!!! It was Tomie Depaola’s 80th Birthday Bash: A Night in Old Italy. Since Tomie couldn’t be there, we did serenade him with a flash mob to That’s Amore. <3 A copy of that is floating around Youtube somewhere. Here’s a snap shot of the rest of the evening…

The party was getting started. The view from my room.

I was having trouble coming up with a costume and a friend suggested being an “old” tourist in Italy.

I immediately started channeling my Dad LOL!

Nancy my RA stomping some grapes with me.

Hanging out with my Shop Talk buddy Imogene–New York to LA!!!

My Dad would have absolutely hung out with the Pope ROTFL!

Lots of laughs all night.

Jodi and Howard–dancing buddies <3

And then I fell asleep. Lies. Then I hung out in the lobby and talked with friends. And then I fell asleep. More Lies. Then I got in my PJ’s and talked with Jodi some more. ROTFL! But then I finally did fall asleep–and it was great until I …

Well, that’s a story for my finally recap post next Tuesday. We don’t want to overwhelm you–I don’t think this lengthy post can take one more word. Hope it was helpful and didn’t make your eyes bleed. In fact–as encouragement to write the last post recap, why don’t you let me know in the comments which bit of posted wisdom or inspiration resonates with you the most. And don’t forget my fries and gyro conundrum. See you next week.