One of my favorite parts of the conference is Lin Oliver‘s stats and joke during the welcome.
I’ve come to look forward to them. So with out much ado…the 13th Annual New York Conference stats…
*1,148 people in attendance (a sold out show)
*301 were published authors and the remainder are pre-published because that’s how we role in the SCBWI
*392 were women, 56 were men and 700 were UNKNOWN. I met a few of the 700 and they were confused but very nice.
*There were 867 writers in the house and 485 illustrators
*19 different countries were in attendance, including Aruba and Jamaica. Yes, you are correct if you guessed that Lin was singing.
*We also had 49 out of 50 States in attendance but because South Dakota actually showed up this year, Lin was stumped as to who was dissing us.
You have to have the right kind of person to follow Lin Oliver and we were not disappointed.
9:00-10:00 KEYNOTE: TURNING REAL LIFE INTO FICTION – Chris Crutcher
Here are some of my best walk-aways…
*If you want to make life important…shorten it.
*The language of grief, the language of hard times–they need to be told in their native tongue.
*We tend to write for the censors instead of the people who are reading our books.
*The truth you know is the one that will get you published.
*Jesus had an older brother named Esus! Who knew? Chris’ older brother, that’s who. Bwahhhh!!!!
10:15-11:30 PANEL: CHILDREN’S BOOKS: TODAY AND TOMORROW” FOUR EXPERT IMPRESSIONS
Moderator: (LO) Lin Oliver
(RP) Ruben Pfeffer, Agent, East West Literary Agency
(BM) Barbara Markus, Strategic Innovations Advisor
(JF) Jean Feiwel, Senior Vice President and Publishing Director, Feiwel and Friends (MacMillan)
(NP) Nancy Paulsen, President and Publisher, Nancy Paulsen Books, (Penguin)
Question: Significant changes in publishing? (LO)
*(RP) Much more energized and commercial publishing going on.
*(BM) We have bestseller hardcover children’s books that sell better than adult books.
*(JF) The closing of Boarders the changes in Amazon, self-publishing etc…
*(NP) Social Media. Remember, you can use it to help support local bookstores.
Question: How do you characterize the market? (LO)
*(JF) In the last 10 years you could publish just about anything. The market has forced a correction–in order to be effective you need to know your core strengths.
*(RP) Because we publish fewer titles, we have to publish titles better.
***GUEST SPEAKER ALERT!!!!***
Yes!!!! It’s Henry Winkler!!!! *heart squish*
Henry is dyslexic and he was wonderfully funny and thoughtful in his speech but I simply can’t capture his talk effectively, but I would like to add this link to a recent interview he did about his dyslexia. Henry Winkler on The Doctors.
11:15-12:45 1ST PRE-ASSIGNED BREAKOUT SESSION—YOUNG ADULT FICTION with Tara Weikum, Executive Editor, Harper Collins
Tara gave a brief history of YA and some thoughts on it…
* The OUTSIDERS–wasn’t the first book for teens but it was the book that made people stand up and take notice.
*Printz Award launched in 2000
*YA is in a major state of flux. Editors ask themselves–What is different about this book from the others I have read? Do I LOVE this book?
*Teens want to read about what is important and relevant to them.
*Voice is different for every editor.
2:00-3:00 KEYNOTE: LOVE TRIANGLE AND FORBIDDEN LOVE–CREATING AND MAINTAINING ROMANTIC TENSION IN YA LITERATURE by Cassandra Clare
*Forbidden love
-By Family
-By Society
-Because it’s unsuitable or dangerous
*Love Triangles
-Epic love vs Indecision
*The kind of love story that is fun to live is not fun to read about.
3:15-4:15 2ND PRE-ASSIGNED BREAKOUT SESSION–REVISION with Cheryl Klein, Executive Editor, Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic)
*Revision=Re-visioning
*Revision requires courage and love–be kind to yourself.
*Take the truth and put it in a story that makes money. (the best of both worlds)
*It’s much more exciting to be in the action than talking about the action that is coming up.
*Write a synopsis from the enemy’s point of view–to show balance.
*SAID is transparent, it disappears–the other tags don’t.
*Keep a copy of everything
*Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
4:30-5:30 3RD PRE-ASIGNED BREAKOUT SESSION–THE NOVEL with Wendy Loggia, Executive Editor, Delacorte Press
*Take the familiar and raft a narrative that makes me see things in a new light
*If you have a clear sense of what you want to do–it shows in your writing.
*There has to be a consumer for your book.
*Keep your reader hooked.
*If something doesn’t feel natural to you–don’t write it.
*Be aware of trends, but if you’re writing to a trend it’s too late.
I also have to mention that Wendy gave a huge shout out to my fellow Apoclaypsie Lissa Price and her up-coming debut novel STARTERS. Of course I was *squeeing* like mad–out loud when she was talking about Lissa’s book!!! And it gets better…Wendy gave me the ARC she was reading from!!!!! I started it on the train and LOVE it!!!! Contest coming soon!!!! Thank you Wendy and Lissa!!!!!
And don’t think you can sit down now–it’s off to the Gala where they had *drum roll* a mashed potato bar with toppings!!! If I hadn’t died and gone to heaven, I would have taken a picture. But here are a couple shots from the night.
Kim and Greg Fishbone-Founder of the Class of 2k7
Kim and Lynda Hunt Mullaly–Class of 2k12
And of course, long after the Gala was over, I was still talking to old friends and making new ones in the lobby…
Hanging with my Simon Pulse peeps–Hannah Moskowitz, Kim and Michael Strother. <3
Yes, that is Chris Crutcher hanging out with us!!!!! Life is good.
I’ll be back on Monday with the final installment from the conference, but in the meantime, have a great weekend!