I’m back with the second half of the 2015 NY SCBWI Conference recap. You can find Part 1 HERE. And yes, in case you’re wondering, I am extra tired because I stayed up too late talking to my fabulous roommate Jodi Moore talking about her newest dragon book!!!
An unexpected perk of the conference was a chance to get a sneak peek at Jodi’s new Dragon Baby–WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN AGAIN
It’s bad enough that the new baby takes up Mom’s lap and Dad’s time. But
when this tiny, drooly, stinky, crying newborn somehow charms the dragon, the
boy decides he’s had enough of this baby business. Is there room in the castle
for three? Find out When a Dragon Moves In Again.
Sequel to the award-winning When a Dragon Moves In
Can’t wait for the Fall to bring this Dragon home <3
Jodi and her Dragon weren’t the only people we were celebrating on Sunday morning. The day kicked off with the Awards Presentations…
Congrats to all the illustrators who won awards. Your work is gorgeous.
And Sana accepts the Mid-List Author award from Jane Yolen who credits her with being a force in bringing diversity to our children’s books.
We also got to sing Happy Birthday to Jane. <3
And celebrate with Caldecott winner Dan Santat even if he wasn’t in the room.
We’ll catch him in person in LA. But until then, here’s how proud we are of Dan…
And we can’t forget to thank the SCBWI staff that makes these conferences happen…
They are the BEST!
The first Keynote of the day was by another amazing author/illustrator…The Making of a Picture Book by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
I was blown away by her, her process and her books. Laura talked about having a notebook to capture your stream of consciousness. And she shared her notebooks with us. I loved this beginning…
Laura also reminded us that when making a concept book, there is always story–there is depth. She kick started so many ideas for me and she opened my eyes to how to see picture book writing in a completely different way. Take a look at her award winning book Green…
The next Keynote was James Dashner–Writing Commercial Fiction.
James was a funny guy. He started off his speech like Letterman with a top 10 List.
But between the jokes he had some serious and helpful stuff to share. He reminded us that even though he’s the author of The Maze Runner, which was recently made into a movie, it wasn’t so long ago that he was sitting where we were. He went to college to become an accountant and hated it. He struggled as a new author with a small press and a kinda weird cover. But you should never give up because…
*The Maze Runner was rejected the first time it went out.
*Sometimes it is about lucky breaks, but if you quit you won’t get the chance to enjoy them.
He also told us…
*He never takes his success for granted because he could have been stuck in a job he hated.
*And it might be helpful to use a title that guarantees success–like Harry Potter and the Divergent Games of Hunger. ROTFL!
And there is nothing else I can say that’s better than that. *grin* But what I can tell you about next is the Keynote Agent’s Panel: Charting Charting Your Career Path.
BG–On career: This is not a speed race. If everything goes right I get to be your agent for 30, 40, 50 years.
JL–Illustrators need to have a centrally located online portfolio.
BG–There is no call I fear more than the one when a client says they’ve quit their job. This is not a job you get into with the intention of supporting your family.
TW–If you are writing with your heart you are writing with your passion. You are not writing to pay the bills.
BG–Don’t query with a rhetorical question or in your characters voice.
BG–If you find yourself tracking your Amazon ranking more than five times a day, you have a problem.
The last Keynote of the conference was Kwame Alexander talking about Dancing Naked on the Floor: How to say Yes to the Writerly Life
Just this week Kwame won the Newbery!!!! After hearing him speak and then reading his work on the train home I know exactly why he won. He is amazing! Here is some of what he inspired us with…
*I didn’t have money, but what I did have was poetry.
*Children’s authors make our living on school visits. We don’t get paid too much by publishers.
*I wanted to write words that elevated, inspired, informed, and uplifted people.
*This writing life is not about sitting in a room with your pencil and paper. You’ve got to get out into the world.
*Need a community around you of truthtellers to keep you on track.
*CROSSOVER was rejected more than 20 times by publishers. Kwame Alexander almost self-published it. It just won the Newbery award.
*When the NO’s come they’re getting out of the way for the Yes’. You can’t let other people’s NO’s define your Yes’.
*You can’t have a dream come true if you don’t have a dream and you can’t write a book if you’re not writing.
*Sit on it. WAIT–Kwame Alexander didn’t say that. The Fonz did!!!
WE got a surprise visit from the one and only Henry Winkler. He was adorable because he was as blown away as the rest of us by Kwame. But he did tell us that we must teach our children where they are great, not where we think they should go. And he also said he has a new mantra which is…I’m going to try. And I think everyone ended the conference inspired and with that very same mantra.
But before we left, we got to get our books signed…
This year’s Newbery winner, Kwame Alexander.
Anthony Horowitz
Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Herve Tullet
And James Dashner
And then it’s back home in time for a bit more snow…
Thanks so much for reliving the 2015 NY SCBWI Conference with me. If you attended, who was your favorite speaker and if you didn’t, who would you have most loved to meet? Hope to see you in NY next year–the Lobby Rats are looking for new friends.
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.
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.
*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 ApoclaypsieLissa 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.
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