OK, here's the scoop. The SCBWI conference last weekend (August 1st-4th) was REALLY great. How do I know this? I attended, only for one day though which was Sunday the 3rd. Judging from the content of information I collected on that one day, I can only imagine the whole entire weekend was spectacular and loaded with lots of goodies and support. Here is my take on the best day...
The
opening speech by Leonard Marcus held everyone's attention with letters from an agent that had been received by several different authors (such as Maurice Sendak, Crockett Johnson, E. B White, etc.) Each letter was different but each one was filled with humor and enough push to encourage the author to finish their project. Here are a few highlight points from the speech...
• Euphemisms have no place in children's books. Most children can handle the good, the bad and the ugly. Children know ugliness exists and people can be mean and cruel.
• Prepare a rough dummy. Your first dummy might not have a lot of depth but the emotion will show through.
• EVERYONE has self doubt.
• When you write your book, consider writing catalog copy along side of it to help find descriptive words. How does it look? What does it say?
• When you are fortunate to be on your second book, don't even think about your first book. You need to remove the emotion on how well or not so well your first book went. Your second is a different baby.
• Current historical events can be sort of dated later on down the road. Think Beta tapes and VCRs. If you have that kind technology in your story, it won't seem current later.
• Read the classics. Read the classics but find your own voice.
• Is there any prettier sight than someone sticking their neck out? You can never touch someone by holding back.
The
next speech was by Mark McVeigh (an editor) called "All About Agents." The panel consisted of Dilys Evans, Michael Bourret, Michael Sterns, and Laura Rennert. Questions and answers follow below...
Why does the creative need an agent?To help working out a deal, and they really "know" the market. They can help build your career after your first book and also help with transitions/movements within publishing houses. They also will be right there for you to help with conflicts.
How are they an important role in selling?Of course each situation varies but the agent can set up bidding with different houses, something you may not have exposure to. They can also start the negotiations at a higher level.
How can a "newbie" educate themselves about an agent?Although finding an agent is tough (straight from an agent's mouth), when you find one, your personalities MUST match. Interview them and KNOW what books they represent. Trust their opinions so you can know they have your back if needed.
Next there were two workshops I attended, which I will post about tomorrow as I have so many notes and this post will go on and on! But now I wanted to mention the wonderful lunch with the
Golden Kite Awards. Yuyi Morales was the winner for picture book illustration and she gave the loveliest speech with her twinkling spanish accent. I bought her book and she ever so carefully signed it!
Then I met the fabulously talented Mike Baker. He was the only one I knew who was going to be there so I was looking for him. Not having ever met him in person and having a thousand or more people at the conference made it a challenge but Lady Luck was on my side and I sat right next to him at lunch. He shared his portfolio with me and was kind enough to look at mine and make some helpful suggestions. (Using ideas he had picked up from the previous 2 days of the conference no less!) I also met quite a few authors, published and unpublished, all who were very nice. Everyone was very nice I have to say. Everyone.
One of the best activities this whole day, I have to say, was the optional
peer group critique at the end of the day. After being there 12 hours already and knowing I had a 2 hour drive ahead of me, I was apprehensive about going but I made myself stick around for it and I am so glad I did! There were quite a few people at the picture book tables, about 40 people. We broke down into smaller groups of 5-6 and proceeded to read our stories and/or share our portfolios. In my group, I was the first one to read my story. I was SO glad I brought my book dummy along with my portfolio because everyone in this group had some great contributions to add. They also had ideas on what to take away and how to simplify. This was priceless info. Just the ticket. Exactly what I was hoping to achieve. Being critiqued is never an easy thing and certainly asking for it, well one could be called crazy. However, if you want to get better at your craft, you need to know where you are going wrong, suggestions on how you can make it better and bits of the positive to keep you going. They called it the "sandwich," where you say something about the other person's work that you like, give constructive criticism and then praise their efforts again. Therefore a sandwich of meaty, helpful words. This is what we all were looking for, it was great!
I am so glad I went to this. Actually attending was a very last minute decision for me and I seriously think it is one of the smartest things I've done. I will be there next year all four days!! Hope you will too!
