I’m wrapping up my week-long series on the 2010 Rutgers One-on-One Plus Conference.
If you missed it, you can also check out the Part 1 highlights, which spotlighted the featured speakers and panel discussion and Part 2 highlights, which focused on the Five-on-Five session.
The primary agenda of the conference is the One-on-One session in which a mentee is paired with a highly experienced author, illustrator, editor or agent for private mentoring on a work-in-progress.
My mentor was Denise Lang, author, producer, and adjunct professor. She also has a lot of media experience — even been a guest on Oprah(!) — she is also a member of the esteemed RUCCL Council so I was looking forward to meeting her.
My mentor gave me some great tips on my novel project. We talked about the struggles of managing time and she reassured me that I should not stress out as long as I was making progress (something I really need to hear). She also stated that my novel project was very intriguing from a marketing prospective, which was another plus.
But the most priceless part of the session was the feedback that I got on my query letter. As regular readers already know, I have an itch issue with query letters so I couldn’t resist pulling mine out for critique. Using her expertise, my mentor helped me immensely with ideas of how to my make letter stronger for which I’m really grateful.
I also made some contacts with three great agents. This is yet another perk of attending the conference. You not only get to make connections with your mentor but all of the other mentors who are participating.
And of course, it was wonderful meeting the wonderful kindred spirits who attended the conference.
Here’s my shout-out list — be sure to check out these talented writers to watch:
Dhonielle Clayton
Lisa Amowitz
Colleen Rowan Kosinski
Karen Smock
Katie Barlett
Karen B. Schwartz
Crystal Roget
J.A. Palermo
Melissa Yuan-Innes
LaVora Perry
I hope that everyone has a glorious weekend. Continue to make progress on your writing projects.
I’m continuing to share highlights from the 2010 Rutgers One-On-One Plus Conference.
If you missed it, you can also check out the Part 1 highlights, which spotlighted the featured speakers and panel discussion.
One of the great things about the conference is the Five-on-Five session, which brings together five mentor/mentee pairs and a moderator to discuss publishing and writing topics.
For my five-on-five session, we had a great table featuring agent Molly Jaffa (Folio Literary Management), agent Kathleen Ortiz (Lowenstein Associates), editor Brianne Mulligan (Razorbill), and editor Allison MacDonald (Dutton). Author David Lubar moderated our discussion.
Here are some of the questions and answers during the session:
When do you stop reading a manuscript?
- First page
- I try to give the manuscript a chance until page 50.
- First paragraph.
- I have to really like the concept — the hook will make me likely to read more.
- I need the intro of the conflict and character. It has to happen in Chapter 1.
- You need to understand agents and editors are reading to reject. Give them a reason not to do it.
How have the hard economic times affected publishing?
- Making a comfortable living has gotten harder. It’s even harder to sell a second book if the first book sales are weak.
- We don’t encourage writers to quit their day job. Most writers usually still have day jobs.
- It is a risk when signing on a book so publishers are being very selective. It’s very competitive right now.
What are some ways to improve as writers?
- Don’t be afraid to revise, rewrite, and delete.
- Learn to have patience in the business.
- Don’t be too focused on one manuscript. Write other stories.
- Try to get honest critiques but only change what you think will make the manuscript stronger.
The mentees also got a chance to work on our pitches, which was great because we got immediate feedback on how to make them better. I was lucky that writer friend Sheri Dillard and I practiced while waiting at the airport — because if not for that, I probably wouldn’t have had any pitch. Now I’m a true believer that having a pitch ready can be very helpful when attending conferences.
Stay tuned for Friday, where I’ll share highlights of my One-on-One session with my mentor.
On Saturday I was thrilled to get up at the crack of dawn to attend the Rutgers One-on-One Plus conference for the second year in a row. (I really was thrilled. I'm a ridiculously early riser anyway, and besides, that's why coffee was invented.)
Last year was fabulous, and I expected this year to be the same. It was. For those who aren't familiar with the conference, attendees are paired with a mentor– an editor, agent, author or illustrator– who spends 45 minutes giving feedback on your work.
This year I met with a lovely author who offered many insightful suggestions for my picture book dummy... ones that I think will help take it to another level. Meeting her was just one of the delightful surprises of the day!
There was also a great panel of speakers– Deborah Sloan, Alvina Ling, and Katie Davis– who talked about the value of social networking and some of the ins and outs of Facebook and Twitter. Check out #rcclbuzz on Twitter if you want to learn more. (Dear Twitter, I do love you, but have a hard time keeping up!)
Oh! And I can't forget the 5-on-5 group, where groups of five mentees and mentors meet to discuss whatever burning questions about the industry anyone might have.
The grand finale of the day was keynote speaker, the awesome Deborah Heiligman. (She really is awesome, and not just because she handed out waterproof notebooks to everyone in the audience in case we find ideas in the shower! If you ever get a chance to hear her talk, do it.) Deborah was funny and inspiring. Instead of me trying to paraphrase what she said, here it is in her own words. And here's another take.
Good, good stuff. Heading off to my bubble now...
So I’m back from the fabulous 2010 Rutgers One-on-One Plus Conference held this past Saturday.
My mind is still buzzing from all the great things I learned and all the great people I met. I’ll have to give a shout-out to all of them later this week.
As promised, I’ll be spotlighting highlights from the conference all this week. Today, I’ll share the highlights from the speakers and the panel discussion on social media.
Right after our mentor breakfast, the guest speaker for the One-on-One Success Story was author Eric Luper, who was funny and inspirational sharing his writing journey. Here are some highlights from his speech:
It is a rare thing to do that — finishing a manuscript. Consider yourself awesome.
All successful steps in the writing journey have elation.
The question you should ask: Who am I as a writer?
Remember, editors are as eager to find good work as you are to get published.
The featured speaker of the conference was author Deborah Heiligman, who was simply hilarious. Here are some of the tips she highlighted during her speech:
Take yourself seriously.
Put yourself in a bubble — remove all chatter when writing.
Fight the fear.
Work on your craft.
Trust your gut when writing but keep thinking of other ideas.
Always keep a notebook available.
Deborah gave everyone at the conference an all-weather notebook to keep with us everywhere — she keeps a similar one in her shower. Matter of fact, she shared with us that she wrote one of her picture books in the shower. Ha.
During her speech, she recommended a book, Writing on Both Sides of the Brain by Henriette A. Klauser. I’ve heard about this book, but now I’m definitely going to check it out.
Also check out her blog post, We’re So Smart and We are Writers! where she shares more from her speech.
For the panel discussion, the topic was “Get a Grip: Using Social Media Tools Effectively.” Caroline Abbey, associate editor for Bloomsbury Children’s Books moderated the panel.
The panelists included Katie Davis, author/illustrator, and producer of the podcast Brain Burps About Books; Alvina Ling, senior editor at Little Brown; and Deborah Sloan, marketing/promotion specialist who hosts the KidsBuzz and The Picnic Basket blogs.
The panel presented a video presentation, which was very eye opening about how fast the trend of social networking has affected people’s lives. Here are some highlights of how social media networking can help writers:
You don’t have to do EVERYTHING. Choose the one social media outlet you love doing.
Most people in the industry are using Twitter. Good for networking — especially for writers who work remotely.
For social networking, making connections is more important than promoting yourself.
Remember the rule of reciprocity — pay it forward.
Having a blog and/or a Twitter account can be valuable resource for unpublished writers.
Keep your internet presence professional. Determine the level of personal information you want to share.
There will be a chat today at 12:30 EDT using the Twitter tag #rcclbuzz. I’m posting sort of late today, so if you missed it, you can still do a search on this tag<
This afternoon, I’m traveling to Piscataway, NJ to participate as a mentee in the 2010 Rutgers One-on-One Plus Conference.
I’m very excited about the conference. More excited than when I went in 2006 because I know what to expect and how to make the conference more useful for me and my writing.
It also doesn’t hurt that I’m traveling with a writer friend from my critique group, Sheri Dillard, and meeting up with some fabulous writers from Verla Kay’s BlueBoard.
Next week, I’ll share all the Rutgers highlights!
Monday: Panel discussion on social media tools and featured speakers.
Wednesday: The one-on-one session with my mentor and what I learned.
Friday: The five-on-five session, where mentors and mentees have a roundtable discussion on writing-related topics.
If you’re on Twitter, you can also follow me to get any real-time highlights during the conference on Saturday.
So stayed tuned!
Have a great weekend everyone.
Thrilled to say I've been accepted to this year's Rutgers One-on-One Plus conference! Last year was my first time going, and it was a fantastic experience. I highly recommend applying to anyone who is serious about writing and illustrating for children. (I blogged about last year's conference here.) More notes to come...
This past Saturday I woke up earlier than I thought was physically possible, drank too much coffee, and drove to New Jersey for the Rutgers One-on-One Plus Conference, sponsored by the Rutgers University Council on Children's Literature. This was my first time going. I was excited, nervous, and curious at the same time.
Each attendee at the conference was paired with someone in the children's book field-- an editor, art director, agent, author or illustrator-- for a 45 minute one-on-one mentoring session. Later, groups of five mentors and mentees met to discuss questions anyone might have. There was lunch and a panel of speakers. Throughout the day mentees were encouraged to seek out people who might be interested in their work and introduce themselves. It was intense. (Especially for an introvert!) But it wasn't as intimidating as I'd thought it might be. Everyone was friendly and approachable.
The morning of the conference we found out who our mentors were. I almost fell off my chair when I learned that I'd been paired with Alvina Ling, Senior Editor at Little, Brown. I knew who she was from the Blue Rose Girls blog and from some of the fabulous books she's worked on. I was thrilled!
Alvina offered helpful insight and suggestions about some of the stories I've been working on. You know that "a-ha!" feeling when somebody says just the right words and suddenly a door to a new solution opens? That's how I felt. We also talked about my portfolio. The conversation was very, very encouraging!
The panel speakers were full of good tips, such as-- figure out how old you are inside when creating a story and find the best way to leverage that. Go for the "psychological verisimilitude," the truth, at the core of your story and strengthen it. And no matter how much technology changes the way we read books in the future, it will always be story that matters.
Judy Freeman did a wonderful book talk (with music) including a hilarious segment on-- groan-- celebrity children's books. (I thought she was kidding about this. Sadly, not.)
All in all it was an inspiring day. Isn't that usually how it is when people who love children's books get together?
I've been accepted to the Rutgers One-On-One Plus Conference in October! Time to get cracking on some new portfolio pieces. I'm excited!
Lucky you, I cant wait to attend my first conference
Thanks for the shout out, Karen. Great to meet you! I enjoy reading your blog! (it was in my reader even before we met)
I hope to attend a conference some day so that I can get some writing help.
Sounds like it was very helpful!
Joanna: I can’t wait to hear about your first conference experience — they can get totally addictive.
Karen: It was so nice meeting you as well. I hope we cross paths at another conference soon.
Kristi: You should definitely look into going to one. You should look at http://writing.shawguides.com/ and see if you can find one in your area.
Tiana: Rutgers rocked! Very helpful.