Last weekend I went to New York City for the SCBWI conference. It was an amazing weekend. I'm just now able to start wrapping my head around everything that happened. As promised, I'm going to give you a recap of my weekend, but it's going to have to be in a number of blog posts because so much happened!
I stayed at the Grand Hyatt with one my MiG partners, Debbie Ridpath Ohi. In fact, all the MiGs came for the conference and wow, we had a blast. You can check out this post for all the MiG pictures. Rooming with Debbie was perfect. She's the best roommate! I even got to see her sketches for the next picture book she's illustrating, NAKED.Friday morning, I took off to visit my publisher, Amazon Children's. I decided to walk because I wanted to experience the city. Man it was cold! Once there, I met my editor, Miriam Frank. It was wild to actually meet her in person. She took me on a tour of the office area that ACP is renting out until they move into their permanent offices. She dug through their boxes and handed me some of Skyscape's upcoming books, ME AND MY INVISIBLE GUY and THE WAITING TREE. So excited to read those.First she introduced me to Vera Soki, one of the designers, and Alan Tsai, the production manager. He also handed me a stack of picture books for my boys and classroom, which the kids LOVED. I also meet Katrina Damkoehler, the art director, who is responsible for making all those beautiful covers ACP has. Miriam and I went out for coffee and I talked her ear off. Strangely she didn't seem to mind. But after our conversation, I realized how much we clicked and saw eye to eye on books and stories. She gave me book recommendations and had some insightful ideas for my possible sequel. I kept pinching myself because it was all too good to be reality.When we went back to APC, Miriam introduced me to Marilyn Brigham, another editor, as well as Tim Ditlow, the head of Skyscape, which is the imprint GILDED will be a part of. The only person I didn't get to meet that I was hoping for was Margery Cuyler. I adore her books and was secretly hoping to snag an autograph. Margery was the one who first emailed me that they were taking GILDED to acquisitions.As much as I didn't want my time to end at ACP, I was super excited to meet my agent, Jeff Ourvan and Jennifer Lyons who runs the agency. Jeff picked me up at ACP, and it was as if I already knew him even though it it was our first time meeting. We met Jennifer at her house. I loved how there were books everywhere. Figures she's the head of a literary agency!Unfortunately, I totally forgot to get pictures with them! We were so busy talking and planning and then off to an amazing lunch, that the thought didn't even cross my mind. Next time though! Jennifer gave me a copy of their latest award winning book, THE REVOLUTION OF EVELYN SERRANO by Sonia Manzano. It won the Pura Belpre Honor Book. After meeting Miriam, Jeff and Jennifer, I decided I am the luckiest girl on the planet to have a team of people who are excited about making GILDED become a reality. I think I literally floated for the rest of the day. No, I think I'm still floating.
Friday: Illustrators Marketing Intensive
There was lots of great advice about marketing your work and the workshop was geared towards people that had books out or would have them out soon. I think there was a lot of info that’s useful to pre-published illustrators as well. Here’s a smattering of my notes and the points I thought were particularly useful. Some people talked faster than I could write, so the quotes are paraphrased.
John Rocco:
*Put your website URL in your trailer so people can find you after watching it.
*Expect nothing from your publisher (for promotion) and think of things that you can do to help the book (trailer, bookmarks, coloring pages, local contacts, etc.).
*Book trailers don’t have to be snazzy. You’re an illustrator; tell the story.
*Be kind. Be generous with your time and work, with bookstores and at signings. Be sincere.
Dan Santat:
*Build a network of peers: sincere relationships are very important.
*Blog consistently, at least once a week, so people will keep coming back. Talk about your work, but talk about other stuff too.
*Uses or has used different sites to promote his work (Flickr, Tumblr, Blog, Facebook, Illustration Friday), but says: You can do as much social networking as you want, but your work is what’s going to get you jobs.
*Handmade feel makes trailers more appealing.
Sophie Blackall:
*If you like doing something, find a way to call it work (like her blog to book: Missed Connections).
*If your stuff isn’t out there, it won’t be seen.
Dan Yaccarino (on giving presentations):
*Know your topic (research even if you think you know it).
*Know your audience (kids, adults, kidlit people) and tailor the presentation accordingly. Sometimes the ideas/content for audiences overlaps.
*Don’t sign a cast or anything else or you will have to do it for everyone. Kids have a keen sense of fairness.
*Don’t shake hands with the kids. Fist bump and then Purell so you don’t get the flu.
*Be flexible (what if your computer goes out?).
*Drawing during a school visit is like a magic trick to a kid. If you can do it, do it.
Michelle Fadlalla:
*Make the package you send stand out so that people will be interested and will review it. It’s also good to know who the right person is to send it to, instead of blanketing everyone in the industry.
*Anything that the publisher offers, take advantage of it.
Deb Shapiro:
*Have patience. It takes a long time to build and develop your presence. It’s about the long run, not the sprint. Patience and hard work will get you there eventually.
Jed Bennett:
*Let your publisher know what you can do for them. You have to be the biggest champion for your book.
Saturday and Sunday: General Conference Notes
Jean Feiwel:
*This is a bestseller business. You have to make money for the compa
OMG Mo Willems and Julie Andrews! Wow!
That sounds funtabulous!
Sounds like such a lovely time. I love going to SCBWI conferences. They always inspire me and get me pumped about writing.
Sounds like some amazing speakers! (Mo AND Julie Andrews, wow!)
One day I'd love to attend the LA or NY SCBWI conference...
Thanks for the great report for us folks who couldn't make it across the ocean!
Thanks for the great report for us folks who couldn't make it across the ocean!
Kim- yes it was amazing!
Karen- I know. Conferences are such a great way to get revitalized
Kelly- yes, it was a great line up of speakers
Candy- I'm so glad it was helpful. I'm the same way. I love reading about events that I can't go to myself.
Thanks for sharing this concise capsule of a huge event.
I believe I've written the book for the boys who don't like to read. We'll see when it comes out this summer, right?