More Tips for Sailing Through the SCBWI Summer Conference
It’s almost that time again—the SCBWI Summer Conference is rapidly approaching. Unfortunately, I have to miss it this year, but since I’ve been a few times, I thought I’d offer up some tips from my own past experiences.
1. Take a sweater or jacket. While the hotel is lovely, the meeting rooms and ballroom can be freezing! Of course, they can be stiflingly warm too. Take a cue from the Boy Scouts. Be prepared.
2. Map out your sessions. I like to determine my breakout sessions in advance, highlighting which ones pique my interest, but I also keep my ear out for other people who might have heard the speakers in other sessions. That way, if I get a sense that the speaker doesn’t offer what I’m looking for I can change plans. I usually have a first and second choice highlighted on my conference flier. I’ve also found that it helps to read the books of the speakers you know you’ll be hearing.
3. Wear comfortable shoes. Even though we’re in the same hotel all day, there are three levels for conferencing, plus the treks to our rooms and dining opportunities. No one wants his or her piggies to be crying at the end of the day.
4. Food: IMHO, there are slim options for eating at the hotel: one nice restaurant—overpriced in my opinion, a poolside café, and the lounge/bar. For lunch, usually there’s a sandwich cart in the hotel lobby (sandwich, chips, soda/water), except on Sunday, due to the Golden Kite Luncheon. Last year, both my roommate and I found the sandwiches dry and overpriced ($7.50 for a sandwich, $3.00 for an apple, $4.50 for a small bottle of water). Oh, and speaking of the Golden Kite Luncheon (or as it’s affectionately called, “the parade of chicken breasts”), the dessert is always to die for! I’ve never been disappointedJ.
For dinners, my pals and I hoof it down the street to the mall (less than ten-minutes) where there is a variety of eateries at the food court. Saturday night we nosh at the poolside gala (a fun munch and mingle kind of thing—live music and a costume contest).
The only eating issue I’ve had is on Sunday night, but what I’ve found to work is that room service, while a bit spendy, offers large enough portions to share with my roommate. Plus, I usually take some snacks with me (fruit, granola bars), so there’s enough to tide me over.
I honestly don’t know much about the breakfasts, other than the muffins, etc. that I’ve seen sold at the lounge/bar. I usually bring some homemade muffins/scones so I don’t have to waste my morning time standing in a line. Last year, the coffeemakers were removed from the rooms (this in new since Hilton took over) but there’s free coffee in the lobby until around 11:00 or so.
5. Bring a book bag and money. Of course, there will be books sold and after hearing all of the fabulous authors, you’ll want to buy their books. Here’s a hot tip: the “cash” line is always shorter than the “credit card” line, so if you’re comfortable with it, bring some spare cash with you (hotel rooms do have safes for locking up your valuables).
Additionally, there are usually freebies (catalogs, posters, writing guidelines from various publishers, promotional materials from authors/illustrators).
Now, I have to say that “freebies” doesn’t mean taking an author’s book from the display table. Eh-hem...yes, one year I took a copy of my new joke book to proudly display and by the end of the first day, someone had stolen it. Yep, stolen it! Can you believe that? And I’ve known other authors who had the same thing happen to them. I’d like to imagine a child somewhere is enjoying that book, and doesn’t know that how it came to land in his hands.
6. Take care of yourself. This is a personal one, because we’re all different, but I’ve learned to allow some “down time” for myself because four days of listening, learning, schmoozing and just plain hanging out with my writer and illustrator pals is fantastically exhausting. I bring a swimsuit for the Jacuzzi. Some folks participate in the yoga class. If you read my post on getting a good night’s sleep while traveling, you know that I bring a headset with quiet music. In essence, take care of yourself! It’s so very easy to overdo it.
7. Step out of your shell (if you have one). I know this is tough for a lot of people. The second conference I attended I didn’t know a single person. It was quite intimidating. I roomed with complete strangers who also didn’t know another soul in attendance. But I immediately discovered that children’s writers are some of the friendliest people on the planet. One way to break the ice with people is to notice where they’re from (it’s on the nametags they give us) and strike up a conversation about that. If you’re waiting for a session to begin, chat with the person next to you. Ask them what kind of writing they do, if they’re published. Heck, you could even ask if they’ve read any good books lately! Remember, we all have a common bond of writing/illustrating for children, so there are a many interesting things to talk about.
8. Parking: If you carpool with a friend, drop the friend and all the luggage off at the hotel front then park the car. It’s a bit of a haul to lug all your bags from the hotel to the parking structure in the back. Or you can use the valet parking (for an extra fee).
9. Etiquette: Please don’t shove your manuscript under a restroom stall at an editor. It makes us all look bad. Manners, manners, manners! And I’m serious.
10. Expectations. Don’t expect to come home with a book contract in hand. That just doesn’t happen. What you will come home with is 1) newfound knowledge and insight, 2) new friends/colleagues, 3) editorial hope. By this, I mean that you will have heard editors speak and have the hope that because you better understand what their needs are, your work might find a place with them. This takes time—time for you to go home and re-evaluate your work (now that you have this newfound knowledge), time to further polish it, time to compose a well-thought out cover letter, and time for the editor to read it. That’s your hope.
Notes from last year:
11. Coffee-aholics: Request a coffeemaker for your room, or bring you own (I have a small single-cup coffeemaker I got from Brookstone that I love). Last year, there was a Starbucks in the hotel lobby, but if you don’t want to leave your room for your morning cup o’ joe, then you should plan in advance.
12. Manuscript Critique. If you’re doing a paid ms critique, bring an extra copy for you to make marks on as your reviewer is making comments. And write down in advance any questions you have. It’s easy to forget questions when nerves get a stranglehold on you.
Enjoy and happy conferencing!
A New York Times article recently stirred up a lot of discussion amongst the children’s lit community about the future of picture books. I don’t think the decline in sales was news to anyone. Picture book sales have been slowly dropping for about the past ten years because of changing demographics. And with the economic downturn of 2008, no one is surprised that people are thinking twice before spending $16-$18 for a picture book.
I just got word that my very first picture book, Two Tales of Hawai'i (Island Heritage Publishing), is going out of print. I'm saddend, but I know I shouldn't be surprised. Given the current economy, book publishers are forced to take a much harder look at what they're keeping in print and what they're letting go. And Two Tales has been in print since 
2003, so it's outlived many other picture books.
As some of you might know from my past blogs about migraines, I suffer from these deplorable, head-hammering demons. Last week was a bad one (will the spring winds EVER go away?), as I spent most of my daylight hours sacked out on the couch (seriously, I fear I've actually lost brain cells from watching so much daytime TV).
Even as a kid, I loved limericks. I think I first learned of them when I read Scott Corbett's book, The Limerick Trick. Their predictable rhyme, kooky humor and telling tales have lots of kid appeal; and whenever St. Patrick's Day comes around, limericks come to mind (not that they have a connection with St. Patrick--it's just their connection to Ireland).
Don't you love it when a voice rises from the everyday noise of life and speaks to your heart? 
Here's a photo of me with two of my favorite blog buddies, Tina Nichols Coury and Jill Corcoran. Please check out their blogs. I'm sure Tina will have a video of the retreat posted on hers soon and Jill always has terrific, informative posts on writing.
Before signing off until the first of the New Year, I wanted to give holiday wishes to all.
May the upcoming year bring you much happiness and success in all of your publishing endeavors!
This past weekend I attended a workshop on book promotion. One of the things attendees had a choice to do was either 1) give a pitch to the group and have the facilitator review your performance, or 2) give a reading to the group and have an acting coach give you feedback on your performance. Despite what many of my friends might think (because I hide my introvert tendencies pretty well), both of these choices struck fear in me. However, I came to “play” and since Blackberry Banquet has been out for a few months and the Sylvan Dell publicist is a PR phenomenon, I forewent the pitch session and opted for the reading.
What a week it was! My every day life is usually about as exciting as watching paint dry (which is just fine by this little ol' introvert), but last week I made two school visits, to the high desert city of Apple Valley (home of Yucca Loma Elementary--a gem of the high desert) and the Central Coast community of Santa Maria (home of Liberty Elementary). The latter event was part of the San Luis Obispo California Reading Association's Central Coast Author Fair.
Hillary Clinton’s historical bid for the presidency and Sarah Palin’s vice presidential nomination have reminded us of how far women have come since the Women’s Suffrage Movement and the creation of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Barack Obama’s historical presidential nomination reminds us of the long and painful path in which African-Americans have marched, from the creation of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1865 until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (to learn more, click here). 
So, for those who came before you, and for the future of those who will come after you, get out there and VOTE!
I'm back from vacation and boy, am I ready to get back to work! Don't get me wrong, I loved visiting my son and daughter-in-law, seeing New Hampshire and Maine for the first time, and getting to spend time with my grandcats. I saw so many cool new places--both historical and natural--and I fell in love with Pemaquid Peninsula in Maine, where at the lighthouse are some outstanding gneiss formations (for you geology geeks like me). But you know how it is--us writers get a wee bit grumpy when we can't write for a few days, so I'm eager to get back to real life.
More Tips for Sailing Through the SCBWI Summer Conference