Cool Stuff From My SCBWI Weekend

I'm not a frequent traveler--pause for sad sigh--but I am an avid traveler. I love traveling, and I love nothing better than traveling light and thumbing my nose at the baggage-check line.

So when I decided to go to New York for the SCBWI Winter Conference, I swore I would bring back nothing that I hadn't left with--no souvenirs, no gadgets or gizmos. I got on the plane in Kansas City with my super-compact weekender bag and my new, superfun Swissgear messenger bag (superfun to me, because I love luggage). It's a testament to my will that I went home with the same two bags--but yes, they were considerably fuller than they'd been in KC. Here's what I came home with:

a gift from My Lovely Editor, Ruta Rimas, at Margaret K. McElderry Books

Signed by the authors! I even had a photo taken with the Fonz.

Chris Crutcher's keynote speech was so good I had to buy two copies: one for me & one for my sis.

one of Crutcher's recent books

authored by one of our presenters, and a great gift for my kid

and, finally ...

a gift from my dear friend Gilda, who I hadn't seen in 18 years

Traveling light can be overrated.

What I Learned About Conferencing: Part II

This past weekend (yeah, I know, days ago) I went to my very first SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) conference. I posted about some of what I learned yesterday, so to continue, here's what I learned about ...

Networking
I know--scary, right? Especially for the terminally shy? Remember Debbie Ohi's brilliant cartoon? Well, I'm here to tell you, straight from the trenches, that SCBWI folks are nice. Why? Because most of the people there were writers. And writers tend to be introverts (notwithstanding those writerly party animals; they do exist). So when you go to a conference, scared to meet people, you're in good company.

I can't tell you how many people I talked to who said, "I was so scared to come here." Or, "I'm so nervous!" It was sort of like climbing into a community lifeboat. We were all going to make it, we decided; and we all did.

So really, it's as simple as realizing that you're talking to other writers and artists. They aren't high-power stockbrokers who are going to sneer at your dream. They share your dream. And they're the most supportive people around. No one I met acted like I was her competitor; we're all in this book thing together. Everyone wears a nametag, so you don't even have to be good at remembering people. So get over your high school self. Do this:

• Walk up and say, "Hi, can I sit here?" (You can. Okay, you may.) 
• Ask about their babies. "What's your book about? Do you have a business card? Which sessions are you going to?" 
• Be interested in their answers. 
• Smile big. 
• Be ready to answer their questions. You rehearsed your elevator speech, right?
• Go to events, even if they're "not your thing." 
• Be generous. Offer to share notes from the breakout session that so-and-so didn't get to. Invite her along to the bar. 
• Hand out your card. Share your Twitter handle and Facebook page. Take down people's cell phone numbers so you can text and connect later on. (Texting can be the shy person's savior. How easy is it to type, "Want to meet for dinner?" and hit SEND? You can  do that.)

Listen & Learn.
You never know who you're going to end up talking to for half an hour. Don't invest time in people in order to get something from them, but realize that everyone has something to offer. Make social connections, not just professional ones. Don't bug agents and editors or shove manuscripts in their hands, but do say hi and mention how much you appreciated their talk or panel. They won't remember your name, probably, but when you submit to them, you can at least say, "You made a great point about the current trends in YA fiction at the conference in January." A little personalization goes a long way.

Transcribe Your Notes!
I mentioned before how I used my downtime to transcribe my handwritten scribbles onto my notebook computer. Do that while the material is fresh in your mind--on the plane or train home, if need be.

Connect from Home.
Email, Tweet, Like, whatever--before those people you met forget who you were. I paid a lot of money to attend that conference, and I wanted to make sure it was worth it.

What I Learned About Conferencing: Part I

What a fantastic weekend! Okay, I know, it's Thursday, I should be over the weekend by now and ready to head into my next one, but it has taken me fully this long to assimilate everything I learned at the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) international conference this past weekend. And while I may share the tiniest tidbit of wisdom (the material is under copyright and SCBWI is understandably stern about, say, blogging someone's entire speech), I can certainly share these general highlights of what I learned about conferencing in general. (Conferencing: a word? Webby: Nuh-uh. It's a noun, not a verb, dingy.)

(1) Dress Code.
Here's the great thing about writers, especially those who write for kids: They sit behind a desk all day (or as often as they can). They may own fluffy slippers with rabbit ears on them. Flannel pajamas illustrated in different coffee logos. In other words, no one goes to a writer's conference dressed in Armani. "Business casual" might mean a lot of things to different people, but for me, it was:

• black slacks (mine had a little stretch to them, thanks)
• colorful shirt/blouse
• basic black blazer, for layering (some rooms are hot, others cold)
• comfortable black shoes

I was neither overdressed nor underdressed, and most important, I was comfortable. The first day I sat in a room from 8:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. We had one lunch break and one coffee break. So comfort is key.

I opted for nice jeans with this same kind of ensemble on Sunday morning. I figured Sunday was more relaxed, I was getting on a plane later, and anyway, the email they'd sent me said jeans were fine. Again, that worked out perfectly. I could've gotten away with nice jeans all three days, but since we went out to a bar and then one night there was a cocktail party, I was glad to have the black slacks.

(2) The Proper Use of a Laptop.
I borrowed a notebook computer from my mom to take on the trip. I was very glad that I hadn't dragged along my home laptop, which is too big and heavy for the purpose. I did not use the notebook to take notes during conference sessions. Our packet info warned us that tapping on iPads or notebooks could be distracting to others, and a couple of people I talked to did complain about that. I kept mine in the hotel room safe and used it to transcribe notes at the end of the day. Because SCBWI provided us with free Wi-Fi during our stay, I could easily check email too.

(3) How to Pace Myself.
The information we received was so plentiful, so overwhelming, that our heads were reeling, especially after the Friday Writers' Marketing Intensive. I learned that if I needed to take a quick bathroom break, people were okay with that, as long as I was quiet and didn't interrupt the proceedings. I decided I didn't need to go to the afternoon all-conference speech on Saturday before the second round of breakout sessions; it wasn't a topic I was interested in. So I took a long lunch and went down to the Union Square farmers' market.

Did it feel a little like playing hooky? Yeah, kind of, but it was my weekend, to do with as I needed. And I needed to recharge a little, step out in the sun (the weather was gorgeous), and just be in New York. The farmer's market was the perfect diversion. I was raring to go for the next round of sessions, drinks with my agent, and the cocktail gala that followed.



Hey, But What About Networking and Stuff?
Yeah, I learned some of that too. More tomorrow. Your eyes are getting tired.

She Knows How I Feel

I'm heading off to New York City tomorrow to attend my very first Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI--yeah--a mouthful of an acronym) conference. So how's it feel? Let's let the always funny Debbie Ridpath Ohi tell it like it is:

 

Thanks, Inkyelbows. You made me laugh today.

For more of Debbie's cartoons and other great stuff, go to her site.