SCBWI Conference Day Three: Keynotes & Panels

 I watched the sunrise on the train this morning.

Today was the third (and final) day of the SCBWI winter conference in New York City. I arrived early to grab a coffee and snag a front-row seat in the auditorium. It was a long day of keynotes and panels, but incredibly educational and inspirational. Have I mentioned how much I love SCBWI?

 

The morning started with a review of What's Selling, What's Not? presented by Susan Raab (Founder of Raab Associates, the first agency to specialize in marketing and promoting children's books – clients have included most major publishers in the USA).  

Tips:

* Middle reader books are selling very well. Examples include Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
* Changes in where/how to get books/what the pricing should be are questions in the current marketplace.
* Impacted publishers are being cautious in what they publish.
* Traditional (paperback) books are dominating the market (inexpensive), versus pop-up/dye-cut books that are pricey for publishers to produce.
* Fantasy genre obviously going strong but the sense that paranormal/mysteries will have a more dominant presence soon. "Dystopian" is currently huge (Hunger Games).
* Girls books – like the Gossip Girl books or "cliques" books – are popular, but series flip quickly as new, hot ones come into the marketplace. Series sell well but this kind tend to have a short lifespan.
* Publishers are sticking close to publishing "classic" picture books, instead of new authors (like Library Lion and the Eric Carlyle books). They want to spend their money on picture books that have a timeless quality.
* Book clubs influence the market (Scholastic magazines to schools, for example). Interpret how they think... selling space in these magazines are small, these books tend to have "value" in their pricing, they consider representing all age groups in these magazines, and this can influence sales.

So, what really sells? 

* Preschool age = concept books

* K-1 = holidays, seasons, emotional growth books

* 2-3 = series start to get more popular

* 4-6 = at this point, kids start to identify with a certain author and buy every one of their books.

* Tween/Teen = trendy readers, do what their friends are doing, so therefore books on vampires and zombies are hot right now.

Writers should also consider how you want to shape your career in children's books. If you want to have long life in the industry, think carefully how you want to break into the market, what type of writer you want to become.  

The next morning speaker, Sheldon Fogelman, spoke to creating a gameplan as a writer. He founded of the Sheldon Fogelman Agency, and has represented big-name authors (like Jerry Pickney, the current Newbery Award winner of The Lion & the Mouse).

 Sheldon's Steps for Success:

1) Enter into this career with financial stability. Use your money wisely & think about how you will invest your income towards a successful writing career. Eliminate all of your debt so that you can WRITE WELL, not just write to try to bring in the big bucks. It's a fickle industry.

2) Then, think what can I do with myself? Learn everything you can, look for the pulse of the market.

3) Discover your area of interest. Write well. Find an agent. Work with a critique group. Expand and explore. Don't just write for one age group and in one specific genre. Allow your work to breathe.

4) Have a plan to proceed. Make a road map. Where are you going, and how are you going to get there?

5) Be open for editorial input. Other people can have great ideas – don't ignore them.

7) Self-promote. How much should you do? Take this seriously, but don't let it take away from your writing time.

8) Get ideas and always work to improve your writing.

Sheldon's Query Letter Tips:

1) Don't promote your work in the letter – let it speak for itself.
2) Only share relevant background as it relates to PUBLISHING. Do not mention that your children love the piece. Communicate any writing awards you may have won.
3) Keep it short.
4) Terrific letters will result in a careful reader.
5) If they don't like your work, don't take it too personally. IT DOES NOT MEAN THEY DON'T LIKE YOU.

"There are no first drafts at the library."

An Agent Panel – George Nicholson (Sterling and Lord Literistic), Rosemary Stimola (Stimola Literary Studio) and Tina Wexler (Director @ International Creative Management) – analzyed the current market.

GW: Have faith in your own judgments & interest. Always read adult fiction and this will help make you a better children's book writer. If the agent isn't passionate about your work, they won't sign you. We don't really do picture books, not really working with new talent. Non-fiction is a tough sell, but it is also under-served in the marketplace.

RS: Looking build careers – is here for the long term. Agent is on your team, so you can be free to write and be your creative self. Everything is changing, so we work to protect you and your work in the PRESENT TIME but also in the FUTURE. It's a challenging but exciting climate. Write a kick-ass story and leave it to the agent professionals to navigate the market. (FYI, she represents HUNGER GAMES so she knows what she's talking about). She is accepting eQueries, but she is carefully selective. She receives about 25-50 eQueries a day. Do not submit attached documents or anything besides the query in the body of the email – she will contact you quickly if she is interested. Wants the unforgettable – what will stand out. They are a "boutique agency."

"I like to set the trends."

~ Rosemary Stimola

TW: Don't follow trends, they are a hard sell. Writers that have other interests, like a hobby, generally have writing that is more "rich with detail." She likes beekeeping themes. 75% of her clients were unpublished when she signed them. She is looking for clients, eQueries are best. Only send first five pages of the manuscript in the body of the email. Absolutely no attachments.

The magnificent Jane Yolan signed off the conference with her talk on "I Still Love Books." She is the author of almost 300 books, including Owl Moon and How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? Her books have won multiple awards, including the Caldecott, Golden Kite Award and two Nebulas.

"The business of storytelling never gets old."

~Jane Yolan

Her Writing Rules:

1) Make it exciting.

2) Go easy on adverbs.

3) Don't let your characters float on the page – anchor them with an action.

4) Have fun, it's not all agony.

5) BIC. Butt-in-chair. HOP. Heart on page.

6) You may never be the best, but you can always get better.

7) P not F – passion not fashion.

8) Write what you love. Don't try to write what you don't like to read.

9) Fairy tales don't usually happen, so you don't always have to write happy endings.

10) Fall through the words into the story. Create layers to your tale with a weave of words. Use an "amuse bouche" or a small mouthful of something to wake up the palate while "preparing for a larger meal" of story.

11) Opening lines are incredibly important. She referenced "Call me Ishmael" in Moby Dick and all of the hidden meanings behind that one line.

12) Exercise your writing muscle or it's gonna get flabby. Write something every single day, even if its vacation or a holiday.

13) Every artist is either nutured or a nuturer but rarely both.

14) You need an editor. We are all too in love with our words.

15) Read the rejection letters and let them absorb the initial anger, but get over it.

16) Mantra: Money should always flow towards the author, not away from the author. You should never have to pay for an agent or have to pay for self-publication.

17) You are a native to the "place." Don't ignore the landscape in your story.

18) Read what you've written aloud.

19) Writer's block is all in your mind. Stand up, go for a walk, listen to music. But don't get lost into another novel or you'll lose you writer's voice. 

20) There are actually projects you will never complete and you just have to learn to walk away from it and start something new. This is a writer's reality. Change up your method, try something new, and maybe the other piece will work at another time.

Jane asked me what I wrote. When I told her I dabbled in everything – from picture books to middle grade to YA – she said that was an excellent trait. I said, "Really? I thought it made me unfocused." She replied, "The only reason I've had a career like I have is that when one thing fell through the bottom, I had another to turn to. Keep writing in every genre for every age, and success will find you." Thank you, Jane, for your kind and inspirational words!

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* © passport in my pocket *

Comments

[leslee]

wow, that sounds like an awesome conference. i'm also going to bring you to the next conference i go to so you can take my notes. :)

[passport in my pocket]

Haha I know, I'm a freak of note-taking nature.

At least I wasn't typing them at the conference, then I would have driven everyone crazy with my tap tap taps.