local SCBWI Event

I went to a local SCBWI conference in a suburb outside of Chicago this past Saturday. It was really fun and informative. I got a chance to meet a fellow blogger, Tabitha, who has a great blog.

The speakers:

Cheryl Klein from Arthur Levine Books. She was great and talked a lot about Plot. Really informative stuff.

Caroline Mackler from Wendy Lamb Books--also fantastic. She spoke about Voice.

Martha Mihalick from Greenwillow Books for Children. Her topic was, gee, I don't remember because I don't have my notes in front of me. At work now. Well, whatever it was was great!

One agent, Jennifer Rofe from Andrea Brown. Really fun and blunt in her comments on publishing.

Also Harold Underdown, a former agent and editor who now has his own consulting business.

It was all really helpful. The cool thing is that we have stickers with the name of the conference on it and the editor or agent's name which might help us get out of the slush pile. (I never considered sending directly to editors but I definitely will because of this. You never know, right?)

They all talked a lot about acquisitions and how a book is sold. They were all really passionate.

One thing that I took away from this conference is that if you have something good, editors (at least the three that spoke) will help you with it and make it better. They want to see good books succeed. They talked a lot about the revision process, too. Especially Jennifer Rofe, who showed the editorial notes she sent to her client, Cynthea Liu, who was also there. Her new book looks great.

I came away feeling psyched and with the realization that if I work hard enough, I believe I can sell my work-in-progress. Only time will tell.

Now I have the big SCBWI in NY in January, so that should be cool. Overall, good times.

7 comments:

Tabitha said...

*waving*
It was great meeting you!! :)

I went to the NY conference last year, and really enjoyed it. Be sure to sign up for the writer's intensive if you can. It's well worth it! :)

I'm thinking of going to the LA conference next year, but finances are going to have to line up a bit first...that's the one bad thing about these conferences! :)

Michele Thornton said...

Your book will sell, it's fabulous.

Ray Veen said...

I think I need to check out the SCBWI a little closer. I looked into before and didn't see any advantage.

Looks like it's working out for you, though.

Ronald L. Smith said...

Tabitha, sorry I didn't get the chance to chat with you more. I was quite the wallflower. I think one has to get over their shyness and just become a social butterfly at these things, something I'll have to do in NY.But it was fun, eh?

Michele, thanks for your encouragement.I've learned so much these past few months with the group's help.

V, yeah, it's worth looking into. At least for the conferences and connections. Are you doing agent revisions on Fiersom's Brood? (sp)

Kelly Polark said...

Wow, you get to the NY one, too! I'm way jealous! I got a lot out of the conference, and have been revising manuscripts before I eagerly send them out to our speakers! Thank you for stopping by my blog!

Jewel Allen said...

Sounds great! Especially that bit about sharing editorial notes for the client that was even there. I checked out Cynthea's site, and her book synopsis made me smile.

I know of some friends who go to the SCBWI conference hereabouts. I should make a note to check that out before it passes me by.

Sounds like you have made great contacts and many wonderful things are in store for you!

Carrie Harris said...

Sounds like you had a blast! Our local SCBWI doesn't do a whole lot as far as I can tell, so I'm a little jealous.