Posts on scbwi

I spent this weekend in Racine for the SCBWI Wisconsin's annual retreat (really more of a whirlwind conference/sleepover). It was my first big writer-type event and totally worth it. Highlights:

• The usual assortment of inspiration, information, and encouragement you would expect from the presenters. OK, also some nausea-inducing assessments of the "toughness" of the market these days, especially now what with "economic downturn." And a nothing-to-fear manuscript critique from the gracious and funny Holly Black.
• Meeting my agent Steven Chudney and his Wisconsin clients Julie Bowe and Deborah Lynn Jacobs in person for the first time.
• Meeting many other (mostly Wisconsin) writers and illustrators, all of whom were incredibly friendly and supportive and reassuring and welcoming to this Illinois interloper. A special shout-out to Pat Schmatz and Jennifer Motl, who, in addition to the above folks, were my main buddies for the weekend.
• Getting only one hour of sleep the first night because I was so keyed up. Silver linings: finishing The Hunger Games (so now I know why everyone's talking about it), raiding the abundant snack table at 3 AM, and being up in plenty of time for...
• Walking the labyrinth as the stars faded and then going down to the beach to watch the sun rise and skip rocks. I got a few five-skippers! (i.e., Really good for me.)

  (Aside: it was funny, being as close to Lake Michigan as we were, because my apartment is only slightly farther from the shore. I could have dog-paddled 75 miles up the coast to get there if I'd wanted. It made me feel cozily at home. Of course, how often do I go to the beach to watch the sun rise? Um...never? Accursed writing time!)

• Cafeteria food that reminded me of (a) summer camp and (b) being a vegetarian at summer camp. No, I'm afraid there were no vegan biscuits and gravy waiting for me this morning, nor veggie and tofu stir-fry last night. I'm looking forward to ingesting protein that doesn't come in the form of cottage cheese!
• Not thinking about the presidential election for nearly 48 hours.

  (Aside: You know you're not in Chicago when you see as many McCain as Obama signs on people's lawns. I mean, my building's on the edge of an historic neighborhood of freakin' multi-million dollar homes, and they've all got Obama signs! Come on, Wisconsin... Gobama!)

Again, all in all, a really terrific time. Some people asked me, will I go again next year? If I had to decide right this second, I'd say yes! I'll just have see how life and finances stand when registration rolls around next summer...

No cohesion to this entry, just pure, unadulterated brain-dump in list format.

1. In spite of my worries, the aftermath of Summer Reading Club has not been bad at all so far. One of my coworkers made some great signs warning people of the club's approaching deadline, not to mention a banner that hung all summer with the beginning and end dates. They seem to have helped. We've had relatively few stragglers, and no problems that I've heard about. Both our membership and completion rates were up from last year, which is cool.

2. Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf has a new op-ed feature. This week's entry: When YA Might Not Be OK. Librarian Shannon Stevenson tackles the question of how to respond when middle grade children ask for books with mature themes. My personal approach is more hands-off but similar in spirit. If a parent's doing the asking on behalf of a child, I'll be very forthright about mature content, in a "Just so you're aware..." context. If it's a kid, I'll say with a certain amount of significance, "That'll be in the high school section..." But I leave it there, figuring that the book will go over their heads and/or that parents will do their job.

ETA, 8/8/08: More reactions to the article at...

• A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy
• Read Roger

3. I've obtained a rental copy of Breaking Dawn so that I can see for myself what all the fans are complaining about. So far I've kept myself spoiler-free. I hope this doesn't devour my entire weekend.

4. I'm registering for SCBWI Wisconsin's Fall Retreat. I'm both excited and nervous about the prospect. I've never been to a big (um, or even small—so this feels big to me) writing event like this before. I'm excited because I'll get to meet other writers, including Julie Bowe, who's been nothing but sweet to me in answering lots of my questions the past few months. I'll also get to meet my agent in person. I'm nervous because I have to get a 10-page manuscript sample together for critique, and I have to figure out how to get to Racine, preferably without driving.

After ten days back in the States, I'm still playing catch-up. I read a couple of really fun books this weekend that I'm planning to post about, but in the meantime, here are some links worth following!

The May Carnival of Children's Literature is online, thanks to Melissa Wiley of Here in the Boggy Glen. Enjoy highlights from the Kidlitosphere's past month of posting. Add some new blogs to your blogroll while you're at it!

This weekend saw the launch of Guys Lit Wire, a new blogging effort spearheaded by Colleen Mondor at Chasing Ray. Colleen and a couple dozen other kidlit bloggers will be posting daily with book reviews and other news of particular interest to boy readers and those who work with them.

Finally, the Summer 2008 issue of the Prairie Wind, the SCBWI-Illinois newsletter, is up with my article about Print Library Resources for Authors. It's a follow-up to my Spring article about Digital Resources and focuses on public library resources that should particularly interest, but are not necessarily familiar to, children's book authors.

Having been outed as a public librarian, I've suddenly been doing all kinds of things for my SCBWI chapter. Which, honestly, is just terrific. It makes me feeling knowledgeable and connected in a way I don't usually have the opportunity to feel.

First came the presentation for my local network, which resulted in this post about this reasons to know your librarian and this list of public library resources for authors. In June, I'll be doing an extended in-the-library presentation for a different, local, not-exclusively-children's writer's organization.

And as of today, you can read my article Digital Library Resources for Authors in the spring issue of The Prairie Wind. It opens with a discussion of subscription databases in general (what they are, how to use them, etc.), and then describes several of my favorite common ones. I had so much to say that I'm saving discussion of print resources for a future issue.

Fun!

This past week, I was the guest presenter for my local SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) network. The topic was "Ask a Children's Librarian." It went well, in that the audience was receptive, friendly, and supportive, and I think I sent everyone home with some useful new information!

One of the biggest mistakes I see patrons make is not asking the librarians for help! Too often I see patrons looking lost and/or outright refusing assistance, when it's obvious they need a hand. I think often it's because they're in a hurry, or they're shy or afraid of looking stupid, or they don't think the librarians will be able to help (?!) - or maybe they haven't even formulated a question. So in my talk, I wanted to emphasize reasons to talk to your librarians. Here's my somewhat tongue-in-cheek Top Ten list:

10 Reasons to Know Your Children's Librarians

10. We have a top-secret decoder ring for interpreting all those weird numbers in the catalog that tell you where books are. We’ll share it with you if you know the password. (P.S. It’s “Help!”)

9. We know what teachers want their students to read, what parents want their kids to read, and what kids actually want to read.

8. We have a computer chip implanted in our brains that helps us find “missing” books.

7. We can’t explain why some kids would rather read another bland morality play about bears with the “gimmes” than a beautiful, clever book with three starred reviews – but we’ll sympathize.

6. We know advanced searching techniques and have more powerful searching software than is available to patrons.

5. We have a bottomless stash of cute and clever bookmarks.

4. We’re around our books all the time, so we’re able to see patterns and make connections between books that you won’t observe from the catalog alone. And we read a lot of book reviews, so we know what’s new and coming out soon.

3. We can help you connect to the community through author events.

2. We do word-of-mouth book marketing every day through reader’s advisory and our book displays.

1. More than anyone else in your life, we have a prayer of figuring out that book you loved when you were a kid – you know, the one about the bunny…and the weasel…and the…the thing…

My other main goal was to introduce people to very cool, useful library resources they might not know about. This was the best part of the presentation, in my book. I passed around examples of material from the Chicago Tribune Historical Database, and people oohed and ahhed over ads from 1900, editorials on the brink of the Civil War, civilian responses to the bombing of Pearl Harbor…

I have posted a slightly modified, online version of my handout here: Public Library Resources for Writers. But these resources may also be useful to readers, parents, teachers, and students. Please take a look!