SCBWI Through the Years With Jody

From first timers, to long timers, we've highlighted some of the best of the big summer conferences. Now it's time to take a journey through the years with Jody Feldman as she looks back at SCBWI conference experiences:

"I just returned from my 5th SCBWI National Conference in LA. You’d think I’d know everything by now. And while I do know my preferred vendors at the food court and can give good walking directions to Rodeo Drive, I still get something out of the experience each time I go (yes, aside from ordering the garlic noodles from Crustacean – yummy, but not at the food court).

2002 ... The person who would become my agent was speaking at the conference. When she was alone in the lobby after her keynote, I approached her. No pitches, no mentions of the types of things I was writing at the time. Just small talk, just to see if I felt comfortable with her. I was. A very important 90 seconds for me. I also got an amazing critique, from an editor, of The Gollywhopper Games.

2003 ... This is the conference that gave me career direction. It began with an interesting talk on branding from a marketing/PR expert, it ended with Norton Juster’s talk ... but the meat of the sandwich was a rightfully harsh critique, from a different editor, on a YA I submitted. I went home and began thinking about a good follow up to Gollywhopper.

2005 ... I went in, skeptical that it would be worthwhile this year. But I had to be in LA for another reason, so what the heck. I learned that there’s always room for inspiration and motivation. And there are always those little nuggets that can help hone your craft.

2006 ... My Gollywhopper contract wasn’t signed yet, but we had a solid deal. With that, I knew would come what I feared the most: my rewrite. Besides going there to hang out with some of the members of my online critique group, I also hoped to gain some much needed courage. Which I came away with.

2008 ... I was attending for the first time as a published children’s novelist. The biggest thrill (oh, okay, outside a few strangers seeing my nametag, pointing and saying, “The Gollywhopper Games!”), was celebrating with newer writers after their amazing critiques ... just as other experienced authors had done with me at my first conference.

Jody Feldman

SCBWI Highlights from 2K9er

We are excited to present some SCBWI conference highlights from 2K9er Kathryn Fitzmaurice! Welcome to the blog, Kathryn!

"I went to the LA SCBWI last week. Of course, it is always an amazing event to be surrounded by so many other writers and professionals. The highlights of my trip were:

1. Hearing Susan Patron speak at the end of the conference about her experiences this year as the Newbery Winner.

2. Meeting with five other 2k9 classmates for lunch in the hotel on Saturday! This was the first time we had met in person, and had only corresponded online before, so you can imagine how great it was to finally put a name to a face. One gal, Fran, decided to come after she saw how many of us were going to be there. She made last minute plans, and we couldn't have been more thrilled.

3. Meeting my editor for the first time. She is Brenda Bowen from the Bowen Press, and she was fabulous. Of course, I went to hear her speak, and was so completely surprised when she called me up to talk to the crowd about the "Editorial Process" between an editor and a first time author. I was so excited, and nervous, but I wouldn't have missed it.

4. Sitting at the Golden Kite Luncheon and listening to the winner's speeches. In particular, Yuyi Morales, was very very inspiring and she even put together a little video about the joy she felt when she learned she won!"

Thanks Kathryn! Stay tuned for more SCBWI conference news from our very own Jody Feldman!

BEA with Nancy Viau

Nancy Viau and Jeff Kinney (author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

Thanks for the great BEA pic, Nancy! Tell us more:

I attended the ABC "Not a Dinner and (Mostly) Silent Auction" in Hollywood. 2k8 classmates Laurel Snyder and Donna Freitas were there, too, although we didn't get a chance to chat much during all the fun. I got to meet wonderful librarians like Ilene Abramson, Director of Children's Services/L.A. Public Library System and authors/speakers like Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and Rick Riordan (author of the Percy Jackson series of books, including his latest, The Battle of the Labyrinth). Nikki Giovanni's spirited talk brought tears to my eyes, and she received a standing ovation. Jeff and Rick were so funny, my cheeks hurt from ear-to-ear grinning. Here's a bit more about the award-winners that night:

The Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) announced the recipients of its fifth annual E.B. White Read Aloud Awards.

The winner of the 2008 award for Picture Books is When Dinosaurs Came With Everything, written by Elise Broach, and illustrated by David Small (S&S). In a statement, ABC said of this most-nominated picture book, the selection committee loved "the perfect combination of wonderful writing, whimsical illustration, and imaginative premise."

The winner of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers is The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers). "The committee loved the appeal of [this] story for a wide ranges of ages, and felt it was destined 'to become a classic,'" said the ABC statement.

Stay tuned this week for more summer conference stories--BEA, NJSCBWI, and RWA!

Two heads are better than one

In January, two class members presented a fantastic workshop on group marketing and blogging at the SCBWI Florida Conference in sunny Miami: Debbie Reed Fischer and Jody Feldman.

Today, we find out what Jody, co-pres of 2k8 and author of The Gollywhopper Games, has to say about the workshop opportunity. (We'll hear from Deb tomorrow.)

I wouldn't have even been at the SCBWI Florida Conference if I hadn't been a part of the Class of 2k8! Well, it happens that when I know it's coming time for me to speak in public, just the thought will send up a small surge of adrenaline. I don't know what it was about this speaking opportunity. Maybe it was that we'd prepared such a quantity of subject matter. Maybe it was that I had a partner who would pick up any pieces I dropped. Maybe someone slipped something into every sip of water I drank for the two months previous. Never once did that adrenaline surge. Which didn't make sense. Debbie Reed Fischer and I hadn't met in person before that weekend. We had only a basic idea of how we would split it up our presentation. But we talked for about an hour beforehand, and somewhere in the middle of it, I realized we were working it as if we'd been teamed at birth.

Looking back, however, I owe much of the smoothness and the ease to fact that in the Class, we're working on this every day. Every day, some question or situation arises and must be addressed. Every day we need to make decisions or work on a facet of our promotion. So maybe it was the repetition. Or maybe just being in this Class with so many talented people has given me a big boost of confidence that surged in place of the adrenaline. Even as we faced mulit-multi-multi-published authors who should know the "ins and outs" of promotion better than the newbies standing in front of the room, I must have felt, deep down, we had something valuable to offer.

So, Jody, our tag line above should be 27 heads are better than one, right?

Yes! Are there many other businesses where you can team up with 27 of your rivals, and where each of you can come out stronger than if you had acted alone? Children's writers, in general, are an amazingly supportive group of professionals. We share ideas. We root for one another. And the Class of 2k8, specifically, has allowed me to work closely with some incredible minds and has pushed me to promote more than I might have done alone.