Meaningful Small-Talk and the Art of Networking at SCBWI

Alert: I will be handing out free gourmet chocolate to Thinking to Inking readers at the conference. If you find me, please let me know so I may thank you in Chuao's finest. To find out how I got my hands on said chocolate, keep reading. 

Tomorrow SCBWI kicks off SCBWI's annual Los Angeles conference, and one of my esteemed colleagues will be bringing you fantastic coverage of it. But, on the eve of the conference, I am remembering my first SCBWI (this will be my fourth), and how terrified I was to attend. I even blogged about preparing myself for it as it was in NYC, I knew no one, and their round table would be the first official critique of my completed work. Yikes. And, to be fair, it was rough. I was used to marketing/ working trade shows for my brother's company, but found everything more tough when I didn't have his products to hide behind. 

This time, after a few conferences of applying my trade show techniques to conferences,  I thought I'd break down my core strategies for networking/conferencing/ trade show-ing/ etc. after over a decade of numerous events a year (I do freelance PR, and have rarely attended a conference where I wasn't offered several jobs).

1. Care about the person in front of you. It seems like a no-brainer, right? But, if I'm not aware, I can slip into a mode where I'm more worried about what idiot things I'm doing that I barely even see the person in front of me. Or, worse, if I'm out to "network" as a goal, I can see complex beautiful human beings as a means to an end. Neither of those has ever turned out well for me. On the other hand, actually caring about the person has ended in hearing hilarious/ fascinating stories, and deep long friendships with really cool persons I never would have met otherwise. And, as a bonus, by knowing what people need/have to offer, I can often help "matchmake" friends with other friends solving problems and deepening relationships.

2. Have things you're sincerely passionate about to talk about. I hate small talk. HATE. HATE. To keep from a series of questions that don't matter to anyone, I prepare. At a conference, when I'm taking notes, I'll often star a few key ideas I really like, and have pertinent questions prepared that will prompt a longer discussion. I also have a few topics I can talk about endlessly without getting bored. Many do well talking about sports, but to me, my favorite is chocolate. I'm obsessed! I always have a generous supply  of chocolate of various flavors on hand so instead of small talk, I can be critiquing the benefits of single-origin beans over a mixed variety. 

3. Get/give contact info. In our earlier post, the lovely Stacy showed how to prep your business card. Now, don't forget to hand it out, and to acquire the card of your new friend. I like to jot down key points of our conversation on the card as soon as I get it and tuck it into the back of my name badge. Once home, I collect them all, and write quick notes to each person referencing specifics to our conversation. You may want to also adding the person to Facebook if you hit it off, and/or following them on Twitter to keep up the new friendship depending on your/their feelings on social media. 

How I got my hands on said chocolate: I'm a regular at San Diego's finest chocolatier (Chuao), and am friends with all of the cashiers, manager, etc. So when the VP of marketing came in, we had a delightful chat about his new product line, I offered to work a trade show for them for their divine chocolate (had already done it once before), and mentioned that I use their Chocopods to make it through conferences. He asked when my next conference was, I told him, and then he offered to give me some to make it through. When I went to pick up the box, there were 160! Soooo....chocolate anyone???? I'm taking it as an omen for an exceptional conference, and I hope you come see me for a bite of chocolate and some delightful conversation. 

Writer's Resource: LeechBlock, Freedom, Anti-social for Anti-procrastination

All those who spend a good portion of their time on the internet surfing random sites, checking comics, reading non-industry blogs, and otherwise messing around raise their hands. (Go ahead, I'll wait.)

One of the best things about the internet is the vast amount of interesting information available on virtually any topic. One of the worst things about the internet is--you guessed it--the vast amount of interesting information available on virtually any topic.

Writers have to balance their innate desire to LEARN ALL THE THINGS with the need to actually, yanno, write things every now and then.

Enter programs that forcibly remove you from the internet for a specified period of time. Dubbed "productivity tools" by their creators, they can be vastly helpful for writers. Here are three of the most popular ones:

LeechBlock: This Firefox add-on allows you to specify which sites you want to block and when you want to block them. If your writing time is from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., you can tell LeechBlock that under no circumstances do you want to be able to check your Twitter feed during that time. From the website: "You can specify up to six sets of sites to block, with different times and days for each set."

Anti-Social (for Macs): This app specifically targets social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. You can also add custom sites to the list. You can get around this one by restarting your computer, but as the website says, "As you will feel a deep sense of shame for rebooting just to waste time on Twitter, you're unlikely to cheat.

Freedom: Available for both Macs and PCs for $10. This one takes it to the next level and just boots you off the internet entirely for a specified period of time.

If you're having trouble staying off of time-wasting sites, try out one of these productivity tools!

Beyond Writing: Conferences, Workshops and Beer Night!

It's t-minus five days till SCBWI's Summer Conference in LA - an event of epic proportions which brings together hundreds if not thousands of would-be authors, illustrators, tops agents, and editors in the children's and youth's fiction industry.  

It's going to be filled with mad dashes to speaker sessions and round the clock meet and greets which is what makes the sweet little 2 day workshop that I went to last weekend seem all the more cosy, intimate and well worth the drive to Guelph, Ontario (I know my American friends are all scratching their heads wondering where the heck is Guelph?).  

Organized by writer extraordinaire (and co-ordinator of the SCBWI Niagara Conference) Jackie Garlick, the B&B Garden Party Writer's Workshop was one of the best writing experiences (outside of writing) I've had to date and I can count the number of participants on both hands.  It featured two days of writing, critiquing and sessions lead by Jackie and independent book editor and ghost writer Lorin Oberweger.

Jackie Garlick teaching at the B&B Garden Party

Which brings me to the topic at hand - what to do beyond just writing?  Whether it's just an idea, an outline, four chapters or a full manuscript, there's always something beyond writing (be it a conference, retreat, or industry beer night) that can help you make it better. 

Writing is an investment.  We would like to think that it doesn't cost anything besides paper and a pen, but it does.  This is your product and it needs the same care and attention to bring it to the market as any other product.  The nice thing to know is you don't have to spend thousands of dollars a year travelling across North America to have a great experience.

Here are a few points to help you identify which conferences/retreats/get-togethers work best for you.

1.  Set your goals for the year.

2.  Identify your wish list of events. 

3.  Set a budget and prioritize.

4.  Keep an open mind and have fun!

Big Sur

What are your writing goals by the end of the year?  Do you plan to have an outline, a few chapters or a full manuscript completed?  This will help you to determine which type of conference best suits your needs.  If you only have a chapter or two written, you may want to forgo the larger conferences early on and focus on the smaller ones where the focus is more on five page critiques and intimate group settings.  The Big Sur Writing Conference organized by the Andrew Brown Literary Agency and the SCBWI Niagara Conference are two that I've attended that were great for just this reason.  For those that want more than just a weekend and are looking for workshops to really tighten up their manuscript, there's also weeklong events such as Free Expressions Your Best Book workshop which has a cap of 30 participants and gives writers ample opportunity to work with top children's agents Tracey and Josh Adams from Adams Literary and independent editors such as Lorin Oberweger and Emma Dryden.

Finally, if you can't make it out to a workshop or conference, check out your local writer get together.  Toronto has a great group of young adult and middle grade writers who are warm, friendly and often hold events to get to know one another.  You can get the latest info here.  

There's going to be good conferences and bad conferences but at the end of the day, it's really what you make of it.  Have you learned something thing new?  Met a new contact or have a "eureka!" moment about your story.  Focusing on the positive aspects of the events that you attend helps you to continue to push forward.  The best thing that came out of the first conference I attended.... meeting my three fabulous blogmates!  

Why You Should Read Current Books

I recently spent some time sorting through a mountain of my old MG and YA books. I read most of them between the ages of seven and fourteen (before I decided I was too cool to read kids' books and started in on the Stephen King lexicon).

As I was going through these books, I kept telling my husband how much I loved this series, or how I read this book ten times and got scared every time. I even opened my favorites and read the first chapter or two.

My beloved Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys books. A tiny fraction of my collection. Did I mention I have a LOT of books?

Here's the funny thing. I can guarantee that many (maybe even most) of the books I loved wouldn't sell today. Here are the "mistakes" I saw over and over again:

• Starting out slowly. I'm talking glacial. Page after page, sometimes multiple chapters of exposition and backstory. How many times have we aspiring writers been told that we have to hook the reader in the first few pages--heck, even the first paragraph and sentence? 

• Unrealistic dialogue and interior monologue. And not just because the teenage protagonists are from a different time period. Teenagers in the eighties and nineties would have guffawed at some of these conversations, trust me.

• Lots and lots of scene description. This one actually makes me a little sad. I enjoy books with vivid settings, especially when they take place somewhere I've never been (which is one reason I liked the Nancy Drew and especially Hardy Boys books). It's armchair travel--cheap and fun. But the modern publishing world prefers to let the reader fill in most of the gaps. (Former-agent-turned-author Nathan Bransford had a fascinating post about this on his blog a few weeks ago.) 

What to take from this? Well, I read an astonishing number of books when I was younger, but there was a period of time when I didn't read current YA. When I wrote my first book a few years ago, I didn't know the modern conventions. And it showed--the book is now trunked, with good reason. Once I started reading YA and MG books off the current bestseller lists, I suddenly started getting more requests to read my manuscripts.

So read current books! Get titles that are on the bestseller lists, or from the new fiction section at your bookstore or library. And don't worry, you can still pull your old favorites off the shelves every once in a while--I won't tell.

Writer's Resource: WriteOnCon - A FREE Writing Conference With No Travel Needed!

It was about a year ago that I finished a very rough draft of my manuscript and started my research on the wonderful world of publishing. During my early digging, I stumbled upon a game changing opportunity - WriteOnCon.  A free, multi-day virtual writing conference. No travel necessary. No entrance fee. No hotel room. All you need is a computer, a desire to learn, and perhaps a pair of comfortable elastic wasted pants.

Several things happened to me during the 3 day event:

1. I found my first beta reader
2. I entered my first contest
3. I got invaluable feedback on my query
4. I got "ninja-ed" by an agent (my first full request!)
5. I spent 3 days in my cube pretending to work while I devoured the information from the many amazing sessions (luckily my computer monitor faced away from my coworkers...)
6.  I learned so. freaking. much. about the industry, what to expect, and what I needed to work on.

I am SO excited to know that it's coming back, and it's only a month away! Squeee! 

Check out the early info on the homepage, and mark your calenders for August 14th and 15th, when the fun begins. 

Bring it on, WriteOn!

What can you look forward to?  The same things you would at any conference, except you can wear your pajamas. 

There are agents.  There are informative sessions.  There are thousands of fellow writers to virtually mingle with in the forums.  There's a forum to post queries and first pages for feedback from writers.
The biggest highlight for those with finished manuscripts are the ninja agents - they lurk around the forums offering up critiques, partial requests and even the occasional full.  In fact, that's how I received my first ever full request from a real live agent. (!!!)
I cringe when I think about how rough my manuscript was back then, but it was encouraging to have a professional in the industry respond to my writing so early on.  

This year, my manuscript is polished and ready to go.  So bring on the ninjas!  Bring on the forums!  Bring on the fun!

Hope to see you there.  (I'll be the one in the pink onesie.)