SCBWI Los Angeles 2013 - Inspirational Moments

This past weekend I attended my 5th year of Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Los Angels Conference, filled with encouragement, inspiration and craft.  Woven between each keynote speech and workshop session were unforgettable moments with friends.  We laughed. We cried. We learned from one another. But most of all, we reminded each other that we are not alone.

It's not a surprise that I gleamed from the talent and love for our craft that was oozing from the California Ballroom stage and throughout the Century Plaza conference rooms all weekend. From the moment SCBWI founders, Steve Mooser and Lin Oliver welcomed us, I listened and watched and learned from authors, illustrators, publishers and agents. Here are just a few moments that inspired me.

FRIDAY

Your job is to defend, protect, and celebrate childhood. - Laurie Halse Anderson





















Don't put kids to sleep, for God's sake. Wake'em up. - Jon Scieszka



Do the unexpected. - Deborah Halverson

We hold a mirror to [our readers], but behind them is a world of fiction. - Peter Lerangis

Look right into the eyes of your audience; children. Know what they are going through and what inspires and excites them. - Michelle Markel

SATURDAY



Editors Panel, moderated by Lin Oliver, with
Nami Tripahi, Andrea Pinkney, Donna Bray, Claudia Gabel, Allyn Johnston, Melissa Manlove
This was the best editors panel I've ever heard. Everyone spoke candidly and was full of heart.




The story about Nico and his whale. - Mac Barnett

Read every line you write, out loud, standing up. - Richard Peck

Enjoy your writing. Don't worry about perfection. - Carolyn Mackler

You just have to sit down and work or nothing's ever going to happen. - David Wiesner

SUNDAY

Agents panel, moderated by Lee Wind

 The bar has been raised for all of us. - Steve Malk

Keep trying. Don't let rejection hold you back. - Jenny Bent

Publishers want to put out a personality. - Mela Bolinao

You can't force yourself to be a different person. - Ginger Clark

Know the market. Read books. Know what others are doing. - Joanne Volpe

If the story deviates from the image, ditch the image and follow that story! - David Wiesner

We are in an age where we compete with media. We need genre breakers. Attention grabbers. - Andrea Pinkney, author and editor at Scholastic

The craft of writing is getting your brain to bleed directly onto a blank page. - Richard Peck



















History is cool. Nonfiction is a way to remember truth. - Jeri Chase Ferris, Golden Kite Winner for Nonfiction

We live in a world where awful things happen, but sometimes there are things that are so atrocious that happen to kids and

we can't fix them. We create magic, wonder, escape.

- Jarrett Krosoczka, author of the Lunch Lady book series

Fellow writers, Meg Lentz and Bridget Casey, building characters through improve
in our intensive workshop with Henry Winkler

Don't overthink. It's all in your mind. You need to let it out.

- Henry Winkler

And a few more fun moments...


Joanne Rocklin, Golden Kite Winner for fiction



Mo Willems won the Sid Fleishman Award for humor, but unfortunately
he was tied up and couldn't be at the awards luncheon.

 


Meg and I enjoyed laughing with Marla Frazee at the book signing on Sunday



After Mike Jung signed a copy of his new book for my son, a lucky few of us
had the opportunity to enjoy our own personal concert as Mike played
the ukulele and sang with Arthur Levine.



You never know who you're going to spot in line at Starbucks. 

Meg and I met Jarrett Krosoczka on Monday.

Having a blast at the Black and White Gala with Lori Degman and the "checkered people"
(I later found out that they were Jessica Freeburg and Jay Asher)



This photo truly summarizes the weekend for me. Hanging out with my peeps. My tribe. My family.
I don't know what I'd do without the friends who help me through the ups and downs of this crazy literary journey.
I have a heart filled with gratitude to be a small part of the best organization in the world,
including many of you who were unable to attend the conference this year.

 I love you SCBWI!!!

Please be aware that the inspirational moments in this post were taken from my conference notes and may deviate from the speakers exact quotes.
All photos are copyrighted material and may only be used with direct permission.
(But, I'm pretty cool, so just ask.)


A Writer's World

Time has a way of ticking by quickly, especially when it comes to neglecting my blog readers!!! (Jenni is hanging her head in shame.)

The good news about neglecting my blog is that it usually means I'm working on other writing projects. And this is no exception. Lots has been happening in my writer's world and here are a few of the most notable happenings over the past couple of months:

#1 - I registered for the SCBWI Summer Conference. This will be my second year - YAY! The premium picture book workshop taught by Diane Muldrow filled up only hours after registration opened. I'm on the waiting list... so fingers crossed!

#2 - I queried and submitted exclusively to an agent and six weeks later, received the most amazing rejection. And that's all I'll say about that. (Jenni is grinning, because she doesn't like to share details about stuff like this, but will some day when she's rich and famous.)

#3 - I submitted my award winning picture book manuscript, Starry Kalahari, to a choice editor... fingers and eyeballs crossed that they LOVE it!

#4 - I've spent time tightening up several "almost finished" manuscripts and developing others that are first drafts. (Jenni is an A.D.D. writer, so it's typical for her to work on several projects at once. In fact, since starting this blog post, she's checked emails, facebook, and started a word processing document.)

#5 - I pulled a muscle in my back last week, so I've been babying it with heating pads and such. Hey, whatever it takes to get out of doing a few dishes and laundry, right?

#6 - I've lost a critique group facilitator, pouted about it, and accepted a unanimous nomination and vote to step up as the group facilitator. This is a HUGE honor, considering the talented writers we have.

and...

#7 - I worked this week on narrowing down my schedule of sessions I'll be attending at the Summer Conference.  For those of you who have attended before, you know how difficult this can be, given the caliber of speakers. Additionally, I noticed that two of the closed houses I'm interested in subbing to will have representatives attending. (Jenni is going to walk through ALL the open doors she gets, but knows she must first knock... and wait... and smile, real cute-like when the door opens.)

So that's that. I'll keep you all posted on my submission process. Until then, HAPPY WRITING!

My Publishing Process: The Journey Continues

Now that the kids are out of school it seems that things haven't really slowed down much. I spent three hours at the car dealer Tuesday, ventured to the beach to support a school fundraiser on Wednesday, attended a summer PTO board meeting (I blinked and found myself as next year's PTO secretary) on Thursday, spent one entire day doing critiques for my local group, HB Critters, and revising a picture book on Friday... and then went to the meeting last night. Whew! What a week!

Meanwhile, in the crevices of my spare time, I've managed to narrow my sights on two publishers that are "for sure" submissions. One publisher printed a book that I connected with so well, that I ordered the book on Amazon that morning, after only hearing only one stanza. Iggy Peck, Architect is one of the most gifted picture books I've ever read. Not only did I connect with it, it challenged me to want to write more and better. After emailing Andrea to let her know about my discovery, she so graciously shared with me some of her favorite authors. The next day, I quickly packed up my three kids and was off to the library. I came home with eighteen picture books of my own... besides what the kids picked out. I learned that Lisa Wheeler is one of my new heroes. Just as Iggy Peck challenged me, I found myself in the middle of the library reading Lisa's Sixteen Cows, and with tears in my eyes I realizing that there are others out there who speak my language; the language of word play in rhyme! Mathematically arranged in perfect meter and rhyme, I've found my new text books... and it's back to college for me!

Since most publishers ask picture book writers to submit the entire manuscript with a cover letter, I didn't anticipate having to do a query for this book. Then, I realized that one of the two publishers I've decided to sub to requires a query before submitting. As a perfectionist, summing up my picture book in one page terrifies me. How can I sum up a 580 word rhyming picture book in one page without just telling the whole story? Thus, another adventure... query crafting research.

I still have several publishers to look into, so I'm not done with the research and narrowing process yet. As my file box sits filled with folders at my feet, neatly organized alphabetically by publishing house, I realize that this writing thing is much more than just... well... writing. The writing business is much more in depth than I'd ever imagined. Thankfully, I love a challenge and the process of learning!

And speaking of... I'm doubly thankful that I have a wonderful friend and mentor in Brenda Sturgis, an award winning author and poet. She's taken me under her talented wing and is molding me into a best seller... Yay Brenda! Thank you - Thank you... a thousand times, thank you!!!!

Now, I'm off to the beautiful Huntington Beach sand, where we'll do important things like laugh, eat hot dogs and get sand in places I won't mention here.

Thanks for sharing my journey,

Jenni

(Photo by NinaOA)

The Publishing Process of My First Manuscript

I’ve been on blogging hiatus lately (as you all know). The good news is that I’ve been using my time wisely. In addition to the kids’ active last week of school (which ends next Wednesday – woo hoo!) and all the other super fast-paced things us mommies do, I’ve been working hard at researching publishing houses to submit my first manuscript to.

You might think, “What’s the big deal? Just look up the biggest and best children’s industry publishers and send it out!” or, “Send it to them all.” But the truth is, that is what many writers do and THAT is why the “slush piles” at the publishing houses are so big. The manuscript must fit with not only the publisher, but the editor to a ‘T’.

Since I’ve finished my 680 word manuscript after volumes and volumes of revisions and critiques, here is a quick recap of what I’ve been working on:

I began searching for publishers that would represent my picture book perfectly... This is when the real work began. I thought the writing was the work... That was actually the FUN part! Let’s just say it’s a fortunate thing that I happen to love research. This is certainly no quick and easy task.

I began this process by checking the publishers section of my CWIM (Children’s Writer’s & Illustrators Market) and checking at a glance if they appear to be a good fit for my story (Do they do picture books? Are they accepting manuscripts? Do you have to have an agent to sub? etc...). Additionally, I checked the publishers of some of my favorite picture books.

I’m currently at about forty publishers (or so) who have made the first cut. My goal is to get down to about 5 or so (give or take) who I feel could FALL IN LOVE with my protagonist and his amazing journey... oh, and all those other amusing characters surrounding him.

How do I do that? I have to do an in-depth research of each publisher. First, I have to see which ones have printed picture books similar to mine. They don’t have to have the same story line... and none will, but they do need to represent funny rhyming picture books told in amazingly perfect rhyme and meter, just like mine!

***grin***

I’ll do my best to keep you up to date with my researching process and all that it entails.

Still coming in the near future...
Leaving a Legacy of Love (part 3)
Agent’s Day Recap (Part 2)

Until then... happy reading and writing!

Sincerely,

Jenni Bielicki

(photos by Ron Caglia and tassiesim on www.flickr.com)