Category Archives: Agents

Gems from Oktoberfest

 

CC Image by Torbakhopper

CC Image by Torbakhopper

As a children’s book writer, I’m lucky to be in the SCBWI (Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) North & East Bay Region. Every October, our chapter hosts a conference featuring inspiring craft advice and a chance to meet established authors, agents and editors in the field.

In her closing comments to the conference, our indomitable Co-Regional Adviser Colette Parrinello advised us to avoid letting conference notes decay for months. Instead, she suggested going back over our materials immediately to select just three action items, and plan to accomplish them this week. Here’s my list:

  1. Write a blog post giving a taste of the riches of craft and industry knowledge offered at this conference every year.
  2. Schedule and post my writing time from now until the end of the year (see Gennifer Choldenko’s advice below).
  3. Make a plan to follow through on the submission opportunities this afforded by the SCBWI North & East Bay Oktoberfest conference.

 And here are a few gems from the seven (out of a selection of twenty) sessions I attended this weekend:

Gennifer Choldenko – Award winning author of Al Capone Does My Shirts and Chasing Secrets – Find the Beating Heart in Your Work

“Every day I get a little gift of creative energy, but it doesn’t accrue. 

If I don’t use it, it’s gone.”

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