fannywrites

I was at the annual winter conference of the Society of Children’s book writers and illustrators  in Manhattan.There were 1132 attendees from 47 states and 16 countries. 68 % of us were republished (sounds better than unpublished). I count myself as one of those since I have unpaid magazine credits only. So, there are so many aspiring writers and fewer interested agents and publishers.  Since this was my fourth conference in a row, I find that the breakout sessions with an expert(agent, publisher) repeat writing tips that I have heard before. They would accept queries from attendees, but this time, both experts I listened to were not interested in the genres I’m interested in at this moment, historical fiction and picture storybooks. What I get the most out of the conference is the inspiration from keynote speakers who had struggled and considered us “our people.”

Kwame Alexander was booked to be the last speaker in September 2014. What a joy it was to hear him as a Newberry Award winner, announced only 7 days before.

Persistance, persistence. That’s the mantra to us from these successful authors.