Katie Bartlett, Author

Posted by: Katie B | July 3, 2011

NJ SCBWI Annual Conference – June 2011 – Wrap Up

Every year I like to try out the different seminars and conferences available to unpublished (and published) authors. So far I’ve tried the NY Metro SCBWI Professional series, the New School’s Children’s Writing Seminar series, the Rutgers (RUCCL) Conference, and several NJ SCBWI events including First Page Sessions, Mentoring Sessions, Professional Networking Dinners, and Writer’s Workshops. This was my first Annual Conference hosted by the NJ SCBWI and, based upon my objectives for the conference, I thought it was great.

I’m at the stage where I treat each conference like an impersonal interview. I want to meet as many of the industry professionals as possible to see if we’d be a good fit. Are they looking for my sort of material? The author – editor – agent relationship is very personal. Could we make it work? I’m also looking to improve my craft.

The NJ SCBWI Annual Conference satisfied both objectives. It was well attended by industry professionals and the structure allowed you the opportunity to meet most of them in a stress-free environment. There were classes to attend, pitch sessions, and one-on-one critiques. Each element allowed you to hone your craft while meeting a slew of professionals. If you didn’t meet them in a training session, you could meet them at lunch, or during coffee. And have a real conversation. What a treat.

My criticism of some other events was that there wasn’t the time to get to meet all the professionals attending. Either the set up of the event doesn’t allow for enough mingling time, or there are simply too many people and too few professionals. I did not feel that this was the case at the NJ SCBWI Annual Conference. I also felt everyone attending was very approachable.

My other issue with some events promising a professional critique was that my work hasn’t been carefully reviewed. Basically, I don’t feel like I get what I paid for. In this case, my submission was torn apart (ouch!) in a very “constructive” way, and I received a two page, single space, typed critique from my mentor detailing all her comments. While painful, it was invaluable.

If you’re looking for an event to attend in the future, this one would be worth checking out.

Book Review Update

Lavender Fields in France

Have a look at my updated Book Review page. Several new reviews have been added, and due to popular request, the reviewed books are sorted by interest level. Happy Reading!

Here are the new additions:

Books I Liked A Lot (a.k.a. hard to put down):

The Year of the Dog and The Year of the Rat by Grace Lin. Middle Grade. Grace Lin gave an interesting keynote speech at the NJ SCBWI 2011 conference where she shared her journey as a middle grade novelist and picture book author / illustrator. Understanding the context in which these books were written made them all the more precious to me.

Freak by Marcella Pixley. Upper Middle Grade / Young Adult. I found this story incredibly gripping. Pulled me right back into the twisted world of seventh grade and the odd dynamic of bullying.

My Reading List

Read, read, read. It’s the mantra you hear at every writing seminar from, well, everyone. Agents, editors, published authors, industry professionals, they all repeat the same advice to new writers: you have to read to write. I completely agree (which I tell them with a sincere smile topped off by an enthusiastic nod), and then they ask that follow-up question. What have you read lately?

Nothing.

I can think of nothing.

My beside table supports a lethal pile of books, tipped into the corner of the wall to prevent it from falling on my head at night, and I can’t think of one title. I can recal every bedtime story I’ve read over the past seven days, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. It’s like an interview question; it’s a test. What have I read that’s pertinent to what I do? Have I really been reading, or am I mindlessly agreeing with my interviewer because I desperately want to be published?

Well, I have read. A lot. Countless pages, really. And so that I can remember them, I am creating my Book Review page. Now, when confronted with brain freeze, I can whip out my laptop with feline grace (I don’t yet have a handheld surfing device), surf over to my website, and suggest we review my recent conquests together. Sounds plausible, doesn’t it? Probably not. But the simple act of writing down my recently read titles might help them stick in my mind. It’s worth a try.

A little side note about the reading mantra…while I agree that you need to read in order to write, I don’t agree with some people’s position that you have to read “the most” in your genre. Their point is that if you want to become published in a genre, you should study that genre. It does help to know what’s been published recently, so that you don’t repeat it. And it’s helpful to get a sense of how your genre is written (word play, syntax, vocab, etc.). But after writing all day, everyday, in my genre, the last thing I want to do is read every night, all night, in my genre. I need a break.

Reading in other genres keeps my mind fresh and helps me to better understand my own. Other genres have different styles, different vocabulary, different themes. These differences help me to better understand my own genre, as much as reading in my genre does. I also get inspiration from those other genres. Reading something new and amazing always opens up my mind to possibilities, regardless of what genre it is. My “juices get flowing”, as my mother always said, and the ideas just pour out. And this spark can come from something as sweet as the middle grade novel The Penderwicks (big sigh here – such a great book) and as savage as the adult book The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo.

And now to the list…

Young Adult Author comes to Town Book Store

The Town Book Store on Broad St. in Westfield, NJ is hosting an author meet and greet this Saturday (April 30th) with local young-adult author Ofer Aronskind. If you happen to be in the area, here’s your chance to speak with a real – live – published author (wow…) in the young-adult genre. You don’t even have to pay a conference fee to do it! Not to mention, the Town Book Store is a lovely place to waste time on a lazy, hot, Saturday afternoon.

Here’s the bio the Town Book Store published:

Ofer Aronskind

Saturday, April 30, 2011

2:00PM

The Town Book Store in Westfield will host a Meet & Greet with Ofer Aronskind, author of four young adult books on Saturday, April 30, 2011 from 2-4 PM. Short Hills, NJ resident Ofer Aronskind remembers what it was like to be 12 years old: the challenges of middle school, making new friends, attending summer camp for the first time, having your first crush. By drawing on events from his own life, as well as on those of his three teenage sons, he has been able to vividly recreate some of life’s most memorable experiences in his young-adult novels.

Aronskind’s primary goal was to write books that boys especially would want to read. His writing frequently draws upon his own life experiences, as well as those of his sons. His first two books, Summer Sleep-Away and That Same Summer, are loosely based on adventures and anecdotes from the summer camp that his family operated in The Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

Comments Off on Young Adult Author comes to Town Book Store

Posted in Authors

Posted by: Katie B | March 11, 2011

The NJ SCBWI Annual Conference is coming up!

Have you signed up for the NJ SCBWI annual conference yet? It’s June 3-5th, 2011. Every year, this event gets bigger and bigger. The line up of agents, editors, and authors has increased as has the number of seminars you can attend. What interests me about this event is the educational value. It’s not limited to workshops on improving your craft. The offerings include information on the publishing industry and managing your “private business” (we writers are independent business owners with one employee – ourselves). Want to learn more about contracts, book signings, marketing, the agent – editor – writer relationship? How about writing with humor, editing, pacing a scene? It’s all there! Not many conferences have the diversity of offerings and cross the barrier between writing workshops and industry insight.

Drop me a line if you’re planning on attending. We can compare notes after!

1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Katie Bartlett, Author

More for the Summer Reading List

NJ SCBWI Annual Conference – June 2011 – Wrap Up

Book Review Update

Suggested Reading List by YA, MG, and PB Agents and Editors

My Reading List

Young Adult Author comes to Town Book Store

The NJ SCBWI Annual Conference is coming up!

Categories

Follow My Blog!!!

Email Subscription

Katie B @ Twitter

Goodreads

Recent Posts

Post by Category

Blogroll