Hope Is Not A Plan: Planning Your Career - Our January 2011 Westside Writers' Schmooze

43 of us gathered yesterday to look at our career journeys as if we were each the hero of our own stories - and we are!

"In nearly all good fiction, the basic - all but inescapable - plot form is: A central character wants something, goes after it despite opposition (perhaps including his own doubts), and so arrives at a win, lose, or draw."
--John Gardner

So if we're the central character of our lives, we need to be able to state what we WANT.

Holly Black had a wonderful exercise that she shared at the 2009 SCBWI Summer conference where she asked writers to rank different options on their writing career dreams from 1 to 10. Options included writing one single perfect book, being able to live off the earnings from my writing alone, writing a critically acclaimed, award-winning book, becoming famous because of my work, and more. (Check out additional great resources for writers at Holly's website.)

We then all tried to name our dream, taking inspiration from Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way" both for naming our dreams and with a great story shared by Sara Wilson Etienne about the collage exercise in that book, visualizing them. Rita had a wonderful exercise for us to try at home about drawing out your dream - 15 minutes, no less, of making all the details of your dream feel real.

Then all 43 of us shared our dreams for our writing and/or illustrating careers.
Dreams included writing a book for a daughter to having a teen come up to tell you that your book saved their life. From wanting a bookshelf full of your books to living in a castle purchased because of your books. From having a lunchbox based on your book to seeing someone read your book on a plane. To finishing the current draft of your work in progress, to getting 3 starred reviews! From being a literary sex symbol to finally submitting, to helping others... It was very moving, and funny, and poignant, and most of all, inspiring!

We then listed our internal and external opposition to achieving our dream. And then, for each force of opposition, the resources we have to overcome it. For example, internal opposition to being a writer might be that voice in your head that says that you'll feel isolated. Attending SCBWI events like our schmoozes and the upcoming 2011 SCBWI Winter Conference are ways to feel part of the community of creators of children's literature. Not isolated at all! External opposition might be not having time to write. Stopping to watch your favorite weekly TV show gives you an extra hour a week... You control your time, and that's your external resource.

Running out of time for the schmooze itself, we discussed everyone's homework (and you can play along at home, too!) Define your short (1 to 5 year) and long-term (5-10 year) goals. And recognize that there are goals you control and goals you don't. For example, getting an agent is a goal you do not control. Submitting to 5 agents you're excited about is a goal you DO control.

And then we spoke about defining ACTIONS that would get you to your goals. What Actions are you planning to take:

This year
This month
This week
Today
Right Now.

Well, right now you're reading this post about planning out your career, so you ARE actively doing something to move yourself forward already! Congrats!


We finished with an inspirational piece from the conclusion of Anne Lamott's brilliant "Bird By Bird" - about how just by going for your dream and taking those actions, even if you don't "win," you DO WIN, because you've grown and been changed by the journey.

"Even if only the people in your writing group read your memoirs or stories or novel, even if you only wrote your story so that one day your children would know what life was like when you were a child and you knew the name of every dog in town - still, to have written your version is an honorable thing to have done. Against all odds, you have put it down on paper, so that it won't be lost. And who knows? Maybe what you've written will help others, will be a small part of the solution. You don't even have to know how or in what way, but if you are writing the clearest, truest words you can find and doing the best you can to understand and communicate, this will shine on paper like its own little lighthouse. Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining."
--Anne Lamott

It was an amazing evening of setting our sights high and planning our paths forward... and we hope your path takes you to the next Westside Writers' Schmooze, on Wednesday, February 9th, when we'll meet to discuss . . .

"Presenting Yourself Online."
Social Networking, Blogs, Facebook, Platforms - laying the groundwork for getting published and then building your career--beyond the first book! For Picture Book through Young Adult, fiction and nonfiction; for newbies through experts at social networking, this schmooze is for YOU. Tell a friend!

Hope to see you there!
Namaste,
Lee & Rita


books referenced during this month's schmooze included:

"Bird By Bird" by Anne Lamott

"The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron

"Advice To Writers" compiled and edited by Jon Winokur

"2011 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market" edited by Alice Pope (I have three interviews in this book, but the inspirational quote I shared was by John M. Cusick in his article, "An Agent/Author's Crash Course in Getting Published."

Upcoming SCBWI events we mentioned included:

The upcoming 2011 SCBWI Winter Conference

Writer's Toolbox: Boys versus Girls with Michael Reisman and Cecil Castellucci

The SCBWI-LA 7th Annual Scholarship Contest for L.A. member writer and illustrators (See what "Cinnamon" inspires you to create!)

There are so many wonderful events coming up in our tri-region area - go to scbwisocal.org to find out about them all!

Westside Writers Schmooze holds an Expert Panel on Author Visits!

Best. Schmooze. EVER!!

Seriously. This November's meeting may have been the best Westside Schmooze ever -- and that's saying a lot for our beloved longest running schmooze in the region.

On Wednesday, November 10th, about 40 Westside Schmoozers gathered to hear an expert panel of a public librarian, an independent school librarian, and an independent book store owner speak on author visits: what they're looking for, the difference between these different venues, how we can get ourselves booked for author visits, and more. This genius panel was Lee's brainchild (awww, thanks, Rita!), designed to represent the three key sectors of the author-visit landscape. To this end, Lee invited the following all-star lineup:

Sharon Hearn, owner of Children's Book World, a full-service children's bookstore in West Los Angeles,

Elizabeth Abarbanel, librarian at the independent Brentwood School's upper campus,

and

Ann Wagner, Youth Services Librarian at the Santa Monica Public Library, main branch.

Our Panelists left to right:
Sharon Hearn, Elizabeth Abarbanel and Ann Wagner

From the moment the discussion began, it became clear how different these three categories of author visit are. A few of the eye-opening things we learned:

• Unlike schools, who pay for authors visits; and libraries, who give honorariums; bookstores never pay for visits. Instead, publishers offer to send
authors to them, and, if the bookstore agrees to host an event, the expectation
is that they will sell books. Local authors might approach a store to do an
event as well, but it works best if it's the author's first signing for a book,
because that is more likely to sell copies and draw a crowd.

• Schools look for ways in which an author's book or talk or personal story can
tie into curriculum. For example, if the book is historical it could tie into history, or the author talks about writing (or about how he or she became a writer) it could tie into English and creative writing, or maybe an element of your book and talk can be tied into Human Development (a class about growing up).

• School librarians and decision makers share information on listservs about how much authors have charged and how well their presentations went.

• Public libraries don't sell books (of course), or educate specifically. They also can't guarantee the kids in this setting will have read the author's work in advance, so they look for visits that are lively and interactive, and that will get their audience excited about the book and about reading. It's definitely a good idea to read excerpts during visits to libraries.

• Bookstores can sometimes coordinate with publishers to bring authors to schools--and set up pre-order sheets to send home with the kids. This type of visit can sometimes be quite large, with other schools bussed in.

• When bookstores are not involved, schools can still sell an author's books in conjunction with a visit -- sometimes through their PTA. Schools often get good discounts from publishers.

• Advice: Authors should definitely have Web sites through which schools can contact them.

• Best Piece of Advice of the whole evening: Watch other authors' presentations!




At one point during the Schmooze, a debate broke out on the merits of waiving one's fee for visits, with an eye to building brand awareness. This brought up the oft-cited advice: Should you decide to do a school visit for free or cheap, always indicate you have "waived your fee" (or provided an x% discount) to make clear you are providing something of value. To this, our expert panel hastened to add that you should also always make sure you have an advocate on the inside who will build enthusiasm and ensure the proper preparation for your visit. ("Free" does not equal a babysitting offer!)

Throughout the evening, Schmoozers also shared their own experiences with doing author visits, including fascinating descriptions from both Eric Drachman and James Otis Thach of elaborate video conferences, and visiting schools via Skype!

Here are a few more choice tidbits from the evening, from both our panel and Schmooze attendees:

Authenticity--the giving of yourself in what you share--is the best way to connect with kids.

If the kids have read your book, they will probably enjoy hearing "behind-the-scenes" stories about earlier drafts, inspirations, etc. Even if they haven't read the book, the real message here is that your book didn't come out perfect the first time. Rewriting is key, and everyone can do it.

Kids are so visual these days. Share your book trailer! Use PowerPoint! If you're an illustrator, draw! (Kevin Henkes has used old-fashioned slides! Patricia Polacco brought in her quilt!)

But: Avoid what Lee called "Death by PowerPoint." Your visual aids should not make sense without your presenting them. You are the most important visual aid in your talk. (Along these same lines, don't turn the lights completely off and stand to the side.)




This was a truly amazing Schmooze, during which we all learned so much! When it was over, many agreed that 95% of the information we'd heard this night was completely new to us. We didn't even know how much we didn't know!

For more excellent information on school visits, check out schoolvisitexperts.com by SCBWI's own school visits expert Alexis O'Neill.

Here, too, is a link from Westside Schmoozer Hannah Ruth Wilde showing how some authors have banded together to create an author visit contact site! www.authorsforschoolvisits.com


And the fun (and epiphanies) keep on coming . . .

NEXT month, on Wednesday, December 8th, the Westside Schmooze is having a hands-on workshop, "MAKE YOUR OWN PICTURE BOOK DUMMY," led by Special Guest Speaker Laura Lacámara!!

Laura is the author of Floating on Mama’s Song / Flotando en la Canción de
Mamá, a bilingual picture book inspired by her mother, who was an opera
singer in Havana. Floating on Mama’s Song, illustrated by Yuyi Morales,
was released by HarperCollins September 1, 2010 and has already received its
first starred review--from Publishers Weekly! Laura also recently
illustrated The Runaway Piggy / El Cochinito Fugitivo, a bilingual
picture book for Piñata Books, an imprint of the University of Houston’s Arte
Público Press. The Runaway Piggy, written by James Luna, debuts November
30, 2010. You can learn more about Laura at her Web site,
http://lauralacamara.com/

As both a picture book author and illustrator, Laura is uniquely positioned to look at picture book manuscripts with an eye for both text and illustrations, and is the perfect expert to guide us in creating our own picture book dummies.

We'll see how our words work on the dummied-up pages, and learn how this technique can help us make our picture book manuscripts sing! For picture book authors (and illustrators, too!), fiction and non-fiction. Even if you don't write picture books, come! You will absolutely gain a new understanding of narrative structure through this creative process.

For this schmooze, Laura recommends you bring two (2) copies of a picture book text (or favorite poem, or whatever words you would like to work with)--one to mark up, and one to cut up--typed in 14-point font at 1-1/2 line spacing. It will be like a holiday crafts party, with cutting and pasting and storytelling, and the satisfaction of taking something home that you made with your own hands, from the heart.

As always, RSVPs are greatly appreciated to WestsideSchmooze@hotmail.com.

Until then, friends,

Cheers and Namaste,

Rita and Lee

p.s.: Our thanks to Eric Drachman for the photos!

Westside Writers Schmooze Talks About Getting Publishing!

A Career in Children's Literature means
you have to find the balance between
inspiration, craft, and business.

In a final whirlwind of information and goodwill before our summer hiatus, 38 of us gathered on the second Wednesday of June to talk about the business of getting published.

We discussed ways to break through, including Slush piles, Contests, and Networking.

We talked Query Letters. Cover Letters. Writing that darn synopsis.

We looked at RESEARCHING editors and agents (and how not to get overwhelmed by it)

We hit on Conferences (like the upcoming SCBWI International Conference here in Los Angeles, SCBWILA10) Business Cards, doing your homework, websites, blogs, creating an online presence for yourself, and having that "elevator pitch" ready to go (it always comes up!)

Much of the information from this night was drawn from the following resources, which we recommend as excellent starting places for feeling your way around the Web and learning how Children’s book publishing works.


A Few Resources (not endorsed by SCBWI)

Getting Started

--This is the first link under “Resource Library” on SCBWI’s main Web site. Viewable by the public, including non-members. Includes FAQs, articles on how to format your manuscript, etc.

--If your SCBWI membership is current, you can also log in at the Web site to check out the directories and resources SCBWI provides in their “Resource Library.” (Agent Directories, Book Festivals, etc.)

Useful Blogs on Query Letters and How Publishing Works

Mary Kole, Andrea Brown Literary Agency:
Filled with wide-ranging, helpful answers debunking common quandaries we wrestle with as children’s book writers. Children’s book specific!

Jill Corcoran, Herman Agency, Inc.:
Click on the Labels listed on the left to sort posts by topic. Categories include Query Letters, Research (which includes more helpful resources on the Web!), Writing Tips, and much more.
Also lists other helpful blogs and resources along the right (as most blogs do!) Children’s book specific!

Nathan Bransford – Literary Agent, Curtis Brown, Ltd.:
Has lots of contests and insight into the submission process.
Check out the list on the left of general articles on publishing he’s written. Nathan Bransford is extremely articulate on nearly every aspect of publishing!

Miss Snark, the literary agent:
A now defunct blog that remains online for posterity. Filled with terrific, merciless insights on writing Query Letters and more. Not for the faint of heart. (Use the categories listed on the right—such as “query letters,” “QnA,” “Crapometer-Cover Letters,” “Crapometer-First Pages,” etc.--to avoid getting sucked into reading the whole, highly entertaining blog.)

As you read these, you’ll find other names of additional helpful sites and blogs popping up repeatedly. Check those out once in a while, and before you know it, you’ll have a pretty good sense of who’s out there and where to find them.

Researching Agents

Literary Rambles:
Casey McCormick has assembled an amazing wealth of information on literary agents in Children’s book publishing. The majority of this information comes from online—the same as you could find yourself—but it’s all compiled here for you. The site is still growing, with more agents being added every week. You can even request which agent you’d like to see added next!

IF you are ready to start reading updates on which agents are selling what kind of projects to whom, you can subscribe to Publisher’s Marketplace. It's about $20.- a month, and offers a searchable database, yielding a wealth of information.

Or sign up for Publishers Lunch here which gives you just a taste of the info of what's selling... It's an excellent resource, and it's FREE!

Researching Editors

SCBWI provides a lovely document called “Edited By,” available as a downloadable PDF to members, which lists Editors by publishing houses, along with some of the titles they’ve edited. (If you are an SCBWI member, check it out here!)

We also recommend Googling editors to see which titles they cite in their own bios, online interviews, and blogs, and then going out and reading those books! Many editors are also thanked by their authors in the acknowledgments section of books, and it's worthwhile to make note of who edited your recent favorites.

Popular reference books listing Publishers and Agents

Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market
--Often referred to as CWIM. Comes out annually. Also includes excellent articles and interviews.

Jeff Herman's Guide To Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents: Who They Are! What They Want! How To Win Them Over!
--Includes some personal info on hobbies, interests, etc., to give you insight into the people you are querying. Comes out annually. (Not specific to Children’s publishing, so sift through entries for that. )

Great Blog Resources to Know About

Betsy Bird's Fuse #8
If you want to keep up on what recently published Children’s books people are talking about this year, you would be hard pressed to do better than checking out the titles Betsy has reviewed for School Library Journal.


Alice Pope’s SCBWI Children’s Market blog:
Alice is the former editor of CWIM, and has a new blog that covers the industry for SCBWI... Among other things, every Wednesday she highlights that week’s best Children’s literature-related Tweets from Twitter! This is an excellent point of entry for those of us who know about twitter, but aren't quite ready to jump in ourselves!

If you are on Twitter, you can also check out the children’s book-related Twitter chats, such as Tuesday at 6pm Pacific #kidlitchat (transcripts of past chats are at Greg Pincus’s Happy Accident blog)

There's a full listing of twitter chats and events compiled by Debbie Ohi here! Don’t just check them out. Join in!


In addition to discussing all the above, we talked a bit about how not to get overwhelmed by all the information out there.

Remember: You don’t need to track everything going on, or read every blog entry! You only need a good sense of where all the information exists so you can find it when you’re ready for it. Ultimately, everyone’s path to publication will be their own.

Feel free to add YOUR favorite resources to share in comments!


Oh, and one more thing: We challenged everyone attending to set a GOAL for themselves this summer. A Goal for each of the three areas of this career - A Goal for Inspiration, A Goal for Craft, and a Goal for Business.

So play along at home, and set yourself some Goals for this Summer... (And remember, it's only fair to set goals that you control. Goals like "I'm going to finish that revision," "I'm going to submit to three agents," "I'm going to treat myself to a weekend at a SCBWI conference..." are the kind of goals you control meeting, and they are the kind of achievable goals we're suggesting.

The Westside Writers Schmooze will be taking the summer months of July and August off. We next meet on Wednesday, September 15th, at 7 pm, so mark your calendars! (It's a week later than usual due to the Jewish Holiday.) Exact topic to be announced.

So come join us in September, and we'll compare notes on how we all did with our Goals and our summers of business, craft and inspiration!

Enjoy your summers, everyone!

Rita and Lee

Westside Illustrators April Guest Speaker

Westside Illustrators Schmooze
Monday Evening, April 19, 2010
7:00pm - 9:00pm
11624 W. Pico Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90064


Get Up-Close & Personal with Agent...

Jamie Weiss Chilton
of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency
We've written AND illustrated

our own stories, with 'dummies' ready to sell.
Art rep OR lit agent OR publisher? Get the low-down
on agencies and representation.
This will be a great evening for both writers and illustrators!

Jamie Weiss Chilton represents children's books exclusively: teen novels,
middle grade fiction, graphic novels, picture books, and narrative nonfiction.
Her specific interests include contemporary literary fiction with
intense emotional content (character-driven, not issue-driven plots);
smart thrillers and mysteries; science fiction; surreal stories and
magical realism;and sweet, funny, quirky picture books.

Jamie's career in children's books began in 1998,
with an editorial internship at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers,
followed by positions as an Editorial Assistant and Assistant Editor at
Bantam Delacorte Dell and Knopf & Crown Books for Young Readers,
divisions of Random House Children's Books. After returning to her
hometown of Los Angeles, Jamie pursued her love of children's books
in a new arena, as Conference Manager and Golden Kite Award Director
at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
before joining the Andrea Brown Agency in 2008.

Her recent sales include ORCHARDS, a YA novel in verse by Holly Thompson (Delacorte); FALL INTO ME, a debut YA by Jennifer Castle (Harper Collins); BAD FOR YOU, a graphic novel by co-creators Kevin C. Pyle and Scott Cunningham (Holt); JAMMY DANCE, a picture book by Rebecca Janni, to be illustrated by Tracy Dockray (FSG); and Tracey E. Fern's nonfiction picture book BARNUM'S BONES to be illustrated by Boris Kulikov (FSG).
for more info; www.AndreaBrownLit.com

Voluntary $5.00 donation for this event...Thank You!

Come prepared to participate, ask questions and be inspired!
Let's enjoy a fun creative evening together & move forward in our common pursuit
of making a contribution to the world of children's illustration and literature!

RSVP???... YES...if you can... SoozyEB@aol.com

WHERE???... 11624 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
This is a large gray building with ivy & bamboo on the facade.
The sign near the door reads - "Alliance Francaise."

DIRECTIONS???... http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLR,GGLR:2006-05,GGLR:en&q=11624+W.+Pico+BLvd,+Los+Angeles,+CA+90064&um=1&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=title

PARKING???... Street parking only. You don't have to feed meters after 6pm. Do NOT park in the electrical warehouse parking lot next door OR the parking lot behind the building on the corner of Federal Ave. You will be towed...FAST.

Looking forward to seeing you all!
xoxo...suzy
cell... 818 389 1950

come visit me at... http://www.SuzyEngelmanBlock.com

Westside Illustrators February Schmooze News

                         

    Westside Illustrators Schmooze
              February 15, 2010

Monday Evening...7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

11624 W. Pico Blvd.,  Los Angeles, CA 90064

   'Through the Art Director's Eyes!'

   Art Director, Laurie Young 
will walk us through
    the job of hiring the right 
artist for the right project! 
Try your hand at this challenge.

 

    Laurie Young, Creative Director for Intervisual Books and Piggy Toes Press, will talk about what she looks for in an illustrator, the process of choosing an artist for a project, and how an illustrator can best position themselves for consideration. 

1)    RSVP and you will be sent a picture book text.
2)    Do your research.
3)    Bring 3-5 samples of different illustrators whom you feel would be a good match for the material.
4)   You can print out color samples from online pages, or bring in work of artists you know.

We will have a lively discussion of the merits of each choice and ultimately "choose" one artist for the job.
Can your portfolio & website spark the interest of a buyer?

Does it represent your style & abilities & range so that you might be considered for a possible assignment?

Laurie Young has been an Art Director and Graphic Designer for over 16 years, working in Children's book publishing for the last 7 years. She has worked for a variety of publishers including Scholastic Press, Walter Foster Publishing, Baby Tattoo Books, Phoenix Books, Creative Publishing International, and McGraw-Hill Publishing. Most recently she has worked for Dalmatian Press as the Creative Director of the Intervisual Books and Piggy Toes Press imprints. She specializes in creating novelty books for children and has conceived and written six books for the novelty market: This Dog That Dog, I See A Monster, Princess Polly and the Pea (The Chicago Book and Media Show 2007–Best in Show,) Counting Our Way to Halloween, Earth Helpers Counting (illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith,) and Monster Rescue Squad (illustrated by Gene Barretta.) 

AND  MORE...
Kat McDonough will demonstrate a great way to make a dummy!
AND... Participate in our materials exchange!
Do you have any art materials that are gathering dust?
Your unused junk is someone else's treasure.
Bring them to the schmooze & you can join in.


Come prepared to participate, ask questions and be inspired!
Let's enjoy a fun creative evening together & move forward in our common pursuit
of making a contribution to the world of children's illustration and literature!

RSVP???...  YES...   SoozyEB@aol.com

WHERE???...  11624 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
This is a large gray building with ivy & bamboo on the facade.
The sign near the door reads -  "Alliance Francaise."
DIRECTIONS???... http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLR,GGLR:2006-05,GGLR:en&q=11624+W.+Pico+BLvd,+Los+Angeles,+CA+90064&um=1&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=title

PARKING???... Street parking only.  You don't have to feed meters after 6pm.  Do NOT park in the electrical warehouse parking lot next door OR the parking lot behind the building on the corner of Federal Ave.  You will be towed...FAST.

Looking forward to seeing you all!    xoxo...suzy
cell... 818 389 1950 
If you wish to be taken off this email list...just let me know.
 come visit me at...   www.SuzyEngelmanBlock.com 

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