Conferences are so energizing. I went to our Arizona Regional Chapter of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) conference yesterday in Phoenix and it was a blast!
The day was filled with many golden opportunities, including:
- Learning about social media and publishing tips from industry insiders
- Getting writing advice from professional editors
- Receiving manuscript critiques by children’s book professionals
- Meeting amazing local children’s book authors and illustrators
Here Suzie Olsen and I are getting ready for the opening address:
(Photograph by Suzie Olsen, used with permission)
The organizers did a wonderful job of keeping all the lectures on time and moving along. If there was down time, they filled in by giving away great door prizes. The giveaways were also an opportunity because even if you didn’t win, you got to see the awesome books — many from local authors — that they were giving away.
The highlight of my day was when I turned over my name tag and discovered a golden ticket.
The manuscript I submitted had been chosen for a special face-to-face critique with one of the conference faculty, author Bobi Martin. It was a real honor to be one of the seven selected.
Although the meeting was at the end of the day when everyone was beginning to fade from conference overload, Bobi Marten’s critique was thorough and informative. She gave me many tips for taking my manuscript to the next level and suggested places where I could send it to be published. It was wonderful to get live feedback from an author who specializes in children’s nonfiction, plus that she thought my project had merit.
So, now it’s time to process my pages and pages of notes, and polish up my manuscript for submission. I can’t wait to attend the conference next year.
Are you a SCBWI member? Have you attended a conference?