More BookFest fun

Sorry for the hasty post on Saturday, but my entire family turned into pumpkins at 10 p.m. sharp.

Here's what else I gleaned from my foray to the LA BookFest:

1. Being shy still sucks. I handed out business cards I printed at home and felt like a total dufus doing so. This was appropriate, since I also looked and sounded like a dufus. I did snag a few catalogs from smaller publishers, but say the word "review copy" to these people and they give you these long, disbelieving looks. Yes, I'm here to scam free copies! You got a problem with that?

The booths were crowded, and I only had time for quickie conversations to make way for the throngs of paying customers behind me.

2. Everybody loves Amazon. Or maybe they're deathly afraid of it. I talked to an illustrator and an author who both asked, unprompted, if I posted my reviews on Amazon. I then mentioned to several smallish publishers that I would be doing this, and their eyes lit up and the tenor of the conversation changed entirely.

What gives? It takes no special skill to put your $.02 up there with everybody else's. And then after your brief moment at the top, the next reviewer pushes yours down anyway. Amazon must account for some whopping percentage of book sales, enough so that even a blogger's brief appearance on its customer reviews become disproportionately vital.

At least, that is my best guess.

I also went to a panel discussion on writing and illustrating children's books, but first, this fabulous pic of the hubby teaching Lael to clap.

I'm always impressed by the top-notch kiddie entertainment -- rock bands, dance troupes, storytellers, the works -- at this event. Okay, my son went home nattering about Jay-Jay the helicopter, who waddled awkwardly around stage and wobbled rhythmically to a soundtrack, but even so.

The Panel:

The moderator was Mary Ellen Walker, who edits the kids page for the L.A. Times.

Members were illustrator Marie-Louise Gay, who did the "Stella" and "Caramba" books (the latter is sitting on my shelf, awaiting review); Alan Zweibel, a former Saturday Night Live and Curb Your Enthusiasm writer-turned-celebrity-author; and Julie Mammano, who writes and illustrates a series about rhinos who surf and play sports.

Much of their discussion had a "no-duh" quality to it, frankly. Yes, writing for kids is hard. You have to do everything novelists do but in only 32 pages. It's a competitive market. You have to be unique; offer editors something that's not already out there.

Here's what I always suspected, but it helped to hear it said:

1. You must offer the illustrator something to work with on every single page.

2. Once the manuscript is turned over to the illustrator, it's his or her baby. Unless your name is Madonna or Billy Crystal, you have no further input. There is no collaboration.

3. Trust the editors. They do have a feel for which illustrator best matches your writing style. But if it's a famous illustrator, they may take up to three years before they can finish other projects and devote themselves to your book!

I had to leave early, missing the last 15 minutes, but I think I caught the more important bits.

Anyway, now I have the opposite problem. Everybody's up, and my brief, early morning window of time has now expired.

Thanks for tuning in.

Comments

[Kelly]

What a beautiful picture, Anne!

[brettdl]

Kelly, I presume you're talking about Lael, not me. ;--)

[Anne]

Both Brett and baby are cute as can be. :-)

[Gregory K.]

I was gonna answer this over on Fuse 8's blog, but I thought I'd dive in here. I think Amazon isn't just important because of raw sales, but it's a place you can send people with a single link -- directly to YOUR BOOK -- and, with luck, they'll see great reviews and push them over the edge into buying. That combo of serious reviews plus the ease of one click buying... I think that's what makes Amazon important to the book folks.

I betcha we passed in a tent on Saturday, as I was there with my clan. Maybe you saw me. I was the guy there with a wife and kids! Sound familiar?

[Anne]

Wait, I think I saw you, uh, just about everywhere! I was the geeky woman with the glasses. Geez, that doesn't describe just any ol' bookworm, does it?

Excellent points about Amazon. I'm not totally clueless, just a little lazy about this stuff. I see my blog as a work in progress, so this discussion's been enlightening.

And a belated Mazel Tov on all the Fib stuff. So fab!

[Susan]

I definitely understand Amazon's importance to the publisher and author. But what is the importance of Amazon to a blogger? That's what I'm trying to figure out.

I've posted a few reviews there, but, you know that Amazon can do anything it wants with those reviews once you post them. One is writing for Amazon for no compensation. Hmm.

I know I'm missing something. What is it?

[Anne]

I must confess I did post a few reviews on Amazon when this blog first started, then abandoned the idea.

It just seemed like too much effort for too little benefit. But if book publishers think it gives a blog more gravitas to cross-post their reviews there, then so be it.