Little conference on the prairie

On Saturday, I went to my very first grown-up conference for kiddie lit, dubbed Prairie Writers Day. I joined SCBWI -- a group for us wannabes -- because I've reviewed some 200 picture books on this site, and a little voice in my head kept saying, "you can do this!"

This is probably the same voice that says, "chocolate has no calories," so I can't vouch for its reliability.

Even so, I signed up and I paid my money and I went.

I did a lot of sitting and note-taking, more sitting and some eating and shmoozing. I passed my card around, told everybody to visit Cybils and did more sitting. I met Kim Winters from Kat's Eye, a very vivacious person, hung out with Ilene and her friend, Jen, and spent the carride home with the Chicago Tribune's kidlit reviewer, an affable literature professor who somehow plows through 600 books a year.

What did I learn from Prairie Writers Day?

That you can get an embolism if you sit too long. Kidding!

I learned that the editing process is more genteel in the book publishing world than in a newsroom. People talk nicely to each other. They fret if they have to change a single word. They go at it with tweezers instead of a chainsaw (though, to be fair, my L.A. Times editors are gentle enough).

That was the first session, where an author and his or her editor shared how they go about it. Then a literary agent told us there's a home for every well-crafted, artfully written manuscript. More of a pep talk, but nice to hear. Amy Timberlake's motivational speech struck home for me with her description of the three-headed Cerberus -- the writer, businesswoman and self-aggrandizing "monster" personae who fight for her time. Funny stuff, and quite true.

The editors and the agent stuck  around for critiques (n0t mine, alas)  and another panel and some chitchat, only I'm a complete dork in social situations, and my ride insisted on leaving mercifully early.

The best part of the day: eight kid-free hours! I think I should do this again next week.

Comments

[brettdl]

Hah! Grandma is coming to town and we need to shovel toys out of the way so she'll have a place to sleep.

[Maisie]

How funny that I started reading this blog a few weeks ago, and today I check in and find you in a car with my mom--Mary Russell, the Tribune's book children's reviewer. It is a small world. Keep up the great work!

[Anne]

How cool is that? I loved meeting your Mom, and I now know all about your Dad's vending machines. The secret's out! :-)