Guest Blog by Meg Lysaght Thacher

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​Every year, over 700 writers, illustrators, agents, and editors converge on Springfield, MA, to meet and learn and talk about their favorite thing: children’s books. If you’re heading to Springfield next month, here’s how to make the most of your conference experience.
 
First, go read Francine Puckly’s Essential Conference Preparation Checklist.

Your First Conference
About a third of conference attendees are first timers. (You can recognize them by the subtle “First Conference” labels on their badges.) If you are one, be sure to attend the conference orientation on Friday afternoon. You’ll get information and advice that’s even more useful than what you’ll read here, plus you’ll meet the conference coordinators and the New England SCBWI team.
 
Workshops
Listen well. Take notes. Participate! Don’t sit in the back—this isn’t high school.
 
Critiques
Go into your one-on-one agent/editor meeting with an open mind. No matter how many times you’ve polished your work, no matter how many critique partners have read it, an editor or agent will probably see something that needs improvement. You paid for this advice. You will get your money’s worth by listening.
Visit the critique prep and support room. There will be a moderator and other attendees who can give you an idea of what to expect in your meeting, or help unpack your 15 minutes of advice.
 
Conference Extras
There will be talks by lots of famous authors. Do not miss Jane Yolen’s keynote address. Just trust me on this one. It will be short, sweet, inspiring, and you will finally learn what BIC* means.
Other events include panels, open mic, peer critiques, an interview with Patricia MacLachlan…um, I don’t think the 24Carrot folks have enough space for me to talk about it all. Read your conference schedule!
 
Networking Basics
* Behave like a professional.
SCBWI has recently adopted anti-harassment guidelines for its conferences. Would you like to be a professional writer? Behave in a professional manner. The NESCBWI conference is a place to learn, network, and hang out with fellow writers. It is not a singles bar.
* Meet new people.
Sit down at a table with someone you don’t know at least once. When you meet someone new, tell them your name, age group you write for, genre(s), and current project. Don’t just read each others’ nametags.
* Do not pitch unless requested.
There are 600 people at the conference, and all of them have at least two projects they’re dying to pitch. We could all stand around pitching for the entire conference, and we would not have a single human conversation. That being said, it’s fine to pitch when someone asks you to.
* Treat the agents and editors like the human beings they are.
​There’s plenty of time after the conference to send them your manuscript and perfectly polished query letter. Would you rather that query letter started with “Remember me? I’m the one who monopolized your time during the Friday night mixer!” or “I really enjoyed chatting with you about our favorite classic fantasy novels”?
 
Volunteering
This is an excellent way to get involved, feel like you belong, help the conference to run smoothly, and meet folks. Plus, there’s free food on Saturday night, and you get to learn the secret volunteer handshake.**
 
Take Care of Yourself
You can always tell the people who don’t get enough food or sleep at a conference. By the last day, they have glazed eyes, are speaking complete gibberish, and have probably introduced themselves to you three times. Don’t stretch yourself so thin that you can’t make a good impression. There are quiet spaces listed in the conference schedule. Use them if you need to decompress or regroup.

And drink plenty of water!
 
Beware of False Comparisons
At any given NESCBWI conference, about a quarter of attendees are published authors or illustrators. Everyone else is “pre-published.” We’re all here to improve our writing and learn. Comparing yourself to other people will get in the way of that. Embrace your you-ness.
 
After the conference
A major benefit of attending a conference is that you get a list of agents and editors who will accept your query for a few months after the conference. The list includes people who don’t normally accept unsolicited queries. Follow the directions on the list. Show them how easy you will be to work with. Make sure you submit only a polished manuscript. You’ll learn a lot at this conference. Apply it! And never share the list with non-attendees. You paid for this privilege. And we don’t want to swamp the faculty inboxes.
 
Final words
Approach your conference with a growth mindset. Everyone is there to learn—even the faculty. Even the editors and agents. And especially you. So learn!
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~ Meg
 

Meg Thacher will be attending her eighth NESCBWI conference this April. She teaches astronomy at Smith College and writes nonfiction for Highlights and the Cricket Magazine group. This is her first blog post of any kind.


Find out more about Meg:
Website: Megthacher.com
Twitter handle: @MegTWrites
 

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2017 meeting stats courtesy of Shirley Pearson (who will remind you to fill out your post-conference evaluation). Thanks, Shirley!
 
*Nope. Not going to tell you. Listen to Jane.
**There is no secret volunteer handshake. Maybe we should make one up! 

~ By Josh Funk
Marketing. What are my thoughts on marketing a picture book? Where do I start? What would I tell an author who has a debut book coming out? That’s a loaded question, so I apologize in advance for the long post!
 
#1: Start Early
 
We all know it takes about two years (give or take) for a debut picture book to be released once it’s acquired. Those two years are precious - use them wisely! Spend that time growing your network.
 
One way is to go to as many author events at bookstores as you can. And here are four whys:

1. You’ll meet other writers and illustrators - not just the event’s host, but friends of the creator and more.
2. You’ll meet the booksellers, which will make it easier to schedule events when your book is out (it helps if you purchase books at the stores during these events - they do notice who buys books).
3. You might meet educators who are fans and friends of the author for whom the event is scheduled - and these book-loving educators always enjoy meeting more (future) authors!
4. You might learn a thing or two (or twelve) about presenting at book events.

You never know where these writer/illustrator/bookseller/educator connections will lead - be it book sales, or blog posts, or friendships, or school visits.
 
Another thing to do is to get on social media - and grow your virtual network. There are pros and cons to all of the different social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, tumblr, etc), but my preferred platform is Twitter. As a picture book writer, my direct audience (children 0-10) is not on social media. (This is different if you write YA - I can’t speak about interacting directly with your readers.) I love Twitter because it’s a great place to connect with educators, bloggers, booksellers, parents, and other writers and illustrators.
 
How do you grow your network when your book is still two years away?
 
Follow people in the industry and see what they tweet and what they talk about. Twitter is like a worldwide cocktail party where everyone’s invited - and anyone can join in on any conversation at any time.
 
Follow educators like Pernille Ripp, Margie Myers-Culver, & Melissa Guerrette. Follow bloggers like Jen Robinson, All the Wonders, & Mr. Schu. Follow bookstores like Porter Square Books, Vromans, & Octavia Books. Follow writers like Tara Lazar, Phil Bildner, & Linda Sue Park. Follow illustrators like Girllustrators, Don Tate, & Debbie Ohi. Follow organizations like IndieBound, American Library Association, & SCBWI.
 
But what do you tweet and share?
 
If you have a blog (which you don’t NEED to have), tweet out those links. Read blog posts and articles that the above people write and tweet - and share the links that resonate with you. If someone you know sold a book or has a book birthday, congratulate them! And tag people. Positive vibes and good will go a long way.
 
And just maybe, when you start connecting with people on Twitter, they might click on your name and website (more on that below) and they’ll see you have a book coming out yourself. Your book is now on their radar. You’ve planted the seed.
 
 #2: Prep for Launch
 
Make sure you have a solid and easily navigable website. There are lots of resources out there regarding what your website should have. Look at other writers’ websites and see what you think will work for you. I use Wix to design mine, but there are lots of options. My chosen website categories are as follows:
●Home - the landing page.
●Books - a list of all of my books (each with a sub-page dedicated to that specific book).
●Stuff for Kids - a kid-safe page with fun stuff.
●Schedule & Appearances - a list of everywhere I’m going (and a map of everywhere I’ve been). Make sure to keep this up to date so your fans can follow you.
●Author Visits - a place where teachers can connect with you to bring you to their schools (remember, teachers call them Author Visits even if writers call them School Visits - so make sure to speak their language, since they’re the ones who will be looking at your site).
●Resources for Writers - my 12-Step Guide to Writing Picture Books - AKA the link I send to people when a Facebook friend tells me their cousin wrote a picture book and do I have any advice for them?
●About - a page with my bio, headshots, how to contact me, an interview archive (which will soon include this link), and social media links.
●Blog: I do have a blog to which I try to post at least once a month.
 
Other things I’ve done pre-launch include:
●Newsletter: I have a newsletter (sign up here!). Some people say they’re critical. For a picture book author, I’m not sure. But it doesn’t hurt to have one and post to it a few times a year, especially when you have big news.
●Book Trailers: I've created all of my own book trailers, often along with songs I've written and recorded (on my phone, nothing super fancy - but technology today is awesome).

​​●Activity Kits and Coloring Pages: I've been fortunate that Sterling Publishing has made Activity Kits to go along with the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast books. Michael Slack and Rodolfo Montalvo each made coloring pages for Pirasaurs! and Dear Dragon, respectively. If your book’s illustrator or designer is willing to strip the color out of some of the images, it’s an easy, free, printable bonus to offer your readers (and to bring to events).

By Allison Pottern Hoch
 
If you’re a regular here at 24 Carrot, you’re no stranger to setting and reaching for your goals when it comes to your writing. But why should that end with the final page of your manuscript? Marketing is how you get that big, beautiful book in front of readers.
 
Having marketing goals helps you to focus on your strengths and make the best use of your time and energy. Because you want to be diving into the next writing project, not spending every day on a new marketing plan. So where to begin?
 
BIG GOALS:
Identify Your Audience: Remember when you started your book and you thought you knew what it would look like when you were done? Odds are it’s become something bigger and stranger and more exciting than you ever imagined. Your audience is the same – your work will touch people you never thought possible. So now it’s time to really dig in and identify who those readers are and how to best reach them (I have some tips here).
 
Know Your Why: With each marketing strategy you try — interviews, blog posts, events — you should ask yourself ‘why?’ What are you hoping to get out of the experience? What are you hoping your readers will get from it? This can help you target specific venues and outlets that meet your marketing goals.
 
Play to Your Strengths: There’s a time and place for all kinds of marketing. But where should you put the most energy? You don’t have to do everything to have success. Identify the strategies that get you most excited and play to your strengths. Public speaking? Social media? Blogging? {For example, I love talking, teaching, and writing so I host workshops and write for a blog}.
 
SMALL GOALS:
Start now: You can begin building your fan base right now, even without a publication. Build your online network through social media and your in-person network through conferences, writing communities, and local bookstores and libraries. Lay the groundwork now so that when you do have that book coming out, you’ll have ready and willing co-marketers.
 
Support others: Promote others as you would like them to promote you. Attend events, review books, buy books, and let people know about the writing and authors you love.
 
Make a plan: Get out a blank calendar and colored pens. Identify key dates (publication date, bookstore events, relevant holidays, etc.) and how you need to plan around to market your work. Booking events? Posting social media updates? Sending out an evite? Put it all on your calendar.
 
Set aside time to market yourself: This is hard. You want to be writing, I get it. But you can’t cram the marketing in last minute – it doesn’t work that way. Build time into your weekly schedule to promote yourself, your work, and your events.
 
Allison Pottern Hoch is a writer and event coach with over eight years of experience in marketing, publicity, sales, and event planning. She spent four years promoting academic titles at The MIT Press before she went to work for Wellesley Books as a bookseller and event coordinator. She organized, hosted, and promoted over 150 events during her tenure, ranging in size from intimate workshops and lunches to multi-media events with over 700 attendees. She’s worked with veteran authors, celebrities, and debut authors. This September, Allison is teaching a Building Events workshop at Grub Street and leading a bookstore panel at The Writer’s Loft. For more information on her workshops and coaching services, visit http://events.pottern.com

​by Francine Puckly
 
24 Carrot Writing welcomes picture book writer Donna Mae, author of MARSHMALLOWS GALORE (illustrated by Brandon Fall) and THE WOOLY ADVENTURES OF PURL (illustrated by Valeria Issa).
 
Thank you, Donna, for taking the time for this interview and congratulations on the release of your second book, THE WOOLY ADVENTURES OF PURL. Can you start off by telling our readers a little bit about the development of this story idea?
 
Certainly. The idea for the story blossomed while I was knitting. It’s a very focused and present-moment hobby, almost like meditation. I recalled how difficult knitting seemed when my Mom taught me. When I got the hang of it, I didn’t want to stop. I loved it. The idea of a little girl being obsessed with knitting (as most knitters can be) seemed like such a fun idea for a children’s book. So we see what happens when a little girl receives knitting needles and a pet lamb for her sixth birthday!
 
Why did you choose self-publishing over the traditional publishing route?
 
I am in the 6th decade of my life, and I knew getting traditionally published could be a lengthy process. Actually, someone at my critique group said she knew an older writer who wanted to get published but decided to do it herself because “she needed a book before she died”! It was funny but at the same time it resonated with me.
  
Self-publishing isn’t for everyone. What do you feel has been the key to your success as a self-published author?
 
People want to try self-publishing because they think it’s an easy road. Print on demand gets them on Amazon without a lot of out-of-pocket expenses. My intention, however, was to have a hardcover children’s book with jacket. I knew Barnes & Noble could pick it up if it was worthy and looked professional. On-demand sites only print paperback, so that was not an option for me.
 
I really believed that for me, taking fear and doubt out of the equation would make everything work smoothly. I took a whole visualization approach--I visualized my book on the shelves of Barnes & Noble. Together with my intention as well as meeting the requirements, it has worked for me.
 
But self-publishing is not for everyone. You have to be willing to do the work.  Staying open to possibilities is key. I think my thoughts and attitude jettisoned me through the process. One example is that this fall I was part of a vendor/craft fair at a school in Holden. My sales were so-so, but I looked at it in a positive way. I accepted the day and knew anything could come from it. One of the teachers from the school bought my books and loved them, and a week later I got an opportunity to showcase my book for an author visit! Put yourself out there. Don’t allow frustration to stop you.  Keep a positive attitude. Believe in yourself.
 
How did the publishing process for THE WOOLY ADVENTURES OF PURL differ from that of MARSHMALLOWS GALORE?
 
I took the same steps with both my books, yet different illustrators and their expertise made each process unique. My first book, MARSHMALLOWS GALORE, was illustrated by Brandon Fall, an experienced, talented illustrator from Colorado. His work background had been in film illustration at Disney. He had illustrated many children’s books before mine and was able to give me some much-needed advice and direction. I learned about page turn and illustrating excitement and all about single- and double-page spreads. My second book, THE WOOLY ADVENTURES OF PURL, was illustrated by Valeria Issa, a young professional woman living in London. The language, of all things, created a little challenge. We did a lot of laughing as some of the terms we use are not translated the same in England versus the United States. Also, the five-hour time difference was a little tricky. Additionally, sending my books to print proved a different experience. When you, your illustrator, and the printing company are all on different time zones, it takes patience and persistence to get the product finalized.
 
How do you market your books? And do you have any marketing advice for other authors?
 
Out-of-the–box thinking is crucial.  New and unique ideas for events and school visits make the difference. True, being shelved in Barnes & Noble has given me access to in-store readings and posted events, but the possibilities to market a book are endless. Here’s a short list of what I’ve done and would recommend:

• Approach Indie bookstores for readings.
• Ask local gift shops to sell your book. (My hairdresser sells my books. Because I am a local author, I have signed books in her shop. People love signed books!)
• Set up author visits at your local libraries. (Advertizing ahead of time in local newspapers about your readings brings more awareness.)
• Cable T.V. (I’ve done interviews for both of my books.)
• Radio. (A local radio station helped me promote my newest book launch.)
• Donate books to non-profit groups. (I’ve sent books to Milk & Bookies in California.)
• Find your book’s niche. (I’ve become friends with the on-line marketing manager for Jet-Puffed marshmallows. She recently ordered copies of MARSHMALLOWS GALORE from me to distribute to her bloggers as gifts.)
• Organize a book launch. Publishers create book launches for authors to help promote their books. I recently held my own book launch for THE WOOLY ADVENTURES OF PURL at a local yarn store, and a local radio station was more than happy to have me come in and talk about my launch.

 
You have to be creative and take risks if you want to succeed. Stay positive! Miracles happen in common hours!!!
  
How is your writing week structured? Do you set weekly writing goals or targets?
 
I take a very gentle approach to my writing and try not to beat myself up if I don’t meet a target goal. Meditating helps me focus and come up with story ideas. When I get ideas I write them down, and I revisit them often to see what might make more sense to me this time compared to last. I come up with ideas often. I write weekly. And I’m always working on the next project. Staying focused has become second nature. (Finally!)
 
You said in a recent radio interview that you had an epiphany in 2005 to “make your life work.” Can you tell us a little bit about how that impacted your life and your writing?
 
As a person, I was quiet and shy on the inside but a little loud and bold on the outside.  My inside and outside didn’t match. My epiphany was the realization that my life needed fine-tuning. I needed to make my life work. I wasn’t sure what that meant but I was so filled with joy that I started writing. I wrote every day. I wrote sweet rhyming poems about my husband and my children and everything in between. I wrote a funny poem about the Red Sox and it got published. I wrote a poem for a famous roadside lobster shack in Maine and sent it to them. A year later, the senior editor at Downeast magazine emailed me to ask if they could put my poem in a book. It was at that moment I revisited an old dream of mine. A “knowing” that had been told to me when I was a young mother. “Someday you will write children’s books.” Just like that. I know it sounds crazy but that is exactly how it happened for me.
 
I joined SCBWI, read books on writing for children, read blogs and turned to social media to see what other authors were doing. I was welcomed into my critique group. I felt like a duck out of water but forced myself to keep at it no matter what. My new self was blossoming and I needed to find where it might take me. So, thanks girls for believing in me when I wasn’t sure I believed in myself!           
 
I know that you are a member of SCBWI and participate in an SCBWI critique group. How does peer feedback factor into your writing process?
 
My peer feedback is essential to my writing. They offer up all their years of knowledge and expertise. So, from having zero books to self-publishing two children’s books, you can say they are my lifeline.
 
I get so much more than I can give. I’m still in awe of the fact that they have welcomed me into the group. We all come to this wondrous world of writing with many different backgrounds. Some have been writing for 10 years while others have been writing as far back as they can remember. But we all have something of value to offer.
 
Which picture book writers have inspired you and your creative work?
 
As a young mother reading to my own children, we loved Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss, and anything that rhymed. For whatever reason, it’s rhyming that I write and love. It’s comfortable. It’s like putting a puzzle together—you have to make the pieces fit.
 
What advice do you have for beginning writers?
 
Read, read, read. Join SCBWI, go to conferences, listen and learn. Know that everyone has his/her own special voice in which to tell a story. But most of all, remember there’s room for everyone. Stay positive, work hard, believe in yourself and never look back!
 
Find out more about Donna Mae at www.donnamaeauthor.com.
 

Donna will be back later this spring to talk about book videos and trailers and other forms of book promotion. Check out her MARSHMALLOWS GALORE video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F7AMRRsRCc