5 Quick Reasons Why Reading Connects You with Literary Agents, Authors, and Editors

If you’re planning to attend a local event, regional gathering, or even an international publishing conference, I strongly urge you to READ! Reading the faculty members’ books prior to the event will give you more bang for your buck!

Connecting with Authors and Attendees: Reading select books in advance is a great way to connect with what is said in the keynote speeches and breakout sessions, and it provides a common ground with fellow attendees. 

Connecting with Agents: Read books written by the agents' clients - especially the agents whom you'd like to connect with. Reading an agent's clients' books is a great starting point to vet if an agent might be a good fit for you. You'll get a sense of their taste, and you might see the agent acknowledged in the back of the book. Furthermore, reading an agent's clients book offers material for nice conversation starters. If you like the agent, another step to vet them is by checking out what they're looking for on their manuscript wish list at #MSWL. 

Connecting with Editors: Furthermore, read books the editors on the faculty have worked on. Get to know an editor's taste and style. When you land in an elevator or bump into an editor at a conference-sponsored coffee or cocktail party, you'll have something authentic to talk about that is "them" focused.

I’ve been to dozens of SCBWI conferences. Every year, I’m thankful I did my self-imposed homework—it's worth the effort. 

Here are the top five reasons reading books written/edited/or agented by conference faculty will give you a RICHER, MORE TEXTURED conference experience:

Mem Fox reading to the audience! 

1.      You'll enjoy keynotes on a deeper level, because you’ve already crawled inside the author’s

head. Instead of looking at a stranger standing at the podium, you’ll feel like you’re listening to a friend. When a speaker refers to their book in a keynote or break-out session, you’ll be connected and understand the “inside” jokes and references. Do you have to read books before coming—No. Do the speeches feel more engaging and meaningful if you do—Absolutely, yes!

2.      You have conversation starters and a better opportunity to connect with the faculty, not to mention connecting with fellow attendees. I can't tell you how many times I've turned a stranger into a friend, because we both gushed over a faculty member's book. 

Reading your way to lasting friendships!

3.      You look like a professional. Reading the work of relevant speakers shows that you care about what’s happening in the publishing industry. You show that you are a good literary citizen. Furthermore, it’s a great way to vet which publishing professionals might be a good fit for you. Other ways to stay on top of what's happening in the publishing industry is subscribing to a free weekly update in Publisher's Lunch (by Publisher's Marketplace).

4.      You get exposed to books and genres you may not have considered—this helps rev-up the creative juices. Who knows - perhaps your own work will benefit.

5.      Great writers are readers first! 

Thirteen Reasons to Continue Pursuing Your Dreams

Lucky elephant can be purchased here

Have you spent years chasing the dream of seeing your book published?  2013 is NOT the year to give up; it's the year to rev up!

If you've tried to hook an agent or an editor without traction, don't take this as a sign to close shop and give up.  Instead take it as an invitation to try things in a different manner.

PART ONE: ideas on how you can get out the rut that has left you without a book deal;
PART TWO: thirteen motivational quotes on determination.

Consider adding the following to your arsenal of ideas:

• Join or start a critiquing group. You can start slow and join one of the many online critiquing groups, or you can take out an ad in a trade publication; 
• Attend a writer's conference.  The SCBWI offers local and international conferences for children's book writers. Mystery writers can enjoy a conference offered by MWA,  and Romance writers as well as many other genre specific writers can experience a great event through Writer's Digest annual conference;
• Participate in schmoozes.  Many writer's organizations offer free monthly or quarterly schmoozes.  Topics include: creating compelling characters; writing query letters; first pages; etc.;
• Read more books in your genre.  If you want to write books for middle grade readers, read more books in that genre;  
• Ask your local librarian what needs are not being fulfilled; 
• Read a current craft book;
• Attend a workshop; 
• Visit professional help sites like Dryden Books or The Purple Crayon to possibly engage in one of their service offerings; 
• Participate in a webinar.  Travel is expensive, whereas a webinar is an event in which you can participate from the comfort of your living room.  Google "writer's webinars" to find current listings;
• Subscribe to a trade magazine to keep your creativity juices pumping;
• Get business savvy and read blogs as well as Do's and Don't's Lists. There are a lot of blogs on how to write a query letter.  Make sure your query letter follows guidelines. Make sure your manuscript is professionally formatted and ensure your word count is appropriate for the genre (i.e. I doubt a publisher would consider a 3000 word picture book when the word count limit is generally 500-1000 words max);
• Participate in events to keep ideas fresh. For example you can visit Julie Hedlund's blog and learn how to participate in her 12x12 event for picture book writers.  Here you will receive critiques and attention from some of the top agents in the industry;
• Participate in online chat groups centered around your writing interest. Twitter offers great forums like #kidlitchat , #yalitchat and #indiechat. You simply set up a Twitter account, and enter #kidlitchat in the search to see when the chat groups meets (the kid lit group meets on Tuesday evenings at 6pm Pacific Time and 9 PM Eastern Standard Time);



Read books in your genre

• Don't give up. I can't believe that a dream would be placed in your heart if you were not meant to pursue it, so read the "perseverance" quotes below and stay motivated. This is your year!   

Participate in Julie Hedlund's event 12x12!!!

1.    Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. - Newt Gingrich

2.    Others can stop you temporarily - you are the only one who can do it permanently. - Zig Ziglar

3.   Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

4.      The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination.
- Tommy Lasorda

5.      The difference in winning and losing is most often not quitting. - Walt Disney

6.      The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it. - C C Scott

7.      Constant dripping hollows out a stone. - Lucretius

8.      It's hard to beat a person that never gives up. - Babe Ruth

9.      The train to success usually runs on the track of determination. - Poh Yu Khing 

10.  If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you do not, you have achieved half your failure. - David Ambrose

11.    You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. - Margaret Thatcher

12.  You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction. - George Lorimer

13. J.K. Rowling had twelve rejections, but she persevered…it’s when she tried her thirteenth  publishing house that she got her yes!

Highlights Believes in Picture Books

Here is information received via email from Highlights...they asked that I share

The New York Times featured an article by Arts Beat columnist, Julie Bosman, entitled "Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children," which sparked a national debate as to whether or not the picture book was going the way of the dinosaur. Within hours of print, and continuing for months, experts in the field of children's literature unleashed an assault on the idea of the death of this "institution."

"They [picture books] move from what children already know to what they need to learn." –Anita Silvey, author of Children's Book-a-Day Almanac

"Picture books offer care [givers] a way of slowing down and helping children toward deeper ways of seeing, sensing and feeling. They can be funny, they can be sad; they can be provocative, they can be scary; but what all of the best picture books offer is the opportunity for a particular way of relating: yes, there is the story; but there is also the precious chance for the child to enjoy the adult's attention: to talk about the pictures and how they make him feel; to turn the pages backwards as well as forwards; to get to know the characters through the way they are represented in art as well as the way they are described in words." –Tessa Strickland, Founder of Barefoot Books Publishing

"At their best, nonfiction picture books are bite-sized slices of truth. Their focus is tight. What inspired one record breaking athlete to rise from asthma patient to the gold medal podium at the Olympics? How did one of the most usual species of birds go from filling the skies to almost extinct and how can we fight to save them? Nonfiction picture books ask children these kinds of questions with both words and pictures, inviting a child to piece together their own story. They inspire children not only to find answers but to ask their own questions." –Tami Lewis Brown, author of Soar, Elinor!

". . . what greater gift can we give our children than to open the door to words and pictures? What greater gift than to show them the power and wonder of imagination, which keeps us company in the loneliest and darkest of hours–and is there for all the good times, too. I believe in imagination, and I believe in picture books." –Holly M. McGhee, President of Pippin Properties

The picture book is a beloved classic. It is not only a "staple" for children but also a favorable market for writers. Our 2012 line-up champions the picture-book form as well.From Prose to Pictures to Published: The Process of Writing a Picture Book
September 6-September 9, 2012

Workshop Leaders: Candace Fleming, Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Special Guests: Eric Rohmann, Melanie Hall

The Power of a Picture Book
September 9-September 12, 2012

Workshop Leader: Deborah Underwood
Special Guests: Kate O'Sullivan, Steve Metzger

Writing for Little Eyes and Little Ears
Read-Alouds for Early Learners
September 9-September 13, 2012

Workshop Leader: Barbara Jean Hicks
Special Guests: Suzanne Bloom, Steve Metzger

The Brilliant Dummy
Creating a Picture-Book Dummy for Submission
November 8-November 11, 2012

Workshop Leaders: Lindsay Barrett George, Judy Schachner
Other workshops of interest for picture book writers include:Writing from the Heart
June 17-June 24, 2012

Workshop Leaders: Joy Cowley, Jillian Sullivan, Christine French Cully, Lori Ries
Special Guests: Kathleen Hayes, Alyssa Capucilli, Patricia Lee Gauch, Suzanne Bloom, Tim Gillner, Bernette Ford

Fiction Writing for Children and Young Adults
June 24-July 1, 2012

Workshop Leaders: Patricia Lee Gauch, Jillian Sullivan, David Richardson, Robert J. Blake
Special Guests: Joy Cowley, Peter P. Jacobi, Abby McAden, Nancy Mercado, Holly McGhee

Nonfiction Writing for Children and Young Adults
July 15-July 22, 2012

Workshop Leaders: Peter P. Jacobi, Candace Fleming, Larry Dane Brimner, Lionel Bender, Stephen R. Swinburne
Special Guests: Carolyn P. Yoder, Laurence Pringle

Advanced Illustrators Workshop
August 30-September 3, 2012

Workshop Leaders: Floyd Cooper, Eric Rohmann, Kelly Ann Murphy, Ruth Sanderson

Books That Rise Above
A Children's Books Colloquium
October 5-October 7, 2012

Workshop Leaders: Patricia Lee Gauch, Linda Sue Park, Leonard Marcus, Deborah Heiligman, Elizabeth Bird

A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Book Publishing
November 2-November 4, 2012

Workshop Leader: Clay Winters
Special Guests: Bobbie Combs, Katie Davis, Harold Underdown, Neil Waldman

For more information about a workshop or to request an application, please visit our website, or contact Jo Lloyd at 570-253-1192 or Jo.Lloyd@highlightsfoundation.org.

Please feel free to share this e-mail with others who might have an interest, or to include the information in blog posts or through other social networking forums.

The Highlights Foundation is a public, not-for-profit 501©3 organization. We dedicate our efforts to connecting, nurturing, and inspiring children's book writers and illustrators.

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Highlights Foundation, Inc.
814 Court Street
Honesdale, PA 18431
Phone: (570) 251-4500
E-mail: contact@highlightsfoundation.org
www.highlightsfoundation.org