This past Saturday I attended a fabulous conference — the annual SCBWI Prairie Writer’s and Illustrator’s Day at Harper College in Palatine, IL. (Okay, I might be slightly biased because I’m on the conference planning committee, but all the attendees I spoke with were thrilled with the event!)
The theme of this inspiring one-day conference was “Opening Doors.” SCBWI Illinois Co-Regional Advisor, Debbie Topolski started off the day in her own exciting way — with clever “Knock-Knocks”, “Ding-Dongs”, and “Slams!”
So I thought I’d open up a door for Picture Book Builders and share a few memorable quotes and tips from some of the fabulous conference presenters.
Faculty Panel
2017 faculty with PWID committee
Joe Cepeda, Author/Illustrator extraordinaire (who started off the day with an inspiring keynote):
“The quicker you run to research, the quicker you run from pure invention. Defer to pure invention first.”
“Are you willing to let go, be free, and let the story sweep you away?”
“Are we willing to listen to what is uncomfortable?”
Joe Cepeda
Caitlyn Dlouhy, Vice President, Editorial Director, Caitlyn Dlouhy Books:
“If something is clunky, not smooth, or forced in your manuscript it usually means you’ve lost your Voice.”
“You don’t have to worry about your character if you have your voice.”
“I’ll get goosebumps if the voice is great,”
Caitlyn Dlouhy
Alex Arnold, editor at Katherine Tegen Books:
“The willingness to revise & a spirit of collaboration is key to a successful book.”
“The magic of reconstruction can only happen if you’re open to it.”
“If the voice has pulled me in from the 1st page, I’m going to want to fight for the book.”
Alex Arnold
Kelly Delaney is an Associate Editor at Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers:
“1st draft is for the writer, 2nd draft is for the editor and the 3rd draft is for the reader.”
“Revision is not an attack on your book.”
“Your hero is only as strong as the villain he/she overcomes.”
Kelly Delaney
Susan Hawk, agent at Upstart Crow
“Make yourself stand out — agents read thousands of queries.”
“There’s the writer part of you and the business part of you…and you have to keep both parts alive.”
“The Universal experience is felt through the specific. Small particular moments.”
Susan Hawk
Tanusri Prasanna, agent at Foundry Literary + Media
“Diversity should matter to everyone.”
“37% of US population are people of color. 11% of Kidlit in last 2 decades features multicultural content.”
“Diversity in children’s books is very personal to me.”
Tanusri Prasanna
Hannah Ehrlich, Director of Marketing and Publicity at Lee & Low Books
“Even when a book is needed, it still takes work to find it’s audience.”
“Someone is out there to advocate for your book. It’s all about getting your book into the right hands.”
“Create a great 1-liner about your book.”
Hannah Ehrlich
AND Hannah also shared one other helpful marketing tip: Revise/reuse content for different media platforms. So that’s what I did! This post contains some of my favorite quotes from the conference.
Hopefully one (or more) will be just the right key to open a new door for you!
Debbie Topolski, Alex Willan (Illus. Contest winner), and Darcy Zoells
Janet McDonnell and Lisa Bierman
Throughout the day I heard many wonderful comments about two faculty: Merial Cornell, owner and founder of Cornell & Company who represents illustrators and author/illustrators, and Karen Kohn, Senior Art Director for Cricket Magazine. They spent most of their time providing individual feedback to artists on their portfolios. Unfortunately,I didn’t hear their insights to share.
Merial Cornell
Karen Kohn
PS Hope to see you at next year’s Prairie Writer’s & Illustrator’s Day!
Photo Credits: The fabulous Terri Murphy and Anitra Rowe Schulte
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Thanks for sharing these great quotes and your experience!
And thanks for stopping by Tina! Glad you enjoyed the quotes.
Thank you for sharing these wonderful pearls of wisdom with the rest of us. Wish I could have been there!
Maybe next year. We need to catch up! I want to hear about all your new projects in the works!
Thank you! Loved this peek inside the conference and the inspirational quotes!
So happy you found the quotes helpful! (And thanks for the lovely note you mailed!)
Love this – your post shines a nice spotlight on this conference with the inspiring quotes!
Thanks. There was so much more I wanted to share, but only had a day of turn-around after conference. Glad you enjoyed it!
Sounds like an inspiring conference, Suzanne. Thanks for sharing some of it!
It was inspiring. Conferences are a heap of fun. Always good to get away from the desk for awhile!
Thank you for sharing such inspiring and wisdom-filled quotes from the conference!
I’ve attended this once. I’d love to go again!
I was fortunate enough to attend this great day! And it was as fabulous as you described!! I learned a ton! Thanks for your great planning!
So glad you were there Kris and enjoyed the day! Wish we could have met. Maybe next time!
This is such a beautifully run event with a kick-ass team!! Looks like you did it again. Thanks so much for sharing these nuggets with us!
Thank you for sharing. Great quotes.
THANK YOU FOR THE QUOTES, SUZANNE!
I’LL LOOK FOR THIS SCBWI CONFERENCE NEXT YEAR!!
I’d love to see you there Mary! Hope you can make it. (It will either be the last weekend of Oct. or 2nd weekend of Nov.)
That sounds like so much fun! And inspiration! Thanks for including us. 🙂
Wow! Sounds like a fantastic day! Thank you for the synopsis. Hope to join you all there someday.
I was there! And it was wonderful!
Thanks for sharing your conference with all of us, Suzanne. SCBWI conferences rock!!!
Wow! Great job, Suzanne! It looks and sounds like a huge hit!