I Went For A Book Walk Last Weekend Part 2

Truthfully, it's been a couple of weekends now. 

The Struggle To Sell

Events like the book walk organized by Nutmeg Lit Fest last month are all about bringing readers and books together. Which sounds very nice. What they're really about is money, which doesn't sound as nice. We are talking about marketing books. Whether you are a self-published or traditionally published author, marketing is difficult. In large part this is due to the 2 million books that are published each year, which I mentioned last time. There are nowhere near enough readers to read all those books. In fact, as I also mentioned, eighty percent of those books will sell fewer than 100 copies.

Given those facts, being able to sell more than 100 copies of a book becomes a major achievement. But what about some other figures?

A Traditionally Published Author

Hal Johnson sketching in my book

I met Hal Johnson, the author of  Impossible Histories, published by a Macmillan imprint, at the book walk. He was one of two traditionally published authors I talked to, though there may have been more there. In our conversation, Johnson said that he took part in events like this one because traditional publishers don't do much marketing anymore. This is something I hear a lot to the point that I'd almost call it common knowledge now. But I don't really know what it means, because it's been so long since I've had a book published, myself.

Back in my day, boys and girls, marketing from traditional publishers involved:

• Sending arcs of your books to professional review sites
• Including your books in their seasonal catalogs
• Maybe taking your book to teacher and library conferences 
• If your book received a certain number of starred reviews, you'd get an advertisement in a professional publication of some sort
• The Hero of Ticonderoga was included in a one of those box displays in bookstores, but I can't remember why.

Are traditional publishers doing less of the above now? Or does the above have less impact because of the overwhelming number of books out there? 

It doesn't matter, of course. The end result is the same. It's hard to sell traditionally published books.

My husband and I used to think that handselling like we saw at the book walk didn't matter, because the number of books you'd sell would be so small, it couldn't have an impact. But, remember, eighty percent of books published sell fewer than 100 copies. You want to sell more than 100 copies to get into the twenty percent! That seems doable by making the effort to handsell at events like this. Remember, someone told me at this book walk that s/he had sold 200 copies of a book in a few months. 

But what about the income involved, Gail? For a number of years, conventional wisdom claimed that most traditionally published books don't sell enough copies to earn back the author's advance, the advance being an advance against sales that traditional publishers pay authors upfront when they agree to publish a book. Recently (meaning just now) I've read that that isn't necessarily true. At any rate, the advance isn't the only money traditional publishers invest in books. They have to pay for:

• all editing, 
• layout and design, 
• interior artwork, if there is any, 
• cover illustrations, 
• design of the covers, 
• and all the marketing listed above. 

Will selling more than 100 books cover all that, making you look like a desirable risk your publisher might publish again? How many books do you have to sell to do that? Beats me.

The Self-Published Authors

Mike Jakubowski

Mike Jakubowski, author of The Kings of Beacon and Joey and the Ocean of Possiblities, was one of
the first authors I spoke to. I was drawn to his covers and learned that he had a friend who did the illustrations and another friend who did the design work for them. We agreed this was very significant, because the cost of self-publishing can get up there. 

In fact, that's why I always call self-published writers self-published and not independent. They have to bear the burden of finding people to do all the work described above that traditional publishers do for the books they publish, and they have to pay for it. Themselves. There are companies that will do that for writers, and I've seen costs for that going anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000. The companies I've read about didn't include a developmental editor, which is the most important and possibly the most expensive part of publishing.

But what about the income involved, Gail? You often see not having to share income with a publisher as being one of the benefits of self-publishing. But without a publisher, you don't have anyone to take on the financial risk of publishing. Authors have to pay for everything. Themselves. 

How many books do they have to sell to cover their expenses? Again, it beats me.

Gail Is Impressed

Yes, when I go to any of these book events, I am greatly impressed by the effort and ingenuity and expense the authors attending put into their marketing materials. 

I'm talking serious posters, for instance, such as the one that Greg Gilmartin had made of his book covers. In fact, glossy book cover posters are a very common thing. I still have a poster a book fair made of one of my covers, but it was some kind of digital printout glued to a poster board. In two decades things have improved. 

I saw table coverings like the one Hal Johnson had made printed with his book covers.

I try not to pick up bling at festivals, because I dabble in minimalism and environmentalism. So I don't have much of that to show. But we're not talking the Kinko's black and white bookmarks I handed out in schools back in the day or the business cards we made on our printer. We're talking about beautiful things. Lots of them printed on both sides!

Don't I sound as if I just came out of the hills?

What really freaks me out, though, are the canopies.

These writers often market outdoors, and in addition to lugging a fold-up table of some sort and a chair, they also have to carry canopies with them to protect them from the sun and, presumably, some light rain. 

Jordan Lopez has a canopy.

As does Kelly Jarvis.

 

And Sarah P. Blanchard.

 

One of 4 book walk stations.

As did most of the authors at the Wethersfield Book Walk. 

Now, I have a canopy on my deck. It's horrible to work with. The one we have now is only a year old, and we've already punched a hole in it. Dealing with canopies is not a minor task. These writers are putting in a lot of personal, physical work to market their books. 

I'm going to be honest. I don't want to say I'm too lazy to do this kind of thing, but I'm too lazy to do this kind of thing. I have cases of my out-of-print books and thought about trying to join an upcoming event just to sell off what I've got. But then I said, No. No, no, no.

There is at least one other group in Connecticut that organizes events for writers handselling their books. But this kind of thing is happening all over the country. Shopping for books in this way may be becoming as common as shopping in bookstores. Or on Amazon. 

I Went For A Book Walk Last Weekend Part 1

Last weekend I attended the Book Walk organized by Nutmeg Lit Fest in Wethersfield, Connecticut. A one-mile round trip walk on a ridiculously nice day.

Nutmeg Lit Fest is an organization that promotes its Connecticut writer members. Because many of those members are self-published, they may not get many opportunities for their books to be featured in bookstores. (Two million books are supposed to be published annually. Bookstores can't absorb all of them.) Self-published writers, then, have to rely on handselling. The Nutmeg Lit Fest Facebook group provides support for these writers, publicizing their events.

Additionally, Nutmeg Lit Fest's partners, among them Heidi Rocha (sorry I don't have the names of the others), organize events like Old Wethersfield Book Walk for its authors to meet the public and sell books in unique venues such as shopping areas with foot traffic or at town events. The writers bring some shoppers to the area, the area already has shoppers, and a sort of symbiotic/mutualism relationship is created. (No, I don't know much about biology. Let's think metaphorically here, okay?)

Heidi Rocha

There used to be a few traditional literary festivals in Connecticut, but they began disappearing even before the pandemic. We cannot blame the loss of the Connecticut Children's Book Fair on that. With book festivals. though, readers/shoppers still have to come to the books, just as they have to come to the books in bookstores. The Connecticut Children's Book Fair was successful, pulling in 2,000 people a weekend I was told once, but those were people interested in children's books and willing to make their way to the fair. The fair was in Storrs, home of the main University of Connecticut campus. No one has ever called Storrs a convenient location.

Something Different

One of at least 4 Book Walk stops

What Nutmeg Lit Fest does that is different is bring books to people instead of hoping people will come to the books. Last weekend that set-up worked very well.

The Authors Guild Bulletin includes a chapter called The Cruelty—and Possibilities— of 21st-Century Book Promotion by Michael Castleman (The Untold Story of Books). In it Castleman says that an average of 2 million books a year are published, as I've already mentioned. Eighty percent of those books, he says, including books from traditional publishers, will sell fewer than 100 copies, a figure I've seen before. 

Even if you subtract textbooks, which have a captive audience, from the 2 million yearly published books, we're still talking hundreds of thousands of books coming out every single year, piled up on top of what was published in years past. I don't know how many readers are out there, but I'm going to stick my head out that there aren't hundreds of thousands of them. All the regular readers who read multiple...or many... books a year, cannot read all the books that are being turned out.

On Saturday, one of the writers I spoke to said he (or she, I truly can't remember who it was) had sold 200 copies of a book in a few months. That didn't sound like much until I read Castleman's article yesterday and was reminded of the 100-copy figure. 

Which brings me back to Nutmeg Lit Fest and the something different it does. Because Nutmeg Lit Fest takes its authors out into the community, it is exposing its authors and their books to people in the community who may not be traditional readers who would go to a bookstore or a literary festival. 

To sell more books, you have to find more readers. You have to create readers who were not readers before. You don't do this in bookstores and literary festivals, which attract people who are already readers. You have to go where the nonreaders are.

Handselling Is A Lot Of Work

Back in my day, boys and girls, as a traditionally published writer I could rely on my publisher to do the bulk of my bookselling. I created a website, started blogging, marketed myself as a speaker to schools, and became involved with social media. It seemed like a lot to do at the time, especially when it is so difficult to determine your Return on Investment for any individual book marketing attempt. Except for situations like school appearances that might involve the school selling your books to students or even buying some, it's hard to tell which things you did that resulted in a sale.

The writers I've been seeing at the Nutmeg Lit Fest Facebook page (I'm a member) and at the two events it sponsored that I attended are doing a great deal more. I'll get into more of that in my next post.

What I will say for now is that in days of old, I had a network of sorts with children's writers in New England. These days I am building connections with writers in Connecticut. 

Gerald E. Augustine

I've met Gerald E. Augustine, author of Vietnam Beyond and the subject of Passion in Life, twice now. Same with Heidi Roche. There were at least two other authors at Saturday's event that I've met.

Wesleyan University Press

Wesleyan University Press, a Connecticut publisher, had a table at Saturday's event. Though this was my first contact with the organization, I used to know Susan Campbell, the author of a couple of the books it was featuring. 

Jennifer Regan-Lefebre

Another university press, University of California Press, published Jennifer Regan-Lefebre's book, Imperial Wine, which interested me because while I only drink cheap wine (but not that cheap) I am a sucker for history books, which is what Imperial Wine is. I had not met Jennifer before, but she is a historian, and I am a history reader. She's also a professor at Trinity College in Hartford, which, wouldn't you know it, I did not attend. But years ago, I'm talking maybe decades, I somehow managed to wrangle my way into a free essay symposium there. (I did something similar at UConn. I used to be shameless. Now I'm too lazy to do things like that.) Anyway, I feel connection, people. It takes very little for me to feel that. 

Next time I'll be covering other writers who appeared at Old Wethersfield Book Walk and discussing some of the marketing they're doing.

Still Another On-line Opportunity During The Covid Era

Late yesterday afternoon/early evening, I took part in a virtual literary salon organized by author Patricia Ann McNair in Chicago. Patty (Yes! I can call her Patty!) held the salon for students in two on-line workshops she led this summer through the Connecticut Literary Festival. I took her flash forms workshop, which was wonderful and which I will gush about here sometime in the future. 

Two other writers from Connecticut took part in yesterday's event, but there were also two from Michigan and one from Seattle. Another person may have been from the Chicago area. Never would I have been part of a group this widely dispersed under normal circumstances. For that matter, a salon would have had to be very nearby for me to consider leaving the house for one at all. Because you all know how I am.

Once again, for all the true chaos this flipping pandemic has caused, it continues to create some types of opportunities, opportunities that I hope will continue when we come out of the other side of this thing. 

This salon fell at 5 o'clock in my time zone, so I provided myself with a little charcuterie plate and white wine to create a serious literary experience in my cellar office. Turns out, though, no one else was eating at this thing.

Of course, that didn't stop me.

Report On Graphic Novels For Kids By Women

Gene Kannenberg, Jr., Director of ComicsResearch.org, did a presentation at last Wednesday night's  Gendered Publishing panel at UConn that had so much content that was new to me that I decided to give it its own post.

Unlike children's publishing, the comic book world that graphic novels grew out of was not dominated by women. In fact, Kannenberg said that it wasn't uncommon in days of old for women artists and colorists to get into comic books through the men in their lives, brothers or husbands who were already working for a comic book publisher.

The Graphic Women And Their Work

Marie Severin has great historic significance because she started working in comics in the 1950s and was with Marvel from the 1960s until 1996. She doesn't appear to have moved specifically into children's literature, though she was involved with the artwork for 25 of the 26 Muppet Babies comics, which would certainly seem to have been directed toward children. She was also involved with the Not Brand Echh series, which I remember.

Trina Robbins began as an underground cartoonist, according to Kannenberg. She moved to Marvel, also, working on comics aimed at young girls. She was one of the first cartoonists to do comic graphic novel adaptations. It appears that Robbins is also writing YA graphic novels with other artists doing the graphic element.

Francoise Mouly put in time at Marvel, too, starting out as a colorist. Kannenberg says she used her earnings to buy a press and start RAW, a comics anthology, with Art Spiegelman. While art editor of the New Yorker (a position I believe she still has), she and Spiegelman produced the Little Lit series for Harper Collins, and five years ago, she started TOON Books, which produces graphic novels for younger readers.

Guess what? Jill Thompson has worked for Marvel, too. She's also hit a number of other comics publishers, working on both Wonder Woman and Neil Gaiman's Sandman for DC. Her work specifically for children is The Scary Godmother, the first in a series.

Linda Medley is more of a DC person. She has written and illustrated a whole series of Castle Waiting books that have a fairy tale thing going on, though I can't tell if they're specifically for children. She's also supposed to have done some rewrites of the Wizard of Oz books.

Update 10/23/13: A Castle Waiting fan from Google+, Amitha Knight, describes these books as being for upper YA to adult readers. "Fairy tales with a feminist angle."

Raina Telgemeier may be the best known of this group to those of us in children's literature because of her book, Smile. She's also adapted four books from The Baby-sitters Club series. Interesting point--She's the first of the women Kannenberg discussed who not only didn't have Marvel experience, she doesn't appear to have traditional comic book history at all.

Colleen A.F. Venable is a book designer for First Second Books, and has written a series of children's books. Again, this is a graphic artist who doesn't seem to have come out of the comic book publishing companies.

What, If Anything, Have We Learned?

• Since attending last week's panel discussion, I've wondered if male comic book artists have also moved into children's books. 
• Women (and probably men, too) appear now to be able to work with graphic novels for children without having first put in time with traditional comic publishing companies.

It Was Like The Running Of The Brides--For Books

I did my literary thing today by attending the Welles Turner Memorial Library's Fall Book Sale.

Holy Moses.

I've gone to this thing other years, but clearly not within twenty minutes of the start of the sale, as I did today. I was able to find parking fairly easily, but realized immediately that I was woefully unprepared for this shopping experience. I was seeing people arrive and leave with their own shopping bags. I carry reusable shopping bags in my car, but I only had one today because, to be honest, I'm not good about unloading nonperishables and most of my bags are on the floor of my pantry filled with canned goods.

So I was starting the day at a disadvantage because everyone else there had planned for serious hunting and gathering. There were people there with every kind of canvas bag, duffel bags, boxes, and those little pull behind you shopping carts you see elderly people using. It was incredible.

The books were organized on tables according to genre. Getting to the tables was a problem. People were mannerly and pleasant, but it was shoulder-to-shoulder there. I was there to buy paperbacks for one of our elders, and the salespeople didn't have a table specifically marked "Elderly Lady Books." For whatever reason, the Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel paperbacks were mixed in with the mysteries. I'm trying to keep a list of the books our elder has read, by author, on my iPhone, so I was there in that crowd with my purse and my rapidly filling shopping bag, trying to cross check titles.

As it turns out, I wasn't the only person there doing that. I met a Nora Roberts fan, and when I asked her if she has trouble keeping track of what she's read without a list, she whipped one out.

I also saw a young man buy a duffel bag full of older books on the world's religions and older classics like Candide. It was like watching a character from a movie, that young student who buys his books used. There was also someone who appeared to be buying up books and stacking them on the sidewalk near the street, as if getting them ready to be loaded into a passing vehicle. A dealer, perhaps?

It was an exciting event, and I hope I have enough  books to keep our family member until Thanksgiving, at least. She was delighted to go through the bag when I saw her later, picking out a couple of titles to keep right away.

I noticed that at the smaller book sale I attend at my own town's library, I have better luck at stumbling upon mainstream fiction for myself, things that jump off the table and say, "Take me home, Gail." Not so much of that, today, though I did pick up a very nice hardback copy of Canada by Richard Ford (for a dollar!) and what looks to be an obscure Ruth Rendell, which will be staying with me.

Now I must rest.

Can I Make Myself Comfortable Without Forcing Myself To Change?

My Facebook wall lit up today over The Atlantic essay Introverted Kids Need to Learn to Speak Up at School. It could have been called "Buck Up, Kiddos!"  The essay is very short and doesn't get into much depth. It's made me want to seek out Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain, which I read about last year.

I have no knowledge of research or science behind introversion and extroversion, only the same kind of anecdotal experience that my Facebook friends write about. I have two thoughts here:

1. Introversion may lead some of us self-identified introverts to behave in over-the-top, "out there" ways in some social and professional situations in which we have to function outside our comfort zone. We don't know how to be "on." We can only behave in ways that we think are "on." As a result, many people may be surprised that this person or that one believes themselves to be introverted because they often appear rather mouthy and loud.

2. Introversion may be relative. I think it's safe to say that three of the four members of my very immediate family identify as introverted. We believed the fourth was an extrovert. For, myself, it was marvelous to think that one of us had escaped what I obviously feel is a difficult personality issue. However, at one point it became clear that his friends didn't see him as an extrovert. His friends saw him as introverted, his family saw him as extroverted. He didn't necessarily behave any differently with one group than the other. I think it was more a matter of where those groups fell on the introversion/extroversion scale.

I do not think that introversion is something about myself that I need to change. I do, however, work on making myself comfortable in bigger, extroverted world situations, on the theory that if I'm comfortable, I'll function better. Just this past week, I managed to split my registration for a conference at which I'll be speaking this spring. I'm teaching on the Friday afternoon of a three-day conference at a site only about an hour from my home. The prospect of having to be with hundreds of people 24-hours a day for 3 days was filling me with anxiety. As it turned out, there wasn't even much being offered on the second day of the conference that I was interested in, though I did want to take part in a 3-hour workshop on Sunday. In terms of time, staying for the whole weekend would have been wasteful. I have family issues I could deal with at home on Saturday and nothing really to gain in terms of conference content if I stayed. So I arranged to teach my workshop on Friday, attend Friday evening social (extrovert!) events, stay over, head home Saturday morning and come back Sunday morning. We're talking a couple of extra hours of driving. For an introvert, that is nowhere near as exhausting as having to struggle to be on for an extra 24 hours with strangers and near strangers.

Now, once again, we may be talking a relativity situation here. Extroverts (like the teacher who wrote The Atlantic essay) could very well say that I've allowed my introversion to deny me some professional networking time. I suspect many introverts would say that networking is highly overrated and that I have come up with a way to give myself my best chance of a successful weekend by slipping myself into and out of Extrovert World.

Needless to say, I'll be blogging about how this goes come May. I'm also hoping to read Quiet at some point.

Connecticut Winter Workshop For Writers And Illustrators

The Shoreline Arts Alliance, home to the Tassy Walden Awards, is sponsoring a one-day workshop for writers and illustrators on January 12th. That's only a little over two weeks away. Note that the deadline for registration is next Wednesday, January 2nd. There will be two morning workshops and a networking luncheon as well, as an optional afternoon prep workshop for people interested in preparing manuscripts or portfolios to submit for the Tassy Walden Award.

The day starts at 8:30 AM, costs $65, and will be held at the Guest House Retreat & Conference Center in Chester, Connecticut.

Among the workshop presenters are Lynda Mullaly Hunt and A.C.E. Bauer. I actually know Lynda and have met Alice. In fact, I may have met other writer/presenters for that workshop and apologize, if I've forgotten.

If this isn't the first Connecticut writers' conference of the year, it's very close.

Gail "Goes" To WriteOnCon

This year's WriteOnCon was held August 14th and 15th. The beauty of this free, on-line, children's writers' conference is that you can still access most of the events. I, for instance, just finished up doing everything I wanted to do this past Monday. Most of the presentations were shorter than you'd see at traditional conferences, which is not a bad thing. There were a lot of newish agents and some talk of newish things.You can just access the full schedule and pick and choose what you want to do.

Some of the high-points for me:

Tips for Starting a New Project with Marissa Meyer. I think what she's actually talking about here is getting your plot down.

The Importance of Craft by Molly O'Neill. This is an essay. It was actually the first thing I read/saw at the conference. The significance of craft to writing seems so obvious, but with the explosion of interest in marketing and self-publishing, you can easily get the impression that some people aren't focusing on it.

Plotting With 3 x 5 Cards with Kimberly Griffiths Little. Yeah, she was talking about plotting, too. Both Meyer and Little talked about scenes, something I'm going to pay more attention to in the future during pre-writing/plotting. I actually tried to get started on a new project with index cards a year or so ago, but got diverted into other projects. I'm willing to try this again and see if some variation will work for me.

Blogging Pet Peeves with Lenore Appelhans and Phoebe North had some clever stuff I think my blogging readers will enjoy. Personally, I think all the things they were talking about are cliches, but they're probably nicer than I am.

Building Characters Into Real People with Frank Cole. I stuck with this vlog at first because I was kind of mesmerized by the way Cole rocked by and forth in his chair and seemed to throw his whole body into his talk. In addition to that, though, he did a good job of organizing his presentation by doing an intro in which he told us what he was going to tell us. And, in the body of what was almost like an oral essay, he made some excellent points about characters' ages and the difference between a scenario and a reaction to that scenario.

I also heard or saw some talk of new adult books. This isn't a particularly new concept. I've been hearing things about a specific category for books marketed for readers in their late teens/early twenties for a number of years. I have a feeling after what I saw at WriteOnCon that perhaps there has been some movement in that area.

Okay, now I have had a chance to share my WriteOnCon experience, and after transferring a few notes to my journal, I can toss my notes, thus clearing my desk. Good job done, Gail!

Launch Party For "One For The Murphys"

It turns out that book launch parties are fun events, at least for guests  who don't have to plan or run the show. Lynda Mullaly Hunt threw a party last night for the publication of her first book One for the Murphys. Get a load of the crowd who turned up.

Since Lynda and I live in the same town, we know some of the same people. And, it turns out, we have some of the same Facebook friends. I had a grand old time going from person to person, being perfectly appalling by commenting on my real world acquaintances' tans and how great they looked because, living almost totally in my cellar, as I do, I hadn't seen many of them in a long time. (It's supposed to be rude to comment on someone's appearance. In my experience, no one objects to being told they look good. If any of you meet me in the flesh, by all means, feel free to tell me I look fantastic. Perhaps far better than you expected, even.) Some of you may remember that last year I came up with this idea for meeting and greeting at professional events that involved going up to people and saying, "Gee, you look familiar. Do I know you?" Well, I was doing it all over the place last night, because there were people there who did look familiar to me. And I did know them. One way or another, at least. With Facebook people I was going, "Hey, do we know each other on Facebook?" And there were three people there I did know from Facebook.

A great time. Great time.

Ah, but the launch party wasn't all about me having a good time. This picture of author/host Lynda Mullaly Hunt shows her in a pensive moment. A still picture (especially one I've taken) can't portray how  comfortable she appears to be speaking in front of a group or convey that she's an excellent story teller. Part of being a good story teller is being able to recognize a good story, and she had at least three excellent ones last night that she told very well.

So One for the Murphys is now out in the world. Lynda is working on her next book.

For another Murphy Launch Party write up, and better pictures, check out Liz Goulet Dubois' Chat Rabbit

I'm Not Going To Fixate On Insignificant Details, I'm Not Going To Fixate On Insignficant Details

In Camp, A Harness, Entrapment, And Friends, author Jo Knowles writes about her experience at this weekend's NESCBWI Conference. So what do I want to dwell on in that entire post? Her mention of Adrian Mole. It was all I could do not to post a comment and say something like, "Hey, Jo, did you notice how much Bridget Jones is like Adrian Mole? And you know Adrian Mole came first, right? At least the teenage books? What do you think of that?"

But I controlled myself because that was not at all what Jo's post was actually about. I am capable of paying attention and getting the big picture. Or, at least, I'm capable of pretending I am.

By the way, I've read somewhere in the last few years that Helen Fielding has said Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole was, indeed, an influence on Bridget. Though I don't recall where now.

A Computer Guy Went Into A Writers' Conference And...

Well, I dragged my computer guy to the last day of this year's NESCBWI Conference, and we both survived to tell the tale. Though I, of course, am the one who is telling it.

We arrived in time for him to become properly caffeinated, and then hit the It's a Great Time for Nonfiction panel. Though he was suitably impressed with the achievements of the panelists, Elizabeth Partridge, Tanya Lee Stone, and Susan Campbell Bartoletti, as well as with their commitment to research, what really struck him was the similarity between the panel and one he saw when he attended a Twilight Zone Convention a few years back. Do not laugh. I, too, have noted the similarities between that Twilight Zone Convention and literary events I've attended.

Next, we hit Making E-books From Scratch: How to Stop Worrying and Love HTML with Brendan Gannon. Computer Guy already loves HTML, but this session was why he was at the conference. No way I was going to that by myself. Ten minutes in, I turned to him and whispered, "I'm already lost." CG, however, was tres, tres excited. He kept muttering, "This is huge. This is huge." At first I was afraid he meant, "This is huge" as in "There's a huge meteor coming right toward us. We have to run." But, no, he meant, "This is huge" as in "This is a huge and wonderful concept." He came away happy. This made me happy.

After lunch, we met John Bell of Oz and Ends in the flesh. I've sort of known him in a noncorporeal way for years, and I'm not just making that up, since he recognized my name when I introduced myself. Or he was most charming and gracious and just said he did.

After lunch, we hit the bookstore where I bought of copy of One Continuous Mistake by Gail Sher, which looks very zenny, and you know what a sucker I am for that kind of thing. Computer Guy was very taken with When Rain Falls by Melissa Stewart and got a copy for a family member.

Then, who do we see but Lynda Mullaly Hunt, doing her second signing for her debut book? I was quite at a loss at what to talk to her about, since we usually meet at Stop & Shop. So I took her picture, along with Mitali Perkins, who was also signing today. Computer Guy already knows Lynda and felt as if he knew Mitali since he is this blog's keeper, and over the years Mitali has been mentioned or commented here.

Aaaaand I saw and hugged Susannah Richards. Computer Guy missed that.

Finally, we finished up the day with a research session conducted by Ann Malaspina and Joan Axelrod-Contrada.  They said something interesting about managing time, so I'm going to be contacting them to see if they'll elaborate on that for a Time Management Tuesday post.

CG says he'll go back to the conference next year, but only if they have another session relating to computer code. It could happen.

Kadir Nelson At The Eric Carle

I was catching up on reading NESCBWI newsletters yesterday and learned that from February 7 through June 10 Kadir Nelson's artwork for We Are The Ship will be on exhibit at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts. Scroll down on the Carle's Programs & Events page, and you'll see that there will be an Opening Reception for museum members and, on February 19th, a gallery tour with Nelson, himself. (Free with museum admission!)

We Are The Ship is a beautiful book, and I am very happy Nelson's artwork will be on exhibit on March 10th, when I'll be at the Carle for a NESCBWI's event.

M.T. Anderson In Willi

M.T. Anderson will be speaking this Tuesday at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Connecticut. The presentation and book signing will be held at the Student Union Theater from 5:30 to 7:00.

Evidently Anderson is doing a three-day residency at Eastern this week.

A Little Catching Up

I nearly missed a couple of events.

The Connecticut Children's Book Fair is this weekend. I had hoped to go see Jack D. Ferraiolo on Sunday, but that's not going to happen. Others should go to the Fair, though. Either day. Any time.

The nomination period for The Cybils is over for this year. When I have more time, I'll go over the nominated titles. If you have time, do it now.

I Just Love Getting Out Of The House

I don't know of anyone who appreciates a trip out for any kind of professional event as much as I do. I mean, any kind of event at all.

Today I went to what I guess I'd describe as an author luncheon/book talk at Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut. Yeah, it's located at the corner after Mystic Pizza. Oh, my goodness! If you look at the store's page Author Events, you'll see a photo entitled "A store full of children's authors and illustrators." That's me right in front. Sigh. I think I've lost one of those bracelets. And it belonged to Grandma Gauthier, too. My father gave it to her. How awful is that?

Well, let's think about pleasanter things, shall we?

The author I had lunch with today was Dawn Tripp, and the book she has just published is Game of Secrets. I had never heard of Dawn before last week. I found out she was going to be at Bank Square Books because I'm on the store's e-mail list. I've been wanting to hit one of its author lunch events, Game of Secrets sounded interesting, and this week worked for me because by last night I was paragraphs...paragraphs, I tell you...from the end of a complete draft of The Fletcher Farm Body.

Clearly, this was one of those deals in which I was called to be in that store with that author. Dawn Tripp can speak about what she does in an informal situation with great ease and eloquence. Perhaps this is because she has experience teaching writing. I just know I would have been frantic in her situation because I didn't have a PowerPoint presentation with me.

What was so wonderful about hearing Dawn talk about her writing process was that she writes in a more leisurely manner than many of the writers I read about or hear speak. Perhaps it's because she comes from a more literary tradition or because she writes for adults. I do not know. I just know that she took five years on this book. It's not unheard of for her to stop working on a project for a month during which time she reads. She doesn't work through to the end of a draft without revising. She talked about sometimes starting with fragments, some of which she puts together, rather than with...I don't know...without whatever your strong plotting writers do. I can't even imagine what they do.

She was able to talk about a couple of different kinds of structure and give the name of an author who discusses them, which gives me something to look for and try to study.

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be in the same room with another writer who doesn't work through to the end of a draft without revising. I keep reading and hearing that that's what writers ought to be doing. I can't. And while I'm accustomed to the outsider thing and even, to be perfectly honest, relish feeling a bit of a literary outsider, there's being an outsider and there's being someone who's working all wrong. I often worry that I'm more the latter than the former.

Today, not so much.

The lunch was good, too. I discovered very recently that wine goes really well with sandwiches. So there I was with a little wine, a sandwich, and this marvelous speaker just feet from me. Then I listened to Springsteen all the way there and back.

And then I got home and worked some more on that last chapter. Now I am just sentences...sentences, I tell you...from the end of that draft.

My Takeaway From Saturday's Overcoming Challenges Event

For a more overall description of Saturday's Overcoming Challenges program, check out Carol Bender's blog post. (Gee, her friend looks familiar to me.)

My own takeaway from this is that while I did not learn anything dramatically different, it is just so stimulating and...is the word I'm looking for comforting? I don't know... to hear other published authors speak about the work they do because, essentially, it's the work I do. For instance, recently I changed my work schedule around (again) trying to do a few hundred words of writing first thing in the morning before I do anything else. Jo Knowles talked about doing 2,000 words before she does anything else. I did not feel chagrined by the difference in wordage. Rather, I felt, Hey, I do something like that, too.

Because I'm now trying to do the writing in the morning, the journal work I used to do then has been tossed aside these last few weeks. One of the panelists talked about doing journal work in the evening. Hey, I thought. I could do that. And last night I did.

All my published writing career I have definitely been sort of a rogue element because I didn't have an agent. I cannot recall meeting other unagented published writers. However, neither of the illustrators on the panel Saturday have agents, and, it turns out, the writer I had lunch with Saturday doesn't have one, either. That was eye opening, though not what you'd call instructive in any way.

When you've been writing and publishing a while, and you've been a member of professional listservs, and you've been training and studying craft and business, you don't often find a lot of new information at any particular writers' gathering. What I look for is more of what you might call worklife connections. I was happy to find some on Saturday.

So How Did That Experiment Of Yours Go, Gail?

I'm back from the Overcoming Challenges Program at the Eric Carle Museum. I'm sure you all recall that I was planning to introduce myself to as many people as I could over the course of the day, and then get back to you with the results.

Well, here are the results.

I figured I was going to hit twelve or thirteen people at a bare minimum. I only managed seven, and the last one I spoke with but forgot to formally introduce myself to. What happened?

1. A lot of people attend these writer events in groups. Walking into an auditorium where an entire row or rows clearly are a "group" isn't great for introductions, unless, maybe, you're campaigning.

2. At lunch I met someone I knew and then more people I knew, and so I buddied up and the introduciton thing sort of fell by the wayside. Not that I am complaining, by any means. It was great.

Here's what profound meaning I took from this:

1. It is hard to barge into a group and start introducing yourself. So become a bit predatory and look for "stragglers" or single people to, uh, prey upon. Someone who is attending a professional event by herself (and most of the participants at any children's literature event I've ever attended have been women) is actually happy to meet someone. I talked with a new illustrator who was very interesting.

2. Also, a couple of people I introduced myself to looked a bit familiar to me or their names seemed familiar. So I said, "Gee, you look familiar. Do we know each other?" Turned out we didn't, and they were new people! Seriously, that wasn't a come on. I did think they looked familiar. However, it occurred to me later that it could be a come on. It could be a way of smoothing your way into an introduction. And it isn't a lie because after you've been to a few of these things, you do start seeing people who look familiar.

3. Finally, when you've been forcing yourself to act friendly, you start feeling friendly. That's why when I actually saw someone I really knew while she was in the hallway by herself, I called out, "Hey, Dana!" And the first thing I knew, I had company for lunch and some great talking.

So while I didn't meet as many people as I theorized I would, the experiment was fascinating.

My Weekend Goal

Last month I posted about How to Mingle at Publishing Events at Blue Rose Girls. I was particularly interested in suggestion 2, regarding goals for an event. As a general rule, mine is to get to these things on time and then live through them, because, you know, I believe in achievable goals. But the writer at Blue Rose suggested goals regarding meeting people. "Maybe you're shy: make your goal to introduce yourself to at least one stranger. Maybe your goal is to get at least two business cards, and/or give your card to at least three people."

Well, I was discussing this whole thing at my professional facebook page with someone who will be attending Overcoming Challenges: A Program for Writers and Illustrators at the Eric Carle Museum this Saturday. As will I. I suggested we should run a little competition to see who could introduce herself to the most new people. My facebook acquaintance was not all that taken with this idea, though she will be in a position to totally clean my clock in such a competition.

I, however, have decided to run a little experiment and write about it here. I am going to introduce myself to as many strangers as I can over the course of the day. We've all heard about putting ourselves forward and meeting others when in new situations, right? But, seriously, how well does that actually work? Do people really like being approached by strangers? Just what will be the response as I burn my way across the Eric Carle auditorium and around the cafeteria introducing myself to one person after another...and keeping track of numbers in my little notebook?

Maybe I should bring a camera.

Keep in mind, too, that over the last few years I've become a compulsive handshaker. It's a martial arts thing. I never did it before I started training. When I was growing up, my Franco-American aunts were big kissers, but I just can't recall seeing much handshaking going on in my working class New England world. As an adult, I thought it was a guy thing and was kind of freaked out when I saw my little boys doing it. But in the dojang, one is always shaking hands with and bowing to one's training partners, and it was the first change I saw in myself after I started training. I don't think I bow often, but I do shake hands.

So I'll be at the Eric Carle on Saturday, shaking hands and taking notes, and seeing what kind of profound meaning that brings to my life. And then I'll tell you all about it...the professional networking...the professional humiliation...the use of hand sanitizer...the whole thing.

Yeah, I Could Do That

I am good at working a room if I'm in charge of the event and have responsibility for making sure everyone is comfortable. For instance, I successfully ran a funeral luncheon last year as well as a wedding rehearsal dinner. Perhaps people didn't have as good a time at the rehearsal dinner as I thought they did, and maybe people were inappropriately relaxed at the funeral luncheon, but I went home satisfied after both.

I am nowhere near as good a guest, or perhaps I should say an "attendee," as I am a host. After the last event I attended, for instance, a very dear, kind acquaintance e-mailed me to say I hadn't looked well and asked if I was alright. I was once at an awards ceremony and introduced to the editor of a city newspaper by one of her co-workers. Ever hear the expression "cut dead?" I have never been blown off so completely by anyone in my entire life. And I was one of the freaking nominees! Well, guess what? That editor got fired! Her entire section of the newspaper is gone! So there!

Let's see, where was I? Oh, yes, given my said track record as a professional hand-shaker/backslapper, I thought I'd better read How to Mingle at Publishing Events at Blue Rose Girls. I enjoyed it.

I particularly liked Suggestion 2, "Have a goal/agenda for the event." I say, set the goal high. Plan to speak to ten or twelve people. Plan to introduce yourself to M.T. Anderson or Jane Yolen. Or if they're both there, plan to introduce yourself to both of them. At the same time. While they're at dinner.

I also liked Suggestion 5, "Have some conversation topics prepared." Oh, my gosh. Let's see..."What do you think the ratio of men to women is here?" "How do you think the keynote speaker got this gig? Because, you know, her last book sucked. Sure, it sucked in that formulaic way that awards committees love, but sucking is sucking, is it not?" "You know what I'd like to see? I'd like to see Sarah Palin write a picture book. No? What about Bristol? Her kid could be the main character. Or maybe someone could do a chapter book--a whole series--about that little Palin, Piper, who everyone's so crazy about."

I'm registered for a NESCBWI event in March. And now I'm ready.

I found the Blue Rose Girls post through Cynsations.

Literary Events Coming Up In Connecticut

Wednesday, December 1, is a big lit day in eastern Connecticut.

Bank Square Books in Mystic will be hosting an in-store luncheon with Susan Cheever at noon. Cheever will be discussing her new book Louisa May Alcott: A Personal Biography. She wrote American Bloomsbury a few years ago, so she's spent some time in the Transcendentalist world in which Alcott lived.

Then at 6:30 that evening the documentary Library of the Early Mind will be shown at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic.