Rochester Children’s Book Festival 2010

Rarely do writers of one genre get a personal glimpse into the professional lives of another, but that happened to me on Saturday. I was invited to attend the Rochester Children’s Book Festival because THE PERFECT FAMILY is geared to teenagers as well as women. Though the venue wasn’t right for me, I learned a lot about a genre of writing I knew little about.

First, this is a big deal! Forty-one authors and illustrators, representing a myriad of publishers sold books to about 4,000 people. That’s right, the big hall at Monroe Community College was filled with a steady stream of people from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The buyers were teachers—lots of them—and parents who happily brought their kids along. It was so much fun to see the little ones point out a book or rush over to an author they loved. They got stickers, hugs and personal drawings. The kids were in heaven. As a former English teacher, it did my heart good to see them so fascinated at a reading event. Also in attendance were sales representatives making invaluable contacts with the authors. Populating the tables were paper mache figures of characters in the book, big posters and smiling authors. Some people were walking around with puppets based on the books. Also offered were presentations and readings given every hour by the authors in attendance. Kids seemed to flock to these.

I was interested in the diversity of books, too. Some had hard pages with pull outs, some were thick tomes of fiction for middle grades, some curriculum supplements. I sat next to one author, Elizabeth Sullivan Falk, who was a fourth grade teacher and wrote her books on colonial America and the underground railroad because she couldn’t get that kind of material to use in her class. Then she found an educational publisher to put them out.

Second, the event was put on by the Rochester Area Children’s Writers and Illustrators, a group of 70 people, both published and unpublished. The former signed their books while the latter operated as volunteers. This is an active group who attracted authors for the event like Jane Yolen and Linda Sue Park. There were numerous Caldecott and Newberry winners, as well as those of other awards. The scope of the thing was so big, it took tons of work –one of the co-chairs told me the planning takes a year.

Last, I found several similarities among children’s books authors and those of my genres, romance and women’s fiction. Some were ecstatic about their publishers and agents, some had complaints about the same, some were looking for agents, some wanted to switch genres, all had stories about their path to publication.

I’m so glad I got a look at this special world of children’s books. It seems to be flourishing, too, as the sales had to be through the roof. So, kudos to the Rochester Area Children’s Writers and Illustrators!

Kathy Shay

Conference

Well, we are down to the wire now. Only a few more days. If we all remember this is a learning experience, we will get more out of the conference than we expect. I am really looking forward to the experience. I'm not the shy type (surprise!) but when it comes to pitching I am a basket case. I've done it countless times, yet always get my foot in my mouth. And the worst thing is the story I was hoping to pitch, is lost. I cannot find it anywhere. Wrote it several years ago and put it on a floppy disk. Do I know where I put it? Noooo. So instead I will pitch a contemporary I have partially written. More than half, so not to worry.
Ya know what gets me about pitches? I don't know about other folks, but I just want to get through it. I rush and I know I shouldn't, but I do anyway. And it doesn't seem to matter how well I know the person I am pitching to. I've pitched to Wild Rose press on several occassions and have always been asked to submit, but as every story I've written is in the same vein, I have to submit to WingsPress first. This tale is different from any other I've written as it takes place in LasVegas in the present time. While it does feature a fox and a dragon it is vastly different as I introduce goddesses, flying dragons and a town planning board. Think that might be considered a departure.
In a different mode of thought, let's set ourselves to expect the best and we'll get it. If you are down, thinking down will bring you down further, but if you think up, the higher you will soar. Hope to have the best weekend ever, join me!

Book Signing from Heaven

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. It's great we now have some male members (oops that didn't sound right) should be : men as members (still not good.) How about we have guys in the group? Yeah, that's the ticket.
I have to tell you about my weekend. On Sat I went to Sam's club (alone, never did that before)and bought a bunch of goodies. And Sunday my daughter Kelly and her boyfriend Kenny helped me set up a table in Izzy's Restaurant on Buffalo Road.
At 12:30 people started pouring in. And I do mean pouring in. I've done lots of signings but there were more folks at this one than all the others combined.
This was more than the book of my heart. It is the book of my life. All the years Bill and I shared. Good times and even the minor troubles (roof leaking, water heater dying and the garbage disposal refusing to dispose)were still fun because we lived through it together.
And, I learned a valuable lesson. How to publish yourself. Not as rough as I thought it would be. No walk in the park, but not agony. And the great part is the royalties are all mine. Granted it costs, but not the same as other presses. My royalties from my fiction books wouldn't buy a happy meal. I wouldn't advise self publishing a first book, but once you know the ropes, it's the way to go.
I also learned I have more than one type of writing in me. Thought I was just fantasy, but not so. Who knew?
LCRW is a significant part of this discovery. The group helps to spread your wings and to learn attempts are not failures, just steps to success.
If anyone has any questions please feel free to pose them. Sounds like you bend questions like pipe cleaners, but you know what I mean.