Welcome to Our House

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Arizona held their 5th annual "Welcome to Our House" Conference this past Saturday. This year's theme was "It takes a Village: From Craft to Market and Beyond". The event, held in Scottsdale, was another great success. It was so cool hearing how each speaker used the theme, It takes a village... in their presentation. The full day event included individual manuscript critiques, portfolio reviews, a presentation from three editors, (Pamela Bobowicz, Sarah Cloots, and Alexandra Cooper) one designer director, (Sara Gillingham) and one literary agent, (Maircia Wernick) Up Close and Personal Breakout Sessions, and First Page/First Illustration panel discussions.

It was a great day for talking shop, meeting up with old friends, and meeting new cyber-space friends in person! Each member of the faculty shared some background on the publishing house they are at or agency they work for. What books they are working on or recently finished. What has been a success for them. What books they like. And what they are looking for in submissions.

The Setting

The Conference Room

The Crowd

The Presentation
(Alexandra Cooper)

The Design Director
(Sara Gillingham with illustrator Amanda Shepard)

The Agent
(Marcia Wernick and me)

The Breakout Session

The "First Page"

The"First Illustration"
(boy that's big!)

The Wait

The Critique

We heard a lot about voice from everyone, include the design director. I found this very interesting. I took it as meaning that your "style" is like your visual voice. Which makes a lot of sense to me. I know that's what I have been trying to develop for the last two years. As far as writing goes, I felt like the first page session best defined what "finding your voice" is. Just hearing the story read out loud, and the reactions from the panel, seemed to make something click for me. I started to feel like I knew which one had a "true" voice before the panel even commented on it. I know it is something that will carry over the next time I sit down to write.

On a personal note: I had a very good portfolio review and a good reaction from the First Illustration panel! OK, it was a really good reaction. More than I could have hoped for!