SCBWI Annual Virtual Summer Conference was Worth Every Penny!

In any profession but especially in writing where the path to excellence can seem to span a lifetime, if you can grow exponentially in a matter of a weekend, you thank your lucky stars that you said “YES!” It started with a positive, informative orientation from Jodie Stekly. Her sunny aura guided the entire conference. She told us about Bluesky, a social media platform that many creators are gravitating towards. It is not a part of Meta which is cool, and it does not allow AI. Yay.

For me it was my first annual conference. Many moons ago I did a regional conference in the Hudson Valley of New York. Last weekend’s conference had over 1700 attendees from all over the globe.

The networking was stellar (I still need to go through all of my new contacts). I am able to submit manuscripts to agents and editors that offer that as a perk to attendees. I did a peer critique session where the four people gave me such insightful comments we are sticking together. I cannot believe how much better THE BULLY AT DOGGY DAYCARE is now!

I took a risk and attended not one but two Pitch Roundtables. I was one of 15 and had five minutes to wow the agent with my verbal pitch. One agent (so grateful to this Lady for her positive energy) said to send her the manuscript of THE RETRIEVER WHO COULDN’T SWIM. Keep your fingers crossed for me, Folks. I really felt a connection to this agent, so I hope that feeling will become mutual.

I do not believe I was one of the top 3 or 4 of the other agent. She did not tell us directly but said she would get our contact information. Yet, she gave me incredible insight to my pitch which made me not only rework the pitch but go back and tweak THE SNIFFIEST DOG IN THE WORLD. Again it is sooo much better due to her advice.

Lastly they had a coffee hour where you could go hang out virtually in a room of your choice. I did one where I got to meet some folks who were also doing the Pitch Roundtable and got to practice my pitch before the Big Reveal. They gave me fantastic feedback which made my pitches stronger. I was so nervous with the first pitch, I could barely breathe. Of course it didn’t help that I had a brain fart and thought the Roundtable was starting a half an hour later. Luckily I was only 4 minutes late,but not my best moment.

The connections and programs I have experienced through SCBWI have helped me immeasurably. What a tremendous resource for kidlit authors.

Still riding the high of feeling grateful!