Now that’s how you spend a Saturday afternoon! Today I was honored to hang out with 120 writers and illustrators of books for young readers. We talked all about the publishing business, from Big Picture happenings to the specifics of what we’re writing as individuals. And the best part: The supportiveness of this group’s members for one another. Love my San Diego peers!
One item we talked about were “pitch parties” on Twitter. For those attendees who asked, here are some pitch parties scheduled for what’s left of this year: Oct 25 #PBpitch Nov 7 #Adpit Nov 7 #kidpit Nov 28 #faithpitch. (Already done for this year, but worth noting for next time: #canlitpit, #pit2pub #IWSGpit. and #pitmad.) Generally, the basic rule for a pitch party is this: You tweet a brief pitch for your book using the hashtag on the day of the party, and interested agents will reply to your tweet, asking you to submit to them because they are intrigued and want to see more. Click on the hashtags in this post that interest you, and you can start reading about them and learning how the “parties” play out.
A second item that we talked about was graphic novels for YA and MG readers. Some writers were curious to know what graphic novel manuscripts look like. Author Shannon Hale has blogged about her graphic novel writing process and her manuscript formatting on her website, including this article: Rapunzel’s Revenge: Scripting a Graphic Novel. Shannon’s graphic novels include The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl series, illustrated by her brother Dean Hale, and Real Friends, illustrated by LeUyen Pham.
Happy writing, all!
