Monday, August 04, 2008

My Session #2: Keeping Current Roundtable...

After the agent panel, I had a breakout session that was part of the Published Authors track called Keeping Current on Market Research: A Roundtable Discussion. Instead of doing all the talking myself, I started by asking the audience questions. I wanted to know whether they do anything different in terms of market research now that they're published. I wanted to know what their concerns are. And I wanted them to share information with one another--and they did. The audiences included several SCBWI RAs and authors like Susan Patron, Linda Joy Singleton, and Verla Kay.

Verla talked about the boards on her website that registered members can access, such as the agent boards and response time boards--really useful stuff.

We actually ended up talking a lot about promotion. We discussed MySpace and using it as a means to connect with readers. We talked about getting mentioned on blogs and doing blog tours, and in fact had an author in the audience, Tina Nichols Coury, who interviews tons of authors and illustrators on her own blog.

Someone mentioned Library Thing, a site where you can enter books and be connected to others based on the books you share--a way to find readers reading your own books.

I really enjoyed this session and felt like I learned a lot from the participants and got some ideas for CWIM. Thanks to all who attended and share information and asked great questions. Please remember to email me if you'd like a handout.

5 comments:

Michelle said...

Thanks for taking the time to share the conference with the rest of us! I've seen both Michael Stearns and Bruce Coville at other conferences in the last year, so I felt a little bit less like I missed out on their good advice and entertaining comments. And we lucky Mid-Atlantic SCBWI members get to hear Jane Yolen speak at our October conference.

By the way, I got the new CWIM, and it's full of great information, as usual. Thanks for that too!

Theater of Ideas said...

I enjoyed your session (I was the one who mentioned Library Thing) All the best

Theater of Ideas said...

Also - tried to email you for a handout, but the email didn't work...I must have written it down incorrectly. Could you email me at utc61 at hotmail.com

Terri Hoover Dunham said...

Hi Alice,
Terrific posts on the conference!! Thanks so much. Also, congrats on the new Childrens and Illustrators Market. I got mine last week, just haven't had a chance to read it yet, but it looks great.
I would love the handout you offered for the Publlished Authors track. It sounds like it was a info packed session. Can you send it to louisianabook@yahoo.com?
Thanks for everything,
Terri Dunham
The Legend of Papa Noel: A Cajun Christmas Story

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