Saturday, August 02, 2008

My Session and Why I Wish I'd Brought a PC...

I skipped Mark Teague's ballroom session to prepare for my first breakout, Keeping Current on Market Research: Websites, Blogs, Listservs & Networking. I checked my notes, practiced my intro, made sure there was no spinach between my teeth, etc., and went to check out the Westside room where my session took place (which was pretty rocking--big, fancy chandeliers, a stage).

When I viewed the setup, I realized I had no cord to plug my Mac laptop into the projector. The conference coordinator called the blue-shirted AV dude who kinda said that's a shame; there's a Mac store in the Mall. So I was just slightly freaking. Here it is, my first LA conference gig, I'm talking about blogs and websites, and I have no visuals; my week of collecting screen shots all for naught.

Then the audience (bigger than I expected and very patient) came to my rescue. Jennifer Bailey offered her zip drive and SCBWI Florida RA Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld offered her brand spanking new Cadillac of a PC. My heroes! Thank you both again for your help.

So, a bit rattled, I made it through the hour of PowerPoint. And it was fun. I wish we would have had more time for Q&A because I was getting some interesting questions. One writer asked how to get readers to her blog. I talked a lot about professional blogs and networking with writers and editors and agents, but not so much about readers. I suggested connecting with bloggers who are booksellers and librarians, who will in turn reach her readers. Tina Ferraro, half of the blogging duo behind YA Fresh, suggested utilizing MySpace. Her YA readers head to her blog for regularly contest or give-aways when she makes MySpace announcements. And in my informal Thursday night survey, other authors agreed--MySpace is great for connecting with readers; facebook more for connecting with other writers and people in the industry.

2 comments:

Jeannine Atkins said...

Thank you for these fun and generous posts from L.A.!
It all sounds so inspiring, and your presentation sounds great.

I only have to question, coming from a loyal-to-Mac family, your title here. I think you needed a Mac adapter cord (you can fit one in a pocket), not a PC!

Hope you got sleep and enjoy the upcoming days!
Jeannine Atkins

Anonymous said...

more! more! can you give us more detail about your talk in a future post? sounds fascinating. i've been giving talks on a similar theme here in england and experimenting with various combinations of social networking sites. online networking a long term investment ... but it's no longer optional.

thanks for this,

candy