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Anderson’s YA Conference

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Friday night after work, I drove down to Naperville to meet up with Abby (the) Librarian. After the longest drive on earth, I arrived to Abby relaxing in the hotel room with a little Kiersten White Paranormalcy. We hit up some dinner and then proceeded to discuss, all night, the finer points of blogging and of young adult lit. Two bloggers and readers are never wont for something good to talk about.

Saturday morning, we head to the conference hotel early to scope out the on-site book store Anderson’s set up. When we registered, we picked up a ton of posters (to be used in my teen area) and we got a few final copies of books, including Fablehaven and the first book in the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series. Oh, an an ARC each of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer and an ARC of a March 2011 title, Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. That one’s got a blurb by both Laurie Halse Anderson and Susan Bartoletti and it’s a WWII historical fiction. Looks interesting. While we perused the books, we ran into another book blogger, DJ. I can’t find the link to his blog, but I gave him my card and hopefully he’ll comment and let me know his address so I can post it! (ETA: Check out DJ’s blog here!).

We grabbed seats at one of the round tables inside the Ballroom. Last year, we were able to see who was sitting at our table with us, but this year, it would be a surprise. We were gunning for a few people to sit with us, and we were given a total surprise and someone we hadn’t heard of: Antony John. He didn’t get to stick around long since his chair got hijacked by another attendee shortly after, but he was a hoot to have at the table. We chatted with him for a little while, and he was so excited to be surrounded by librarians, saying hat he couldn’t live without libraries. His book, The Five Flavors of Dumb, isn’t out yet, and we were among the first to see the finished copies. We had a great conversation about cover art, and John told the story about how the cover he got (pictured at left) was the first one his cover designer sent him. I think it’s fantastic and has real teen appeal; he said he couldn’t have been any happier. It was like winning the lottery. Keep an eye on this guy; I think he’s going to be going places.

Our first two keynote speakers were Blue Balliett and Pam Munoz Ryan. Both talked about their writing processes and how they are inspired to write. Balliett focused on her latest, The Danger Box, and said it was set in a small town called Three Oaks, where she spent a few days wandering and really learning in order to create the most realistic setting. She said when the book came out, since the town doesn’t have a book store, they were selling it in the butcher shop because the townspeople were so excited their town was “famous” now. Ryan’s talk focused a little more on her personal life, but she did talk a lot about the inspiration behind her latest (and baby of many a Mock Newbery list), The Dreamer. I did not know it was about Pablo Neruda, and that story made me a little more interested in reading this one. Those who’ve seen or read the book know it’s printed entirely in green ink; she said this was because in her research, she learned Neruda only wrote his poetry in green pen because he believed it symbolized hope. Very cool!

We had one more keynote before some break out sessions, and it was Kenneth Oppel. His first comments went something like this: “Some reviews have been calling Half Brother a departure and that’s really got me confused. Four of my books are about talking animals, and this one is about an animal that talks. It’s just coming full circle.” If that doesn’t give a flavor for how his talk went, I don’t think I can capture it better. He was energetic and very funny, discussing his thought process for writing Half Brother. He said he was thinking about experiments at universities where psychologists have tried to train chimps to sign, and he thought he’d like to write a novel in only the words one of the chimps learned. Then he realized that 251 words wouldn’t make the best novel ever, and he decided he’d instead use that idea to write a story about love and family. He shared video of his visit to a facility for ages chimps who were no longer useful for experiments, too, talking about how the chimps were angry another male was there during feeding time. I noted on my sheet that he’s a fantastic reader; he read a few passages of his book aloud for us, and it just worked. He captured the voice, I think, of his main character quite well.

After Oppel’s talk were the first two break out sessions. I first attended the Contemporary Edge session, featuring the authors of these fine books:


That’s John Green, David Levithan, Siobhan Vivian, Dana Reinhardt, and Charles Benoit. I was a little frustrated at the beginning of this panel, simply because it became the David and John show (naturally) but they did a better job later on giving the mic over to the other writers. It was interesting to hear they talk about the inspirations for their stories: for Siobhan, it was a conversation with a student class president who was disgusted with what she thought were slutty freshmen girls at her school; for Benoit, it was by total chance he even ended up in the YA genre (he’s an adult mystery writer) and said he didn’t have a lot of experience with the genre and is glad he didn’t (or he’d be totally intimidated by the level of talent that exists); and Reinhardt talked about how she is inspired by the way teens can compartmentalize their experiences and that’s what she loves about the contemporary genre.

They all talked a bit about their writing processes, and then they shared who it is they write for — as in, what audience they have in their mind’s eye when writing. Benoit said he writes for his nephew who doesn’t love to read; Reinhardt says it’s always a challenge since she DOESN’T want to do that, and she doesn’t want to hear the voice of her editor in her heard; Vivian said she writes for a bookseller in California who posted a photo of her first book, A Little Friendly Advice, and said it was her favorite book ever; Green said he writes for his wife and for a girl he knew in high school; and Levithan said he’s able to turn off that consciousness when he’s writing and just go. I loved this question and I loved their answers.

When that panel ended, I headed upstairs to my next panel. In the line, I met Sarah of The Hiding Spot and her friend, the 2011 debut author Courtney Moulton of AngelFire. Oh, then I ran into Siobhan in the elevator. It was a fun way to spend a few dead minutes, of course.

My next panel was a tough choice, but I ended up going to one called “You’re Never Too Young,” featuring Kody Keplinger and Alex Adornetto, ages 19 and 17 respectively. The two of them together was really sweet: they were chatting up the whole thing before the panel officially stated, and when it did start, they were full of jitters and nerves. I loved that — it felt really authentic and made the panel really fun, I think. They talked about how they gave up a lot of their social lives in order to be writers, but neither really regrets it because they love to write so much. The best part of this panel was listening to Adornetto; she is easily the most polished speaking 17-year-old I’ve ever heard, and she has a fantastic Austrailian accent. If you didn’t know, though, she narrates Halo’s audiobook version, and one of the attendees asked her to give us a sample of her reading. Adornetto is able to put on an authentic American accent, and her reading the story was fantastic. She said it took 74 hours to read and narrate the story, and my only comment about her reading ability was “holy cow.” I was extremely impressed. She also shared that there were a lot of changes with the book made its American (vs. Austrailian) debut, including location and terminology changes. What was “going to formal” in the Austrailian edition became “going to prom” in the American.

Keplinger talked a bit about what older writers do that doesn’t feel quite authentic in YA fiction. She mentioned that if ever there was the perfect book for teens, it is Laurie Halse Anderson’s classic Speak. The dialog still stands and the story is spot on perfect, even ten years later. She mentioned that there are times when books written by adults for teens either portray the 17-year-old as too rational or too irrational, and she says that sometimes the dialog and phraseology can feel inauthentic. Oh, and she shared that writing for her professors (she’s a writing major in college) is actually harder than writing for her editor because she is a total commercial writer at heart. I think this was my favorite panel to go to all day.

After that panel, I dropped into the book store and picked up a few books to purchase, including:

And then I headed to some signings. The lines were a little insane for some authors (can you guess who?) but I did go talk to Antony John and then stalked down Siobhan Vivian, who I had earlier bumped into in the elevator. She’s going to be interviewed here in November, and I was able to get a few prizes for our readers (and one for myself). I also got a nice little photo with her:

We’re pretty much BFFs now.

Our lunch left a little to be desired, except for the incredible keynote by what might be my favorite speaker now: Charles Benoit. You know him from You. He talked about deciding to write because he was tired of reading Clive Cussler and wanted to bring something new to the genre. But to dive into the weighty issues of the value of reading and reading whatever you want to, he shared a few stories about his mother. She was a smoker and a story teller, and they used to share story telling all the time through a box full of photographs. She’d pull one out and tell stories about the people were and what they were doing. When Charles was old enough to read and appreciate stories being read to him, his mom would read him stories from the newspaper. As he aged, he asked his mother why she always read the paper to him and as he was prodding her a bit, he learned that she actually couldn’t see. They’d grown up so poor that his mother couldn’t afford to buy glasses for herself, but she told him it was so important for him and his siblings to see their mother reading, that she did it to be a good model. Could there be a more heart warming story?

After Charles spoke, we had 2 more sets of break out sessions. The first one I went to was about supernatural fiction. It’s not my favorite genre, but I wanted to learn more. Panelists included Kiersten White of Paranormalcy, Claudia Grey of the Evernight series, Sophie Jordan of Firelight, and Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie of a number of paranormal series titles. I’m glad I went. Perhaps the best question the panel was asked was how they stand out in a crowded market and make sure their titles aren’t lost in the shuffle. White suggested it’s important to do something different (and she did by throwing EVERYTHING into the mix and making it humorous), Gray suggested that if you’re doing something well and telling a good story, then there is always room. Jordan said take a few chances and you’ll be fine, and the Viguie/Holder duo said they think they write differently in writing “epic dark fantasies.” It was interesting, too, to hear them talk about their research in lore in order to prep their stories. They use tales from every culture, and in a sense, they all agreed that part of the fun of this genre is being able to just make it up as you go and do your own thing.

And the last panel I went to was another favorite: “In My ‘Hood.” They offered this panel last year, and it’s a feature of the authors in the local area. This year’s panel included Stephanie Hemphill of Wicked Girls, Stacy Kade of The Ghost and the Goth, James Klise of Love Drugged, and Simone Elkeles of Perfect Chemistry, et al. Although all of the panelists were excellent on this one, Elkeles really was a riot and offered a lot of insight. Criticism I’ve had of her books — their lacking in some plot elements and character development — are actually the crux of her writing. She wasn’t a big reader when she was growing up, so she decided she wanted to write books people like her would like. She wants action and not description….and let’s be honest: that’s what a lot of teen readers LOVE. Plus, let’s not knock the steam factor here.

All of the panelists also talked a lot about their covers. Hemphill said contractually, she can have as much say as she wants in her cover, but she loved the one she got for Wicked Girls. The only comment she made was in regards to the color font for the title, which was changed from a light blue to the green it is. Kade said she actually got models for her covers; since it’s a trilogy she’s writing, she got the same people for all three. Klise liked his cover because it will appeal to teens who think the book will be about drugs (it’s not). And Elkeles offered what I thought was a great discussion — she said she’s not a fan of her white covers for the “How to Ruin” series (and unfortunately, I didn’t get to ask her about the repackage!) but she LOVES the cover for Perfect Chemistry since it featured a “hot Latino” on it. She isn’t a fan of stock photos and has been begging for models, but she keeps getting stock photos — and in the case of Rules of Attraction, she was ASKED to write in a scene where the couple kisses in the rain in their cars. She called this a “too dumb to live” moment, but she did it anyway.

The last thing I wanted to bring up about this discussion was that the cover issue with Justine Larbalestier’s Liar emerged, and all of the authors weighed in a bit about people of color on covers. Part of why Elkeles’s cover works so well is that it DOES feature an ethnic character prominently on a cover, and Klise said that when he does see a cover with a person of color on it, he WANTS to buy the book because it catches his attention. Something to think about, publishers. Perhaps people AREN’T as concerned about covers as once believed.

After that panel, there were 2 more keynotes, which I’m sure Abby will talk about. I chose to head out of the conference early to head home since it was my birthday. I knew I had a low back tire and a 2 hour drive ahead of me, so I was going to stop for air in the tire. Unfortunately, my tire didn’t make it to the gas station 2 blocks away, and some guy was kind enough to bring my hub cap to me at the gas station . . . and another guy was kind enough to change my tire for me (and don’t worry — I paid for him to fill up his pick up truck). Leaving early was a good decision!

Overall, this was once again a fantastic event, and I encourage anyone who is in the area to attend. It’s really put the spark back into my wanting to write and engage with other authors who serve the same readers I serve in the library.

Giddy delight echoed!

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Are you in the Chicago area or in driving distance?

After a lot of ruminating and debating, going back and forth on spending the money and my birthday hours at a conference, I decided that after the absolute blast I had last year at the Anderson’s YA Lit Conference, I’m going to go again this year.

If you can, you should definitely go. This year’s line up is pretty exciting. I’ve met a number of these authors through ALA and BEA trips, but I am still excited to meet other new favorites, including Siobhan Vivian (review of her new book coming next week), Charles Benoit, and John Green and David Levithan. It is worth the $99, and the lunch I had last year was delicious.

If you’re going, leave a comment. I’d love to meet up with you and spend a little part of my special day with fun people. I’m also hoping to stalk down the table Siobhan’s sitting at . . .

Kimberly’s Guide to BEA

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I had a FANTASTIC time at BEA, and wouldn’t hesitate to go again. The biggest expense for me was the plane trip – over $300 – but aside from that, I kept everything pretty low-cost. Kelly’s given you all a pretty good play-by-play, so here’s just a few highlights (and lowlights) from my own experience.

The Good:

  • I am ridiculously proud of my packing plan. I knew that shipping boxes of books back would be pricey, so for my trip there, I brought one large-ish suitcase (but still small enough to be a carry-on) and stuffed two smaller cases inside (a regular suitcase and my backpack). All of my clothes and such could fit inside one of these smaller bags. I was lucky enough to be flying JetBlue, which allows a free checked bag, a free carry-on, and a free “personal item” (including backpacks), so all of my return luggage was completely free. My checked bag ended up weighing 44 pounds. That sucker was heavy. I don’t even want to think about how much my backpack weighed. I ended up bringing back 78 books, not including all of the other swag I picked up. The shoulder strain was totally worth it. I will be bragging about my packing ability for years.
  • I was able to snag some pretty awesome books, including new releases from Philip Roth, Ann Brashares, Lauren Oliver, Cornelia Funke, and Cassandra Clare, as well as some exciting debuts, such as The DUFF.
  • I discovered that so many people who work for publishing houses are more than willing to just send you books in the mail if you simply ask. When Kelly and I visited Egmont, we were handed a catalog and told to email the publicist which titles we were interested in. Simply amazing.
  • The librarian’s dinner was pretty awesome – free food and free hardbacks, plus some fun talks by authors.
  • Being surrounded by so many people who love books more than almost anything in the else in the world was just plain magical.

The Bad:

  • My return flight was delayed over two hours, meaning that instead of landing back in Texas at midnight, I got there at 2 in the morning. And then had a 1.5 hour drive back home. Needless to say, I went in to work late the next morning. I count myself lucky, however, since Jen’s flight was canceled and she had to spend an extra night (on her dime) in the city.
  • Ohmygoodness LINES. And CROWDS. There were many. If you hate lines or crowds, BEA is not for you. If you are not willing to be more than a little grabby and occasionally aggressive, BEA is not for you. I hesitate to call this a bad, since I actually got pretty pumped by the masses of people all there because they LOVE books, but it can be overwhelming. Know that you will be crushed by people. Know that you will probably have to wait in a number of lines. Know that it will be worth it.

The Truly Amazing:

  • I came home from BEA to find a galley of Monsters of Men awaiting me (which I received simply because I asked for it at TLA). What a wonderful homecoming.

As for tips and tricks? I think the best advice I can give is to just relax and don’t get too disappointed if it turns out you don’t get a galley you really wanted. Chances are, the publicist will send you one anyway if you ask nicely (and mention that you blog). Other than that, a few dos and don’ts:

DO get there early.
DON’T over-plan; instead, try to go with the flow.
DO utilize the packing room and the bag check.
DON’T over-pack; leave the non-essentials at home and make more room for books and swag.
DO give yourself plenty of time for transportation. You never know what NYC traffic will be like (ranging from bad to absolutely nightmarish).
DON’T take your wheeled suitcases into the exhibit hall. Seriously. Don’t do it. It’s not allowed, plus everyone will hate you.

So, who plans on joining us next year?

Kelly’s BEA Tips & Tricks

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As promised, here’s my bulleted(!) list of tips and tricks for planning a good BEA experience:

  • Share a room. Our hotel was pricey, but among 4 people was just over $100 for two nights (that’s total, not each night). Not only are costs reduced, but everyone was good at communicating what we were bringing in order to avoid over packing.
  • Map and price your hotel rooms well in advance. We pulled out the lower priced hotels early on when we were talking of attending BEA, and then we mapped the distance. We decided a little extra money (to the tune of probably $20 more or so per night) was worth walking less.
  • For bloggers: REGISTER AS PRESS. We found out too late that bloggers are considered press at BEA, and we paid the $95 librarian registration fee. Rather than miss out on the press room perks, we chose to reregister and were still out $95. That would have almost covered the cost of our hotel.
  • Bring business cards! All of us had those handy. Abby was smart and included her Twitter name, which I may go back and add on my future cards. Always have your blog name if you have one and if you have any corresponding images, that helps, too. I passed out more business cards at BEA than I ever did at a library conference.
  • Be chill. I cannot stress enough that you shouldn’t have a set plan for the exhibits or autographs. We went in with things we knew we wanted to do and things we’d like to do. It was nice to be relaxed and just go with the flow — we didn’t hit everything and we hit some surprises (like the Rick Riordan audiobook signing).
  • For things you’re really interested in, get in line early. If you’re at a book expo, it’s not like waiting in line for 30-45 minutes will be boring. You can read.
  • Do NOT believe everything you read prior to attending. We all read a few articles about the galleys to be at BEA, and guess what? Not all of them were there. The articles were misleading and disappointing.
  • When the crowds get crazy, go to lesser trafficked areas. When we were overwhelmed in areas, we went to the back of the exhibit hall, where we got the opportunity to talk with publicists from Bloomsbury and Egmont for a long time — totally worth it. Sure, we may have missed out on some of the “hot” galleys, but guess what? You can request them from the publishers later. Making the contacts and hearing about the publicist’s favorite titles is worth it.
  • Speak up! I asked at Little, Brown when they’d have certain titles out. She gave me exact times and places. Then, she told me I could always email them, too, if I couldn’t get it. If I didn’t ask, I wouldn’t have known, right?
  • Speak up, part two! When you see someone you recognize, talk to them. It was cool talking with authors who were signing, but it was just as cool to bump into them on the floor. Same with bloggers who you chat with all the time.
  • Eat and do it smartly. If you’re traveling on a tight budget, scope out your options. A diet coke at the convention center set me back $4 each time. The diet coke from the gas station cost much less. We found one of the vendor carts in the pavilion, while expensive, was a less expensive option and we ate all of our meals there, except for the one at Burgers & Cupcakes.
  • This is the most important thing you will hear: FIND THE SHIPPING ROOM. The shipping room was in the basement of the convention center and a total haven from the madness in the expo hall. You can pick up a box or two, write your name on it, and deposit all of your books any time the exhibit hall is open. It is cool down there, and people will NOT steal your stuff. When you fill a box, you can mail it right there, as well. Likewise, you can use the coat check area to store a rolling bag, if you want to. That costs $3 a day, but it is worth it. Kim fit all of her books into carry on baggage this way.
  • This is the second most important thing you will hear: there are bathrooms in the basement that never have lines. Don’t waste your time in line in the expo hall. Take the stairs down two flights for a line-free time.
  • Plan to spend about $1000. I know I spent a bit less than that, but that’s because I managed to get my airfare for $150 round trip. Food, lodging, shipping costs, and the unexpected expenses will add up.
  • Don’t take a cab from the airport to your hotel. Take super shuttle. At $13 each way, it is a steal. Caveat: when you plan on being picked up to go back to the airport, give yourself 4 to 4.5 hours prior to your flight’s departure. I scheduled my shuttle for three hours before my flight, and he was 35 minutes late. Not a big deal, except that he had four more stops to make and traffic was a nightmare. I got to the airport an hour and a half before my take off, and security at La Guardia was not quick.
  • Pack lightly and bring something nice. We ended up going to a dinner our first night and were glad we could dress up a little bit.
  • If you are a librarian, attend the LJ dinner on the Tuesday night prior to BEA. Free food, free entertainment, and free books. Just, you know, have snacks in your room for eating.
  • Be nice. If people have been waiting in line, don’t cut. I nicely told more than one person to get to the back of the line when they tried to jump, and this was when *I* wasn’t the first person. You will likely still get your book and meet your authors. Playing nice makes it an enjoyable experience for all.

I think that’s about all I have. BEA is a great experience, and I really look forward to going back next year with a better sense of what I’m doing.

If you attended BEA this year or in years past, what are your tips and tricks?

Stay tuned for Kim’s highlights and tips coming up soon!

BEA in review — part three

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So, Thursday was our last day at BEA, and since Jen was heading to a breakfast at 8 am, we all chose to get up and head to the expo center early. And…so did the rest of BEA. Despite getting there earlier than Wednesday, we were further back in line to get in. But alas, it wouldn’t matter.

We split up and did a few rounds of the expo hall, and Kim and I were ONCE AGAIN lucky enough to score a bag of Little Brown goodies. This time, it was their fall line of middle grade novels, including Jenny Han’s MG debut (she’s the writer of The Summer I Turned Pretty and Shug, so this should be a very different style).

But then we decided it was time to line up for what was one of my favorite moments at BEA: meeting Clinton Kelly of What Not to Wear. Due to some luck and some planning, we managed to get in line and be only about 7 or 8 people back from the front. And he is as cool and fun as you’d imagine he is.

I was a little disappointed he wasn’t signing books, but the reality was meeting him was what mattered. Of course I was dressed to the nines, as you can see beside, and I took the time to properly accessorize (ahem, with my Texas tote bag).

Here’s where you can get mad at Kim and me. We had seen people wandering the exhibit hall with Cassandra Clare’s Clockwork Angel, a prequel to her Mortal Instruments trilogy. We’d heard it was a ticketed book give away, so we thought we were out of luck. But while I sat in line for Clinton Kelly, Kim wandered over to the S&S booth, wherein the publicist handed her the last two copies — one for her and one for me. No line cutting, no tickets, no cut-throat action. Talk about luck and a fun surprise!

We checked our watches and decided to head over to the autographing area to score a copy of Adam Rex’s Fat Vampire. This was another slow line, and as we were leaving (in a hurry for the next signing), I saw Alea. It was too bad we were in a hurry because it was a bummer I didn’t get to talk to her more — she’s one of my all-time favorite bloggers and people to Tweet with. Alas, we were en route to Daniel Erenhaft’s autographing session for Friend is Not a Verb — an actual hard copy.

Using my suave skills again, I asked nicely if I could get a second copy for work. And not only did I get one, but Mr. Erenhaft hilariously signed the book something to the effect “To ‘A Second Copy for Work’ – Daniel Erenhaft.” Very funny. That line went super fast, and then we were off to a big signing: Laurie Halse Anderson’s Forge.

We were no where near the front of the line, but we were in no hurry. The theme of our Thursday was to be relaxed and just hit up things we were REALLY interested in. We waited patiently, and when it was our turn, I told LHA I like to tweet with her . . . and when she asked my Twitter name, she knew who I was. Talk about THE COOLEST THING IN THE WORLD. Oh, and she posted a video of her signing on her blog, and you can check out Kim and I’s awesome place in line from approximately 1:55 – 2:03. We were quite excited about something, it looks like.

We grabbed lunch post-LHA — chicken strips and fries at a reasonable price of something like $9 — and immediately made our way to Brilliance Audio’s booth for none other than Rick Riordan, who was signing the audio version of his latest, The Red Pyramid. And when you get there over an hour early, you get to be second and third in line. Totally rad, I tell you.

By then, our BEA experience was coming to a close. Kim and I split up. She went to Lee Child’s signing, and I did one last round on the floor where I picked up Michelle Zink’s sequel to Prophecy of the Sisters, titled Guardian of the Gate, as well as a sound track to the books. Very cool!

I won’t bore you with the travel exploits, but needless to say, Thursday was probably my favorite of the two days. It was much more relaxed and the floors of the exhibit hall seemed less crazed. It was nice to be able to pick up publisher catalogs without being mobbed, and it was very nice to meet some well-known authors.

Although I’ve read about a lot of people feeling there was drama and disappointment at BEA, I never once felt that way. In fact, I went in with a goal of picking up fun, exciting titles, but I didn’t have a set plan in motion. To me, getting worked up wasn’t worth the stress, and having the opportunity to just take it all in was what made it such a fun experience. Clearly, luck was on our side, too.

I shipped back over $100 worth of items, which are due to arrive this week. And for that, I send my huge thank you again to those wonderful New York City librarians who told us about the shipping room. My oh my, if I had to carry all of that back, I’d be a sad girl still in New York maybe building a mode of transportation/teleportation out of books (uhm, no way I’d be driving in that place!).

Stay tuned for Kim and I’s “tips and tricks” post later in the week for those of you planning your 2011 trips. You bet we’ll be there again — and this time, we’ll be seasoned pros. Also, I’ll probably still be reading the books I picked up this year then.