Today I’m excited to talk with Sera Rivers. Sera is Co-Director of the 2018 New England SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Conference, along with Loretta Kapinos. The New England conference is the largest regional SCBWI conference with over 650 attendees annually. Sera’s also an editor and YA author, and winner of the 2016 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery Award. Thanks for joining me today, Sera!
I reached out to Sera for this interview because NESCBWI is my local conference, and it’s huge! Attended by published authors, illustrators, editors, and agents, all of whom probably have their own expectations about how things should be done. Running this conference seems like it would be both awesome and a nightmare! I wanted the behind-the-scenes scoop.
Sera, what was your biggest challenge in running this conference?
The New England SCBWI Conference is a big undertaking so I don’t have just one big challenge, but it’s run by an amazing team of volunteers. Everyone is great about communicating with each other, and that’s key. And, we’re holding it at the same hotel as the last few years, so the hotel staff is knowledgeable about how we set up our conference, which makes my job much easier.
The whole kidlit community is excited about the conference and supportive, so that also makes planning smoother.
A broad range of people come to the conference. Writers and illustrators, authors of picture books through young adults, newbies and veterans. How do you plan the schedule? How do you keep it relevant to the entire audience?
We have a big spreadsheet with multiple categories to plot everything out! We try to offer a broad selection with diverse and niche topics from the craft of writing and illustration, to marketing, to technology.
We receive hundreds of great proposals for workshops and match workshops to fit our needs for the conference. We sometimes ask for workshop revisions or changes to suit holes in our programming, and presenters are usually willing to work with us.
I’m excited for so many workshops and speakers this year! Rita Williams-Garcia, Amy Reed, Matt Phelan, Dan Santat, Sara Zarr, Jo Knowles, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Jane Yolen. I could go on and on! How do you get so many great speakers?
We’re lucky that so many speakers want to be at the conference and submit proposals. Occasionally I reach out to someone who hasn’t sent in a proposal—Sara Zarr, for example, who was a keynote at our conference a few years ago. I’d attended classes of hers and knew she was a great teacher. When I asked her to come, she agreed with great enthusiasm!
What was your biggest surprise in planning the conference?
I attended Book Expo America last summer and lined up to get a book signed by Caldecott Award-winning illustrator Dan Santat. I mentioned that I’d seen him at a previous NESCBWI Conference and Dan said something like, “I really want to come back to that.” I realize that a lot of talented authors and illustrators love to present at our conference, but Dan lives in CALIFORNIA! It really struck me that so many talented people want to give back, not just people who live in New England.
You also Co-Directed the 2017 conference with Josh Funk. What was your biggest surprise when the conference opened last year?
On opening day, everything started out perfectly. Josh and I were so proud of the whole team. Then we heard that the bus bringing all the agents and editors from Manhattan to the conference was delayed. The agents and editors were scheduled to give critiques to attendees, but they were going to miss the first sessions! It was pretty anxiety-ridden—All those writers and illustrators waiting anxiously for feedback on their work!
But our team jumped in, rescheduling critiques for times that worked for both participants and critiquers. It all worked out in the end. You can’t predict a late bus—it’s outside of your control—but you can find some solution, and fortunately, everyone was very understanding.
How will this year’s conference be different from last year’s?
Usually, we schedule speakers and panels over lunch, but we received some feedback that people wanted more time to network at lunch. We changed the schedule to make that happen. It turns out that by not having speakers, we could end the afternoon workshops earlier, and have more time for evening activities. This gives people an opportunity to attend more activities or schedule more time with other conference goers.
Also new this year, we’re doing a First Look Panel that alternates between critiquing the first five sentences of a manuscript and an illustration. Feedback will be given by agent Linda Camacho, author Nancy Werlin, keynote speaker Matt Phelan, and author/illustrator Dan Santat. We intend it to be a fun chance for attendees to get on-the-spot feedback of their work, and to provide feedback to more people than we could in past formats.
One of my favorite parts of the New England conference is #AskAMentor because it’s a chance to sit in a small group with published authors, illustrators, editors, and agents. It’s a chance to ask people in-the-know the questions on your mind—how did they get their agent? What challenges do they face at their current stage of their writing career? Last year I chatted with Lynda Mullaly Hunt by myself for about twenty minutes because #AskAMentor’s a hidden gem. Few people were there. The year before I got to chat with Jen Malone. It struck me that people were missing out because these women are so smart and have so much great advice.
What do you think is special about the conference that people miss out on?
#AskaMentor is definitely a hidden gem! I didn’t quite understand what it was until this year when I had to find someone to coordinate it. And I was like WHY HAVE I NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE?! I also think Open Mic, held on both Friday and Saturday nights, is great. I’ve become a fan of authors from hearing them read their work there, and I’ve seen agents and editors peek in and out of the room.
What advice do you have for writers and illustrators on how to make the most of the conference, especially if NESCBWI is their first conference?
- Do your research on agents and editors. Find out what categories and genres they represent/publish and see whose taste fits with your work.
- DON’T PITCH AGENTS OR EDITORS UNLESS THEY ASK. Rather, find out what projects they’re working on, what they’re reading, or what their interests are. They’ll remember you when the conference is over if you treat them like real people and have genuine conversations. Pushing your work at people will not make a good impression.
- Be kind to everyone. I’ve made some of my closest friends at this conference, and it’s because they took a moment to smile and say hello—even when I was brand new and still shy (yes, I get shy believe it or not, lol!)
- This conference will not make or break you, but it will definitely help you make progress on your writing/illustrating goals. I’ve attended this conference for seven or eight years. It has really helped me hone my craft. It’s also where I found my agent. She read my work in a first page workshop and requested the manuscript. I sent it two years later, wondering if she’d even remember me, but she did! Now I’m represented by Jill Corcoran!
My first year at the conference, I didn’t volunteer for anything because I was just trying to figure out what was going on and hoping to not look clueless. Then when I signed up as a volunteer the following year, I realized it takes a tremendous number of volunteers to run this conference! Not just the big positions like yours, but people to register other attendees, to keep time at the critique sessions so things go smoothly and help with problems that crop up in workshops.
Yes! We need volunteers! There are about 150 volunteer slots and they are key to making the conference work. I first volunteered at the registration table and that’s where I met Josh Funk. It’s fun and gives you a chance to make friends in the writing community. Volunteering is what led me to become a Co-Director. As extra incentive, we hold a special dinner for volunteers on Saturday night and this year it’s a taco bar buffet.
Running the conference seems like such a huge time investment. Has it helped you with your writing career?
*Laughs* Being Co-Director of the conference is a huge time investment and takes a certain personality. I’m a work-a-holic so I’m used to working all the time. Recently, I’ve spent more time planning the conference than writing. But planning the conference has also helped me become more disciplined about my writing. I fit it in into small slots of time. Running the conference has been such a wonderful experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Thanks for joining us today, Sera!
Excited about the New England SCBWI conference? Find out about the speakers and workshops here. And register now! This conference always sells out. Registration opened 8 days ago with 650 spots available and that number has already fallen to 123!
Where can people find you online, Sera?
I’m @writeloudly on Twitter/Instagram, Sera Rivers Writer on Facebook and my website is www.serarivers.com.
If you’re planning to attend this or another writing conference, check out Insider Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Next Conference. You might also like Wisdom from the 2016 New England SCBWI Conference.
