Back from NCTE/ALAN

         




Happy Thanksgiving, all! I'm still technically on vacation until tomorrow, and I must say, I'm still recovering from being in Las Vegas for the NCTE conference and ALAN workshop for almost a week. It was a bit surreal to be in Vegas and working--I'll just say that I hadn't left the MGM Grand where the conference was held the whole time--I tried to venture out for a run, but must have gone out the wrong exit, because I kept running into construction and dead-ends, so turned around and ran back to the fitness center. Indoors. Ah, well.

Despite the surreal nature of Vegas, it was a great conference as usual, mainly because it was a nice opportunity to hang out with authors, teachers, and fellow publishing folk. I didn't take as many pictures as I normally do, but here are some random moments:

Sara Zarr signing

Stacking the booth with giveaways

Most awesome poster ever: NIGHTTIME NINJA by Barbara DaCosta and Ed Young

panel with Cat Patrick (Forgotten, Revived, and the upcoming The Originals)

Awesome pins for Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Our fearless leader, School & Library Marketing Director Victoria Stapleton (who wears sunglasses at night) with author Matthew Quick (Sorta Like a Rock Star; Boy21; and the upcoming Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock)

Books for our ALAN dinner: I HUNT KILLERS by Barry Lyga and ADAPTATION by Malinda Lo

Barry Lyga was a trouper and came to Vegas despite breaking his foot in four places. We rented him this smooth ride.

We hosted at various times authors Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), Jewell Parker Rhodes (Ninth Ward and the upcoming Sugar), Julie Anne Peters (This is Our Prom [now deal with it]), Libba Bray (The Diviners), Gail Carriger (Etiquette & Espionage), Cat Patrick (The Originals), Matthew Quick (Boy21), Sara Zarr (The Lucy Variations), Barry Lyga (I Hunt Killers), Malinda Lo (Adaptation), and Sherman Alexie (who was sponsored at the show by his adult publisher, Grove, to promote Blasphemy).

Lots of good food and conversation was had by all.

***

And just for fun, in case you missed it:

The Dudes of YA: A "Lit-Erotic" Photo Spread by Sean Beaudoin. Pure genius and hilarity.

Sean is brilliant (and yes, I work with him--Going Nowhere Faster, Fade to Blue, You Killed Wesley Payne, and the upcoming Wise Young Fool), and was inspired to put this piece together by a rather innocent blog post by Cat Patrick highlighting (some of the) dudes of YA. 

"Agents and publishers aren't knocking on my door"

I spoke at the SCBWI Michigan Fall conference in Detroit this past Friday and Saturday--it was a wonderfully-organized and attended conference, and as I got to attend with my fellow speakers Libba Bray and Barry Goldblatt, it was a lot of fun. Libba and I both ran workshops on Friday afternoon while Barry did critiques, and then on Saturday we talked separately on various topics (mine was about what defines a good children's book). Then we did a few panels together, including a 1st-pages panel, and a Q&A.
 
For another panel, we talked about the history of The Diviners, "from concept to cover" and it was a trip relieving the whole process. Libba talked about her inspiration for the books, Barry spoke about choosing which editors and publishers to submit it to, and I talked about how as a publisher we rallied together to get the project. We talked about the editing process, too--and I laughed remembering a misunderstanding Libba and I had early on. I had wanted to make sure she was okay with our new policy of copyediting electronically, and she looked at me dismayed, and then said very hesitantly: "But...how will nuance be taken into account?" There was a pause, and some more back-and-forth, and I finally realized she thought we had computers (or robots, perhaps?) copyedit our manuscript. I had to assure her that we still had live people who were talented copyeditors--but that now, instead of copyediting on paper, they did the copyedits using Track Changes in a Word document.

The attendees were passionate, friendly, and engaged, and a lot of great questions were asked, and stimulating discussions were had. However, I do want to discuss one encounter I had with an attendee that has left me feeling a bit perplexed. I hate to pick on one slightly negative encounter, when the whole conference was wonderful, but it's been sticking in my brain, so I thought I'd blog about it. My memory of the exact exchange and the order of what was said is a little fuzzy, but it went something like this.

It was after the conference had finished Saturday evening. I had just fetched my suitcase from the hotel storage and was heading to the bathroom to change into travel clothes, when I woman stopped me to ask a question. I wasn't in too much of a rush, so was happy to chat for a minute. She told me that the question she had submitted for our Q&A panel hadn't been read, so I told her to go ahead and ask me.

"With most publishing houses not accepting unagented manuscripts, what are authors supposed to do?"

"Well, you need to get an agent first." I told her that even authors who had "made it" without an agent generally went back to get agents in recent years, because in today's market, it's generally considered important/a necessity. "The problem is, it's not that easy to get an agent." I said it's still possible to get published without an agent--and by attending conferences and meeting editors, that was one way to do it. We chatted a little more about how the industry had changed with eBooks and self publishing, and then she said something like, "I guess there are more agents now, with editors losing their jobs and becoming agents." and I said, "Yes, for whatever reason, there are more agents now than there used to be." At this point, I realized I needed to get going in order to meet the woman giving me a ride to the airport, and I think she realized this, so we started saying our niceties (thank you and goodbye), but then she said something to the effect of: "Well, I guess I just won't get published."

I was a little surprised by her defeatist tone, and I wanted to be as encouraging as possible, so I said, "Oh, don't say that, don't give up."

"The problem is, agents and publishers aren't knocking on my door."

I didn't have a response for this, and we were already walking away from each other, so I just continued on my way. But later I replayed the conversation and marveled at the woman's attitude. It was as if she felt she was somehow entitled to be published, that it shouldn't be so hard.

I don't know the woman's background--perhaps she'd been coming to conferences for years and was just speaking from extreme frustration. Or maybe it was her first conference, and she was disappointed by what she had learned. But I'm really not sure what that woman wanted me to say. That it should be easy? Did she want me to somehow feel guilted into publishing her? That I'd say, without having read anything she'd written, that I'd publish her book?

It's a tough, competitive business, for sure. It's not easy to get published, nor do I think it should be. It can be heart-breaking, frustrating, and soul sucking, and not everyone is going to make it--in fact, very few people are going to be successful in this industry. But this business can also be joyful, inspiring, and full of supportive, collaborative people. And generally, that's the type of people who attend these conferences. So, give up if you want, if it's not worth it to you, but if you want it enough, then work hard, learn all you can, and try to enjoy the journey. Write from your heart, and surround yourself with supportive, positive people. You may make it, or you may not. It takes a lot of luck and timing to be published, a lot of things that aren't in your control. But it most certainly takes not giving up.

I'll leave you all with the same way I ended my talk at the conference. This is from Stephen King's On Writing: 

“Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy….you can, you will, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink.
             Drink and be filled up.”

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, before and after

As Grace mentioned, we're in Fresno together for the IBBY regional conference. They asked us to speak together about Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. To prepare, we dug up all of the old drafts of the novel, and also my editorial letters/edits (to my horror, I discovered that although I had saved the different drafts with my edits in Track Changes, I had neglected to save any of my editorial letters, as they had been in emails and not saved as separate documents. Luckily, Grace was able to find them in an old email account. Whew!)

Some of the fascinating (at least to us!) things we found:
The 1st draft was 22,859 words; the final draft was 42,840 words, almost twice as long!
The 1st draft had 26 chapters, and the final book had 48 chapters.
The green tiger was not in the original draft.
In the original draft, the parents didn't try to follow/find Minli.
In the original proposal, Minli was named "Cai" (and then "Kai").
The first working title was God of the West. The next title was Never-Ending Mountain.

I also read a portion of my first editorial letter for the book. As I mentioned at the panel, my letters with Grace tend to be a little more casual than to some other authors who I don't know as well. With Grace, I cut to the chase quickly--but I always start with praise! Here's a sampling:

Hola!

So, I thought I'd get down in writing some of the things we discussed over the phone. But just to reiterate, I loved it. I think overall, it's extremely well crafted with a wonderful story arc. The novel is moving, magical, and engaging. I think this is in really great shape! I have a few main comments, most of which we've discussed:

1) The novel feels a little slight right now, and things overall feel a little too easy for Minli. I'd like to add at least one more big challenge for her, and also make a few of the existing challenges a little more difficult/drawn out. For example, she seems to find the King in The City of Bright Moonlight too quickly--she should struggle with this more. I like the idea you mentioned, of having her spend one night with the boy and the buffalo.

Overall, don't be afraid to put your characters in peril! I don't think I worried once about whether Minli would succeed in her quest, or feared for her safety or her life. This made for a comforting, pleasant read, but I think more conflict overall would go a long way toward making this more rewarding.

...

3) It's not believable that her parents would just wait around for her at home for her to come back--have one or both of them go after her? Or have them send someone else after her? If they do stay behind, you need a convincing reason why, and also her reunion with them at the end needs to be more dramatic. Wouldn't they cry? And what did they do while she was gone? Did they set up a shrine to her? Pray for her every day? Maybe they sent the old man selling the fish after her, or maybe a man from the village, or a kind traveler passing through?

It was interesting looking back at the publication history of this very special book--and we had fun telling the story, too. We should be on more panels together, don't you think?

***

If you're in the Los Angeles area tonight (Monday, October 24), head out to the Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore at 7:30 for Laini Taylor's signing of Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I'll be there.

2810 Artesia Blvd. Redondo Beach, California

Check out the glowing New York Times review here. "[A] breath-catching romantic fantasy about destiny, hope and the search for one’s true self that doesn’t let readers down."

Hope to see you!

Leg #2: Auckland, Part 2

Continued from Leg #1 (Melbourne) and Leg #2 Part 1 (Auckland).

Friday:
Friday in Auckland began with a Publisher's Forum. About 50 people from the New Zealand publishing industry were on hand for the discussion. The session opened with a panel on rights selling in the international market. I think the main takeaway of the session is how important the face-to-face meeting is, how important relationships are. As Stephen Maat (Bruna Netherlands) said, he could meet with a publisher every year for ten years and never buy anything, but there will be that day that they call him up, or send him that email and say, "This is the perfect book for you" and it will be.

Then, I was on a panel along with Tom Mayer (Norton) and Fergus Barrowman (Victoria University Press). Hal Wake (Vancouver Writers' Festival) moderated. A lot of what we talked about was how eBooks were changing the publishing industry--in NZ and Australia, eBooks have yet to hit the level that they have in the States, because they don't have the Kindle, Nook, or iBookstore. Tom talked about the opportunities and potential changes that eBooks and the market of Kindle Singles could have on the industry, particularly with nonfiction--eBooks may make it more acceptable to publish a 25 or 50 page book, as opposed to having to expand a nonfiction subject into longer, book-length work. Other advantages include being able to update nonfiction more frequently. We talked about the shift of making paper books more gifty, more objects to keep, vs the type of books that may eventually become e-only.

After a networking lunch we had one-on-one meetings with New Zealand publishers and agents--some just wanted to talk business/pick my brain about publishing in the US, some pitched books.

I finished up with meetings early enough to go for a run before dinner--unlike the rainy Wednesday, the weather was perfect for a run in the Auckland Domain.

I had a delicious sushi dinner with Cassandra Clare and her husband Josh--I had run into them in the lobby earlier--and then I was off to a cocktail party hosted by the Fesivals' board of trustees. Then back to the hotel where once again Karen Healey, Garth Nix, Sean Williams, Margo Lanagan, and others were convened in the hotel lobby for wine and sea breezes.

Saturday:
In the morning I met up with Alexis Warsham (Crown) in the lobby and we walked over to the Aotea Center where our Publishing Panel (this one open to the public) was housed. We found our way through back passages to the Green Room where Tom, Nikki Christer (Random House Australia) and our moderator publishing consultant Geoff Walker were already convened. We covered much of the same ground as our Industry Publishing Panel--talked a lot about eBooks, Amanda Hocking, Barry Eisler, etc etc. But of course when the Q&A portion began, we got a bunch of the expected "how do I get published" questions, and even one woman who was bold enough to actually pitch her book--luckily, it wasn't a children's or YA book, so I didn't have to turn her down in public, OR invite her to send it. One audience member asked us what we thought of the recent news that an agent was becoming an eBook publisher--to be honest, because I hadn't been able to check email and read the news as regularly while in NZ, I hadn't yet read about the news. Some of the others had heard the recent news of agent Ed Victor exploring eBook publishing, but the audience member mentioned it was the Andrea Brown Literary agent, which none of us had heard. So, basically, our response was, "we need to know more about it before we can comment" but "it might be a conflict of interest".

After a quick lunch, I was off to see Karen Healey speak with another NZ author, David Hair:

And then...and then I was off for the adventure I had hoped to have when I first arrived in Auckland. Behold, the Sky Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere:

First, the walk. We walked the circumference of the tower with no rails:

Look, Ma! No hands!

Then, after a trip back down to the bottom to change my jumpsuit (apparently people get nervous when they see the orange jumpsuits falling off of the tower) I did the jump: 630 feet in 11 seconds!

Seconds after taking this picture, they dropped me to a platform below. So exhilarating!

Now, let me just say now that I'm not afraid of heights. At all. Sure, I may get a bit of a fluttery stomach sometimes, but usually barely even that. So, it's not like I wanted to do this to conquer any fear I had or be brave--I just wanted to do it because I thought it would be a beautiful view of the city (it was) and because I thought it would be fun (it was!). And, it's something different to tell people I did in New Zealand!

That evening I had a lovely and yummy Thai dinner with Karen Healey, and then we went to the Festival's closing party for all participants at the Alleluya Bar and Cafe. A good time was had by all. But I couldn't have a super late night, as I was leaving at 6:30 am for the airport to fly to Sydney.

Good-bye Auckland, hello Sydney! Leg #3: Sydney will be next. To be continued, yet again!

SCBWI Nevada retreat

As Anna mentioned yesterday, I was able to stop by San Francisco for a quick visit before heading up to Nevada for an SCBWI conference. I was so happy to get to meet little Tilda, who is SO ADORABLE AND SWEET!! Here she is wearing her little blue rose headband:

Alas, it was just a quick trip, and after one night I was on a plane again headed up to Reno, and then a drive to Virginia City for the Nevada SCBWI mentor program retreat. It was held at the St. Mary's Art Center, which was formerly a hospital (and rumored to be haunted by a nun):

It was a lovely, intimate location. I had my own room, but we all shared bathrooms. Nothing says "editors are people, too!" than having one brush her teeth next to you!

I arrived on Thursday evening, because early Friday I was given the opportunity to go on a wild horse tour. Our able tour guide was wild horse photographer Mark Terrell. Check out some of his gorgeous photographs here. And check out my not-so-gorgeous photography below. We saw several bands of horses (herds are made up of many bands), and most had foals. So cute!

I managed to take two fairly interesting videos. This one features a little foal standing up:


And this one features a stallion trying to see if a mare was in heat. She made it very clear that she was not interested:


We even stopped by the Bunny Ranch (yes, that Bunny Ranch) to check out the band of horses that usually hangs out in front.

Apparently, the girls feed them. One came up closer to say hi (and probably looking for a treat. Sorry, horse!):

The retreat began in earnest Friday afternoon with a discussion of social networking:

Editors and mentors Emma Dryden and Harold Underdown shared their expertise:

(while drinking wine, of course. 'cuz that's how they roll in Nevada!)

After dinner I introduced myself, shared some of the books I've edited, and told a few stories, starting with my parents' love story. Oh, how I love telling that story!

After my introduction, I met with Emma's group of three mentees. The structure of this mentoring program/retreat is quite unique--this same group of mentors and mentees first met back in October for a Fall retreat. (prospective mentees chose their top two mentors, and of the people who chose them, the mentors then pick their top five choices for mentees, and then out of that every mentor ends up with three.)  Mentor and mentee then worked together (via email, mainly) over the six months before meeting again in April. Mentees had to have finished their book over the course of the program (whether it be a novel or picture book). I love that the focus of the program is craft. But the business of publishing (agents, submitting, etc.) is discussed as well.

My role at the retreat was that of "visiting editor"--I was not a mentor, but over the course of the weekend, I met with all of the mentors and their groups of three mentees. We had about 15 minutes to spend on each mentee's work--generally, they would read for 5-10 minutes, and then I would comment and ask and answer questions.

The weekend was quite intensive, but not overly so, and I liked that the schedule allowed for some free time, both so that mentors could meet with their mentees one-on-one throughout the weekend, and also so that we could explore the town and surrounding areas. On Saturday afternoon I took a quick walk/run through town:

 Sunday morning, I went on a hike with a few others on a nearby Comstock Trail (the Comstock Lode was the first major discovery of silver ore, and found under what is now Virginia City). We hiked about 4 miles (2 there and back) and beheld gorgeous views:

My hiking buddies: Sarah, Harold, Heather, and Lee

Saturday night there may have been a little Karaoke...

author Lee Wind and me singing "A Whole New World" from Aladdin (photo from Hazel Mitchell via Facebook)

Naomi getting down!

group song!

All-in-all, it was a wonderful, productive, and fun weekend with a group of warm, passionate, and talented writers and illustrators. Here's a group shot (courtesy of Tracy Clark via Facebook):

And I even left with a new friend. Well, actually, I feel that I left with many friends, but only one came home with me, stuffed in my suitcase. Introducing Comstock, the horse I won in a raffle:

Thanks for a wonderful weekend, everyone! And special thanks to co-regional advisers Suzanne (Suzy) Williams and Ellen Hopkins. It's a wonderful program that they run every 18 months. I believe applications for the next mentoring period will be accepted in late summer/Fall. If you've been writing for a while and feel that you're "on the brink" but just need a final push/polishing of your work, this could be the perfect conference for you.

How to Mingle at Publishing Events

This past weekend was the Annual SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC. I had no official duties (unlike last year), but as always when I'm in town, I enjoy attending the VIP Cocktail party, and then the Kidlit Drink Night after party (hosted by Fuse #8). The main problem with these events is that there are just too many people to talk to everyone I would have liked to.

I do remember a time as a younger editor when I didn't know as many people as I do now, when I found it harder to mingle. And I also imagine these events can be intimidating to attend as an author or illustrator. So, I thought I'd give some tips on how to mingle at publishing events. I know most of these tips are pretty standard, and to give full disclosure, I don't actually abide by all of these, but here goes:

1) The best "pick-up line" is to simply say "hello" and introduce yourself. Honestly, everyone at these type of events should be there to mingle, and even if they're not, they at least expect others to introduce themselves. If you recognize someone, whether an author or editor or Twitter friend, go up to him/her and say hi. Then again, if they look like they're deep in conversation with someone else, wait until they're not as engaged to approach them.

2) Have a goal/agenda for the event. Maybe there's an author, illustrator, agent, art director, or editor, etc. you've always wanted to meet and know will be there. Make your goal to meet that person. Maybe you're shy: make your goal to introduce yourself to at least one stranger. Maybe your goal is to get at least two business cards, and/or give your card to at least three people. Turn it into a game!

3) Don't be afraid to ask for help. I'm totally happy to introduce people to each other. I wish people would ask me more to introduce them to others. In general, I think people like to feel helpful.

4) Don't get drunk. It's fine to have a little liquid courage in you, but remember that this is a professional event. Nobody wants to be around someone who is sloppy. Don't embarrass yourself.(Okay, not that I've never gotten drunk at a publishing event myself...)

5) Have some conversation topics prepared. Maybe it's a current event, or asking what people are reading, or what they think of the award winners, etc.

6) Don't be afraid to introduce yourself again, or ask someone to remind you of their name. I go to so many different conferences and events. I may remember faces, but not usually names. And I never expect people to remember me. So don't worry about offending people you know you've met but can't remember. And it's always helpful to people to reintroduce yourself to remind them of who you are.

7) If you're introverted and/or shy, don't worry--I'd say at least 75% of the people in publishing are, too!


8) And finally, not to be cliche, but: Have Fun! These events are FUN! You're in a room of people who love books as much as you do. What's not fun about that?


As for the rest of the conference, I was following the action on Twitter over the weekend while I finished up an edit. There are also great interviews and wrap-ups of the different talks on the official blog here.

It was a good ALA (Midwinter 2011)

Yes, it was a good ALA:

Jen and I celebrate with the honored books*

But let me back up. Midwinter was held in beautiful San Diego this year. ALA Midwinter is generally quieter than other conferences--we don't usually bring authors to the conference, because many librarians are busy meeting with their committees to decide the Youth Media Awards. No authors means no "author care" for editors. So, what do editors do at Midwinter? We work at the booth, we meet with agents, we walk the floor and check out our competition, and we sit in on open committee meetings. I sat in on a few sessions of the Best Fiction for Young Adults (BFYA--formerly known as BBYA--Best Books for Young Adults. They changed the committee to only consider fiction, as the list was unwieldy when it included nonfiction. There is a separate YA nonfiction award and list now), and a bit of the Notables committee meeting, too. It's fascinating to hear the members talk about the books, and I especially love it when they get really passionate or emotional about the books. Although, it can also be nerve-wracking when they talk about books that I've edited!

This year, since I was already in Southern California for the holidays, I arrived in San Diego early to help a little with setup:

boxes everywhere

Zoe and I are proud of our tower of power. And no, we did not match on purpose.

enjoying our post set-up treat at Ghirardelli

The food eating and tower of ARC building continued throughout the show:

fish tacos!

Malinda Lo's HUNTRESS

13 CURSES by Michelle Harrison

FALLING FOR HAMLET by Michelle Ray
(the original pile was bigger, but these piles are prettier.)

chocolate souffle

tater tot nachos!

bouillabaisse

But it wasn't all food and building. We also hosted a preview breakfast bright and early Saturday morning (7:30 am!) where we highlighted around 25 of our upcoming titles for 2011. This is what the room looked like:

Our special guest star was debut author Holly Goldberg Sloan. Her YA novel I'll Be There is due out this May. Holly was so lovely and funny and her publishing story was captivating.

And now, on to the awards. ALA Midwinter is always buzzing all weekend with people speculating on and trying to predict the winners of the Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and more. To be perfectly honest, aside from having fairly high hopes for a Geisel medal of some color for Grace's Ling & Ting, we weren't expecting anything else this year. Not that we ever expect awards, but we've had a little more buzz going into a conference in prior years. (Well, make that last year, and no other year before that....)

A few weeks prior, the Morris finalists (for debut YA) had been announced, so we knew going in that we would have at least one medal for Karen Healey's Guardian of the Dead (yay Karen!).

We found out Sunday morning that we had won the Printz Medal for Ship Breaker. Amazing. Well, I didn't find out till a little later, but suspected when our library marketing director Victoria Stapleton and the editor of Ship Breaker, Editorial Director Jennifer Hunt ran out of the booth together...

We heard about Grace's silver Geisel honor later that afternoon evening. Happy, good news. Of course, we were not to reveal any of this news before the press conference on Monday, so we had to keep poker faces at the booth and not look too happy. But it was a good day, and my colleagues and I celebrated with champagne and Karaoke later that night (speaking of poker faces, I sang Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" up on a stage. Thankfully, there is no video or photo evidence, to my knowledge.)

On Monday morning, as per tradition, we were to gather in Victoria's hotel room at 6:30 am to see if we were getting any additional calls. At 6 am, as I was getting ready, I received a call from Victoria.

"You should sit down" she said. For some reason, I thought this meant there was bad news of some sort, although what kind of bad news she could share with me at that day and hour is beyond me.

"Dave the Potter has just won the Caldecott Honor," she tells me.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the first words out of my mouth were "Holy f*ck" which is saying a lot because I really hardly ever curse. But I think that wrapped up what I was feeling at that moment. For whatever reason, that possibility hadn't been on my radar, not because I didn't think Bryan Collier's absolutely breathtaking art wasn't deserving, but because there had been very little buzz on the book. But...wow.

"Get here as soon as you can!" she said. I hurried to get ready, and while I was in the elevator, she called again. "Dave the Potter has also won the Coretta Scott King Medal for illustration," she informed me. I wasn't alone in the elevator, and in the off chance the woman was a librarian or in publishing, I couldn't give anything away. "That's very interesting. I'm in the elevator. I'll be there in a minute." and then I went to the hotel room and proceeded to jump up and down in glee.

We also found out that Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes had won a Coretta Scott King honor for text. Woo-hoo! Room service delivered bagels, pastries, coffee, juice, and champagne, and we toasted our wonderful books with mimosas.

And then it was on to the press conference for the announcements of the awards. We actually got lost trying to find the ballroom in the conference center and missed the very beginning, but we soon settled in. One of the first awards announced was the Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award. And SURPRISE! Freaks and Revelations by Davida Wills Hurwin won an Honor! The committee hadn't informed us in advance. And, as I found out later when I called Davida, they hadn't called her, either. I was double surprised because the book was published in 2009--but it had published in November, so was eligible. I love this special book so much--read more in my Beyond the Book post. It hasn't seemed to find its audience, so I hope this award will bring a new readership to this powerful book.

Our other winners, adorned with their fancy medals:

For a complete list of the winners, go here.

To be honest, I'm still in shock. After the amazing conference we had last year, this feels a little bit...greedy, somehow. I also can't believe that I've almost achieved my pie-in-the sky goal for 2011 that I posted two weeks ago:

-Win an award for books I've edited in every category: picture book, early reader, MG, and YA

With Dave the Potter, Ling & Ting, Freaks and Revelations, and Guardian of the Dead all winning honors, I "only" have a MG award left to attain. That doesn't seem as daunting a goal as when I first stated it! I can't help but wonder if this is a case of me throwing a wish out into the universe and having it answered.

I do want to say that these awards really are a crap shoot, or, as another editor said, winning is like winning the lottery--who knows what each committee is going to think about any book. There are so many deserving and wonderful books out there, and authors and illustrators who weren't honored last Monday shouldn't feel disappointed. As one author on Facebook said, "we're in good company!" So true. But for those books that do win, it's wonderful when the hard work of the authors, illustrators, editors, designers, production people, copyeditors, proofreaders, marketers, publicists, etc. etc. is rewarded.

And of course winning is happy and giddy--all in all, not a bad start to the year!


*As Freaks and Revelations was published in 2009, we did not have a copy in the booth to display