As most of you know, I recently attended the SCBWI Mid-Year Conference in Orlando. It was my first conference and I wasn’t sure what to expect but I heard great things about the Florida SCBWI and wanted to check it out.

Oh. My. Goodness. It was absolutely incredible! Seriously, my head is still spinning. To avoid causing your head to spin, I’ll start from the beginning and post the highlights in segments. Attendees were also tweeting live from the conference at #scbwifl.

First off, I got there early Friday morning for the Novel Intensive. The panel featured Stephanie Lurie, Editorial Director for Disney-Hyperion; Alvina Ling, Senior Editor for Little, Brown; and Kathleen Duey, author of over ninety books. So you can just imagine the wealth of information they had to share.

The intensive was fabulous. I ended the day with pages of notes and so many ways to improve my writing. I really liked the fact that they limited the number of participants to 25 because it gave everyone the opportunity to have their work looked at and critiqued on a personal level.

Kathleen Duey dazzled me. I heard, before meeting her, she was amazing and that is truly an understatement. The way she can look at your work, tell you where it’s weak and then just ramble off exactly how to improve it, is fascinating. Throughout the conference, she rattled off story lines and suggestions off the top of her head that would seriously, take me weeks to plot out. I love how honest and constructive her advice was.

Stephanie Lurie and Alvina Ling were just incredible too. I was so impressed with how genuinely sweet and down to earth they both were. They’re the kind of people you just want to hug!  They each talked about what their specific publishing house is looking for and not looking for and offered some very helpful information. They totally changed the way I envisioned big-shot editors.

I also think as writers, we have a stereotyped image of editors. You know, the scary person behind the big desk with a red marker in their hand. What? Come on, I know I’m not the only one who has that nightmare.

For those of you who might be unsure about whether or not to attend a conference, I cannot encourage you enough to take the plunge.  The knowledge you will acquire and the contacts you will make are indispensable to your career as a writer.  Go for it!  Find a local SCBWI chapter (if you’re a children’s writer) or other organization coming to your town and sign up!

Stay tuned for some great tips on query letters, first pages, and more!

Check out more photos with the fabulous authors I met here…