52 days to go...

When you wake up at 3 am on a regular basis you know that something is occupying your mind.

There is always the odd thought...you hope could be a story, but mostly you know it is going to be conference related.

Over in Los Angeles, I’ll bet the organisers of the SCBWI conference (society of children’s book writers and illustrators)are having sleepless nights. The 38th summer conference kicks off today. Four days. 66 presenters. Over 1000 delegates .

There are a couple of kiwis going over...Frances Plumpton is among them and I can’t wait to pick her brains at our conference to see what they were talking about over there.

My guess is that we will be talking about much the same topics...

Marketing and Promotion...Here is a great link to the top ten marketing tips from an author who bills herself as The Shameless Promoter

New technology and how to use it... The creativepenn (a great site) has a post on 5 easy steps to do podcasting...ramp up your website with some excerpts of your work in progress.... Or you could check out Fifis cool book trailer for GLORY

Maybe they will be talking about, and to, amazing authors like Karen Cushman, winner of the Newberry medal who will be a presenter. There is a great interview with her on the cuppajolie blog

I have a new quote for my wall from reading this interview.

“The best reason to write is just to find out what happens.” Karen Cushman

So True. (My planned plots usually last about five chapters...then I need to write to find out what happens.)

They will be talking about the future of publishing... Jane Friedman’s current post about the future of publishing is a must read. Click on the sidebar link or Go Here to read it...

If you check out our conference timetable above you will see that we address all these topics...

But mostly I think the LA delegates will be soaking up the atmosphere.

Alice Pope, The editor of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators market (writers digest annual) is leading a team of bloggers who are blogging the entire conference as well as presenting. Go here to check out some amazing interviews already.

We have got some awesome presenters, great workshops and panels and our delegates come from all over New Zealand and are at all different stages of their writing and illustrating careers.

It’s going to be great.

Now if I could get some sleep to prepare for it.

maureen


pic is our conference schedule...click on it to bring it up in a large new window....

Business or Networking?

Recently I have been thinking about business cards. People attending the Spinning Gold Conference are going to need one (if reported experiences of overseas conferences are anything to go by...)

But what use is the business card to a writer?

Writing is a business but you don’t have to be tied in to the standard business card model.

The Business Card is a Networking Card.

Networking cards have a different focus. They can have a personal statement or quote on them describing you - a selling point if you are looking for a job, a list of your achievements, a mini cv, your book cover or website logo or a classy photo of yourself....

A while ago I posted about branding for writers. It is something that I see as being of more and more benefit to creative people.
For a writer your name is your brand. So your networking card needs to reflect something of your personality /name/ brand.

One of my very favourite networking cards is Bob Kerr’s. For those of you who have met Bob Kerr, you will appreciate the genius of his business /networking card.

Bob is very tall. Bob wears jeans most days and is a fabulous illustrator and fine art exhibitor. Bob’s card reflects the first view most people have when they meet him. It is his self portrait in oils from the waistband of his jeans down. On the back of the card are his name and studio details.

Of course before you become famous and can employ staff to answer the phone (or not, as the baby is running and answering the phone for me at the moment) you don’t want every Tom, Dick and Harriet interrupting your creative time so what information do you want or need on your networking card?

In my researching of different business cards I have found that concerns about identity theft are changing the way some people are thinking about the information they put on their networking card. Their address and phone numbers and personal email address’s are not on the card. All their web contacts are tho, website, blog, twitter, facebook etc urls are listed on the card.

So if you are thinking about your contact details maybe an online email address is for you. Don’t forget that you can write a personal phone number down on the card before you hand it to someone important. You will get a pen at the conference...(and some other goodies.... )

If you are a creative....and all writers are, we have a unique opportunity to make our networking card stand out, reflect our personality and say something about us.

I am enjoying working with my very creative friend, Trish, on ideas for my networking card which will get its debut at the Spinning Gold conference.

It would be great to see, at the conference, networking cards reflecting the personalities of the wonderful writers and illustrators we have here.

If you want some inspiration Smashing Magazine recently posted an article on some of the best and most creative cards out there with comments about their effectiveness and if you want a most different take on the business card watch the video...




Happy creative branding
maureen