If you are familiar with the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) organization, you know that they do many great things to help writers and illustrators of all levels with their craft. In March of this year, I applied for the NESCBWI Agent Editor Day, a mentoring/training day with writing and illustrating professionals. Because of the overwhelming interest in this event, SCBWI selects a limited number of people by random lottery. I was one of the lucky ones this year. I also applied last year, but didn't get picked. My message to all those writers interested in such an event is to keep applying each year.
The application process has you selecting a particular mentor who you would like to work with. Each mentor is assigned 6 people to work with in their group. I was fortunate to get Kate Meltzer as a mentor. She is an editor with Roaring Brook Press, a division of the Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. Before choosing Kate, I did a little research to find out more about her and the writers and books she has worked with. She has worked with Newbury Medal winner, Matt de la Pena as well as many other well published writers. Her husband, Brian Geffen is also in the publishing business. He is an editor with Henry Holt Books for Young Readers.
Being able to participate in such an event opens up doors that are normally closed for writers without agents. For instance, both Roaring Brook and Henry Holt do not presently accept unsolicited manuscripts. I recently made submissions to Kate and several other professionals as part of this SCBWI event. I'm hopeful that such participation will benefit my writing.
Ken
