Like all years, the 2009 SCBWI Summer Conference was loaded with inspiring speakers. Sherman Alexie's keynote got a standing ovation and brought tears to the audience. He ended with a story of the power of books and reminded us to never underestimate what our books can do for others. Kathleen Duey ended the conference with her speech on the family of the SCBWI and how we should embrace it.
Many of the workshops had practical tools to go forward for both the published and unpublished. Alice Pope spoke on "Practical On-line Promotion" while Karen Cushman gave detailed instruction on research.
But one thing differed from all the other conferences in the past. Again and again, authors and editors stressed the importance of having an agent in these hard economic times. With less houses accepting unsolicited manuscripts, no extra employees to speak of and lists being cut way back, it is imperative to have a good editorial agent.
The SCBWI did a great job with on-line tweeting and a conference blog, http://scbwiconference.blogspot.com. Check it out if you didn't attend the conference to get detailed information on what you missed.
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