The 2012 SCBWI Summer Conference is only a few weeks away (excited?!), and I'm here with a faculty pre-conference interview with a fantastic editor and speaker at this year's event, Arianne Lewin.
Arianne Lewin is an executive editor at G. P. Putnam’s Sons, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group.
She edits all kinds of books, with an emphasis on young adult novels
and fantasy. Ari has worked with Mike Rex, Cinda Williams Chima, Rachel
Hawkins, Katie Alender, Marie Lu and Jessica Spotswood (from SCBWI's site)
I was lucky enough to be able to ask Arianne some questions about the upcoming conference:
Hi, Arianne! What do you think newly published authors can gain from attending a
conference?
Conferences are a fantastic opportunity for new authors to keep growing. It takes a long time for a baby writer to know their way around publishing, and
conferences provide the opportunity to meet editors, agents, and experienced
authors who can answer some of their burning questions. Pre-pub and post,
the burning questions never stop...
What topics will you touch on in your talk?
Which talk? I’m doing
three. One is about how and what I acquire. Another is about
writing fantasy (but could really be applied to most genres). My
intensives are about improving first pages.
I’ve worked with a number of authors who I’ve met at conferences, but haven’t signed any yet. Still, signing people is the whole reason I come; I know it will happen eventually – I just have to keep at it!
Thank you so much, Arianne! I'll definitely be at the writing fantasy session.
If you can't attend the conference this year, you can follow the action through the official SCBWI Team Blog site HERE. Hope to see you in LA!
-Suz
2 comments:
Hi Suzanne!
I'm stopping by to say thank you! I've just finished A Need So Beautiful and I wanted to say you a HUGE thanks for giving the world the change to read something that beautiful and intriguing and...I don't even have the words, really. I am so amazed by this book and I'm reading A Want So Wicked right now and I can't stop already! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart! You are amazingly talented and can make people dream when reading you books!
Love,
Jessica - http://www.lovinbooks.net/
Just want to second how important those first pages are, but not from the usual viewpoint of impressing a reader, because so much has been said about that. I want to say that first pages contain the fire of a book, and if you know what needs to go in there, you know the book. I always revisit opening pages after completing each new draft of a work and those pages always teach me something.
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