Romance Slam Jam 2023 - a pleasant reunion of writers and readers

 

The family reunion we didn’t know we needed.

That's what some attendees called the 2023 virtual Romance Slam Jam conference held last month.

I agree.

As I wrote in my post last month, just before the 2023 convention began, I had not been to a conference of any kind since before the days of covid. And while I am an introvert, there are a few group activities I enjoyed. Hanging around with other writers was one of them. Thus, I decided to give this virtual conference a try. 

Romance Slam Jam gave me three days focused on page-turning romance and women's fiction books showcasing multicultural characters. Things started off early with a bonus session that brought us RomCom Screenwriting Comedy Expert, Steve Kaplan to discuss writing romantic comedy. Although I do not write in that genre, I found the information in that hour-long session extremely helpful in the work I do write. 

That also highlighted one of the issues with the main congerence. Three eight hour plus days of back to back sessions is not easy on my brain. The conference began at noon Eastern Time for three days in a row, with back to back sessions lasting until after eight PM. With no lunch, snack or dinner breaks.  The virtual format meant attendees from multiple time zones. I understand that having attendees in multiple time zones required some compromises. But for me, having to chose between skipping a session (and giving my brain a break) or gobbling food in front of the zoom screen while my butt ached from long hours in the chair, made this a negative. 

I couldn't help contrasting the back-to-back sessions with the way the conference was run in prior, in-person years. Sessions that started early in the morning, nine or even eight am, but which allowed time for lunch and networking breaks, and often included a dinner as part of the conference. And since they added in things like a games night after the last sessions, there was no official time for a dinner break either.  

 Organizers attempted to provide networking opportunities.  There were the games session, a scavenger hunt, and the Pajama Cafe Cliffhanger Night that included readings of steamy passages from some books,  during the evenings, to help simulate the networking available at in-person events. On several occassions, attendees were randomly assigned to small groups for discussion and more networking. Unfortuatly, at least in the groups I was placed in, there was always someone who hogged the limited time available.  

As I said, I am an introvert. At person events I might have managed even less networking. So I give them a B+ for effort. While there was no way to replace the dinner and dance sessions from in-person conferences, and something was lost by not being able to whisper a comment to the person seated next of you, we still laughed and enjoyed being with each other.

Past conferences included tours of the city where the conference was being held, historic information and visits to museums and other landmarks. Yes, that was balanced by not having to travel or stay in a hotel, but I missed those tours. I also missed the meet and greet opportunities with individual authors and their fans. No online bookselling event will ever be the same as walking up to an author’s table to chat and give that author the opportunity to persuade you to buy their book. 

I have spent the time since the conference weighing the good and the less good (I really can't say anything about the conference was totally bad). So ask me if I would do this again, knowing what I know about the cponference now.

Absolutely.  I have already signed up for the 2024 conference.  The craft and business information we got was good. The opportunities to meet with agents and editors at no additional cost, were excellent. At the end, I closed my Zoom window feeling energized, and knowing more than I did when I walked in. 

Librarians of Color In 2023

This month's topic involves days we look forward to. For me, July 2023 had been a date I anticipated.  The NCAAL conference was supposed to be held then. NCAAL, National Conference of African American Librarians, and JCLC, the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color, usually alternate years. This rotation was interupted by Covid that cancelled the 2020 JCLC and 2021 NCAAL conferences.  Then, climate issues left the hotel headquarters for the 2022 JCLC flooded. So I have practically been licking my lips anticipating the 2023 NCAAL conference, scheduled for July 2023 in Indianapolis, a location close enough to my Midwest home to be within driving distance. 

Yippee! I will have another summer at a conference among librarians of color, people I consider my best buds.

Or so I thought.

It's true, I am not a librarian by profession, but I joined the American Library Association years ago. My happiest childhood memories include my school librarians, and the librarians at the Chicago Public libraries.  At a time when there was no seperate Middle Grade or Yound Adult categories, they let me roam the adult shelves even while in elementay school. If I wanted a book, they let me take it out. As an adult, I volunteered at a branch at my local library for years.  I have spoken at a number of librarian conferences, including the ALA, the American Library Association. 

During the 2018 JCLC conference, I served as one of the official conference recorder. That involved spending nearly a week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Four of my articles were published on the conference blog.  While the high altitude made breathing a little difficult for thie midwesterner, the conference itself functioned as a breath of fresh air. Only about 6% of US librarians are black. That makes these conferences filled with librarians of color a sort of homecoming. It is as easy for POC to feel somewhat isolated while attending one of the major ALA conferences as it does at some of the major writers conferences I often attend.

I began my JCLC that experience at a preconference event, Beyond the Racial Stalemate where participants practiced listening and empathy skills. The sessions were so popular space had to be reserved in advance, and all sessions were filled. My report on that session is available  at https://www.jclcinc.org/conference/2018/beyond-the-racial-stalemate/

Most appropriately, my final session on Saturday was a workshop titled Community Building as Self Care, presented by We Here, an online community for library workers of color at https://www.wehere.space/. The very crowded session gave participants the chance to talk, create, and plan ways to improve the situation for librarians and archivists of color. 

As people entered the very crowded room, they were met with a sign that said explained:

The organizers began the session by treating the packed room to a meditation session. For five minutes, we worked on loving ourselves and looking at those who troubled us with love in our hearts for them. That beginning reminded participants to avoid a moan and groan sessions and ready do the real work tfor change.  

People broke into small groups to discuss a topic they cared about. Those choices included things like: 

I joined a group selected the topic of white fragility. Thanks to a preliminary meditation session, we knew better than to let ourselves descend into a moan and complain session. Mostly we struggled and searched for positive things to relate to our topic. We shaped strategies to handle relaed issues and keep them from dominating the workplace. These included  dialoging kindly, but firmly and boldly, informing they could take “all the time they wanted in the bathroom” to get over any fragile tears.

 
Another group described how some organizations went about recruiting people of color. Sometimes the effort involved hiring a recruiter (often a white recruiter). The result is often only 1 or 2 (or 0) POC expressing interest. Meanwhile, existing staff and para-professionals of color were ignored. They suggest efforts and funds move from recruiting people in school or providing internships that help one person at a time. Instead, take a look at existing staff members of color, individuals who are already interested in librarianship, and putting money and effort into helping them get degrees in library sciences.

Perhaps the best and simplest suggestions at the 2018 JCLC came from a group that focused on what it was like being the only librarian of color on staff. “Learn to say no.” And, “If something is not OK, say so." The  week of camaraderie and relaxing among peers from across the country and whose backgrounds span almost every country on the globe was one of the best conferences in my memory. I say that after also attending and presenting at conferences like ALA and various state library associations, as well as RWA and SCBWI.  .

I have been anticipatint this summer's conference for ages. Covid cancelled both the 2020 JCLC, and the 2021 NCAAL. Mother Nature stepped in and sent floods to close the hotel where the 2022 JCLC was scheduled to be held. By 2023, I felt overdue and eager.

Then controversy inside the Indianapolis Public Library board changed everything.  The full story is too long to be documented here. It involves years of both the staff and community members protesting the boards actions and inactions.  As a result, in January 2023, the NCAAL issued a statement saying: 

“The National Conference of African Americans Librarians (NCAAL) is a time for us to engage, communicate, reflect, and enjoy fellowship in a welcoming city. Due to actions of the Indianapolis Public Library Board of Trustees, BCALA members have determined that Indianapolis is an inhospitable location, and the conference will not be held there."

Now I have another year without the comeraderie these events bring. This time the cause is not an impartial disease or equally impartial climate change. I will miss the feeling of camaraderie and connection caused by these events that serve as both a homecoming and a reunion, even for a retiree like me.

Finding a Writing Path!

by Diana McCollum

 

First let me say my writing career has been on hiatus. 2019, Like many of you the pandemic stopped me in my tracks. I couldn’t seem to get a grip on what I should be doing, and I let things slide and my writing went nowhere.

 

2021, still dealing with the pandemic, sanitizing like crazy, wiping down groceries with sanitizer, washing masks, and avoiding people. Then in April of 2021, my husband and I took a trip to CA to have our first visit in 18 months with family. On that trip we decided to move back to CA to be closer to family. 

We put our house up for sale May 3^rd and it sold by May 25^th .  Then back to CA to find a home to move to. So the summer was all about moving and getting settled.

 

This year 2022, we are pretty much settled. I am taking the path to publication.

 I have committed to taking writing classes from POV Authors, restarting my newsletter, blogging for Romancing the Genres and Windtree Press. I’ve blocked out time each week to write on my work in progress. I also plan on venturing out of the romance genre and writing a short murder mystery to be included in an anthology Windtree Press is producing in the fall.

I’m pulling out an unfinished MS “The Rose Witch” and intend to finish that novel this year.

 

I am excited to finally be excited to write again. My desk in clean, papers have been filed or discarded, and calendar has been filled out with dates for classes etc.

 

Most of all, I’d love to attend a conference in person. There is nothing quite like being around other authors. The excitement, the good vibes and the networking, all good.

 

Are you looking forward to in person conferences and meetings?

Happy Holidays!

 

 

2019 Wisconsin RWA Conference

Hi everyone! 

I am Young Adult and Middle Grade author Barbara Binns, writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for adolescents and teens. As my tagline says, I write Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them.  

This month, I want to talk about my trip to a writer's conference and the current issues with RWA, diversity and the Ritas/Golden Heart.

I spent the first weekend of April in Milwaukee, at the 2019 Wisconsin RWA Write Touch writer’s conference.  I began by attending the writer's intensive, a Friday session presented by Lisa Cron (http://wiredforstory.com/) on what readers really want. I don't know how she found the energy and stamina to lead us through an entire day.

Lisa talked with us about the importance of story to humanity. Storytelling is a part of every culture around the world. Story, she said, is the difference between what a character is willing to say out loud, and what they are really thinking about things they don’t say. As humans, we come to story with a question, what will this story teach that will help me survive. We want clues that will help us in both the physical world, and the social world, the land of interacting with other people. We search story for clues that will help us see ourselves and live our lives successfully.

Listening to that made me consider the lack of discussion about the RWA’s recent revelations about continuing problems in the Rita contest. When I arrived at the conference, I expected to hear gossip  on the subject. Mostly I heard loud, resounding silence. If attendees did talk about #RitasSoWhite, no one did so when I was around. Note, I saw only two other African American attendees and they were only signed up for the intensive. Once that ended, I found myself the only black person in the room. I can't help wondering if that was behind some of the silence on the subject. The one exception came during the final keynote address of the conference.

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, (https://writershelpingwriters.net) authors of the Emotional Thesauraus and a variety of companion books for writers. They discussed Emotional Wounds, the kinds authors inflict on our fictional creations. One kind of emotional wound they discussed with us is caused by a person being faced by an ongoing detrimental situation. Authors of color in the RWA have faced problematic ongoing situations for years. If this were characters in a romance story, the authors would be seeking ways to heal their emotional wounds.

The conference's keynote speaker Maya Rodale (http://www.mayarodale.com/) showed us the "formula" for romance novels. We all laughed at the reminder that too many outside the industry looked down on the romance genre and say the authors merely follow a formula, and therefore less than "real writers."

At the end of the final day, Maya gave a keynote address, that reminded us that we romance authors have superpowers. Other authors, largely male, of other genres may put our product down or claim romance authors don't really know how to write well. Those belittleing words get white RWA authors up in arms.

Unfortunately, when you exchange race for gender, too many are silent when romance writers of color, especially black authors, are downrated or ignored in the Golden Heart and Rita contests, the major awards for romance writers. When the issue is race instead of gender, numerous white RWA authors have said their African American counterparts couldn't cut it in the Ritas because they can’t write. Or maybe its because their black characters "aren't realistic." I have rarely seen assertions like those challenged by their fellow white RWA members, no matter what the statistics collected by the RWA organization say. The numbers are just a bleak for LGBT authors.

Maya Rodale reminded those present of the contract authors make with readers: to give them a chance to see themselves in a romance. We should use our power to ensure there is romance for everyone. That includes those who don't usually get to triumph in real life. People of color, the disabled, and those identifying as LGBT deserve to see themselves on the page, experiencing joy and getting a happily ever after.

It's not just about everyone rushing to write those characters their books. Especially if those characters is not authentic to them. Maya said, if authors do one thing, it is to read more books written by these authors. Read them with an open mind and see what the Ritas have been missing. Let yourself get swept up in stories about people who are different from you, and then, tell your friends about them. Then, everyone wins.

Here are some black romance authors you might want to try, in addition to the supreme Beverly Jenkins:

• Alyssa Cole -  Be Not Afraid, a  Revolutionary War novella 
• Farrah Rochon; if you like football players, try Field of Pleasure
• Rebel Miller writes about a futuristic dystopia in Awakening
• Piper Huguley wrote  A Virtuous Ruby – the first in an inspirational series set in the early 20th century.
• Kiru Taye - Keeping Secrets  features an amnesiac falling in love with the woman he married in name only
• Christiana Harrell wrote Cream, the Lammy nominated story of an androgynous young woman in search of her true self
• Kianna Alexander - This Tender Melody – He’s taken her spot at the helm of her family’s software company, and she’s not happy about it. Also, he’s a musician.
• Kayla Perrin (one of my personal favorite authors) - One Night in Paris, about an older woman who accepts a younger man’s proposal to travel with him to France. 
• Brenda Jackson - Bane – He’s a Navy SEAL with a ranch and a cowboy hat to go with it. She’s a chemist who needs his protection. 
• Rochelle Alers - No Compromise – The director of a program for battered women finds herself in danger. Her new Army boyfriend is out to fix it.

This is only a tiny list of everything that is available. Let's do what we can to spread more love and joy in the world.  We can play a part in making the world a better place and expanding the boundaries of Romancelandia by seeking out a a wider variety of romance authors to read.

My book Courage (https://www.amazon.com/Courage-Barbara-Binns/dp/0062561650) played the "one of these things is not like the others" game at the conference bookstore. Several hotel guests bought copies of the book with the black boy on the cover and asked me to sign. One conference attendee also purchased a copy.

See, there is something for every reader.

We Still Need Diverse Books

Hi everyone! 

I am YA, and now MG author Barbara Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for adolescents and teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them.  My debut middle grade novel, Courage, was recently published by Harper Collins.

I happen to be between conferences right now. I was at the Joint Council of Librarians of Color (JCLC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico last week. Today (Wednesday) I am speaking at the Illinois Library Association conference in Peoria, Il.  In lieu of a new post, I am giving you a post a made during the JCLC conference, as librarians discussed children's books and We Need Diverse Books.  An appropriate topic as I prepare to begin my Diverse Writing class  for next week. So here goes, an overview of the Youth Author Luncheon at the recent JCLC conference.

The Youth Author Lunch on Friday included an opportunity to discuss with a panel of WNDB personnel, Dhonielle Clayton, Lamar Giles, Caroline Richmond, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, and Juleah del Rosario. We had a full house including great conversations at individual tables, a lovely lunch, and a lot of information about changes in diversity in the publishing industry.

The panelists started by going over the history of We Need Diverse Books. The first wave of activity after the birth of the #WNDB hashtag and movement involved publishers looking at authors and illustrators writing outside their lane to provide “fixes for the problem.” Fortunately, most now embrace the #ownvoices movement. In addition, many books written by POC and other #ownvoices are finding spots on bestseller lists. As Lamar Giles notes, that is not because these authors went from bad to good overnight. Its because the authors and books are finally being taken seriously by publishers, and getting the marketing and publicity push behind them to propel them into visibility. Diverse books by diverse authors are no longer being shoved into a pigeon hole to die, quietly and unnoticed. Once these books are discovered by readers and reviewers, the quality that was always there is seen.

We are coming up on the fifth anniversary of the organization. The panelists discussed many of their accomplishments including:

1. Sponsoring numerous diverse interns into large publishing houses. Publishers often hire from pools of unpaid interns, and many authors from marginalized populations found in difficult to afford to take on an unpaid job in the very expensive land of New York. In the last few years, several of the interns subsidized by WNDB have gone on to permanent employment in publishing. 
2. The Walter Awards celebrating diverse books by diverse authors. 
3. Short story anthologies of diverse authors designed to be school-friendly. Each anthology includes a slot reserved for an unpublished author to help undiscovered #ownvoices get a start. 
4. Copies of the anthologies, Walter award winners, and other books are regularly given away to classrooms across the country. And several participants at the luncheon went home with autographed copies of several of the books involved in the giveaway. 
5. Created an Our Story app as an easy-to-use resource for students, teachers, and librarians to help find diverse books of interest. The app includes a quiz readers can take to help the app suggest books for them. That includes so-called reluctant readers who may simply not have found a book that speaks to them…yet. 

During the Q&A period, several questions about the self-publishing surge came up. The panelists felt self-publishing was more a band-aid than a solution to the problem of getting more diverse books published and into libraries. They advocate for actions that will help fix institutional problems, such as the internship program. While self-publishing is now a viable publication path for authors to pursue, it should not absolve publishers from dealing with real issues that remain in the publishing industry.

New releases by the presenters:

RITAs So White

Hi everyone! I am YA, and now MG author Barbara Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for adolescents and teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them.  My newest book, Courage, is middle grade fiction that will be coming out this summer from Harper Collins.


If you care about romance (and I bet you do, that’s why you love reading this blog) you know that it's a billion-dollar industry that outperforms all other book genres. It's also an industry plagued by an inclusion problem.

Especially when it comes to books by black authors.

The RITA Award, the top honor for romance writers, is presented by RWA, the Romance Writers of America. After announcing yet another slate of finalists for the 2018 RITA with a disappointing lack of diversity, the  RWA issued a statement admitting the organization has a problem with diversity. In its 36 year history, the nearly all white RITA contest judges have somehow never considered a book by a black author  worthy of a RITA. Click HERE to read the RWA Board’s statement.

In 2017, Bea and Leah Koch authored a report on diversity in the romance genre. The Koch’s run The Ripped Bodice (http://www.therippedbodicela.com/), a romance bookstore in Culver City, LA. They found that fewer books by authors of color were published by the leading romance presses in 2017 compared to the previous year, despite an increase in the numbers of romance books published. Few of those authors of color (AOC) were African American.  Click here for a PDF copy of the report.  The Koch's noted that, “Clearly there is plenty of room to pull up more chairs as long as the people sitting in those chairs are white.” And now both Kimani Press, Harlequin's African American line, and Crimson Romance, a Simon & Schuster line featuring a larger than average percentage of AOC among it's authors, are closing.

Riptide is a New Jersey-based publisher (noted on the report as having 4.8% of their books written by AOC in 2017). Queer romance writer Cole McCade, once one of those authors, described Riptide as “at all levels hostile to me as a person of color”. Click here to read details of his experience,  including an email from Riptide editor Sarah Lyons stating: “We don’t mind POC But I will warn you – and you have NO idea how much I hate having to say this – we won’t put them on the cover, because we like the book to, you know, sell.”

Riptide has since accepted Lyons’s resignation. Which does nothing to change the overall attitude.

Take a look at your own recent reads. Do any of them have a black hero or heroine? Were any written by a black author? People like Brenda Jackson, Rochelle Ayers, Alyssa Cole, Piper Huguley, Farrah Rochon, and Rebel Miller. 

Black romance authors write historical fiction, contemporary, dystopia, suspense, paranormal, LGBT, and sci-fi romance. They write about cowboys, gangsters, billionaires and preachers. They write about black love and interracial, multicultural love. They write romance that is inspirational, or clean or sizzling with sexuality. They write long novels and short novellas.

If none of these books or authors are on your shelves or TBR lists, maybe that’s why even bestselling black authors get little respect from romance publishers or RITA judges who have never felt the urge to open one and discover that love is love, no matter the outer wrapper.

We black authors also write YA. 

My own experience comes from the publication of my first novel, Pull, a YA romance. My publisher daringly placed my African American lead on the cover. Shortly after publication, I attended a romance book fair in Milwaukee where I was the only author of color and one of only a few YA romance authors. Meaning my book was one of the few that young people had to chose from. On two occasions, white teens came and looked at my book. They picked it up, read the back cover (the publisher had an enticing blurb there) and even opened the first chapter. And, if I do say so myself, I had a great opening hook, a reach out and grab the reader first page. Those kids went off to get their parents and drag them back to buy the book. The white parents took one look at me and the book cover, and took their kids away. One even told their child in so many words, “This book is not for you,” without ever looking beyond the black boy on the cover. Before reading a single word, they decided the book was untouchable.

I can’t help wondering how many RITA judges have that same attitude. Do the words on the page written by a black author have to be twice as good as others to get past that initial prejudice? I left RWA a few years ago because I saw the signs and signals and grew tired of being quietly excluded. (And because I primarily write YA, and have now slipped into Middle Grade with my newest book, Courage) I am now part of SCBWI - Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

The children’s book industry has been addressing the inclusion issue for several years, thanks to the work of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp) to document and track diversity and inclusion, childrens book publisher Lee and Low (https://www.leeandlow.com/), WeNeedDiverseBooks (https://diversebooks.org/) and similar initiatives that keep the issue in the forefront. As a result, SCBWI is well into the process of addressing them with initiatives at both the individual chapter and national levels. I'm proud to say the Illinois chapter, which I belong to, is at the forefront of the diversity and inclusion efforts.

All is not lost in RWA land. In a few weeks, I will be at the 2018 Spring Fling conference (http://chicagospringfling.com/) in Oak Brook, Illinois. This writer’s conference, given by the Chicago North chapter of RWA, has brought in the incomparable Beverly Jenkins, a historical fiction author with over thirty novels published, to be one of their featured speakers. Ms. Jenkins may never have won a RITA, but over her stellar career she has been a bestseller and won numerous awards, including the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award.

Later this year I will be speaking at Romance Slam Jam Booklovers Convention (https://rsjconvention.com/) for black readers and authors. It’s a place where no one will wonder if a black author really knows how to write well, or chose to move to a different table when one sits among them.

I’m human. I like being welcomed.




One more thing:

My next book, Courage will be released at the end of July by Harper Children's. And they dared put a black child on the cover. Its written for young people in 3rd to 7th grade.  If you want to give the young people the gift of inclusion, take this book about six children of various backgrounds and races as they explore friendship and empathy, and what it means to display true courage. (And, they will also learn a little about diving.) You can let Harper Collins know publishing diverse books is important by preordering Courage at
https://www.amazon.com/Courage-Barbara-Binns/dp/0062561650

Indies & Libraries, Together In Midwinter

Hi everyone! I am YA, and now MG author Barbara Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for adolescents and teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them.  My newest book, Courage, is middle grade fiction that will be coming out next summer from Harper Collins.

I spent the weekend at the American Library Association Midwinter conference in Denver, Colorado. I attended the conference as a retired (and current volunteer) library worker. And because, as a writer, I consider librarians a major part of my audience. (I feel the same about RTG readers, so please read all the way to the end for a surprise. Pretty please with sugar on it, as I used to say when I was young.)

Beautiful Downtown Denver

First, let me say, being “Mile High” is a real thing, not to be trifled with. The convention leaders greeted us with instructions on staying hydrated and other survival tips. Literally thousands of librarians crowded the city from all across the country, occupying almost a dozen hotels.

Librarians and vendors.

The exhibit hall was filled with companies that make every type of library tool. And all kinds of publishers. Not just the big five. There were dozens of small presses. And, a surprising number of Indie publishing houses.

It has been two years since I last attended an ALA meeting. I was surprised to see how many booths were manned by either individual Indie authors/publishers, or by groups of indie authors joined together to manage the costs of participating at the conference. I am going to tell you some of the things I saw. This is not an endorsement of any group or service, just my observations about the possibilities for libraries and indie authors.

Images from four different Indie  booths 

A number of companies that provide self-publishing and on-demand services, companies like Ingram, iUniverse, Xlibris had their had booths. Many were collaboration efforts, with books from authors who published using their software. These firms are making a presence to get their users books in front of librarians. 

There was also booth from Indie consortiums, authors who could not afford an independent presence at the conference, but joined together to purchase a booth and get their work in front of the thousands of attendees.

The Indie Press Collective provides a number of services for Indie authors. In addition to showing books at associations like ALA, they have a review service for pre-pub bed Indie Books only, Foreword Reviews  Anyone can ask for a review, you can see more information on the process at - https://www.forewordreviews.com/about/ 

There is no cost for a review. But, since they get thousands of requests, only a small percentage of the authors who want a review actually get included in Foreword Reviews. There are costs associated with post publication reviews, as well as for being included in the books displayed at booths or for advertising in their magazines. 

Even more, the Indie books obtained a time slot on the Book Buzz stage - two to two-thirty on Saturday. The Book Buzz stage is located on the Exhibit floor of every ALA convention. This is the fourth ALA conference I have attended over the years. For the first time I know of, Indie groups had their own time slot on stage, where some of their up-and-coming books were individually highlighted for librarians in attendance.

I want to say again that I am not endorsing any of these groups or efforts. I was simply impressed by the shear number of Indie authors and small presses. Impressed by the fact that they were not only in small, less expensive booths in the back, but also in the larger, decorated booths manned with specialists ready to engage with librarians. I am happy to see the way some authors join consortiums to give themselves a chance to be noticed by librarians.

Only the future will tell how much success individual authors will have breaking into the library market. That includes public libraries, college and reference libraries, and school libraries. That represents thousands of potential sales. I spoke with one woman who was looking at possibilities for her areas "One community, One book" program, and she intends to purchase 3,000 copies of the selected book. Libraries can be a great market for Indies to break into.

---

And now, your surprise. I would love to hear any of your comments, about libraries, Indies...or about my new book - http://www.babinns.com/books/courage/ . I have some Advance Reader Copies of Courage, my Middle Grade debut coming out at the end of July.  I have reserved two for readers of this post. On Feb 28 I will select two commenters to receive copies. Check back at the end of the month to see if you are a winner of a hard copy ARC that will be mailed to you.

While I want to hear comments from everyone, please note that only commenters from the continental US will be included in the raffle. 

Conference report

Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

Conference Tales

I'm so sorry my post is a little late  this month, but that's because I spent a week at the 46th annual summer SCBWI conference for children;s book authors and illustrators in Los Angeles. I am bringing you back some of the highlights, 

Diversity was a major theme of this year's conference. The first keynote speaker, Vanessa Brantley

Newton, gave a talk entitled Diversity Designed by Adversity. The author of Mary Had A Little Glam told us:

"We can let adversity ruin us, or we can 'shake if off and pack it under.'" She grew up with dyslexia, severe stuttering and synesthesia. She was also the only "chocolate chip" in her otherwise white class, and faced teachers who made her status as unwanted very obvious. Although she realized that reality sucked big time, she learned to celebrate the differences and similarities between people. She defeated her stuttering through singing, and treated us to a rendition of "Children will listen" to remind us of the importance of what we write to our readers.

Laurie Halse Anderson gave the closing keynote address. She reminded us that:




Remember, there is nothing easier to do than not create. So attendees hustled forth to be creators.

Workshops

In between the opening and closing we had dozens of workshops to select from, some meant for beginners, others for long-time professionals. Workshops that included:

Linda Sue Park discussing marketing for those of us who hate marketing. One major piece of advice I took from her talk is to not be discouraged by tiny turnouts at book tours (although her family once presented her with an awesome crowd). She shared some advice from her publisher: the goal of book tours is not to sell books to individuals who attend, that's just a plus.The real goal is to build relationships with individual booksellers so be sure to spend time schmoozing with them. You want the book sellers to like and remember you. That leaves them carrying your books, looking for new books, and hand-selling them to future customers. It's all about making connections with other people, the thing that shy me is least good at.

Kat Yeh gave advice to novel drafting to both plotters and pantsers (who she lovingly called "discovery writers"). She called that all important first draft the "hot mess" version. This is the loose, untamed, writing based on instinct and emotion and the ability to not care if you get something wrong. She likened writing the first draft to navigating through uncharted water. When stuck, she recommended we:

• Think of"what ifs"
• Jump around to different scenes
• Think of a scene to show an essential character trait
• Consider something you want/need/wish your reader to know

Big take-away - that hot mess will need editing and re-writing, so attempts to make the first draft perfect are often exercises in futility. Laurie Halse Anderson echoed that at the end of the conference - we must lower our standards to the basics for that first draft and give ourselves permission to suck. The hardest thing to do is to get started. There is nothing easier to do in the world than not create.

Newberry Award winning author Kwame Alexander, settled in for an "intimate" chat with the thousand plus attendees about his long journey to success. 

He also taught a workshop on Business Tips for writers and answered many of our questions.

Panel discussions

There were panels and more panels discussing the publishing industry of today.

Agent Panel

We were treated to commentary by a panel of Editors on Friday, and one of Agents on Saturday. They all told us that diverse voices was no fad. Several publishing houses spoke at length on the subject of sensitivity readers, and both panels discusses some of the issues the still largely white, cis-normal, able-bodied publishing world has in finding authenticity in stories about other groups.

One thing was unanimous. They want manuscripts that surprise them. If you make them laugh, cry and be intrigued by a character who flies off the page, they will want your manuscript.

In addition, we had a special panel of editors from Arthur A. Levine Books who spoke on Celebrating Diversity, Tradition and Change. Mr. Levine and three of his editors spoke about that publisher's long-standing commitment to seeking out and publishing diverse content.

The end?

Then it was time to go home, one of the most fearsome journeys I had ever undertaken. Not that the traffic was so bad. Our driver insisted on splitting his attention between watching the traffic,and watching the video on his phone.

Extra

Anticlimax moment - I made it to the airport alive, and now I am home and struggling to recoup and digest all I learned.  There was much more to the conference, including a diversity social hosted by WNDB, a silver linings gala on Saturday night that...well, you had to be there and see to believe, and a sneak preview of a best selling book coming to the big screen in the near future.

That major announcement included clips from the movie, and a panel discussion with the author, and members of the production staff. The story is set in the 1940's when the Soviet Secret police deported large numbers of Lithuanians to Siberia. With the men separated from the women, Stalin's idea of population control) fight to survive and maintain their humanity. I admit I had not heard of this book or the events it details until I saw the top secret movie excerpts they showed us and listened to them discuss the labor of love that went into making this movie. The movie title will be Ashes in the Snow and I am going to line up to see it when it comes out in the fall.

Giving Myself a Present

Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

I gave myself a holiday gift this year.

Was it expensive - Absolutely.
Was it worth it - Again, a resounding yes.
Will I do it again - Read further and see the answer.

What was this present - well, a little background first. As a professional author with three books behind me and two more in progress including my middle grade debut novel Courage coming in winter 2018 from Harper Collins, I attend various conferences. Some are better than others, more boring or more informative, and may be geared toward readers or writers. No matter what, there remains one constant - most suffer from monochrome syndrome, the audience and speakers are largely white. Yes, the speakers are deserving and qualified, But I, like many of the young readers I write for, sometimes need a mirror up on the stage expounding wisdom, and in the seats around me. Someone we can look at and see hope for a future for ourselves.

I belong to the Illinois chapter of SCBWI, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. They hold a one-day conference every November called Prairie Writers and Illustrators Day (PWID) - Illinois is the prairie state, get it?

The conference theme was "Calling All Superheroes." The event included portfolio reviews for illustrators, critiques and contests (no, I did not win) One of the best things for me was that this year, the conference organizers found a diverse cast for their faculty.

Agent: Linda Pratt, WERNICK & PRATT
Executive Editor: Traci Todd, ABRAMS APPLESEED,
Executive Art Director: Giuseppe Castellano, PENGUIN GROUP USA
Executive Editor: Kendra Levin, VIKING CHILDREN’S GROUP
Assistant Editor: Nikki Garcia, LITTLE BROWN & COMPANY

Linda Pratt, Kendra Levin and Nikki Garcia discussing issues in YA and MG publishing. In addition Linda Pratt gave a presentation on the elusive thing called Voice, Kendra Levin's presentation helped attendees through exercises in character motivation, and Nikki Garcia helped us understand revising and editing MG and YA stories.

The opening keynote speaker was Don Tate, who calls himself a "visual storyteller." He
discussed his long and winding journey traversing the children's book publishing minefield, emphasizing the many twists and turns, and the length, of the journey while giving hope to those on their way. Mr. Tate will be one of the headliners at the 2017 Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural literature, spoke about his dedication to his craft. BTW, I spoke at the Virginia Hamilton Conference a few years ago. If anyone wants to go deep into diverse literature, and see a truly massive children's library, that's the conference to attend.

I want to give the organizers kudos for noting the few attendees of color they have most years and resolving to look at possible ways to change things in the future.

Which brings me to the present I gave to myself.  I resolved to do more than just attend and see and hear the mirrors on the podium and gave myself the gift of additional mirrors in the audience along with me. Writing and illustrating are solitary endeavors. Yet, we all gain dividends from having a community like SCBWI, RWA or MWA, to be part of, to learn from and gain support.

Many #ownvoices have little chance to become part of that larger community. They feel isolated. Worse, many don't even know those writing communities exist. While they too have a largely monochrome  membership, people all over the world tell stories, from every race, ethnicity and religion. But #ownvoices can't join if they don't even know these groups exist, and if they don't have the finances to join because there are hefty membership fees and even more money is needed to sign up for and attend meetings and conferences.

So my gift to myself was the gift of helping others.

Khannie Dastgah, Urania Smith, B A Binns, Jill Kuanfung, Nabeeh Bilal

I chose to pay the conference fees for others. used a contest to select the scholarship winners, Khannie Dastgah, Jill Kuanfung, and Mabeeh Bilal. Aided by fellow SCBWI member Urania Smith, I set up a scholarship to pay the conference fees so that three additional #ownvoices could attend their first professional writers and illustrators conference.  It's worth noting that almost none of the people who entered the contest did knew anything about SCBWI. Something for the organization to consider: if your current membership is largely white, and many have little interchange with any people of color, much less the subset that are authors and illustrators, those people have no way of knowing you exists.  That ignorance is costly, since the Predators in the business always manage to find those who are hopeful, talented, persistent, and dedicated to their craft...and alone. One of the contestants was on the verge of falling victim to a $20K vanity publisher trap because she had no idea of any alternative to getting her children's books published.

Urania and I ended the day having Chinese dinner at the Absolutely Chines Restaurant in Rolling Meadows, along with Jill and Nabeeh. There they let us close out the place because we couldn't stop talking and enjoying each other's company. And I discovered I don't need alcohol to loosen my tongue and embarrass myself!

P. S. My final reward at the end of the day was a copy of a book illustrated by Nabeeh Bilal:  the Callaloo books.

An autographed copy!

So my gift to myself was to help others. It's like the starfish parable, I've helped one other individual (okay three) with the hope act that will influence their lives for the better and they will keep giving forward. That makes the answer to the question at the beginning of this blog - would I do something similar in the future?

As long as my finances hold, the answer is YES!  In the meantime, if you know of any #ownvoices  out there, whether they write for children or adults, let them know to contact me at author2 [at] babinns [dot] com for a welcoming community.  If you happen to be one yourself, ditto.

Romancing the Writer in Me/ RWA Conference 2015

By Marcia King-Gamble
www.lovemarcia.com

http://amzn.com/B013U5ADOY

I grew up in New York, so naturally when this year's  Romance Writers of America's  conference  was held there, I couldn't miss it.  Now be warned,  I am a lousy conference attendee, and I rarely show up for  anything - keynote speeches being the exception and only if they are scheduled  after nine. Yet there isn't a conference that I've attended where I did not end up accomplishing something big,  and that includes selling a  few books.

Every agent I've ever had, I met at  a conference. Every editor I've had the good fortune to work with, started off as a chance encounter  Mind you, what works for me may not work for you, but  do not underestimate the power of networking. Combined with  your awesome talent, networking can and does open doors.

If you are the gregarious type, then by all means use that asset.  For someone like me, far better suited to yucking it  up in a bathroom or coffee shop, sitting through a workshop can be difficult.Workshops of course do serve their  purpose. Writers need to keep up with what's going on in the industry. I call it Minding Your Business

So I did pop in on one or two workshops and left with several kernels of wisdom. However, what works for me best, is getting out and about, meeting people. Weeks before I leave for a conference, I reach out to people and I set up appointments. This year I was super organized and those appointments found their way to an app. I even had a little buzzer alert me when I was at the ten minute mark.


 Here's my story, over eighteen years ago, I met my first editor at a  conference. I was totally clueless as to her identity and I don't recall if she ever did provide  a title, but a connection was made. It may have to do with me not being awed. Remember I didn't know who she was. We fell into easy conversation, none of which centered around publishing.  At that time, the line I would eventually end up writing for wasn't in existence, but six months later it was, and guess who my editor was, and guess who got a two book contract? I also met my first agent this way.

At these events you'd be amazed who you meet. We all have our idols and writers whose voices we love. Just  fancy rubbing elbows with the incomparable, Nora Roberts and RWA's president, Cindy Kirk, whom I was fortunate enough to work with on a Harlequin Mediterranean Night's series eons ago.

 

Back to the RWA 2015 Conference. My goals this year were to meet with my agent -  since face to face beats e-mails any day. I also wanted to pitch a story that has sat in my computer gathering cobwebs and catch up with industry friends.

I did all that, the added bonus being Restaurant Week in The City, and the perfect opportunity to sample some very nice places at a very nice price. Below is a picture of author friends at one of my all time favorite restaurants, Gotham Bar and Grill.

        LR authors Mary Leo, Carla Neggers, Joan Johnston, Laura Castoro Parker (AKA D.D. Ayres,) Sandra Kitt and me!

Years ago, someone gave me  a sage piece of advice that stuck - talk to everyone. That advice held true in a bathroom. There I was, applying lipstick, and chatting up a very nice woman who turned out to be an editor for a house I once wrote for. She liked my writing voice and invited me to submit to her.

During my pitch to an editor, I found common ground. His stepmother was an "Island Girl,"  and so am I. The story I was pitching happened to be set in the islands. He asked to see it. Kismet?

A meet up for coffee, with shop talk off limits, turned into a conversation about a current project and an opportunity that could be huge. A stop to support a friend at a book signing, led to a potential collaboration of sorts.    


While I didn't get to collaborate with the talented lady below,  I  enjoyed meeting Jude Deveraux - the epitome of graciousness.

What I am saying, is that some of your best connections are made in places you least expect it.  Just like any business, people hire the people they like. So be  your most charming and don't judge the "book" by the cover.

Speaking of covers, here is the cover of my latest novella scheduled to be released this week. Please check Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Apple. Reviews are very much appreciated!

Marcia King-Gamble is  a Caribbean/American national bestselling author with over thirty two books to her credit.

Kids and Writing Conferences

Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

This month is a "you pick it" topic so I've decided to use it to delve into a little personal history.

 

I attend a number of conferences each year, some aimed at readers, others at authors, and even those for professional librarians and educators. In a few months I will be on my way to St. Louis to attend the 9th annual conference of African American librarians.  Then it's on to Peoria, Illinois, not once but twice, to moderate a panel at the Illinois Reading Council and to give a presentation on finding diverse books at the Illinois Library Association.

But that's the future. For this month's blog post I'm turning the clock back to 2013 and a conference I spoke at in Kennar, Louisiana, Romance Slam Jam.

Smashwords seminar

Booksigning

The conference covered four days of fun and informative events that included spectacular new Orleans cooking, an awesome high school brass band, a well-attended booksigning, and events that included a seminar from Smashwords founder Mark Coker.

The conference included a special activity for young readers and aspiring authors. Several area schools and libraries sent teens to an author meet-and-greet on Saturday. As the author of three YA novels, Pull, Being God, and Minority of One, I was one of four African American YA authors invited to talk to the young people. 

As a YA author, it is always a joy to see a room filled with teens, some had never heard of or  seen an African-American author in person. It was inspiring to see these young people, hear their comments about reading, and to be pummeled by questions from aspiring young writers. The event grounded me and helped me remember why I write YA fiction. It was all about enthusiasm, hearing honest questions and seeing their delight once they got over the novelty of meeting actual published authors of color. You could tell some of them had not fully believed authors who looked like them really existed.

These are kids that many publishers claim don't read, yet they scrambled for books and then stood in line to get those autographed. Four of the young people were assigned to interview me, and I was pummeled with questions about the writing life. Two argued over who would get to introduce me and share what they had uncovered to the rest of the group. The winner had been one of the quietest girls in the room, but she stood next to me with pride as she introduced me and my work on getting more diversity in YA and children's fiction.

When it was time for general questions, several attendees pulled out actual lists they brought with them.  One was impatient when she was interrupted for the scheduled prize raffle drawing, she wanted to keep going on her list. The event lasted two hours and the adult chaperones finally had to pull the kids away to get them back on their bus to go back to their home libraries.

Kids of Color are absolutely hungry for books about them, and for authors who look like them.  I have been writing for years and have been to several writers conferences, conferences for educators and librarians, and many schools.  This was the first time I looked into a room full of young faces and felt like a true role model.

I have not let it be the last.