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Meg Flemming is an award-winning children's book author include: I Heart You ; Ready, Set, Sail ; and Ready, Set, Build . Her forthcoming book is Sometimes Rain. Meg is going old school with paper and pencil to take the room through a workshop to get toward a greater place of productivity. Spill the Tea...Meg asks us to write down any gossip, things that have happened, things we need to get off our minds. This is one way we can get started, by having a bit of a routine to get your mind to that place where it's time to write. "Artists are people who have learned to live with doubt and do the work anyway." -Julia Cameron Meg reminds us that it is a choice to do this, and that we have the courage to do this work. Yay, us! You're not here to keep your stories in the drawer. You're here because you have something you want to share. Get it out. Work on it. Know the difference between who's in your field and who's in your court. Meg asks everyone to make two ...

Ammi-Joan Paquette is a senior agent with Erin Murphy Literary Agency, representing all types of children’s and young adult literature. She is also the author of The Train of Lost Things , the Princess Juniper series, and picture books including Ghost in the House , Elf in the House , Bunny Bus , and T he Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies . With acclaimed author Laurie Ann Thompson, she is also the co-author of the ‘nonfiction with a twist’ series, Two Truths and a Lie . In her agent acquisitions, Joan is particularly drawn to richly voiced, unforgettable characters and settings, as well as tightly paced, well-plotted stories with twists and turns that keep you guessing right until the end. Visit her on the web at www.ajpaquette.com ** Ammi-Joan's focus in this session is mostly on longer form projects (i.e., novels) but she advises that many of the concepts discussed could also work for picture books. Defining story structure as the framing point, looking through the lens at you...

Lunch with... this is a new tradition at the LA conference. This year it's Lunch with Lois , and by Lois I mean "the" Lois Lowry. "And my next guest needs no introduction," Lin says. But Lin then shares that Lois is the author of over 40 books of all kinds, including The Giver . Lois has been a great friend to SCBWI over the years. Lois arrives on stage ready to tell us a story. There's nothing better than listening to Lin chit-chat with another children's literature luminary. Almost instantly the room erupts in laughter. Join us! Lin asks Lois how her journey in writing for kids began. Lois majored in writing and studied photography in grad school. Lois also had four kids before the age of 26. What she always wanted to do was write fiction for adults. She wrote a short story that was published in Redbook . It was for adults but it was seen through the eyes of a child. After it was published an editor reached out to Lois and asked if her if she was inte...

Barbara Kerley is the award-winning author of numerous books for young people, including The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins , What to do About Alice? , A Home for Mr. Emerson , many others. Kerley brings to the table a vast knowledge of writing nonfiction, research the most important aspect. While researching the life of a person, Kerley keeps an eye out for the themes that reappear in their life. Themes that she can use to make a statement about, and work to build an arc around. Friendship and family are common themes in Kerley's work. But she also considers what she wants to say on a particular topic or subject. For example, With a Friend By Your Side , Kerley strives to convey the importance of all children doing small things to make the world more peaceful place. A most important takeaway: while researching, strive to find the "vital idea," or the theme of a person's life. That will help you to focus the abundance of research you will collect.

Libba Bray is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Gemma Doyle trilogy; the Michael L. Printz Award-winning Going Bovine ; Beauty Queens (a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist); and the Diviners series. Libba, for many years, attended a writing workshop where the group wrote to from prompts, uncensored. Writers could then share but then only receive positive feedback because it was all new writing. Libba takes this room of writers on that same journey. Libba reads a poem titled: Where I'm From The first prompt starts with the line: "Where I'm from..." Set your own timer now and write for 10 minutes. "I love to see all of your heads bent in concentration. That is amazing." Brave readers share with the room. Ready for one more?  Write a piece that begins with the words, "Have you forgotten me?" I'm going to be honest with you, Blog Friends, I'm not sure...scratch that, I know I can't do this one without falling to pieces....

Sangeeta Mehta Sangeeta Mehta was an acquiring editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and Simon Pulse before starting her own editorial services company, which focuses on middle grade and young adult fiction. She has written several articles about self-publishing for Jane Friedman Media, including “The Business of Self-Publishing Children’s Picture Books,” “Shepherding a Self-Published Picture Book to Success,” and “Should Children’s Book Authors Self-Publish?” A Member-at-Large of the Editorial Freelancers Association, Sangeeta founded the organization’s Diversity Initiative. She also serves on the board of The Word, a nonprofit working to build a more inclusive publishing community. Follow her on Twitter @sangeeta_editor or visit www.mehtabookeditingnewyork.com. ** Sangeeta starts out by sharing self-publishing success stories, how to determine your publishing goal, answers the question/offers us the mantra "What would a traditional publisher do?", shares resour...

Candace Fleming Candace Fleming is the author of many wonderful nonfiction books for young readers about a wide range of subjects, from the family Romanov to giant squids. She talked to us about six things she does when she's approaching her own revisio ns. There are six steps she takes: 1) What's the vital idea? I f you cannot express what the vital idea of your picture book is, then you need to rethink it. She has an idea before she writes, one that comes from the research. But if she can't express it after the first draft, she knows she has more thinking to do. Does everything in the manuscript speak to the vital idea? If it does not, it has to go. She's amazed by what can go from a first draft of a manuscript when viewed through this lens. Some questions to ask yourself: What is your story really about? What's your concept? What's the idea? What is the "something more"? For example: giant squid are fascinating. But what does she really want to say ...