SCBWI Panel Host

Last night was a 'cross off my wish list' event: I hosted a SCBWI Panel as part of the 1-1 Festival that I'm jointly running with fellow SCBWI volunteer Mandy Rabin. 

When I joined SCBWI, back in 2015, going to events, such as the Industry Insiders panels, were one of the things I benefitted most from. I eyed the hosts with envy and last night I got my crack at the whip. I was able to lead a very interesting, open discussion with Literary Agents, Davinia Andrew-Lynch (Andlyn Literary Agency) and Christabel McKinley (DHA) and Commissioning Editor Tom Bonnick (Nosy Crow). 

All three panelists were warm, welcoming, and honest. We covered all kinds of interesting topics, from sustaining the trend of increasing diversity in Children's Publishing to how the pandemic has affected submissions. 

Here's hoping I did a good enough job that I get asked to host a few more and good luck to everyone who is having their 1-1 with an Industry Professional today. 

PS I forgot to pass on a very helpful tip that someone shared with me just before my 1-1 with Bella Pearson (Guppy Books) at the SCBWI conference - ask if you can record it. I used the voice memo function on my phone and Bella was totally fine about me recording our conversation. Can't tell you how many times I listened to that recording, it helped me enormously when redrafting Call Me Lion. Good luck!