Bartography

At the end of yesterday’s did-we-really-cram-all-that-awesomeness-into-a-single-day Austin SCBWI conference, several of us local folks assembled onstage to offer what were billed as “9 Habits of Highly Successful Authors and Illustrators” (which, in keeping with the day’s unofficial theme, we managed to cram into less than 30 minutes).

Here’s what I had to say on the subject:

I’m not sure if you would call this a habit, or a strategy, or a pathology, but being hardheaded was absolutely essential to my getting published.

When it comes to your creative work, I think you have to have the ability –- the SITUATIONAL ability -– to believe that you’re right and everyone else is wrong — for example, when your picture-book biography of the guys who invented Day-Glo gets rejected by 23 editors but you keep submitting it anyway.

But for that to be an ABILITY and not merely a chronic case of delusional thinking, you have to do more than just believe strongly in your own work.

You also have to know the market. You have to know your audience. You have to know your technique. And you have to take seriously the feedback you receive.

Then, based on knowing all those things, you simply reach a different conclusion about your prospects than all those people who keep telling you “no.”

And notice how I called it a SITUATIONAL ability. If “I’m right, they’re all wrong” is your M.O. -– if it’s your approach to EVERYTHING you create –- then you’re just acting like a jerk.

That tends to work against you.

As folks recover from the conference, I’m sure there will be lots of thorough posts about the goings-on there. I may add links to more as I spot them, but here are the bloggers whose accounts I’ve seen so far:

Don Tate
Shelli Cornelison
Kirby Larson
E. Kristin Anderson
Carmen Oliver
Cristin Terrill
P. J. Hoover
Jessica Lee Anderson, P. J. Hoover, and Jo Whittemore
Vonna Carter
Samantha Clark
Heather Powers
Grey McCallister
Sara Lewis Holmes
Greg Leitich Smith

I know you!
You were that author I saw this morning!
And my big smile –
Made endless by the recent loss of my upper front teeth –
Grows bigger still.
Even as, distracted, I collide with the “Wet Floor” sign.
And even after.

But who says there’s anything wrong with a bit much?

Registration opened this week for Destination Publication!, the January 30, 2010, conference of the Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Now, Austin SCBWI tends to do conferences well. But this one’s so big you’ve got to take a step or two backwards in order to see the whole thing. It will have:

A Newbery Honor Author (Kirby Larson)

A Caldecott Honor Illustrator (Marla Frazee)

Three Agents (Andrea Cascardi, Mark McVeigh, Nathan Bransford)

Three Editors (Cheryl Klein, Lisa Graff, Stacy Cantor)

Eight Featured Authors (Liz Garton Scanlon, Shana Burg, P. J. Hoover, Jessica Lee Anderson, Jacqueline Kelly, Jennifer Ziegler, Philip Yates, and me)

One Special Guest Author (Sara Lewis Holmes)

One Featured Illustrator (Patrice Barton; no, we’re not)

Traditional Critiques

Advanced Critiques

Portfolio Reviews

Two Parties with the Faculty

Like I said — registration for the conference opened this week. I wouldn’t count on it staying open for long.

After having such a great time at my book launch party in July, I’ve really been looking forward to my next chance to be center stage. Turns out, I’ll have two chances in one week in September.

First, I’ll be the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Six days later, I’ll get to make a presentation at the public library in my hometown.

Semi-official descriptions and details are below — I’d love to see you at either event, and I hope you’ll consider spreading the word about them.

What: Who Did It First? Who Did It Best? Who Did It Differently?
When: Saturday, September 12, 2009, 11:00 a.m. – 12 noon (Austin SCBWI monthly meeting)
Where: BookPeople, 603 North Lamar, Austin, TX

Whatever you’re passionate about, there’s somebody in that field whose life story would be best told by you — and as a picture book biography, no less. Chris will help you figure out who in the world that person is and what on earth you should do about it.

Chris is the author of the new picture book biography The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors (Charlesbridge Publishing; illustrated by Tony Persiani), which has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal. His other upcoming books for children and young adults include Shark Vs. Train (June 2010; Little, Brown and Company; illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld) and Just Who Do You Think You Are? (2011; Dial Books for Young Readers). You can visit him at http://www.chrisbarton.info.

What: Local boy makes good with The Day-Glo Brothers
When: Friday, September 18, 2009, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Where: Sulphur Springs Public Library, 611 North Davis, Sulphur Springs, TX

If you’ll be in Sulphur Springs the day before the World Championship Hopkins County Stew Cook-Off, join author Chris Barton for a “colorful” presentation at his hometown public library.

With the assistance of the younger members of the audience, he’ll be discussing the story, the science, and the patience behind his first book for young readers, The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors.

It’s an “enlightening story” (says WIRED magazine) … “of quintessentially American ingenuity” (Publishers Weekly) … that “makes a bright idea stand out even more” (The Washington Post).

If you’d like to learn more about the book, please visit http://www.chrisbarton.info/books/dayglo.html.

And if you’ll be in town on the 18th, dress in your Day-Glo best and come join Chris!