[PubTip] An Honest Assessment of a SCBWI Regional Conference
Someone posted recently asking for opinions about SCBWI, the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators. Since I just attended their New England conference, I figured I’d share my thoughts in hopes it helps others.
(Please keep in mind I am one person and others’ opinions may differ. Also this is only one of several regional conferences. I have attended in three other locations, but that was pre-pandemic.)
I think the decision of “is attending the conference worth it” comes down to three questions:
Do you write and/or draw picture books?
Do you or someone you know live close enough that you won’t have to spend money on a hotel?
Is your manuscript ready to be queried?
If you answered “yes” to all these questions, I’d say it’s definitely worth it. If you answered yes to at least two of these questions, I’d say it’s probably worth it to go if you’ve never been to one before. If you answered yes to only one, I’d say it depends on how much disposable income you have. If you can comfortably spend $1000+ (conference fees, travel, lodging, food, expenses) then go for it. If not, I’d say it isn’t worth it.
Let’s break it down by question.
- I can’t speak for other regions, but the New England SCBWI was largely geared towards picture book (PB) writers and illustrators. The workshops were broken up into six categories: Picture Book Writers, Author/Illustrators, Illustrators, Middle Grade/YA, Business of Publishing, and Motivation. And this may just be because PB writers/illustrators make up most of the attendees; there were critique group sign up lists for the six New England states, and looking over the target audience age most people listed, PB outnumbered MG and YA combined about five to one.
The same was true of the one-on-one critiques: of the 17 agents/editors you could meet with, all of them listed PB manuscripts as an area of interest. Nine also listed YA, and 11 also listed MG (Middle Grade.) Four listed exclusively PB, which doesn’t seem so bad until you realize that there are no agents who exclusively do YA or MG or even YA/MG. But even that doesn’t actually paint an accurate picture of what the agents/editors are there for.
I had meetings with four people, all of whom listed (or SCBWI listed for them) YA as one of their areas of interest. Two of them straight up told me they were only planning on speaking with PB authors/illustrators. One was very nice and apologetic about it and did a great job pivoting in the small amount of time we had and gave me some good tips. The other straight up told me I shouldn’t have signed up to meet with her. When I explained I’d signed up because YA was listed as one of her areas, she said the conference shouldn’t have listed her that way and she was only interested in speaking to people who do PBs. She did give me some general feedback on my query letter, but she clearly wasn’t thrilled (more upset with SCBWI than with me, I think.)
I think this one is a no-brainer. Maybe there are some conferences held in inexpensive cities, but Stamford, Connecticut certainly isn’t one of them. If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere close so you can just drive in for the day, it’s much more affordable but otherwise it’s prohibitively expensive.
If you have a finished manuscript the one-on-one meetings can be a good way to have exclusive access to agents, but with three big caveats. First, each fifteen minute meeting costs $85 and you can’t submit materials ahead of time, so if you’re going to do it make sure you have your spiel down pat. Second, I heard a few agents straight up tell people they were only there to give feedback, not consider pitches. Third, as I learned the hard way, check with the organizers and make sure the person you’re querying is *actually* interested in manuscripts for your target age.
All in all, I considered it a mediocre experience in terms of professional development. The staff were very kind—this isn’t meant as a dig at them. I don’t plan on going back next year, but I may look into other regions and see if they’re less PB focused.
I hope this helps! Please feel free to chime in with your own experiences.