I'm taking a brief interlude in my profiles of presenters from the Phoenix symposium to explain how we all got to go to the IRA conference last weekend. Margriet Ruurs had the excellent idea of proposing our symposium day to the IRA selection committee, and then asked us all if we'd be willing to participate. (Wasn't she brave?!!!) Once Margriet's proposal was accepted, there was a flurry of activity as the 6 of us prepared slide-show presentations for the day.
Some of us were able to get some financial support from our publishers to attend (a big thank you to Kids Can Press and Tundra Books!), but most of us flew on our own airline points, paid for our own hotels and spoke for free. Why would we do this? Times are tough in the publishing biz, and it's really up to authors and illustrators to do a lot of their own promotion these days. Margriet, clever woman that she is, saw a great opportunity for us to share our books with an audience of amazing literacy specialists and reading teachers.
It was a wonderful day, and I am thrilled to have taken part, and would do so again in a heartbeat. If you're an author, and keen to go to the IRA, do what Margriet did. Send in a proposal, and get speaking!
For all of you dedicated, reading enthusiasts who were in the audience: It was a real treat to meet you! Thanks so much for kindly (and enthusiastically!) spending the day with us.
Check back soon for the final two profiles: Lively Linda (Bailey) and Joyful Jan (Keese).
So long for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment