Social Networking

The audience at Rutgers

This past Saturday I was a mentor at the Rutgers One-on-One conference. It's a wonderful conference to attend, both as a mentor and mentee (at least, so I've been told re: the mentee part), and I've participated for four or five years. In addition to being matched with an author, I was also on a panel discussing Social Networking: "Get a Grip: Using Social Media Tools Effectively." My fellow panelists were author/illustrator Katie Davis, Deborah Sloan, Founder of marketing and promotion firm Deborah Sloan and Company, and the moderator was Bloomsbury Associate Editor Caroline Abbey.

The wikipedia definition of social networking (and as Caroline said, wikipedia is itself a kind of social network) is:

A social network service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities.

In our two conference calls before Saturday, it became apparent that us three panelists were most enamored with Twitter out of all of the available social media outlets out there. I've made no secret of my love of Twitter (remember my Ode to Twitter?), and both Deborah and Katie love it, too--as a resource, as a community, as a marketing tool.

We'll be doing a Twitter Chat this afternoon from 12:30-1:30 EST, using the hashtag #rcclbuzz. Please stop in, whether to ask or answer questions, or just be a fly on the wall. And if you haven't tried Twitter yet, well, no time like the present! Author Gregory Pincus has a great website that helped me when I was first trying it out: http://www.thehappyaccident.net/.

And here's a great explanation about how to participate in Twitter chats: http://www.meryl.net/2009/05/05/how-to-join-twitter-chats/

(I'm sorry if I'm sounding like an advertisement for Twitter--it's just that I do believe in it's value. However, I will say that some people do get addicted, especially if you own a Smart Phone, and I'd suggest setting limits for yourself.)

At the start of the panel, we did a quick rundown of which social media we were all using, so I thought I'd outline my answers, and how I'm using each.

-Twitter (@planetalvina. During workdays, I try to limit myself to checking once first thing in the morning, again at lunch, and again after 5 pm, for no longer than 20 minutes each time. Of course, I don't always abide by these rules! I use Twitter for both personal and professional reasons. I follow publishing people, entertainment people, and news people.)

-Facebook (I only accept friend request from people I remember meeting. If we've met and I don't accept your request, feel free to send me a note reminding where we met. If I still don't accept, please don't follow up a second time. I generally link my Twitter updates to Facebook, and go back and forth between the two. Because Facebook is more of a closed community, I use it for more personal reasons, to keep up with friends and relatives.)

-Linked In (I will only accept requests from people I know personally and/or have done business with. I don't use it actively, but I am on there for professional reasons.)

-Goodreads (I no longer rate books, but do add books that I've read as a record for myself. However, I have a bookshelf of "books I've edited and love" and do rate all of those books as 5-stars--of course!)

-Blogger: you're reading this post on the Blue Rose Girls group blog! I also have a personal blog at www.bloomabilities.blogspot.com

-YouTube: my channel is here. Both personal and kidlit-related videos.

-Google Buzz: friends only

-Flickr (personal use only)


What are your social networking sites of choice?

Speak Loudly

Over the weekend, the Twitterverse exploded with the news that an associate professor called books such as Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five and Sarah Ockler's Twenty Boy Summer immoral, demeaning, and basically "soft core pornography."

Read his rant here. His official, 29-page complaint to the school board can be read here. My response? Ugg. And maybe also "Eff you." Luckily, everyone else has responded much more intelligently and eloquently. The blogosphere and Twitterverse immediately lit up with protests (you can view everyone's posts by searching the #SpeakLoudly hashtag). Laurie Halse Anderson responded by saying:

My fear is that good-hearted people in Scroggins’ community will read his piece and believe what he says. And then they will complain to the school board. And then the book will be pulled and then all those kids who might have found truth and support in the book will be denied that. In addition, all the kids who have healthy emotional lives but who hate reading, will miss the chance to enjoy a book that might change their opinion.

Read her entire blog post here.

Sarah Ockler responded on her blog as well:

I’m not going to spend a lot of time defending my book other than to say what those who’ve read it already know — despite its lighthearted title, TBS is not about parties and sex. It’s about two girls struggling in the aftermath of a major tragedy, with grieving parents and unfamiliar situations and secrets that threaten to kill their friendship. It’s a scary world for them, and my job as a writer is to tell their story honestly, without judgment. And I know I’ve done my job because I hear from teens who’ve experienced devastating loss, and they tell me how much the book meant to them or how they could relate to the characters more than they can relate to their own friends somtimes. One email like that is all I needed to know that I did what I set out to do.

Her blog post is here.

There have also been some beautiful, supportive blog posts in response. One powerful, moving post is by C.J. Redwine who says:

But here's the truth. Rape happens to girls in high school and younger all the time. Ignoring it, silencing it, refusing to look at the terrible consequences doesn't make it go away. I'm a Christian and am passionate about my faith, and I cringe when I see things like this because there's a difference between being outspoken about SINS, like rape, and being outspoken against something that might help the victims.

And this is the part of this post that has me feeling like maybe throwing up would be preferable to typing, but I'm a big girl now and it's time to exercise my right to speak.

I'm a rape survivor.

Read her entire post here.

There are more amazing blog posts here, here, here, and here, the latter with additional links.

Fittingly enough, next week is Banned Books Week. Let's celebrate the freedom to read! Speak Loudly, everyone!

Ode to Twitter

Last week, I mentioned that I had passed my one-year anniversary of joining Twitter. To commemorate this important landmark, I thought I'd highlight a few of Twitter's benefits, in no particular order:


Research and Advice
-I was working on a book and the question arose as to whether students in an illustration set during gym class should be wearing gym clothes or their regular school clothes. The students were in third grade. I sent out a Tweet, and within 20 minutes had received over six responses from around the country saying that third graders don't change into gym clothes.
-I asked for recommendations for iPhone apps, and received lots of great tips, including Lose It, Scramble 2, and Paper Toss.

Food Recommendations
-discovered a new poutine restaurant in NYC after seeing someone tweet a picture of their almost-consumed poutine.
-after I took a picture of my soup dumpling from Joe's Shanghai, an author asked where it was from, and then she went and tried it out.

Fundraising
-an author saw my Tweet about doing the MS Ride--it turned out that her mother suffers from multiple sclerosis, and so she, her brother, and her father all donated to the cause. I received at least one other unrelated donation as a result of my Tweet. (BTW, I'm doing the ride again this year, you can donate here. My goal is to raise $550, and ride 50 miles. Please sponsor me!)

Recruiting
-I've found two interns through Twitter--in both cases, someone saw my Tweet and then referred a candidate to me. I've actually found many candidates through Twitter!
-We've also hired two editorial assistants who have come directly or indirectly via one of my tweets on Twitter.

Networking
-I interact with other editors, agents, authors, illustrators, librarians, etc. via Twitter.
-I participate occasionally in several different Twitter chats, including #Yalitchat and #kidlitchat.
-I went to a Tweet-up at ALA Midwinter.

News (publishing and otherwise)
-I follow news people and magazines (Slate.com, NYTimes, PW, SLJ, Entertainment Weekly, Gothamist, Roger Ebert, etc.), and follow links and headlines.
-I know very quickly which celebrity has died (or is rumored to have died). Of particular note this past year: Patrick Swayze, Michael Jackson, and Britney Murphy.

Promotion
-I tweet reviews, awards, and other good news about the books I edit (and other books I love)
-I've set up an automatic tweet when a new post is up on both my personal blog, and the Blue Rose Girls. Oftentimes, seeing my own update on Twitter has alerted me to the fact that one of my fellow Blue Rose Girls has posted something new!
-I helped organize and participated in a Twitter chat in honor of the paperback release of Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd using the hashtag #geektastic.

Keeping up with friends/Entertainment
-this is yet another way to know what my friends are up to, and vice versa.
-I love tweeting about events and reading other people's tweets who I know are watching/experiencing the same thing: for example, the season finale of Dexter, or an awards show like the Oscars or Grammys.

Creating a record
-While writing this post, I went back to a site where I've archived all of my Tweets. As I Tweeted last night, I found myself sucked in--it was like reading an old journal, except the entries are much shorter, of course! I loved reading my tweets from my Japan and Hong Kong trip last year.
-I've tweeted several live events, such as the Printz Awards, Happyface book launch party, and Children's Choice Awards.

Twitter isn't for everyone, but I love it. Although I'll admit, I'm perhaps just a wee bit addicted and spend a little more time checking Twitter than I should. But if you haven't tried Twitter, I'd suggest at least checking it out. I have a feeling it'll be around for a while. And who knows what benefits you'll find--others have found all sorts of uses for Twitter. Some people have even used Twitter to lose weight!

Making Readers and Eleven years and counting

I've been on vacation for two weeks, first to CA to visit my parents, and then to CO to visit G's family. G has EIGHT nieces and nephews. Four in each family, all between the ages of 11 months and 11 years. They get excited when I give them books, and they asked me to read them three picture books in a row (Shark vs. Train, I Can Be Anything, and Sergio Saves the Game) but as far as I can see and have been told, none of them are "real" readers, in the sense that I'm sure most of us are real readers, as in, genuinely love reading, and read a lot. Sure, most of them like the occasional book--they're all on a WIMPY KID kick right now. But other than that, they don't seem to like to read for pleasure. They'd much rather watch TV, play video games, or play outside. None are readers, that is, except for one. And what's especially thrilling about that one reader is that the last time I saw her, maybe two years ago, she wasn't a reader. But she is now. Hurray!

It gives me hope that one day, a few of the others will become readers, too. They will if I have anything to do with it!

***

In other news, today is my eleven-year anniversary of starting at Little, Brown. Happy Anniversary to me! If you missed it, here's my look back on my ten-year anniversary, and other "look backs" are here and here.

Some highlights career-wise from the past year:

-Grace won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, on top of numerous other awards, and also hit the NY Times bestseller list for the first time.
-Peter Brown won the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award for The Curious Garden, as well as Illustrator of the Year, and spent 26 or so weeks (I lost count) on the NY Times bestseller list.
-Shark vs. Train was a NY Times bestseller
-I acquired many amazing books, including Libba Bray's The Diviners series, Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers, three books by Grace Lin, Justina Chen's next YA Return to Me, Karen Healey's Summerton, and Matthew Quick's Boy 21, Jerry Spinelli's picture book Mama Seeton's Whistle, plus another YA novel by a debut author that hasn't been announced yet because we don't have a title yet!
-My assistant of over four years was promoted to Associate Editor, and I now have a new Editorial Assistant
-I hired two interns
-I joined Twitter--a year ago yesterday. Happy Twitterversary to me!
-I worked on, edited, and published numerous books that I love and am so proud of.

Will I still be a children's book editor another eleven years from now? Only time will tell.

GEEKTASTIC Twitter chat

To celebrate the paperback release of GEEKTASTIC: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci (read my Beyond the Book post here), please join me, Holly, Cecil, and some of the other people who contributed to Geektastic for a tweetchat tonight! Monday, July 12th at 8 PM EST / 5 PM PST. Use the hashtag #geektastic and come and hang out and be geeky!

If you're new to Twitter chats, you can read more about what they are and how best to participate here. I occasionally participate in the #kidlitchat and #YAlitchat.  I'd recommend using Tweetchat.

Join us! It will be fun!!

Tweet!

No time for a real post today--just got back last night from a lovely Blue Rose Girl meet-up at Libby's place in Mystic. Anna and I drove back to NY together so that Anna could meet with her publisher about Disappearing Desmond.

One thing I wanted to mention is that two weeks ago, I finally folded and joined Twitter. I had been resisting, not because I didn't think I would like it, and not because I didn't think it would be worth it, but rather because I knew I would probably become addicted to it, and did I really want to add another internet addiction to my life? But I joined anyway, and sure enough, I'm hooked. If you would like to follow me, I'm @planetalvina. Grace, Anna, and Libby are all on Twitter, too: @pacylin, @annaalter, @blowoutthemoon. Follow us!

I'll leave you with these links that started from a conversation on Twitter. Scholastic editor Cheryl Klein posted an open letter and a modest proposal to agents about the timing of submissions here. Agent Michael Bourret posted a response here. Cheryl responded again here, and Michael responded to her response to his response of her blog post here. You following? I have a few thoughts in the comments section of some of the posts. At any rate, it was an interesting discussion, and it was pretty cool to see everything unfold on Twitter, although I haven't fully gotten the hang of it. But I do see the value of it so far. Do any of you Twitter? (or should I say "tweet"?) Do you find it worthwhile?