MotherReader

Let me start by saying that while I was glad to attend the Book Blogger Convention, I cannot call it the first Book Blogger Convention, as came up in Publishers Weekly. I mean, I suppose it is the first with that name, and associated with BEA, and that was open to a variety of book bloggers. However, having been at three conferences for book bloggers in children’s and Young Adult literature, having organized one here in D.C., and now getting to announce the fourth one — well, I can’t call this one the first.

What do I mean about announcing the fourth one? Oh, silly me — I guess that I’ll do that now. KidLitCon 2010 will be held on October 23rd in Minneapolis, hosted by Andrew Karre (Carolrhoda), Ben Barnhart (Milkweed Editions) and Brian Farrey (Flux). There will be a Friday reception, workshops on Saturday, and a dinner. They are taking proposals for sessions now, so scoot over to the official blog for more information.

But back to the Book Blogger Convention of May, where Betsy Bird and I struck out across town to represent the kidlitosphere among a range of bloggers of books. Maureen Johnson was the keynote speaker, and was funny and altogether delightful. I approached her later just to say hello and tell her how much I enjoyed her talk. Ron Hogan presented a wonderful session on ethics and blogging, which is available at Beatrice.

He joined Betsy and me and Terry Doherty — also there to represent — at lunch, where the lively discussion of ethics and blogging continued. There were no black-and-white cookies at lunch. I just thought you should know.

The afternoon was for panelist sessions on Writing/Building Content, Marketing, Social Responsibility, and Author/Blogger Relationships. I most enjoyed the session on social responsibility, which got into issues of white-washing covers, lack of representation of minorities in books, book challenges for GLBT content, and more. I was particularly impressed with Zetta Elliott, not that I was surprised given her online presence. There was also a notable component that focused on doing good work in fundraising and literacy advocacy.

As the day was over, we collected swag bags filled with books and fun stuff. I wasn’t able to take all of it home on my flight, but I took a few things. (Back home, BBC organizer Michelle of Galleysmith gave me some extras for prizes and for KidLitCon 2010. People don’t always take their swag.) That evening, Betsy was generous in sharing her apartment, cooking a nice dinner, and introducing me to Modern Family — which is totally my family.

I flew home the next day, but not before I was able to meet my cousin for brunch. He hadn’t been around to host my visit, but it was good to see him before I left. I was low-key about this fact, but I guess I should mention that my cousin is this guy.

All in all, a great — if completely exhausting — trip to New York City. And now here I am, days away from a similar book-filled event, but without the travel. Looking forward to seeing all of you ALA attendees!