The Top 7 Lessons I Learned About Blogging Children's and Teen Literature From #KidLitCon13

Cute cat reading photo from here.

1. What's up with the cat above? And the numbered list? Turns out animal photos and top this-many-number lists are gold in terms of getting traffic to your blog/website. This was one of the asides from Cynthia Leitich Smith's amazing Keynote. As she put it, "Posts topped with animal photos get the most click-throughs." (We'll see how this post does!)

2. "This is your audience. This is your blog. Your audience probably likes you." - Jen Robinson, on how you can reach out to your blog audience to be supportive, during her and Sarah Stevenson's "Blogger Burnout: Suggestions For Getting Your Groove Back" session.

3. "Every kid is a different target audience." A brilliant comment by Charlotte Taylor that is still resonating with me.

4. It would be a great project to explore Girly covers hiding books boys might like, and Boyish covers hiding books girls might like. (This came out of the "Blogging the Middle Grade Books" panel discussion.)

5. 'You don't always know what the connections you make are doing. If I've met an author (and liked them) I'm more likely to put their book face out on the shelf.' - A librarian attendee.

6. If you want to see more diversity in children's literature, and the book you're reviewing isn't inclusive of diverse characters, you can point that out in your review. Sheila Ruth did just that in a recent review at Wands and Worlds, saying, "Unfortunately, I didn't really see much diversity in this future." And if a book you're covering does include diverse characters, share that!

7. In my session, "Diversity In Kid Lit: Nurture More, Blog More, Get More," I was listing the main categories of things we bloggers of children's and teen literature do:

We aggregate content (like lists, links, and featuring what others have put out there)
We create content (like reviews, articles and interviews) and
We communicate (start discussions, comment threads, guest posts, twitter, facebook, etc...)

and then one attendee raised her hand. I called on her, and she said I'd missed the most important thing of all that we book bloggers do:

We Read.

And she was right.


KidLitCon is the annual gathering of bloggers, librarians, authors and illustrators who share a passion for children's and teen literature. It was held in Austin, Texas Nov 8 and 9, 2013, and it was my honor to present and attend. 

My thanks to the organizing committee members: Pam Coughlan, Tanita Davis, Kimberly Francisco, Kelly Jensen, Jackie Parker, Jen Robinson, Leila Roy and Sarah Stevenson!

You can find out more about the kidlitosphere and all our events at Kidlitosphere Central.

A Sneak Peek At The KidLitCon 2013 Schedule - I'll Be Speaking!

I'm really excited about the 7th Annual Kidlitosphere Conference in Austin, Texas!

On Friday November 8 and Saturday November 9, 2013, it will be a conference of in-person networking and idea-sharing with formerly just-online friends.

It promises to be mind-expanding.

Blog- and twitter-exploding.

With vital information and even more-vital connection.
 And, even though they haven't announced the full schedule yet, I did get permission to share with you that I'll be giving a Breakout presentation:

Diversity In Kid Lit: Nurture More, Blog More, Get More

Here's the description:

In this 50 minute keynote full of exercises and interactive activities, blogger Lee Wind, M.Ed., highlights how we're all so diverse - as individuals, as a community of bloggers, and as humans on our Earth. But books for kids and teens have a long way to go to match that diversity.

How can we be allies and UPstanders for those different than ourselves? How can we harness the power of books as both mirrors and windows? Find out how we, as bloggers, can claim our power to nurture more diversity, blog more diversity, and ultimately get more diversity in children's and teen literature.

Here's a photo of me giving another keynote, this one at the SCBWI-Los Angeles' Writers Days 2013. Because I don't have a traveling-forward-through-time photo of me in Austin for this post. Come to think of it, I'll ask Rita Crayon Huang (my friend and shutterbug) to work on that. Thanks, Rita.

Over at Kidlitosphere Central, they just posted some of the bloggers who will be attending, and the list is full of great folks and blogs to explore...

1. Allie Jones of In Bed with Books
2. Camille Powell of BookMoot
3. Charlotte Taylor of Charlotte’s Library
4. Chris Barton of Bartography
5. Holly of Book Harbinger
6. Jen Bigheart of  I Read Banned Books
7. Jen Robinson of Jen Robinson’s Book Page
8. Jennifer Donovan of 5 Minutes for Books
9. Julia Garza of January Day
10. Katy Manck of BooksYALove
11. Kelly Jensen of STACKED
12. Lee Wind of I’m Here. I’m Queer. What The Hell Do I Read?
13. Leila Roy of Bookshelves of Doom
14. Maria Burel of Once Upon A Story
15. Maureen Kearney of Confessions of a Bibliovore and Kid Tested, Librarian Approved
16. Melissa Fox of Book Nut
17. Pam Coughlan of MotherReader
18. Paula Willey of Pink Me
19. Rosemond Cates of Big Hair and Books
20. Sarah Stevenson of Finding Wonderland
21. Sheila Ruth of Wands and Worlds

Time's running out to register yourself and join in the fun!

Fellow bloggers of children's and teen lit, I hope to see you in Austin at #kidlitcon13!

Namaste,
Lee

***UPDATE October 23, 2013 at 8:28pm - The Schedule is UP here!***

And I'll also be part of the

Kidlit Blogging Roundtable: Our Past, Present, and Future

moderated by Sarah Stevenson of Finding Wonderland: On this panel, Jen Bigheart, Lee Wind, and others will discuss how blogging has changed over the years in the Kidlitosphere as a whole—different approaches to blogging, varying participation levels, etc.; what this might mean for the future of the community; and how bloggers and authors/illustrators and others in the kidlit community can best continue to leverage blogging for the benefit of all, and keep it relevant and fun.

Hurray!