1 – Page 169 – Cathy C. Hall Writes

I’m singing the lon SCBWI TEAM BLOG esome “Everybody’s Going to The SCBWI Conference in LA But Me” blues this week. Still, I was trying to suck it up and think happy thoughts for next year. I remembered that I wanted to share this cool tool for finding books in libraries.

It’s called Worldcat and it’s so amazing, I could play around with it all day. Here’s how it works: You go to this splendiferous site, type in the title of the book you’re looking for, include your zip code, and bingo! All of the libraries holding this book in your vicinity and beyond will appear.

So, if you’re looking for an unusual, new, or maybe even your own book, the libraries pop up on the screen. Wouldn’t you like to know all the libraries that are carrying your brand new book? I know I’d be checking Worldcat. Probably every day.

Like I said, I was trying to think happy thoughts. And I also remembered that a fellow Southern Breezer (Hey, Mary Ann Rodman!) passed along the Worldcat site, I think, on a new blog called “Teaching Authors.” Six children’s authors, who also happen to teach, alternately share the posts, and honestly, they pack a lot of information in one blog!

So, when I checked it out today, just to see how the gang was getting along, I noticed that Esther wrote how she was LA bound for the SCBWI Conference.

See what I mean? Everybody‘s going but me. But then I read the entire post and cheered up. Because all sorts of folks will be blogging from LA and I can join the fun, if only virtually, by going to the Official SCBWI Conference Blog.

Now I’m singing a happy little ditty. Hum along with me to “Thanks, Esther, I’d still be cryin’ if I hadn’t checked the Teaching Authors blog today!”

What I like most about writing for kids is the way I look at the world. There are so many stories around me, I wonder why I didn’t notice before!

Take for instance when I met Sydney Lewis at the Decatur Book Festival last year. She was selling Vernacular, a publication full of stories and poems written by high school students in the Atlanta area. I might not have been too impressed by that had Sydney not told me about the Wren’s Nest connection.

The Wren’s Nest is the home of Joel Chandler Harris, author of the B’rer Rabbit stories, to name just a few of his writings. I’d taken my kids to the Wren’s Nest; it’s a museum, not a publishing company. So now, she’s piqued my interest.

Turns out the Wren’s Nest has a special program that reaches out to high school kids who might want to submit to this yearly publication. But that’s just the tip of the program. Because a staff of high school kids is involved in every step of the production of this yearly magazine.

How cool is that, I thought. That’s a terrific teen story if I ever heard one. Luckily, Encounter felt the same way. So, my interview with Sydney is in the fall issue. You might want to look into Encounter if you have an interesting story for teens. You can email and ask for guidelines and an editorial calendar. Or just send your idea, like I did.