Event: February 4 2012 Panel NYPL at 42 Street (the Lions)

It's been a while since I've blogged. Blogging is not a paying job, it's creative fun when I have something relevant to say about books, literacy or about my career. My prior blog postings live on and on in cyberspace to reference and link. Besides, I broke my right wrist and solidly rested over the winter holiday. Luckily, as a lefty, my dominant art hand was spared the fracturing fall. But it took a broken wrist to finally take a "break" in a fast paced business, to step back and see the big picture.

The not paying aspect was part of an idea for a panel. I do not agree that authors and artists are "supposed" to be poor. That type of thinking devalues our art and careers. We need to be saavy in today's publishing climate.


What joy! The panel idea titled, "Connect The Dots" was accepted by Betsy Bird, NYPL's whiz-kid librarian and hostess of School Library Journal's Fuse#8 Blog. If you don't know Betsy's blog, you should. It's the most popular children's literature blog in the United States, written up in Forbes Magazine. What an honor to have this idea presented in such a great public forum as Betsy's Children's Literary Salon held on the first Saturday of each month at the 42 Street Library.


The panelists included Marilyn Ackerman (Brooklyn Public Library), Barbara Auerbach (school librarian at PS 217 Brooklyn), Erica Kylander-Clark (parental blogger), Rebecca Fitting (Greenlight Bookstore), and myself (author/illustrator). We discussed how booksellers, librarians (school and public), and bloggers discover, promote, and discuss great books for kids. How communication between our different occupations can help an author get their name out and show the value of their books to a wider public audience of readers and buyers.


I presented a short Power Point on social network etiquette and how authors and illustrators can grassroots market to work *with* the various occupations to help widen our readership and buying audience.


I announced for the first time that I will train picture book authors and illustrators how to grassroots market to build their platform with my MARKETING WORKOUT. More to Come


After the well attended panel was over, parent blogger Erica Kylander-Clark posted her fabulous ideas for Panel City: Shouting Out About Books! on her blog. Parents reaching out to other parents. How parents can also Connect The Dots by reaching out to the booksellers, librarians, authors and illustrators to learn about the wider selection of children's literature which goes beyond Disney, Dr. Seuss and Good Night Moon.


Panelists Erica Kylander-Clark and Rebecca Fitting, owner of Greenlight Books.

All photos and art Copyright Melanie Hope Greenberg.
Thanks to Michael Santangelo for taking the photos.