FYI: The article below, about this year's Jewish Children's Book Writers' Conference at the 92nd Street Y, appeared in the September 14 edition of PW Religion Bookline.
Rachel Kamin, Director Temple Israel Libraries & Media Center 5725 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48323 248/661-5700 (phone), 248/661-1302 (fax) <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] Jewish Children's Books Focus of Conference by Holly Lebowitz Rossi, Religion BookLine -- 9/14/2005 On November 20, some 100 writers, editors, and publicists will gather for the seventh annual Jewish Children's Book Writers' Conference at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. The full-day conference, held each fall on a Sunday, started seven years ago when several members of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators were disappointed that they, Sabbath-observant Jews, could not attend that organization's Saturday conferences. Anna Olswanger, a literary agent who has been conference coordinator for the past four years, told RBL that the purpose of the conference is to play matchmaker for editors looking for Jewish material and writers who have manuscripts they are trying to place. "We want to let editors know that there are good Jewish-themed manuscripts out there, and we want writers to know that they have options," she said. One of the highlights of the conference is a session in which writers can submit the first pages of their manuscripts to be read aloud and critiqued anonymously by the attendees. Editors then receive a set of the pages, with contact information allowing them to request more from the writer if they choose. "It's a chance for writers to really get their work read by somebody," said Olswanger. The market for Jewish-themed books is "broadening," said Regina Griffin, v-p and editor-in-chief of New York-based Holiday House, an independent children's and young adult publisher. Griffin, who is speaking at this November's conference and has attended past conferences, says that there is "a great energy" each year. "Gathering people who are really committed to the field of Judaica, it's very exciting," she said. In addition to Griffin, the conference's speakers include Jodi Kreitzman, editor at Delacorte Press, publicist Susan Salzman Raab, and literary agent Rebecca Sherman. This article originally appeared in the September 14, 2005 issue of Religion BookLine. Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
