Cheryl Klein always has a lot of interesting things to say, especially regarding the editing process. She’s got some great information on her website for writers and prospective editors, and even now, with over a year at a children’s publisher under my belt, I find her insights helpful and insightful. Today, she posted about her recent experience at an SCBWI conference, which makes me want to see her notes from her talk. I’m sure I can get quite a few good pointers on how to do my job better, and reminders on things I don’t always have at the front of my mind.
One thing her post got me thinking of, though, is that I’m going to have to do a keynote talk of some sort for LTUE. It’s not till February, so I’ve got plenty of time, but I thought I’d throw it out there as a discussion topic: if you were to attend LTUE–a local science fiction/fantasy con/symposium that invites authors, scholars, and editors on panels to discuss SFF with a mixture of fans and prospective writers–what would you like to hear the editor guest speak on?
I’ve had thoughts of the basics of children’s fantasy (because there’s so much more out there besides Harry Potter), or perhaps the roots of children’s fantasy (perhaps too academic), or perhaps how fantasy can be used to draw in reluctant readers, but these are all things other people can talk about. What can I specifically as an editor contribute? Discussion of the basics of submitting? That gets discussed on every panel about writing. Something about the editing process? Perhaps. It might be especially interesting to discuss the editing process with how a series book gets developed compared to a standalone book, but how similar they are in the desire for great storytelling and wonderful writing.
But those are all just brainstorming ideas. What am I missing? What would you all like to hear, if you could be there?