Wednesday, January 19, 2011

WriteOnCon Awesomeness Coming in 3...2...1...

We hope you’re ready for WriteOnCon 2011 (we have dates--watch the main site for an epic announcement), and a full year of live events–-because we’ve been VERY busy behind the scenes, planning some New Awesome. We thought we’d start the year off with a bang and announce our amazingly fabulous January Live Event.

Are you ready for this? Got your shiny, new calenders out? Here are the details!

We’re SO excited to announce that we’re bringing in the amazing ladies at Pippin Properties, Inc for a special live chat/panel discussion!

Holly McGhee, Elena Mechlin, and Joan Slattery of Pippin Properties, Inc. will be joining WriteOnCon to discuss query writing do’s and dont’s and what they’re looking for!

When: Monday, January 24th, 2011 at 5:00 PM EST
Where: http://writeoncon.com/

In case you didn’t notice, the event is scheduled a little earlier than you might be used to, so make sure you make a note of the time and don’t miss out.

The chat will go up about 15 minutes early on the WriteOnCon homepage, and can also be found under the “live events / chat” tab.

Make sure you come armed with plenty of your most pressing questions about query writing and what Pippin is looking for. We’ll be spending 30 minutes on each. And to help you better figure out what to ask, here’s a little more info about these lovely ladies:

About Holly:


Holly McGhee founded Pippin Properties in 1998, after seven years as an Executive Editor and Associate Publisher at HarperCollins, and four years in adult trade marketing. She still can hardly believe that she gets to work with books every day, and she firmly believes that you can learn just about everything you need to know in life from children’s books. She is honored to have spent more than a decade representing talented authors and artists such as Kate DiCamillo, William Steig, Harry Bliss, David Small, Doreen Cronin, Kathi Appelt, and her very own sister, Alison McGhee, as well as many other amazing people. In her personal life, Holly writes under the pen name Hallie Durand and she likes spending time with her three kids and husband, going bowling, grocery shopping, and taking care of her nineteen year old dinner-plate aurelia tree, the best plant on Earth!

About Elena:


After a few years of bopping around the publishing industry, Elena finally found the perfect position from which to pursue her love of all things children’s literature at Pippin Properties. At Pippin, she loves reading queries and loves the treasure hunt that ensues! A uniquely collaborative agency, Pippin represents publishing greats such as Kate DiCamillo, David Small, Peter H. Reynolds, Kathi Appelt, and Doreen Cronin, among many others. Elena loves funny picture books, is typically averse to rhyming texts, likes goofy middle grade, and is on the hunt for some hot YA! She spends much of her free time enjoying New York City on foot.

About Joan:


Joan Slattery joined Pippin Properties, Inc., as a literary agent in November 2010. Prior to that, she spent nearly twenty years editing fiction and picture books for Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers (Random House). As an editor, she had the pleasure of working with Philip Pullman, Jerry Spinelli, Jane Smiley, Cynthia Voigt, Adele Griffin, Shelley Pearsall, Jen Bryant, Laura McNeal, and Tom McNeal, among many others. She also holds great admiration for librarians (and their sway over the children’s book industry) and received her own Masters in Library Science while working as an editor. Joan lives with her husband and twin five-year-olds in a suburb of New York City.

You can learn more about Pippin and their fabulous clients at www.pippinproperties.com.

We’d like to kick 2011 off with pizzazz so please spread the word! We’ll see you Monday, January 24th!

And I'm not gonna promise anything, but who would you like to see in a WOC Live Event? At the annual conference?

39 comments:

Jessica Bell said...

Sounds awesome! LEt's hope the time difference works for me. Off to check out the world clock!

Jessica Bell said...

Bugger. That's gonna be midnight for me ... let's see if I can keep my eyes open!

Theresa Milstein said...

I'm excited! My daughter will be at ballet then, but I think I can go upstairs and snag some Wi-Fi from Rosie's Bakery.

I don't have any special requests - I'm just along for the awesome ride!

Unknown said...

This sounds like a great event, and it looks to be the perfect time down here... I'll definitely be there.

Connie Keller said...

Wow. That looks great! I'll put it on my calendar.

Natalie Aguirre said...

Can't wait. I actually tried to go on Monday-got my dates confused. If I'm coming from work rather than a meeting with a teacher (not looking forward to that), I'll be about 15 minutes late, but have already figured out how I can ask my questions before I leave the office.

Agents I'd love to see at the conference include Josh Adams and Sara Megibow. Also, Weronika Janczuk's post on plot was so helpful that I'd love to see her do another one.

Stina said...

I can't wait! And it's at a great time for me. The kids won't be home from school yet. :D

Renae said...

Can't wait! I might not be home yet, but I'm going to try!

Kelly Polark said...

You WriteOnCon peeps are made of awesome! Thanks for all of these wonderful opportunities you bring to us!

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to it!

Tracey Neithercott said...

Sounds great. Thanks so much to all of you for arranging this!

Angela said...

This is awesome, can't wait for the big event!

Anonymous said...

YAY!!!!!

That is all :)

Rachel Harris said...

I'm really looking forward to this one. I just hope I remember. All the past ones I seem to have remembered either right when they were ending or the day after!

Thanks for all you do for WriteOnCon. What a great resource :-)

Nicole Zoltack said...

Awesome tming - it's when my boys nap. :)

As for guest stars, I suggest Joanna Stampfel-Volpe.

Matthew MacNish said...

Is there no end to the awesome of you people?

Ishta Mercurio said...

It's on the calendar. My kids will be having pasta for dinner that evening in honor of the event. :-)

Emily White said...

I can't wait! I would love love LOVE to see Jodi Reamer do a live event with you guys some time. :)

Courtney Barr - The Southern Princess said...

Wonderful Elana!!! I am ecstatic! I will be traveling during it this year and hope to catch some of the live set ups during some airport downtime! The dayjob has me running! ;o)

Visit My Kingdom Anytime

Shari said...

I must go write this down now, else I will probably forget. Thanks for the awesome!

Carolyn V. said...

Woo hoo! Posted on my calendar! =)

Melissa said...

This is so awesome and exciting!!!1 I'll be there.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

O-M-G! Pippin Properties is in my top 3 favorite agencies. Elena has my first three chapters right now...although they've been much improved since she got them. *sigh* The dream that would be an offer from Pippin.

Sarah Ahiers said...

Yay! I think i can actually hit the live chat!
Also, i clicked on your link for pippin properties but it seems to be broken... (though a quick googs search pulled them up)

Brigitte said...

woohoo! I loved last year's WriteOnCon! Hopefully I can make it this time too~

Melissa Gill said...

I can't wait for this. Pippin is such a special agency for kidlit authors. I'd love to find out how to attract their attention.

J.R. Johansson said...

This is so very cool! Thanks for all the info. I didn't get a chance to check out WOC last year, but I'm definitely in this year. :)

Hannah said...

Yes! I may have Monday off so I will definitely tune in! Thanks for the headsup! I can't wait for the new WriteOnCon! Last year was so much fun.

Heather said...

I can't tell you how much I wish I could be there~especially since this year I'm on the agent hunt after parting ways with my agent last year~but I have to work. :( I'll be there in spirit.

Golden Eagle said...

It sounds like it's going to be awesome!

Rachael Harrie said...

Woohoo, can't wait!!! :)

Rach

Mart Ramirez said...

I soo wish I can make it! Will there be a transcript or a webpage available for viewing after?
Sounds awesome!

Jill Kemerer said...

WriteOnCon coming up--I can't believe it! Where does time go? This is a great line-up. Can't wait to check it all out!

ali cross said...

Fantastic news Elana!

June G said...

Well, I certainly learned something new today. I've never heard of Pippin Properties. I'll hustle home asap on the 24th to catch this segment. Thanks for sharing girl!

Shannon said...

Sounds like an awesome event! I'm usually still working at 5pm est, but I'll try to wrap things up early for this. Thanks for the heads up. You rock!

Anonymous said...

squeeing with excitement!

Liesl Shurtliff said...

Yay! I love this agency!

Katrina L. Lantz said...

Awesome! WriteOnCon continues to deliver year round. You ladies are amazing.

Thank you!

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