Here at the Cybils organization, we are big fans of the Kidlitosphere Conference (aka KidLitCon). KidLitCon is an annual conference for children's and young adult book bloggers (though anyone is welcome). KidLitCon is a much smaller conference than, say ALA or BEA. There are usually a few bookish giveaways, and a book exchange, but the focus of KidLitCon is not to be a swag-fest. The focus of KidLitCon is to give those of us who blog about children's books, sitting in front of our computers at home, a chance to meet, face-to-face.
KidLitCon includes conference sessions about topics like:
- Diversity in Kid Lit: Nurture More, Blog More, Get More
- Critical Reviews & Why They Matter
- Blogger Burnout: Suggestions for Getting Your Groove Back
- Blogging the Middle Grade Books
- and more… see this year's full schedule.
KidLitCon is a great place to go to get reenergized about blogging, and to learn ways to take your blog to the next level. But the real reason to attend KidLitCon is to meet friends that you have up to now only known online. Many of the Cybils organizers have only met one another face-to-face at various KidLitCon sessions over the years, and we so value those opportunities. We highly, highly recommend that you try to get yourself to KidLitCon sometime, if at all possible. KidLitCon rotates across the country from year to year, to make it easier for people to attend at least once.
This year, KidLitCon will be taking place in Austin, TX on November 8th (pre-con) and November 9th (the main event). The keynote speaker is the fabulous Cynthia Leitich Smith, YA author and blogger at Cynsations. The deadline for registration was just extended to November 1st. More details are in the handy flyer below:
You can see a list of some of the people who are registered for KidLitCon 2013 here. And you can register yourself here. The registration fee, which includes Saturday lunch, is only $65. Particularly for those of you who are within driving distance of Austin, this is tough to beat.
Register now for KidLitCon 2013! We hope to see you there. We can talk about all of the amazing books nominated for this year's Cybils.