Diversity Social at #LA17SCBWI

Did you check out the Diversity Social at #LA17SCBWI?

The Diversity Social began with remarks about We Need Diverse Books by Sona Charaipotra, Miranda Paul, and Linda Sue Park, followed by greetings from some of WNDB's founding members and SCBWI faculty support.

I loved hearing about the successes of their mentorship programs and advocacy programs -- from partnerships with the Scholastic Book Club to measurable results of WNDB's mentorship program. 

An attendee asked how they can support diverse authors if they are not from a diverse background. The committee suggested:

• Buy and read diverse books, and support those authors.
• Talk about diverse books; promote those authors and their books.
• Advocate for diverse voices to be represented at events or programming you're involved in.
• Write and illustrate characters from diverse backgrounds. Pat Cummings asked: do your characters default to a specific ethnicity or background?
• Mentor with WNDB, if applicable. (generally looking for authors with multiple books published in a particular genre.)

After the Q&A, there was time to mingle. I enjoyed chatting with first-time conference attendees / authors Traci Sorrell, Lindsey Metcalf, and Madonna Bock [from the KS/MO chapter]; agent Stefanie von Borstel of Full Circle Literary; Executive Art Director Cecilia Yung at Penguin Random House; and many others at this thoughtful, relaxed gathering.

You can sign up for the WNDB mailing list to be notified when mentorship applications are available.

Check out WNDB's new book discovery app called Our Story