10. Enroll in breakout sessions led by different editors/publishers (I had the same wonderful editor for all three, but I          wonder what the other editors were like).

9.   Shut up and listen.

8.   Do not become alarmed when editors rip apart the first page of someone’s work in front of 50 other writers. It is business. (But I’m glad my 1^st page didn’t go up.)

7.   “Expect failure. Failure is learning in disguise.”- Chad Beckerman, Creative Director, Abrams

6.    Stop looking for Kate DiCamillo.

5.     “Gather the trust of the reader and create chains of suspension.”-Andrew Karre, Executive Editor, Dutton Children’s  Books

4.      Do not send emails out at 2:00 AM. You will be labeled a nut. Wait until the next day to press send.

3.      Draw pictures of your scenes/ chapters. Where is the tension? Thank you Sarah Aronson.

2.      Figure out hashtags.

1.      And finally, the number 1 thing I learned at my first writer’s conference is:

We are all in this together.