• The ECC Questionnaire

What was your first job in children’s publishing? How did you come to publishing?
My trajectory to children’s publishing was hilariously wholesome. I started out in creative development at FamilyFun and now defunct (sadly!) Wondertime magazine. That was followed by a stint at a motherwear catalog, and some oft-reminisced (and slobbered) over time at Cook’s Illustrated magazine. A conversation with a family friend over Christmas dinner, who had just finished illustrating a book with Candlewick Press and was infectiously elated by the entire experience, had me applying for an internship there the next day. I interned in school & library marketing before being offered a position as the marketing and publicity assistant.

How long have you worked at The Children’s Book Council?
It’s been 2 years this month!

How has your job evolved since starting at the CBC?
My overarching goal since I started at the CBC has been to elevate the organization’s profile on a national and international scale. The focal points in my strategy have been: creating a clear, consistent voice for the organization and building an active and invested audience on social media platforms; establishing and nurturing mutually beneficial relationships with partner literacy organizations and news outlets; revamping communications with CBC members (CBC Update and the like) to be more useful; extending our outreach to bloggers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and the media, and crafting tailored messages to each of those audiences; and driving traffic to the CBC site, in part through the dynamic expansion of news and event coverage on our newsfeed.

How has your experience working at a publishing house informed your vision for the CBC’s place in the industry and your communications strategy for the CBC? 
Working at Candlewick gave me tremendous respect for the role of the publishing house in fostering creative culture and intellectual life. Our role at the CBC is to support and inform that crucial work, and that fuels me every day. In terms of communications, my time at a publishing house showed me how incredibly time-strapped everyone is – that awareness keeps me striving to provide the most useful information in the most digestible fashion.

What skills do you think are indispensable to working in communications?
The ability to multi-task adeptly, be supremely diplomatic, and to keep kicking yourself in the pants to stay on top of the ever-changing media landscape are all key.

The CBC site, Facebook, and Twitter account are absolute treasure troves of children’s literature-related news items. What are your best sources for culling this information and what is your strategy for posting to the various
CBC platforms?
Thanks so much! I usually start by scanning through the 60+ websites and blogs I follow regularly on Google Reader to lay out an initial social-media/website-post “spread” for the day. Before starting a Twitter account for the CBC a year ago, I had never experimented with the platform, but it is a phenomenal tool – once you’ve carefully curated lists of folks you’re following, you’ll be fed the most relevant news in the kid lit realm at an incredible rate. I’ll check in with  Twitter, GoogleReader, and the industry e-newsletters throughout the day, adding new posts and rescheduling ones from my first-pass plan depending on what crops up/how priorities shift (as they always do!).

Can you describe your typical day?
It really varies depending on the time of year, which I love. Right now, in addition to the above,  I’m spending a lot of time working with a web designer on the soon-to-be-launched site for the Early Career Committee, and an overhaul of the CBC site to improve its usability. I’m typically writing or editing a newsletter or blast for one of our various programs as well.

What is your favorite word?
Language is such an incredible, and imperfect, means of communication. The awareness of its limitations makes linguistic precision, to the extent that that’s possible, one of the greatest pleasures I know. And holy moly, what an exquisite language we have to work with! My favorite words this week are ones I used in the script for my upcoming Bad-Behavior themed episode of CBC Book Stop: towheaded, spree, and snug.

What is your favorite industry-related website or blog?
I think it’s so critical to keep international and vintage children’s literature present in the conversation. 50 Watts is a wellspring for this, as is Brainpickings, and the CBC’s Favorite Vintage Kids’ Books Pinterest board. For news on the industry’s digital front, I’m a big fan of the work Digital Book World is doing.

Recent years have seen a rise in picture-book biographies. Were your life ever to be chronicled in such a way-and don’t be modest, now-who would you choose to illustrate it?
Quentin Blake, William Steig, and James Marshall all create my ideal blend of seriousness and absurdity.