Being into young adult literature as much as I am I want to share with you two exciting industry events that are starting to gear up and kick off.

Kidlitoshpere Conference

2010′s Kidlitosphere Conference is going to be held the weekend of October 23rd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  An event where children’s and young adult book bloggers, authors, publicity types and anyone at all who is interested in YA and kidlit to congregate for a few days of eating, drinking, networking and learning from each other.

I was lucky enough that last year’s conference was held right here in DC (wanna come back folks?  I’ll do the work!) and it was truly a fabulous experience.  One that I strongly encourage anyone who digs YA and kidlit to attend.  I won’t be able to make it this year and am quite bereft at not being able to hang out with all of the new friends I made.  But, I’m looking forward to following along on Twitter and reading the posts of attendees after the fact.

Wanna know another reason why I’m so bummed that I won’t be able to go this year?  The  awesome Maggie Stiefvater is keynote speaker.  She’s an excellent writer and her blog is fantastic to boot.  I can only imagine how amazing she’s going to be standing up at the podium gabbing away about it all.

The organizers are currently sifting through session proposals so the agenda isn’t publicized yet but trust me this is an event not to be missed if you can avoid it.  To register and keep tabs on all the news that’s fit to print check out the Kidlit Con 2010 blog.

Cybils Awards

The call for panelists and judges for the 2010 Cybils Awards was put out this week.   Anne Levy, organizer, details the amount of work that will go into participation, the eligibility standards, and various other details potential interested parties must be aware of before throwing his/her hat in the ring.

What are the Cybils Awards you ask?  It’s an annual award that is designed to recognize children’s and young adult literature “whose books combine the highest literary merit and “kid appeal”.  You can learn much more about it on the Cybils blog where there is a wealth of information about the awards past and present.

I’m excited to apply to participate this year, though I suspect the competition is tough.  Even if I’m not fortunate enough to be selected I can tell you you’ll be hearing all about what is going on here on my blog.