• Ask yourself, would it still be a good book if it was fiction? It shouldn’t matter where it ends up getting shelved—a good story is a good story.
• “Be writers, not compilers of thinly-veiled lists.”
• Straight biographies aren’t really needed anymore dead due to Internet and online databases. They need to be MORE than just a biography to be published as books today.
• It’s harder for nonfiction authors to “brand” themselves, because there is so much less interaction with readers.
• As school librarians disappear, it gets harder for kids to get to great nonfiction and vice versa. Kids will still manage to find a copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, for example, but they might not discover The Many Faces of George Washington.
• Reviews are especially important for nonfiction.
• One important facet of a nonfiction author’s job is to decide what to exclude.
• Nonfiction proposal should first and foremost communicate your passion for the story, not follow a specific form.
• Above all, you must CONNECT to kids!

I feel so lucky to have spent this time with Andrew and some of our region’s nonfiction authors. I have a slew of exciting ideas and a boatload of new inspiration and enthusiasm and for the work that we do. And I can’t wait to see the drafts that come out of it (my own as well as everyone else’s!). Happy [nonfiction] writing!