I’m going to pretend I didn’t help organize the thing and that I’m just an editor advising authors on how to spend their conference dollars wisely. So, should authors do conferences like this?

I think the answer is yes. If for no other reason than to feel part of a community that extends well beyond your fellow authors, this is a conference worth attending. Stuff like adding threaded comments to Blogger (anybody else notice IntenseDebate spreading like crazy in the Kidlitosphere?) or how to run a blog tour or how to incorporate virtual visits into your school repertoire are all great takeaways, but the best part, as so many attendees have already said, is the sense of being part  of a community, of a group effort. Writing is a solitary practice, and it always has been  and I don’t think that needs to change. But publishing and marketing books are no longer solitary nor the exclusive domains of publishers—or they shouldn’t be—and events like KidLit Con help to reinforce this idea.

So here’s the conference wrap-up page for those who want to dive in…