Blue Boards

Here ya go:

http://www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php

You have to be a member before you can see certain sections (including the response-time boards).

It's easy to be a member. Just register and they email you their okay.

I'm permanantly banned from them. Some guy tore into me. I responded (I guess a little too stormy), and he got to stay, I got to leave. Go figure.

That's just totally wrong, stormie. Their loss for sure! s 4 U! s

Stormie- that just plain stinks!
On another note- some creepy poster is sending me inappropriate PM's on this site. How do I deal with this crap?!?!

Alanna--here on AW? Notify a mod or Mac.

stormie said:

It's easy to be a member. Just register and they email you their okay.

I'm permanantly banned from them. Some guy tore into me. I responded (I guess a little too stormy), and he got to stay, I got to leave. Go figure.

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Yep, it's easy to join. I was just pointing out that you can't see the response-time boards without being a member (which, in my opinion, is the best thing about the Blue Boards).

Sorry you got banned. We love you here, though!

stormie said:

It's easy to be a member. Just register and they email you their okay.

I'm permanantly banned from them. Some guy tore into me. I responded (I guess a little too stormy), and he got to stay, I got to leave. Go figure.

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I think all forums should do a three strikes rule. It's just too easy to be mis-understood, or get bated into an argument.

IMHO, there's a certain level of art to posting on boards (which I haven't learned).

I'm banned from blueboards too, Stormie. If enough time has passed, just write a conciliatory email (there's my word choice power in action) to Verla. She is a push over. She acts like a Nazi. But, a push over Nazi.

I go

I think I've made exactly 2 posts on the BB. I lurk there almost as much as I lurk here. Muahahaha!

Smish said:

Yep, it's easy to join. I was just pointing out that you can't see the response-time boards without being a member (which, in my opinion, is the best thing about the Blue Boards).

Sorry you got banned. We love you here, though!

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Aw, thanks guys!

I managed to get onto the Blue Boards about a month ago when I was visiting one of my sisters. (Different IP address.) It really wasn't much more informative than here or before my "bannation," or what I can get by just doing a simple search. Their response times board is good, though.

I check in on SBWI (Soc.of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators) from time to time since I was a member and haven't been banned from them. Yet.

ETA: Poor Timothy--all he wanted was their URL. I side-tracked another thread.

I keep thinking I should hang out at the Blue Boards... I went to my local SCBWI yearly conference last year, and there was a whole group of people with blue stripes on their name tags because they were Official Blue Board Members or something. And the great Verla Kay herself was there. So it's been on my to-do list... But somehow writing the next book and keeping up with my Real Life keep bumping it down to the bottom of the list.

Anything over there that I can't get here? Besides response times, which I can get on Querytracker, and besides, I don't really care because I'm slower than all of them...

JudScotKev said:

I keep thinking I should hang out at the Blue Boards... I went to my local SCBWI yearly conference last year, and there was a whole group of people with blue stripes on their name tags because they were Official Blue Board Members or something. And the great Verla Kay herself was there. So it's been on my to-do list... But somehow writing the next book and keeping up with my Real Life keep bumping it down to the bottom of the list.

Anything over there that I can't get here? Besides response times, which I can get on Querytracker, and besides, I don't really care because I'm slower than all of them...

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The focus is different, I think. I prefer hanging out at AW, because of the involved discussions. The Blue Boards aren't as active, in that respect. I've made under 30 posts over there.

However, in some ways, the Blue Boards rock. It's the single best place, in my opinion, to get specific information. The response-time boards are great because they not only include information about response times, but also information about specific editors, assistants, etc. Need an editor's name? Check the Blue Boards. Someone will know it. Thinking of submitting to a magazine, but you need to know if the particular theme you're submitting to is already full? Check the Blue Boards. Need to know the name of an agent's assistant? Check the Blue Boards.

Blue Boarders also seem to have information before anyone else. They know an editor or agent is leaving a particular house BEFORE an official announcement is made. I view the Blue Boards as a forum for working writers to share and trade information. So, when I want specific information about a particular magazine, for example, I look there.

Smish

The Blue Boards are a great source for info about writing/publishing for kids (picture book through YA). Since AW covers all ages/genres, its focus is broader... that's the main difference I notice. Both are fantastic resources. If you're looking for info specific to children's books, there are a lot of nice folks over there (published, unpublished, & even a few agents) who are generous with their time and expertise. I've been hanging out over there for a few years, and just recently realized all the cool stuff AW has to offer. Even though I'd been reading specific threads, like Ask the Agent, here for a while, I hadn't really taken time to explore the whole site. Now I'm hooked on both. (Ugh ... must get off Internet and write...)

Jud, the Blue Boards are great for their specificity but a little more formal and business-like. There are a lot of inside-industry discussions among published writers about their particular travails related to getting in bookstores and marketing their books.

When/if I get published, I'll probably get more out of that part of the Blue Boards, but right now, I'm focused on writing and then getting published. I'd almost rather not know about how hard the next steps are.

I love the Blue Boards, and I have to stand up for Verla. She doesn't put up with any nonsense, it's true, but it's a professional board--editors and agents go there frequently, so you really can't have flame wars going on. People's professional reputations are at stake. Her rules don't seem oppressive to me, although I've heard that they do to some people.

I've never met Verla, but I've come to respect her as a human being. She's honest, forthright, and sensible.

If you want to discuss politics or religion, the BB isn't the board for you. But if you want advice on almost any topic, that's the board to go to. Over the years, I've gotten advice on dogs, mascara, korean culture, and a host of writing related topics. The BB gets one million hits a month. No, it's not perfect and I've gotten my feelings hurt there more than once. But, hey, that can happen on any board.

Ellen Jackson
www.ellenjackson.net

I kind of love the blue boards. I have met so many childrens authors on that site.

BetsyJ said:

If you want to discuss politics or religion, the BB isn't the board for you. .... The BB gets one million hits a month. No, it's not perfect and I've gotten my feelings hurt there more than once. But, hey, that can happen on any board.

Ellen Jackson
www.ellenjackson.net

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No, Ellen, that's not what happened. It was very strange. We were discussing agents. I had one, from a top NYC agency so I did know what I was talking about. A guy who happened to post there more than I did, started attacking me. If you know me from here, you'd realize that I'm not the type to be unprofessional in my responses.

Without consulting me, she deleted my posts where I tried to defend myself. When I asked about it, that's when things got nasty.

I've never been treated like that on any other writer's boards. A few other people have said she can be that way, where a person is left wondering what the heck happened.

I'm sorry, Stormie. I didn't mean to imply anything about your particular situation. I was just speaking in general terms because I DO know someone who was upset about those particular policies.

I've never seen you post anything that was the least bit inappropriate. I don't doubt that there was a misunderstanding. That's what happens when you can't see someone's facial expressions. A comment can be meant innocently, but when it gets posted or emailed--it somehow gets some kind of spin put on it. It's happened to me.

Anyway, I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

Much appreciated, Betsy.

Kellion, I'm with you. Right now, my main goal is to write something an agent would like to represent. The rest of the industry details just won't really matter until then...