We're Getting Excited! Have You Registered for #SCBWIsummer24 Yet?

 

Inspiring Keynotes!

Fascinating Panels!

Practical Craft and Business Breakout Sessions!

Helpful Peer Critiques!

Community-connecting Socials!

... And so much more! Check out the full conference schedule, and faculty, and offerings.

The online conference starts August 1, but you can still register!

Hope to see you online--* 

We have amazing team of bloggers (even if you're attending, you can't be everywhere at once, so keeping up with this conference blog, as well as team blog's social media posts (like on Bluesky) will offer you an even more expansive, informative and inspiring experience. 

Your SCBWI Team Blog for this Summer 2024 Virtual Conference is:

Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Don Tate

Jaime Temairik

Jolie Stekly

Justin Campbell

and me, Lee Wind

Each of the bloggers will be introducing themselves here before the conference, so stay tuned!**

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

*I would have put an exclamation point there, but seven, I think, should be the limit with a post this brief.
**Ack - that made eight.

Registration opens TODAY (May 24, 2022) for the SCBWI Online Summer Conference (Aug 5-7)

 

It's going to be amazing! 

We hope you'll join our community for: 

Keynote presentations from Dhonielle Clayton, Jessixa Bagley, and Donna Barba Higuera!

Panels of agents, editors, and art directors discussing the current state of children’s publishing!

A half-day of programming just for illustrators offered at no additional cost! 

Over 35 breakout sessions with tracks for illustrators, self-publishing authors, traditionally published authors, and nonfiction authors!

An opportunity to pitch to acquiring agents and editors!

The career-launching Portfolio Showcase!

Online socials and peer critiques!

Find out all the details and register here.

Are You Ready for the BIG FIVE-OH? The SCBWI Summer Conference Celebrates SCBWI's 50th Anniversary! (Registration Opens May 19 at 10am Pacific)

 

July 29-August 2, 2021, Live on Zoom

It's going to be a party, a conference, a connection with community, and so much more! Registration opens TOMORROW May 19, 2021 at 10am Pacific - click here: https://www.scbwi.org/event-summer-conference-2021/

Here's the scoop:

The three main days are July 30, 31 and August 1, with optional events on the day before and the day after, as well as a free bonus peer critique day on August 7. Featuring a super-star faculty of over 50 industry leaders speaking on over 50 topics, the 50th promises to be memorable for all SCBWI members.

We are breaking the mold this year and providing an all-new format. Gone are the hour-long conversations, replaced with over 50 fifteen or thirty-minute keynotes offering concrete and specific advice on all aspects of creating children’s books. Whether you want to learn how to create a graphic novel script or promote your illustrations on social media, how to outline your novel in three easy steps or write a rhyming picture book, there is meaty information for your specific interest. In addition, every session will provide a handout of take-away points and tips, and all sessions will be available to attendees online for a month following the conference. It’s a buffet of fifty plus topics and speakers for you to gorge on, both live and at your leisure.

Each day will also feature a themed mingle so you can get to know some of your fellow attendees. And a series of nightly socials will provide opportunities to connect with like-minded writers and illustrators.

The pre-opening day, July 29, will feature two optional intensives, one called LAUNCHPAD with sessions aimed at new-to-the-field creators who are launching their careers. The second intensive on that day is called PRO DAY, featuring a multitude of practical insider sessions for published authors and illustrators. The final day, August 2, will bring you an intensive for illustrators, which is free to all those who have enrolled in the full conference. Also on that day, we will also have PITCH ROUNDTABLES, where you select an agent or editor and participate in their hour-long pitch session. Each attendee who registers for this day will get seven minutes to pitch their book and get a response from the agent or editor roundtable leader. There is a limit of 900 places in the pitch roundtable day, so if you plan to take advantage of it, please mark the registration date in your calendar and don’t delay signing up.

By the way, the registration date is May 19, opening at 10 a.m. PACIFIC time. (That’s 1 p.m. EASTERN time, and all kinds of other times in other time zones.) Tuition for the main conference is $150. Tuition for the July 29 intensive is $100. (You must pick one and be signed up for the whole conference.). Fee for the Roundtable pitch day is $75. Fee for the portfolio showcase is $75. The Illustrator Intensive is included in your conference registration.

In addition, there is the career-altering Portfolio Showcase with two grand prizes, the opportunity to sell your books in our online conference bookstore, the bonus Peer Critique day (free to all registrants on Saturday, August 7), and a full set of handouts to remind you of all you’ve learned from this once-in-a-lifetime collection of masters in the field.

Over 30 scholarships are available, including many for underrepresented creators.

Here is an alphabetical list of conference speakers, so far:

Kwame Alexander
Elana K. Arnold
Sarah Aronson
Darcie Little Badger
Jessixa Bagley
Claudia Bedrick
Jenny Bent
Sophie Blackall
Valerie Bolling
Alex Borbolla
Regina Brooks
Mahogany Browne
Cozbi A. Cabrera
Kacen Callender
Nancy Carpenter
Nancy Castaldo
Antonio Gonzalez-Cerna
Ruth Chan
Nidhi Chanani
Jenny Choy
Ernesto Cisneros
Lesa Cline-Ransome
Brandy Colbert
Matthew Cordell
Kandace Coston
Mary Claire Cruz
Pat Cummings
Mike Curato
Adriana Dominguez
Elizabeth Dulemba
Kait Feldmann
Feather Flores
Marla Frazee
Saho Fujii
Nikki Giovanni
Nikki Grimes
Shannon Hale
Kirsten Hall
Deborah Halverson
Vashti Harrison
Leah Henderson
Saritza Hernandez
Zara Gonzalez Hoang
Tiffany D. Jackson
Milena Jahier
Allyn Johnston
Cecile Kaiser
Naz Kutub
Tricia Lawrence
Minh Le
Arthur Levine
Tiff Liao
Malinda Lo
Melissa Manlove
Barbara Marcus
Janae Marks
Alice McGinty
Torrey Maldonado
Heather Montgomery
Yuyi Moralesv Erin Murphy
Michelle Nagler
Daniel Nayeri
Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Lin Oliver
Linda Sue Park
Hallie Patterson
Darcy Pattison
Ann Whitford Paul
Erica Perl
Beth Phelan
Tanusri Prasanna
James Ransome
John Rocco
Nadia Salomon
Dan Santat
Tammi Sauer
Gary Schmidt
Heather E. Schwartz
Karol Ruth Silverstein
Ronald L. Smith
Christina Soontornvat
Traci Sorell
Nova Ren Suma
Jennifer Swanson
Shaun Tan
Brent Taylor
Aiden Thomas
Brittany J. Thurman
Jennifer Vassel
Padma Venkatraman
Lisa Yee
Phoebe Yeh
Paula Yoo

We hope you'll join us for this online happening!

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On!
Lee

LA17SCBWI Portfolio Showcase -- and an Only at the SCBWI Summer Conference Moment!

Scenes from the annual portfolio showcase! Honorees will be announced at the morning introduction.

Meanwhile, here's an Only-at-SCBWI moment if I've ever seen one:

Keynote speaker Marvin Terban had us all in stitches this morning. However, this evening, the tables turned when SCBWI LA member Esther Pearl Watson shared the notes she took about his talk -- in the form of a comic! 

Marvin was honored, and had to take a photo to keep!

This is the kind of connection that seems to uniquely happen at SCBWI. Love it.

Catch more of the conference highlights this year through blog posts tagged #LA17SCBWI or as-it-happens on Twitter.

Agents' Panel: Jennifer Laughran (Andrea Brown Literary)

Jennifer Laughran joined Andrea Brown Literary Agency in 2007 after a long career as a bookseller, buyer and event coordinator. Always on the lookout for sparkling YA and middle grade fiction with unusual and unforgettable characters and vivid settings, she loves funny books, thrilling books, romantic books, books that make her cry, and all-around un-put-downable books… and her true favorites are all of the above. Some clients include author-illustrators like Giselle Potter, Don Brown, Raul the Third and Phoebe Wahl; middle grade authors like Daniel Pinkwater, Kate Messner, Alex Gino and Linda Urban; YA authors like Erin Jade Lange, Paula Stokes, Karen Rivers and Ellen Emerson White, among others. Visit www.andreabrownlit.com.

I loved Jennifer's story about meeting Kate Messner at an SCBWI conference, and signing her as her first author about ten years ago. (They've sold forty books together!) While waiting to sell her first novel with her new agent, Kate drafted a poem  on the back of a brown paper bag that quickly became Over and Under the Pond.

While Jennifer reminds us we can't replicate any author's success, she says: Absorb the SCBWI anecdotes shared by agents, editors, authors, and illustrators, but know your path in publishing will be unique, too.

That said, some of the traits she credits Kate for bringing to their successful partnership are:

• Flexibility: she rolls with the punches and isn't afraid of revisions. 
• When an idea isn't working, she's willing to try something new.
• Communicative
• Actively working on new projects
• Attending an SCBWI Conference! That's how they met.

Catch more of the conference highlights this year through blog posts tagged #LA17SCBWI or as-it-happens on Twitter.

Illustrator Social at LA17SCBWI! 📷

Last night's Illustrator Social was a blast! But do not miss tonight's Portfolio Showcase and Reception, 5 - 7pm in the Atrium, Plaza rooms I-III

Did anyone else catch this incredible sunset? Photo by our magnificent National Illustraiton Coordinator Priscilla Burris:

Catch more of the conference highlights this year through blog posts tagged #LA17SCBWI or as-it-happens on Twitter.

Sean Qualls: Let Your Art Be Your Constant

Sean Qualls is an award-winning, Brooklyn-based, children’s book illustrator, artist and author. His books include: Giant Steps to Change The World by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis-Lee, Little Cloud and Lady Wind by Toni Morrison and her son Slade, and Before John Was a Jazz Giant, for which he received a Coretta Scott King Illustration Honor. Sean also created the art for Dizzy by Jonah Winter and most recently Freedom Song (The Story of Henry “Box” Brown) by Sally Walker. His work has received two Blue Ribbon citations from the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. Sean draws inspiration from an array of influences such as movies, television, childhood memories, aging and decaying surfaces, architecture, nature, folk art, fairy tales, Americana, black memorabilia, outsider art, cave paintings, collectibles, African art, golden books, vintage advertisement graphics, mythology, science fiction, and music. He lives in lives in Brooklyn with his wife, illustrator/author Selina Alko. Visit www.seanqualls.com

As storytellers and artists, we are driven by an inner urge to share a piece of ourselves and to captivate an audience. However, we exist in a world where we might limit ourselves by trying to fit into a specific market, to define the boundaries of a career (am I an artist or an illustrator?), to be intimidated by our peers, and to be fearful of failure. How often do we let these things define our path, instead of "getting comfortable with being misunderstood"?

Sean's keynote speech was P-R-O-F-O-U-N-D.  Echoing one part of Vanessa Brantley Newton's morning keynote, he said: staying tapped into that inner urge to create can act as a guiding light through difficult times.

More of Sean's insightful advice for creatives:

• Find something you love to do and become obsessed with it. Buoy yourself with supportive friends.
• Keep showing up and doing the work. At #LA17SCBWI, every success story seems to share this common denominator.
• Dedicate yourself to continuing to learn and grow: Sean used museum catalogs, public libraries, friends, and the world around him as his art education. He found his voice in art not through school, but by curiosity, personal research, and experiments -- and by keeping his mind open as he flexed different materials and techniques.
• Make art for yourself. Dedicate time to discovering your personal themes by giving yourself space to create work in your sketchbook, journal, or any private space where you can be free.
• "Art is Magic. Magic is a process. Art is an arrangement of our feelings made to look completely effortless. That is the definition of magic."
• Accept yourself: what you think of as a flaw could be your definitive, unique asset.
• Stay determined and stay too busy to care about other people's approval.

Thank you, Sean, for this powerful keynote about becoming a professional by delving deeper into imagination, memory, curiosity, and that inner urge -- not by limiting ourselves by our failures or successes, but by continuing to make work we care about. 

"Let your art be your constant."

Catch more of the conference highlights this year through blog posts tagged #LA17SCBWI or as-it-happens on Twitter.

Meet #LA17SCBWI’s Team Blog

Meet 2017's SCBWI Team Blog!

We'll be live blogging the 46th annual SCBWI Summer Conference from July 7-10th, 2017 here at http://scbwiconference.blogspot.com, and on social media using the hashtag #LA17SCBWI

Follow and RT:

• Lee Wind: @leewind
• Sona Charaipotra @sona_c
• Jolie Stekly @cuppajolie
• Susie Ghahremani @boygirlparty
• Jaime Temairik @jaimetem

Tomorrow is the final day to register at https://www.scbwi.org/events/46th-annual-summer-conference-in-los-angeles-la17/#event-registration 

Follow along and join the conversation:

#LA17SCBWI on Twitter
#LA17SCBWI on Instagram
#LA17SCBWI on Facebook
http://scbwiconference.blogspot.com

2015 annual conference in Los Angeles: opening remarks and stats on attendance

It's a tradition of Lin Oliver's to tell us a few statistics about conference attendance as we kick these events off.

This year is the biggest ever—1,173 attendees:

• 437 of us are published
• 736 are pre-published
• We come from 19 countries including U.S., Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain
• We come from 48 states—this year both North and South Dakota are represented (finally!). West Virginia and New Hampshire didn't send anyone. 

Some of the more unusual occupations in the crowd are bookkeepers, carpool coordinators, waiters, a choreographer, trucker, opera singer, bonsai artist, and dealing in international small arms (doll arms, mostly).

The show is now officially on the road.

#LA15SCBWI New Attendees Orientation

New to the conference? You are not alone. There are more than 400 new attendees at the #LA15SCBWI—so no worries.! Longtime conference goer, writer Jolie Stekly kicked off the day with a New Attendees Orientation, schooling newbies on getting the most out of the weekend. And, boy, there was a lot of laughter—she had 'em cracking up! Secret: BIRD is the word, though you have to be here to be in on that secret. 

• Be yourself! There is room for everyone and know that you don't have to compete with anyone here. Relax. Get to know someone. Have fun!

•Don't get overwhelmed. There are many choices for sessions and keynotes. You don't have to do everything. And don't be afraid to take a break.

• Don't make the weekend about editors and agents only. There are many aspiring and published authors and illustrators at this conference. Take advante of who is sitting next to you. Introduce yourself.

• Set yourself up for success: Think of three goals that you know are achievable—and go for it!

Now, go have fun!

Farewell & Thank You from TEAM BLOG

TEAM BLOG supporting its captain

On behalf of SCBWI TEAM BLOG (Martha Brockenbrough, Lee Wind, Jaime Temairik, Suzanne Young, Jolie Stekly, and yours truly), thanks to everyone who visited to read our conference coverage. (I encourage you to continue to peruse the blog--there's tons of great info here!)

Thanks also to all the conference-goers who stopped by our table to chat and stopped us in the halls--we appreciate all the great feedback. And we truly appreciate the opportunity to bring the extraordinary 40th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference to you.

We'll see you in New York for the Annual Winter Conference January 27-29, 2012! (Check scbwi.org for details closer to the event).

--Alice

Go TEAM!! (l to r: Jolie, Lee, Martha, Jaime, Alice, Suzanne)

First-time conference-attendee orientation

The 40th annual SCBWI Summer Conference has begun, and the first event was an optional first-timers attendee led by Jolie Stekly, a member of SCBWI Team Blog and a recipient of the organization's volunteer of the year award.

Jolie Stekly

Jolie, a conference vet, is helping newbies understand what to expect from the weekend.

She warmed us up by asking a variety of questions--Is this your first time here? Are you a writer? An illustrator? Both? Are you a man? (These events are known for being packed with women--just wait till you stand in a bathroom line for the first time.)

If you were here in this room right now, you might want earplugs. People are introducing themselves to each other and the noise is impressive!

A few tips from Jolie:

• If you swap business cards, write a reminder on the back so you can connect the card to the person.

  

  Chelsea Mooser of the SCBWI

• If you're able to be yourself, then you have no competition. So don't feel as though you're in a competition with the people next to you. The SCBWI is a supportive tribe (with more than 22,000 members worldwide).
• Passion, patience, and perseverance will see you through
• If there's a book you want to buy, get it before the speaker does a keynote. Books do sell out. 
• With editors and agents, be respectful and interested in them as people (and don't slide manuscripts under the bathroom stall or ask to pitch). Good conversation topics are things the editors and agents said in their sessions, and the books they've worked on.

And here's an assignment useful for all participants: Write down three reasons you decided to attend this conference. (Achievable goals--editors and agents do not carry bags o' contracts to hand out at conferences.)

Jolie has walked all of us through the many events planned throughout the conference: the published attendee book sale, manuscript and portfolio consultations, the poolside dance party, the Golden Kite luncheon and more. (She also revealed that Judy Blume is here. THE Judy Blume.)

More:
Jolie Stekly on Twitter
Jolie's Monday morning writing prompts blog
Judy Blume on Twitter

SCBWI TEAM BLOG Pre-Conference Interviews: The Master List

In the months leading up to the 40th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference, TEAM BLOG has had the pleasure of talking to many of the faculty members who will be presenting at the event.

Here's a list of links to all the interviews (by Alice, Jaime, Jolie, Martha, Lee, and Suzanne--who will all be live blogging the conference as it happens from the opening remarks on Friday through the last Intensive on Monday).


AUTHORS

• Laurie Halse Anderson
• Bruce Coville
• Katie Davis
• Bruce Hale  
• Jennifer L. Holm  
• Ellen Hopkins
• Mary Pope Osbourne 
• Jon Scieszka  
• Lisa Yee
• Allen Zadoff

AGENTS

• Brenda Bowen  
• Jamie Weiss Chilton
• Barry Goldblatt
• Steven Malk

EDITORS

• Alessandra Balzer  
• Emma Dryden
• Julie Strauss-Gabel
• Harold Underdown

ILLUSTRATORS

• Denise Fleming
• Illustrator Committee
• Marla Frazee
• Kadir Nelson 
• David Small 
• Jerry Pinkney  
• Richard Jesse Watson  
• Paul O. Zelinsky

FIRST-TIME ATTENDEE

• Patti Gabrielson

SCBWI TEAM BLOG Pre-Conference Interviews: Jennifer L. Holm, Lisa Yee, Ellen Hopkins and Emma Dryden

Ahh, summer... Flip flops. Popsicles. Lounging poolside. And of course the SCBWI Annual Summer Conference--which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year! I've taken a

Jennifer Holm

break from said lounging (there's a heat emergency here in the Nati--lounging is required) to clue you in on some terrific interviews with Summer Conference faculty brought to you by the also terrific SCBWI TEAM BLOG.

First, TEAM BLOGger Martha Brockenbrough talked with award-winning author Jennifer L. Holm, who will attend the summer conference to collect the Golden Kite Award for fiction as well as offer a session called It Takes a Family: Writing Historical Fiction Using Family History. Here's a snippet from Jenni's interview. To read the entire interview, click here. 

If you think of excitement as a candy store (which it is), then you can understand instantly the many flavors of excitement. They're not all created equal. Lemon, for example. It's better than nothing. But still.

When I found out I got to do the pre-SCBWI LA conference with Jenni Holm, I was the very best flavor of excited (salted caramel). (Wait, what? You haven't registered? Do it here! August 5-8. Time of your life. Promise.)

Not only am I in awe of her professionally--three Newbery Honors! Bestselling series! Beautiful, hilarious stories--I have been envious of her personally all year.

Lisa Yee

And today, Martha posted an interview with the always delightful Lisa Yee, who, in addition to being a popular author, witty blogger and friend of Peepy, serves on SCBWI's board of advisors. Lisa is presenting a Monday workshop on Creating Compelling Bad Guys and Bullies. Click here for more info. Below is a bit from Lisa's interview. To read the full interview, click here.

Being in a room during a Lisa Yee presentation is a bit like going to a lighting warehouse. The brightness! The heat! It's a thing to behold. But truly. I've attended a number of breakout sessions with her at L.A. conferences, and I always come away feeling inspired, informed, and newly recharged.

I also adore her books: The Millicent Min universe (with inspired companion titles featuring Emily Ebers,  Stanford Wong, most recently Marley Sandesky, about a boy running away from bullies); the pitch-perfect Bobby books, which are illustrated by the unstoppable Dan Santat; and Absolutely Maybe, her first foray into YA. Lisa even has a couple of American Girl titles.

Lisa is seriously funny, but her stories have heart and depth. It's no wonder she was the second recipient of the Sid Fleischman Award (the dearly departed Sid won the inaugural award, which is given to acknowledge the often-overlooked funny books).

TEAM BLOGger Lee Wind has posted a pair of Summer Conference faculty interviews on his blog, too. Click here to check out his video interviews with Ellen Hopkins and Emma Dryden!

SCBWI TEAM BLOG will be offering as-it-happens coverage of the Summer Conference and we'll continue to bring you pre-conference interviews with the awesome faculty. 

In the meantime, don't forget to register. Just click here. There's still room in some of the fantastic intensives, too!

SCBWI has just added new intensive to the already terrific 40th Anniversary Summer Conference line-up. Don't hesitate to register--intensives are popular and fill up fast.

Here are the new additions:

• AM - The Ins and Outs of Chapter Book Series--Jenne Abramowitz, Editor, Scholastic
• AM - Ten Essential Picture Book Elements--How Does Your Manuscript Measure Up? Andrea Welch, Beach Lane Books
• PM - Writing a Synopsis That Sells Your Book--Kelly Sonnack, Agent, Andrea Brown
• PM - Revising Your Novel--Julie Strauss-Gabel, VP & Publisher of Dutton Children's Books

Don't miss out on these amazing opportunities. Click here to register.

Conference Reviews: Award Winning Author Kathleen Duey

I ran into award-winning author Kathleen Duey (her book "Skin Hunger" was a National Book Award Finalist!) and asked her about her SCBWI 2010 Summer Conference experience...

Conference Reviews: Joey Spiotto

I caught up with illustrator and first time Conference Attendee Joey Spiotto outside the hotel just after the wrap-up of the SCBWI 2010 Summer Conference:

Conference Reviews: Annameekee Hesik

I caught up with Annameekee Hesik in the SCBWI 2010 Summer Conference bookstore on Saturday (the conference half-way point) and asked her about her experience. She's a teacher and a writer - wanna know what grade she gave the conference?

Conference Reviews: Attendee Emily Jiang

Find out why Emily Jiang called the SCBWI 2010 Summer Conference "life changing!"

Conference Reviews: Molly Hall and Dawn Simon

First-time confernece attendees, Molly Hall and Dawn Simon, share their conference highlights.