Thank You... and see you in Los Angeles!

SCBWI TEAM BLOG (l to r): Jaime Temairik, Suzanne Young and Alice Pope

SCBWI TEAM BLOG (l to r): Martha Brockenbrough, Lee Wind and Jolie Stekly

Once again, SCBWI Team Blog had a great time bringing you these highlights of the New York conference!

Being able to meet many of you here at the conference has been wonderful, and we hope we brought a taste of the experience to those of you who weren't able to join us.

We also hope to see you at this summer's

40th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles

August 5th-8th, 2011

Debbie Ridpath Ohi: Happy Endings

Debbie Ohi is a SCBWI Success Story - I saw her earlier in the conference, and we arranged to meet during the autograph party so she could share her experience:



(The SCBWI Illustrator Mentees Blog she mentioned is here.)

Congratulations Debbie - your journey so far is exciting, and we can't wait to hear (and see) the great things you'll be doing!

Namaste,
Lee

Lucine Kasbarian: Happy Endings

Just before the autograph party I had the chance to talk to Lucine Kasbarian about her conference experience:



Congratulations on the publication of "The Greedy Sparrow," Lucine!



Namaste,
Lee

Leeza Hernandez: Happy Endings

I caught up with Leeza Hernandez after Linda Sue Park's amazing closing keynote, and we talked about the exciting thing that happened to her at this conference:




And here's the artwork she had in the show that won her the grand prize!



Congratulations Leeza!

Namaste,
Lee

Lucy Ruth Cummins, Art Director: What Makes Your Work Publishable

 One of the most amazing reasons to attend a conference has to be getting to meet someone like Lucy. You can't tell from our blog posts how enthusiastic a presenter is or how good their comic timing is. All I'm saying, guys, is you have to get your butts out here.

Simon & Schuster Art Director Lucy Cummins loves, loves, loves children's books.  She's a no-nonsense champion of picture books and their creators. Actually, she's full of nonsense, but you know what I mean. Besides a great session, Lucy provided a six-page handout with fantastic advice and hints. SIX PAGES.

Lucy says she's always looking for new illustrators—her office is a fire hazard from all the postcards and print outs she has out or up on walls.

What's new? What's next?

Lucy provided some insight on what non-trendy trends were trending in picture books these days, a few, but not all of the ones she mentioned are:

SHORT BOOKS, sooo short. Ten words, five words, no words, that kind of short.

THE QUIET BOOK by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Renata Liwska (are you guys paying attention? Every art director has mentioned this book, though it's not from any of their houses.) AND BOYS, by Jeff Newman, which tells the story in multiple panels of wordless sequences—still elegant without words, says Lucy.

NON-FICTION, picture book biographies are hot, hot, hot.

BARACK OBAMA by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Bryan Collier. Meghan McCarthy's POP.

Jaime's Favorite Part

Lucy had had her favorite unpublished illustrator's postcard on her wall for four years before she found the perfect first book match for him. That illustrator is Jon Klassen, a personal favorite! And he just won Canada's Governor General's Award for that first book, CATS NIGHT OUT.

She showed us Jon's An Eye for Annai  cartoon:

Finally,

LUCY IS LOOKING ONLINE FOR YOU.

Lucy told the group about some of her favorite websites and blogs that she visits daily, or, for Illustration Mundo, she visits that site twice a day!

Her best advice for making your work publishable:

Your most important obligation as an illustrator is to practice.

Linda Sue Park - The Chocolate Chip Cookie Tip

Okay, this was brilliant.

Linda Sue is explaining how just like chocolate chip cookies, the way you know you like one or not is because you've eaten a LOT of them. Like 'em crisp, or chewy, or soft, or with nuts? Because you've eaten so many cookies, you have an internal scale against which you can judge any cookie. Even if you've baked them, you know when you eat one if it's something you like, if it's good.

There is only one way to get similar judgement of your own writing: read A LOT.

Build that mental scale.

Read a thousand picture books, like Brenda Bowen suggested. Read 500 novels. But more than that, consider how long it takes to become an expert in other professions - doctors, lawyers, plumbers... all those people need to TRAIN. For years.

Our training is READING!

When Linda Sue writes a mediocre sentence, she knows because she has a vast storehouse of wonderful sentences that she's read in her mind.

We can each build that mental scale for ourselves. And maybe the next book we should all read is Linda Sue Park's latest novel, "A Long Walk To Water."

Leonard Marcus: Look Who's Laughing

The humor panel's moderator, Leonard Marcus, you have to sing his name like a song from FUNNY GIRL — "Leonard Marcus! Leonard Marcus! What a beautiful, beautiful, byooooutiful naaaaaaame!"

Lin calls Leonard our residential scholar and a national treasure.

He's the author of among others, DEAR GENIUS, A CALDECOTT CELEBRATION, THE WORD AND THE WAND, and his latest, FUNNY BUSINESS, all about writing humor, which we'll get a taste of in the current panel of Mo Willems, Lenore Look, and Marvin Terban.

Leonard says we have three of the most talented and funniest people in our field on this panel. Mo Willems, picture book artist and writer. Everyone of his books is an event. Lenore Look, a very versatile writer with two series of chapter novels and various picture books. She's written about girls and boys, entertaining her audience while introducing them to Chinese culture. Finally, a change at the last minute, sitting in for Douglas Florian is good friend and fine writer, Marvin Terban. He's known as Mr. English for kids, Scholastic refers to him as "Professor Grammar."

Leonard asks us what makes funny funny? It's well known if you have to explain a joke, that's a problem. He brings up some funny adults writing for adults. Aristotle said we laugh at stories about people not as smart as ourselves. And Will Rogers said everything is funny as long as it's happening to someone else.

Leonard reads an excerpt from a letter Ursula Nordstrom wrote to William Péne du Bois about his illustrations for THE MAGIC FINGER by Roald Dahl "...No place does the author specify the gesture of the finger is done using the middle finger... couldn't you draw the gesture as using the index finger instead?"

Leonard reads another Ursula letter illustrating how to respond to angry letters, this time a letter to Hilary Knight:

Dear Hilary,
I hesitate to worry you, but some enemy of yours is writing me very angry letters and signing your name to them. Have a good week.

Leonard says no one at the conference or on the panel has ever been late with a manuscript or set of illustrations, but imagine receiving this letter from your editor (this went to Edward Gorey):

Dear Edward,
Thanks for your card telling me you are having a nervous breakdown. Welcome to the club. I think you know I have his and hers straitjackets hanging in my closet... If you are stuck or discouraged I might be able to help you get unstuck or encouraged... I thought I'd experienced all the editor experiences there are to experience, but you are a new experience... It makes me feel all young again."

 

Oh, oh! Check out Leonard's next book coming out this year, THE ANNOTATED PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH.

Lenore Look: Look Who's Laughing

Look is laughing! Or certainly keeping kids laughing.

Lenore Look is the author of the Alvin Ho series and the Ruby Lu series. Both are humorous chapter books about surviving the mishaps, misunderstandings and mischief of childhood and feature Asian American narrators.

Lenore never wanted to write humor. She wanted to write grim and dark.

Her first book LOVE AS STRONG AS GINGER was based on her grandmother's life in Seattle working in the crab canneries.

She was asked to do something more uplifting and thought, "Uplifting is good. Okay! I can do uplifting."

Humor is a lot of work. It takes a lot of tweaking and reworking.

When asked to do this panel she was excited, but then concerned because a magician never tells. She ran to the Internet to see what it said about writing humor so she didn't have to give away her secrets.

Humor Secrets (and these are hers):

1. The manner in which you tell. Look tells in a grave manner so that the reader doesn't see the funny coming.

2. Create diversions.

3. Look lets bad, unexpected things to happen to the character and lets things get messy.

4. She gives the character my flaws. Or flaws she's interested in.

5. Preoccupation with self is really good.

6. Spend time with your character and answer all the: who, what, when, and whys.

7. Write to make readers writhe on the floor. Write to make them cry.

Listen to the kids. Kids are funnier than adults. Write down all the funny things you hear.

Look suggests you think about what works for you. What's funny for you?

Here's what works for her:

1. Incongruity
2. Word Play
3. Misheard Words
4. Reversal of Expectations
5. Exaggeration
6. Understatement
7. The Omniscient Reader
8. Embarrassing Moments in Your Life
9. The Shock Value

Sara Zarr Keynote

Sara Zarr delivers the keynote speech to kick off the final day of the 2011 SCBWI Annual Winter Conference.

Sara is the acclaimed author of three novels for young adults: STORY OF A GIRL (National Book Award Finalist), SWEETHEARTS (Cybil Award Finalist), and ONCE WAS LOST (a Kirkus Best Book of 2009). Her fourth book will be out in late 2011. She's also written for IMAGE JOURNAL, Hunger Mountain Online, and RESPONSE MAGAZINE, as well as for several anthologies. (If you need a reading recommendation, ask Sara--she recently read over 200 books as a judge for the National Book Awards.)

Click here to read a pre-conference interview with Sara.

Sara came the the SCBWI conference as an attendee in 2001, at which time she had been pursuing writing for five years and was becoming frustrated. She came back in 2005 and she was really getting discouraged that things weren't happening in her career.

"They say write the book you want to read. I'm going to give the speech that I need to hear," Sara told us. "I speak to you as a colleague, comrade and friend."

The time between when you're no longer a beginner but have yet to break into the business is probably the hardest in your career, she says. Your greatest creation is your creative life. It's all in your hands. Rejection can't take it away; reviews can't take it away. The life you create for yourself as an artist, may be the only thing that's really yours, she continues. Create a life you can center yourself in calmly as you wait for you work to grow.

Here are a few some of the characters tics of a fulfilling creative life that Sara shared with us...

It's sustainable. Celebrate career milestones, but remember that they aren't the point. What's important is the love of the work. "Most creative I know don't have a retirement plan."

It invites company. Most creatives are introverts. Seek mentoring and be a mentor. Other creatives are the only ones who understands the joys and struggles of the creative life. There's never a point where you have nothing else to learn. But at the same time, don't consider hundreds of people on Twitter who you've never meant as your inner circle of friends.

It knows when to send company away. Ultimately this is about you. When it comes to getting your work done, no one can do that but you. There's power and importance to privacy. Think before sharing, name dropping. Know when to turn off Google alerts and GoodReads. "We can't let all of these voices and opinions be present in our creative moment."

It gives back. It give back to you and to others. As you're engaged with you work and your world you'll be a better spouse, friends, sibling. You'll be more self-actualized.

Sunday Morning Comics

The conference day is almost ready to begin, but there's still time to do what must be done every Sunday morning, read the funny papers. Below are a few of my favorites, but I would love to know what everybody else is reading, too.

Have you all been following SAILOR TWAIN? It's the beautiful online comic written and illustrated by Mark Siegel of First Second (Macmillan.)

By Mark Siegel

The lovely Debbie Ohi, are we sure she's not a group of quintuplets she's so prolific? (And remember she won a 2010 SCBWI Summer Conference Portfolio Honor Award and Mentorship Award.) Check out her comics here.

By Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Those of you that attended S&S Art Director Lucy Cummins's sessions might have heard her mention finding illustrator Chris Eliopoulos from his short comics. He has a few online.

By Chris Eliopoulos

Kate Beaton (would be a nice edition to the SCBWI Conference faculty sometime!) has groovy history funnies here.

By Kate Beaton

And if you need just a little bit more Feiffer, a nice interview with a few extra comics images.

By Jules Feiffer

Jules Feiffer Keynote Address



Jules Feiffer cutting a rug with a dance partner of his own design


Cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter and children’s book author/illustrator Jules Feiffer has had a remarkable creative career turning contemporary urban anxiety into witty and revealing commentary for over fifty years. He won a Pulitzer Prize and a George Polk Award for his cartoons; an Obie for his plays; an Academy Award for the animation of his cartoon satire, Munro; and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Writers Guild of America and the National Cartoonist Society. Feiffer has taught at the Yale School of Drama, Northwestern University, Dartmouth, and presently at Stony Brook Southampton College. He recently collaborated with Norton Juster (THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH) on a new children's book, THE ODIOUS OGRE.

Jules recently turned 82. You can find (like) him on Facebook or his website.

Children's books is a field Jules never intended to enter. He talked about when Ursula Nordstrom introduced him to "a kid named Sendak." He looked at his work, and said, "Well, I think I'll be a political cartoonist. He met Norton Juster 50+ years ago after they both got out of the service. They became roommates and  PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH sort of happened. He didn't think of it as a career move. Every illustration in the book was drawn on tracing paper (as a moving saving tactic) and most of them no longer exist. "Norton neglected to tell me he was writing a classic."



Fifty years later, the worked together on THE ODIOUS OGRE. "Everyone who illustrated for children wants the chance to draw an ogre. I wanted to draw the biggest ogre in the history of children's books. I wanted the readers to feel the weight of him." He said he learned it's important to not just get a physical resemblance of a character, but a physical feel of him, his body language. "It's all about the movement on the page," he says. (Check out the ogre drawings in the book, and you'll see just what he means.)

He says he approaches illustration fully entertaining the prospect of failure and making it work for him. It's always about trying to go through the back door, and have the reader come up onto the stage. "I don't want my readers just to react to my work--I want to make them think; I want to make them feel."  

Jules wrote a memoir, BACKING INTO FORWARD (Doubleday), which relates how persistent failure inspired him to reinvent himself as an artist over and over. (Note to conference-goers--I'ts available in the conference bookstore.)

A few other books by Jules Feiffer...

Jen Besser: What Makes Your Work Publishable

Jen Besser is VP & Editorial Director at G.P. Putnam's Sons (Penguin).

The floor is open for Q & A during this session. I'll attempt to share some of the good nuggets Jen Besser gives.

-Putnum publishes picture books to young adult. A mix of literary and commercial work.

-Rhyming vs. non-rhyming: A great deal of manuscripts are submitted with bad verse, which is a pet peeve.

-What do you see too much of coming across your desk? Too much writing to the trend. It's been angels (following vampires). Now many twisted fairy tales. Chasing trends is a very dangerous thing.

-You can't underestimate the importance of humor in middle grade.

-Blogs are useful for the unpublished writers because agents are often looking at them.


-Putnam has a teen advisor panel. Nice! 

Lisa Sandell: What Makes Your Work Publishable

Lisa Sandell is an executive editor at Scholastic Inc., where she focuses her attention on acquiring and editing middle grade and young adult hardcover novels for Scholastic Press, and she manages the Dear America series. 

With so much negative currently being said about the industry, Sandell sees a lot pointing to the light ahead.

*eReaders

*Accessibility is revolutionary. When someone mentions a book, instead of finding a scrap of paper and jotting it down (to be lost in the bottom of your purse), a person can pull out an electronic device (like the ipad) and instantly own the book.

*New concepts in publishing, like the 39 CLUES series.

*Readers can now connect with authors easily.

No new technology has every obliterated the need for storytelling. Quite the opposite.

What kind of books will succeed in this bright new future?

Some examples from Lisa list:

Ginger Clark: What Makes Your Work Publishable

Ginger Clark has been a literary agent with Curtis Brown since the fall of 2005. [Curtis Brown has been around since 1914, and has three agents that focus on children's books. Curtis Brown was founded by the legendary Marilyn Marlow.]

 

She has more than 30 clients. She's currently looking for MG sci-fi, fantasy and mystery, urban fantasy (no vampires), YA sci-fi, dystopia, space opera, YA cyperpunk and steampunk, YA contemporary and literary. She's taking on new clients and prefers email queries [address: gc(at)cbltd.com].

 

Publishers are finding MG tough right now, she says, because they haven't found a Facebook for MG readers. MG one of the areas of BFYR where you can have successful stand-alone books. You can continue to do that as an MG writer more so than in YA, she says.

 

Children's books are strong and aren't moving to e-books like the adult segment of publishing, and writers don't make as much off of e-books. Kids pass books around, treasure them as possessions. Teen are experiencing digital fatigue, and need books to decompress from technology.

 

YA in a nutshell over the past few years according to Ginger: Vampires led to faeries which led to werewolves which led to angels which led to dystopia. She predicts historical is next in line (the Tudors for teens).

 

Things that came up during Ginger's Q&A:

• She doesn't send a book out these days unless it's had at least one revision.
• Step one, right a great novel. Step two, learn to be a professional in this industry.
• She gets 35-40 e-queires a day, and reads all of them.
• Your novel draft should be complete and workshopped, revised, etc., before subbing and agent.
• She would welcome a great MG stand-alone with a great voice.
• 95% of her day is spent dealing with the business of her current clients. 
• The publishing industry is going through a massive change because of the iPad.  
• A good agent realizes her job is no longer just to sell the print rights to a publisher.

Patricia Lee Gauch: Creating and Recreating the Picture Book

Patricia Lee Gauch is one amazing woman. 

Patti is not only a published author herself (Christina Katerina and the Box, Thunder at Gettysburg, andThe Knitting of Elizabeth Amelia), she has edited some of the finest writers in the business: Brian Jacques, T.A. Barron, Andrew Clements, Jane Yolen, Janet Lisle, Katherine Erkskine, and Barbara Joosse.

She's worked with artists Eric Carle, David Small, Ed Young, Loren Long. Three books she  edited have won Caldecott Medals: Owl Moon,Lon Po Po, and So You Want to Be President. (Stolen from Martha Brockenbrough's blog interview with Patti.)

Patti spent many years as the Executive Editor at Philomel Books from where she recently retired.

Lin says of Patricia Lee Gauch, "Patti has become one of the guiding lights for picture books of our times."

And personally, Patti is one of the most generous editors I've ever come across. 

As an editor, to notice a manuscript, it can not be merely adequate.

A picture book writer a storyteller. 

"I believe the stuff of story is right in you. It's in your gut. It's stored stuff."

"The child in you is crucial in writing a picture book."

"Don't live only in your head if you are going to write a picture book."

Mischief leads to attitude which leads to voice. 

“Let go to story!”

Mark Teague: Creating and Recreating the Picture Book Panel

Conference goers were told that panelist David Small could not be here this morning due to a death in the family. Our condolences to David and his family.

Mark Teague is here in David's stead. You may know him from his great picture books like DEAR MRS. LARUE, and the HOW DO DINOSAURS series (written by a little-known author named Joan Yelon.)

Mark spoke after Jane. He agreed that her advice applies to illustrators, too, illustrators are in service to the same thing, it's just a different means of telling stories.  

Mark says the first task of an illustrator: Be a good reader.

You want to get the story viscerally, understand the mood and rhythm and put that in your art.

Mark's technical advice to illustrators: 

Learn by trial and error, that's how you find your voice.

It may be a worthy project to study or even imitate other artists, to learn the craft that way, but eventually you need to find your own voice. You find your own voice through just doing the work.

There are no rules for illustrators, but one, says Mark:

Whatever you do as an illustrator, you are always in service to the story. 

 

Will something that looks great in your studio look great in the story? Will it serve the child reader? It's not a podium for your art, it's a book for a kid.

 

More importantly than learning to read from picture books is learning why it is important to read. That's all happening in picture books and affects the rest of a person's life, not to put any pressure on you authors and illustrators out there!

Mark's final comment:You are involved in something important and need to bring your best work.

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