Breakout Session: Strategically Craft Reels To Promote Your Book with Erin Lee

 

Erin Lee is an elementary school teacher and artist living in Long Sault, Ontario. She graduated from the University of Ottawa with an Honors degree in Fine Arts, Visual Arts. Erin has published three award-winning children’s books: Benjamin and the Backyard Beast, Out of Season, and Maggie the Magnificent. 

Erin has written short stories and novels since she was a child. As a young student, she idolized authors such as Robert Munsch, Dr. Suess, and Roald Dahl. Having adventures of her own that she wanted to share, Erin began to write stories herself. Erin's love of literature is what inspired her to become a teacher, so that she could share her passion for reading and always be surrounded by books. Erin currently teaches Kindergarten and though, at times, she feels like Ms. Frizzle with her wild avant-garde lessons, she adores her students and often draws upon memorable classroom moments in her stories. It is also through childhood stories that she addresses important topics, such as bullying, inclusion, and anxiety within the classroom setting. She believes that no matter how subtle or minuscule these issues may manifest within the classroom, ensuring that they do not go unheard is crucial for the growth of a child.

Website: www.erinleeauthor.com ~ Instagram: @erin.lee.author.

Erin says it's possible to sell books on Instagram, even if you're not tech-savvy. 

Why Instagram?

Erin likes IG because there are 2 billion active users monthly, lets us post short form narrative in reels, is a powerful search engine, a diverse platform, has a low barrier entry, has potential for monetization, and followers convert to sales.

Things to consider when setting up your Instagram:

- Create or switch to a Creator account.

- Are you serving your target audience? Does your account align with your niche?

- Is your username catchy and concise? Is your bio full of keywords?

- Erin advises getting a professional headshot or company logo.

Identify your audience:

Figure out how to identify your target audience, how to research who they are, what they're looking for, etc. Think hard about how you can help your target audience to achieve a goal, improve their situation.

Study the algorithm, identify your niche:

How can you stand out?

Post only in your niche, use keywords in your niche, only follow people in your niche (train the algorithm)

Erin discussed factors that influence rankings, including creative originality, image or video quality, relevance score, engagement...many more. 

Type of Content:

Aim to create high quality content consistently, advises Erin.

Think about your "Content Pillars": Key themes or topics you want to focus on in your content and become known to your audience on social media. Just a few of the examples she gave: Education, Story Telling, and Behind The Scenes.

And SO MUCH MORE...

This session was packed with much more info, including Erin's tips on how to make your reels be successful, how to increase chances that a reel will go viral, helpful apps, hooks, trending audio, AI options to help generate ideas (Erin emphasizes to NEVER use AI to write a book), Instagram Stories, Story Highlights, time management tips, etc. 

Breakout Session: Plot Paradigms for Pantsers

Janet Fox’s books, picture book through young adult, have won awards including SCBWI’s Crystal Kite and Women Writing the West’s WILLA and received starred reviews and appeared on state lists. They’ve been included on best of lists like Bank Street Books, CBC, YALSA, Kirkus, and JLG. Her newest books are a middle grade novel, CARRY ME HOME (Simon & Schuster 2021), and a picture book WINTERGARDEN (Neal Porter Books illustrated by Jasu Hu, 2023). Upcoming books include THE MYSTERY OF MYSTIC MOUNTAIN (Simon & Schuster 2024) and THE REAL ROSALIND (Lerner, 2025, co-authored with Debbie Loren Dunn); she also contributed the Connecticut story to SCBWI/Godwin Books HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA. Janet is the mother of a writer son, and she lives in Montana with her husband and their lively yellow Lab. janetfox.com

Story is all about change. If there's one thing Janet wants this group of pantsers to takeaway, it's this-change is key! 

And, turning points are key moments of change. 

Your protagonist needs to make things happen that change the course of the external action in the story, and your protagonist will change internally over the course of the story. 

There are 7 key turning points in story:

• the inciting incident
• plot point one (end of Act 1, beginning of Act 2)
• the midpoint
• the crisis point
• plot point two (end of act 1, beginning of act 3)
• climax 
• resolution

Plot paradigms (there are many) are just a guide. This is important to remember for those writers who are more organic and intuitive. 

Cause and effect is what moves the story forward. It's the propulsion for change. 

"Plot grows out of the actions of your character and not the other way around."

A favorite definition of plot for Janet.

Breakout Sessions: Bookfairs 101 with Lionel Bender

Editorial Director of book packager Bender Richardson White that for 30+ years produced 1,400+ illustrated nonfiction for publishers in North America. Initiator and Co-chair of the 21st Century Children's Nonfiction Conference that was held annually in NY State. Author, Editor, Publishing Consultant. Gives talks and workshop on aspects of publishing mostly related to illustrated nonfiction and to visiting bookfairs and conference.

 

Lionel Bender presenting Bookfairs 101

Calling book fairs "the driving force of the whole industry," Lionel explains that by book fairs he means "any major event where publishers and other publishing-related businesses and organizations exhibit and sell their products and services." (Not book festivals.)

He's attended one or two book fairs a year for the past 40 years - and thinks it's the best way for us to get ahead and drive our author and illustrator careers forward. While acknowledging that the fairs aren't designed for authors and illustrators to attend, Lionel assures us we can attend with grace.

Top Tip: Speak to everyone you can, at all times, get their business card, and record what was said. Something may just happen!

Lionel shares the international book fairs to consider:

London Book Fair (England, in March)
Bologna Book Fair (Italy, in April) - mainly children's
Livre Paris/Salon du Livres (France, April)
Beijing Book Fair (China, in June)
Frankfurt Book Fair (Germany, in October)
Shanghai Book Fair (China, in November) - mainly children's
Montreuil Book Fair (Paris, France in Nov/Dec) - mainly children's

And the other fairs where publishers and publishing industry organizations exhibit:

Toy Fair (New York, in March)
Comic-Con (moves around, changes month)
National Science Teaching Association (moves around, changes month)
International Literacy Association (National and regional conferences year-round)
American Library Association (National and regional conferences year-round. Not Texas Library Association conference.
American Association of School Librarians (national conference every other year)
Quebec Book Fair (April)
National Council for the Social Studies (Nov, moves around)
National Council for Teachers of English (June, moves around)

While not primarily for authors and illustrators, there's opportunity there. Just one example: Lionel's own book packaging company commissioned more than 150 writers, editors, and illustrators—all of whom he met at book fairs!

One of Lionel's slides, listing things authors, illustrators, and translators can do at these book fairs.

Walk the floor, see what publishers are doing, and talk to everyone you can. For those who are already published, let your publisher know in advance that you'll be at the show--you never know what opportunity might come up!

There's so much more detailed information in this session that's packed—packed—with information!

Breakout Session: How to Make Your Website Your Best Marketing Took with Ayanna Coleman

Ayanna Coleman is a high-level marketing and creative concept strategist. As founder of Quill Shift, 
a boutique marketing agency, she helps thought leaders, experts, and creative thinkers expand on, clarify, and crystalize their next big ideas for programs, movements, or life-changing experiences so they (and their team) can make them a reality. Trained as a youth services librarian, she started her career at Hachette Book Group in digital marketing, moved into the nonprofit space and led programming and diversity initiatives at the Children’s Book Council, and over the last eight years has partnered with and led marketing initiatives on behalf of publishers, distributors, literary agencies, and startups across three continents.

quillshift.com

Ayanna will speak to the what, why, and how of your website.

3 reasons digital marketing is crucial: It's measurable, efficient, and focused. 

Your author website is your hub, which is why it's crucial. 

How author website can help yo overcome specific challenges:

• Overcrowded market - it's your unique branding and personal image
• Online marketing complexities - having a centralized hug and SEO optimizations and repurposing 
• Social media algorithms - ownership of content (you own your website) and direct engagement

3 HUGE benefits of an author website: 

• enhanced visibility, 
• stronger reader engagement, and
•  increased opportunities for sales. 

Some successful author websites to look at:

Angie Thomas - https://angiethomas.com/

Jennifer Armentrout - https://jenniferlarmentrout.com/

Roald Dahl - https://www.roalddahl.com/

Breakout Session: The Art of Crafting a Successful Graphic Novel Pitch Packet with Chelsea Eberly

Chelsea Eberly of
Greenhouse Literary

What do agents and editors look for in a graphic novel pitch? How can you be sure to put your best foot forward when showcasing your work? Chelsea Eberly's session walks through the ins and outs of how to create a pitch packet that will attract agents and editors, plus a great batch of Q&A with attendees at the end. 

Chelsea Eberly is the Director of Greenhouse Literary Agency. She represents middle grade, young adult, and women’s fiction, as well as graphic novelists and illustrators who write picture books. She was a Senior Editor at Random House for a decade where she edited the Newbery Medal winning When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller as well as bestselling authors such as Tamora Pierce, Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Sarah J. Maas, Mark Siegel, and Kim Johnson.

Chelsea's session was incredibly tactical and practical, as both an agent and former editor she shares laser-focused expertise on crafting successful pitch packets for graphic novels and walks us step by step and page by page through a case study of a successful graphic novel pitch packet.

Wherever you are in your graphic novel journey this session is highly recommended watching, knowing all that has to be shared in a pitch can only help sharpen and clarify your project, and the graphic novel pitch case study had professional level design of complicated material—these are the pitches that sell! You'll want to follow Chelsea's 9-part pitch packet framework as shared in the session.

Prior to building those nine pitch elements you'll want to do a little imagining. It is common writing advice to go to a bookstore and imagine where your book might be in it, but Chelsea challenges attendees to go much deeper and broader on this experience and use it for your pitch as well: "All of your queries, all of your ideas, and your pitch packet itself, when you're going out on submission those all exist in this sort of "bookstore" of potential books that can be published."

Chelsea talks about how agents and editors have hundreds of pitch packets in their inboxes at a given time, competition similar to being on the shelf of a bookstore or library.

Put yourself in the acquiring shoes, what former editor Chelsea would have said when receiving a pitch packet: "I only have so much of the company's money that I can make offers with, what am I going to put my resources and the company's resources behind? What do I want to spend the next couple of years working on, reading eight to 10 times?"

Brainstorm how your pitch can outshine a hundred other pitches. To get to stand-out level you'll need to read voraciously inside and outside of your category, be constantly consuming the type of art that you're trying to create, and also art that might inspire you in unique ways. 

I loved Chelsea's focus on the bookstore/library experience for reverse engineer marketing: When you're not shopping for a specific title notice how you end up buying, did you have a wish list or were you in a mood for a specific category or genre like beach read or fantasy? How could your pitch and project pique a similar interest at each of these moments of choice?

Pitch Packet Case Study of HAMSTERS IN MY HEAD
out with Random House Graphic in 2026

Check Out The Portfolio Showcase: Debbie's Highlights

 As Lee Wind mentioned in his post yesterday, each member of SCBWI Team Blog is highlighting a few portfolios from the SCBWI Portfolio Showcase. See other highlights posted by Team Bloggers.

So many wonderful portfolios in the Showcase this year! Whether you're a writer or illustrator, I encourage you to check out the Summer Virtual Conference 2024 Portfolio Showcase For Illustrators.

Here are just a few portfolios that caught my eye, that others haven't mentioned at this point (please do click through to see more work by these illustrators!)

Annabelle Hale 

Kaila Gee

Stan Yan

Yinon Ptahia

Sarita Rich

Brizida Magro

Diana Delosh

John Vital

Breakout Session: Building the YA Universe with Abigail Hing Wen

Building the YA Universe

with Abigail Hing Wen

About the Breakout Session:

It’s hard enough to find a novel-length story arc for a character. From setting, to multiple interweaving plotlines, to a complex cast of characters - what does it take to create a contemporary young adult series? Join New York Times best-selling author, Abigail Hing Wen as we explore the topics that populate a YA universe.

Abigail got her start at the SCBWI in 2009, where she found her critique partner and met so many wonderful people. Once she joined, it really inspired her to write.

Inspired by YA Fantasy, which helped her build worlds for her own stories, we focused mostly on YA Contemporary novels using four points to help create our YA Universes.

Some of her influences and inspirations:

"Don't save all of the good stuff for a later book. Put everything in your first book and really build that world up"

Cast of Characters: 

This can be the hardest part. A Story-Length arc with an emotional arc stretched throughout is key. Find the moment that the character has a pivotal moment in their life and that is your story. 

A rich ENSEMBLE can help you build up your world or even expand into other books. With their own subplots, it can enhance the journey of the main character. 

Attendees sent in their ideas and Abigail analyzed what a potential arc could be, which was really awesome to see what the writer could explore in their character development.

Immersive Setting 

Characters can arise from their setting, fall in love in their setting, etc.

Contemporary YA novels can learn from Fantasy YA novels; interesting settings can allow your character to grow, and expand and provide them with a playground to enhance their character arc.

We continued to analyze more pitches and with every new tool, we dissected them, building potential worlds in real-time.

Multiple Plotlines

Themes that Matter

This one comes from you!

Write hat themes matters to you. This is where your authenticity comes from.

Abigail Wen
Author

About
Abigail Hing Wen is the New York Times Best Selling author of Loveboat, Taipei (HarperCollins 2020), and companion novel Loveboat Reunion. The book has been adapted for film starring Ashley Liao (Hunger Games) and Ross Butler (13 Reasons Why). ,She holds a BA from Harvard, JD from Columbia Law School and MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Like Ever, she is obsessed with musicals. When she’s not writing stories or listening to her favorite scores, she is busy working in venture capital and artificial intelligence in Silicon Valley, where she lives with her husband and two sons. Loveboat, Taipei is her first novel. Bylines: Fortune, Forbes, LitHub, School Library Journal's Teen Librarian Toolbox and others. www.abigailhingwen.com

Breakout Session: Beyond Scrivener - Using Tech To Tame Your Nonfiction Research with Colleen Paeff

 

Robert F. Sibert Honoree Colleen Paeff starts every book with a sense of wonder for her subject. Whether exploring the intersection of pollution and infrastructure, as in THE GREAT STINK: HOW JOSEPH BAZALGETTE SOLVED LONDON’S POOP POLLUTION PROBLEM (2021), or delving into the science of synchronous fireflies, as in the forthcoming FIREFLY SONG: LYNN FRIERSON FAUST AND THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN DISCOVERY (2025), Colleen aims to provide readers with equal doses of information and awe. Learn more about her books and her author presentations for young readers at www.colleenpaeff.com.

In celebration of the third anniversary of her award-winning book, The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London's Poop Pollution Problem, Colleen is offering picture book critiques to anyone who buys two copies of her book from her local indie bookstore (until they sell all their stock). "Look for details in my next newsletter!" Subscribe via her website below:

www.colleenpaeff.com

Wow, what a treasure trove of info in this session as well as Colleen's handout! Though the focus of this session was nonfiction research, I can't help but think that many of these tools would be super-useful for illustrators (especially reference material) and fiction writers as well.
For each tool, she explained why and how she uses it in her research process, with plenty of how-to screenshots and examples. I definitely plan to watch the replay of this session so I can pause at certain sections, take notes, try things out, etc. Here are some she discussed:
The Library ExtensionFree library catalog search tool that automatically shows if a book you're viewing on Amazon and other retail sites is available at your local library. Over 5,000 libraries are supported!
Scan Text into Notes Free. Uses OCR technology (Optical Character Recognition) to turn written text from an analog source into searchable, editable text.
Kindle AppFree. Using Readwise with the Kindle sends highlights to your preferred note-taking app (Colleen uses Obsidian). Colleen then breaks up these highlights into separate notes and adds tags to help keep her research organized.
ReadwiseCost: USD $129/year. Readwise enables you to create highlights fro a wide variety of online sources and store them in your note-taking app.
Otter.aiCost: Free (with limitations); USD $30/month; $100/year. Voice to text transcription tool that uses AI to quickly transcribe lectures, dictation, audio files, and meetings (virtual or face-to-face).
ReaderCost: A Readwise subscription. A "read later" app like Pocket or Instapaper.
ObsidianCost: Free or USD $4/month to sync across devices. Bare bones but powerful note-taking app that lets users connect ideas from a variety of sources and allows you to organize them, creating links and tags. (Note from Debbie: I love Obsidian, too! I use it for my picture book project notes as well as other book projects.)
After telling us about even more methods and tools and knowledge management rabbit holes to check out, Colleen reminds us that there is no ONE right method, and each creator needs to find what works for them. In the end, none of these tools are necessary to write a book. 

Breakout 3: Writing for Illustrators: Memory as a Dreamscape with Zahra Marwan

 

From her website: Working as a traditional artist with watercolor and ink, Zahra creates work that reflects her cultural roots in Kuwait as well as her life now in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She loves poetry and independent cinema and how quiet and mysterious the night is. She is deeply fond of the sea. Her debut picture book, Where Butterflies Fill the Sky, was published by Bloomsbury Books and named one of the New York Times / New York Public Library’s 10 Best Illustrated Books as well as NPR’s Best Books of 2022. The week before receiving the Dilys Evans Founders Award from the Society of Illustrators, she was honored with an award by the UN Human Rights Commission for creating art that brings visibility to statelessness, indigenous groups, and minority rights.

Examples of Zahra Marwan's paintings also include short narratives.

Many of Zahra's books begin as small paintings with short narratives that she writes. Her work is inspired by her lived experiences. In her session, Zahra shared many of her fine art paintings that inspired many of the stories she writes and illustrates. In addition, she read several of her picture books. A writing workshop followed. 

Here are some quick writing prompts. Give yourself 30 seconds to write these.

--Describe a heartbreak in three words. 

--Describe what you did today from the moment you opened your eyes today forward.

--Freewrite a memory where something was easy and simple and good.

--In one sentence, write a feeling.

Write on!

Breakout Session: Writing Rhythm and Rhyme with Tameka Fryer Brown

Tameka Fyer Brown is a picture book author who writes to sow seeds of self-love, pride, connectivity, and inclusion in the hearts of children. Her books have won awards like the Charlotte Huck Honor Award, the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Award, and the Jane Addams Children's Book Honor Award. They have also been featured on best book lists by NPR, Parents Latina Magazine, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, New York Public Library, Kirkus, SLJ, Bank Street College, The Little Free Library, and more. Tameka’s picture books include Brown Baby Lullaby, Twelve Dinging Doorbells, Not Done Yet: Shirley Chisholm’s Fight for Change, and That Flag. She is a member of The Brown Bookshelf, Writers and Illustrators of North Carolina (WINC), and KidLit in Color.

Tameka Fryer Brown with her current picture books

Tameka offers inspiration: 

Anyone can learn to write picture books well, as long as you're willing to read lots and lots of mentor texts, and write about what you're passionate about.

Tameka thinks of rhythm as "the beat."

Rhythm + Rhyme = Flow

Flow is when folks see the PB as Lyrical, Evocative, Tight

To do this well, Tameka advises we need:

A consistent pattern of beats all through your manuscript. (except variations that are intentional and purposeful.)

Mellifluous language

Great read aloud

There will always be demand for rhyming picture books -- rhyme is good for kids learning how to read because of its predictive nature.

Make sure every single word and line moves the story forward, is clear, concise, and sensory-rich. (Don't rhyme just to rhyme.)

On Rhythm, 

Tameka reads us from her Brown Baby Lullaby, walking us through how we can "Check Your Flow":

Read it aloud

Tap it out

Natural Pronunciation (no cheating and making POPcorn popCORN)

Varied Emphasis

Tameka references music, talking about refrains and codas, and sharing tips and examples. (Like italicizing a word to make the cadence, emphasis, and meaning work.)

A caution: copy edits can change the rhythm. Tameka reminds us we can say STET (meaning keep it as is): "You get poetic license when you're writing in poetry."

There's so much more shared, and a Q&A - what a great session!

Authors Panel: Authentic Voices in Early Readers: Kelly Starling Lyons

 

Kelly Starling Lyons is the prolific author of award-winning books for young readers, including ELLEN'S BROOM, GOING DOWN HOME WITH DADDY, MY HANDS TELL A STORY, and the TY'S TRAVELS series. Her work celebrates and centers Black characters and families. 

TY'S TRAVELS is a popular series about a little boy with a big imagination. The series highlights the strength of the Black family and Black boy joy. Kelly puts Ty at the center of the stories, along with characters of cross-cultural backgrounds. Luckily for all kids, more books in the TY series are forthcoming. 

What are early readers?

K.: Early readers are picture books. They are easy to read and meant for kids to feel independent. Kids get to feel pride in reading a book on their own—to feel mature like an older reader. With an early reader, you'll want kids to feel confident. The characters will become the reader's friends. When writing, you'll need to decode the meaning of the words

without sacrificing the meaning of the story.

Tip: Try using repetition, onomatopoeia, and sounding out simple words.

Inspiration: The MESSY BESSY series by Patricia and Frederick McKissack, and the READY? SET. RAYMOND! series

How did you come to the genre?

Long story short, I attended a conference and won a writing contest! After speaking on a chapter book panel at the Kweli International Literary Conference, I was approached by an editor at Harper Collins. They were looking to publish a diverse, easy-reader series and asked me to pitch a character and ideas. The rest is pretty much history! In general, the media tends to portray Black boys as much older and more mature. They adultify Black boys. I wanted to focus on creating a Black child who experiences joy, friendship, and family. As a mom and creator of a book club for children in Raleigh, North Carolina, I poured many of my experiences with kids into the books.

 

What's important to know

Be sure to tell a complete story that does not lack in readability or engagement. 

Out of all genres possible, why do you find easy readers important?

With an early reader, you're creating a child's first book! Easy readers are for preschool-age kids, kindergartners, and first-graders. At that age, children are just beginning to experience the pride of recognizing words on a page. That's everything for a child! How can you make that child smile? How can you help them to face challenges, feel successful, and be resilient? That's a lot, but don't forget to be sure to make the reading experience fun. It's important not to frustrate a child with reading. Don't make a child shrink and feel small. Write stories that make kids soar and feel valued and loved.  

Tips

Easy readers are full-formed books. Be sure to give children respect and care in the stories you write. Remember, like all stories, early readers need a hook, rising-and-falling action, and momentum. What's at stake? What is the payoff? The story needs to be simple without skimping on quality. Recommended reading: Horn Book article by Sylvie Shaffer. Quote: Words are simple to sound out, but the story is not simplistic.

A few selected books by Kelly Starling Lyons:

Author Panel: Melissa Iwai

Melissa Iwai is an award-winning author/illustrator of picture books, including Soup Day, Pizza Day, Dumplings for Lili, which was a Crystal Kite Award winner and Bank Street Best Book. Her I Can Read Series, Gigi and Ojiji, was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection, and Gigi and Ojiji was a Theodor Geisel Honor recipient in 2023. When she is not creating, she can be found cooking and doing crossword puzzles with her husband, author Denis Markell, in Brooklyn.

The focus of this panel will be on authentic voices as well as early-reader series, so Melissa will sharing about her GIGI AND OJIJI series. 

Melissa echoes the panelists feeling that these books help readers have an edge to advance and feel pride when they're learning how to read, feeling they can do it. In terms of illustration, the art is helping kid interpret. Like any book, the illustrations compliment the text, but particularly with early reader books you don't want any ambiguity, or for anything to complicate it. 

In GIGI OJIJI Melissa wanted to show her main character's emotions so the facial expressions and body language were key. 

How did Melissa come to the early-reader format? It started during the pandemic. Melissa's agent let her know that a particular editor was looking for early readers featuring diverse characters. She asked Melissa if she had any ideas, and she did. It took meetings, writing a pilot books, and much more before she actually got the contract. 

Melissa shares how important it for kids to see themselves in books, and in her book she was also able to include some Japanese words. For the kids who have that background, they see themselves in those pages, but for those kids who don't, they get to learn a bit about the language and background. 

Melissa found researching other early-readers very valuable, and she looked at a wide range of levels. There are a lot of constraints in the early reader (both in text and illustration). She found those constraints helped to guide her and help her execute her vision. The guidelines shouldn't constrict you, rather guide you. Reading many many books gives you and overall sense of the genre. 

Authors Panel: Emma Otheguy

Emma Otheguy is an award-winning author of several books for children, including the I Can Read series Reina Ramos, the picture books A Sled for Gabo and Martina Has Too Many Tías, the bilingual picture book Martí’s Song for Freedom, and the middle-grade novels Sofía Acosta Makes a Scene and Silver Meadows Summer. She is the author of the Carmen Sandiego novel Secrets of the Silver Lion and co-author, with Adam Gidwitz, of The Unicorn Rescue Society: The Madre de Aguas of Cuba.

Screenshot of Emma Otheguy presenting in the panel,
with a slide showing four covers of her Reina Ramos early readers.

As part of the Authentic Voices in Early Readers Authors Panel, Emma Otheguy introduces her Early Readers series, Reina Ramos in this way: 

"Reina is a child who loves to dance, and is full of energy. She wants to be good - she loves her mom and her abuela - but whose headlong energy gets her in trouble... But [it's] always resolved with a lot of heart!

Emma shares that good early readers stack the deck in favor of the child who is starting to read on their own, and like Frog and Toad, "they sacrifice nothing in terms of literary product." 

Great takeaway insight: 

"A great early reader is one where on every single page of the book you can see the main character's emotions changing based on the action of the story." 

Emma explains that you need to link narrative (the action plot) with the character's internal emotional experience.

The short version of Emma's journey to getting the Reina Ramos series published: Emma wrote a proposal and manuscript, but the timing wasn't right. But a year later, when an editor was looking for an early reader series and asked Emma's agent if they had someone who could do that, the timing was right, and Emma had already put in the hard work—and so got the opportunity!

One of the reasons Emma was so passionate to write an early reader with a Latina character was having Spanish right there along with the English.

"Multi-lingualism is not inherently stranger or other or harder... it's something that is so normal, and so a part of childhood everywhere, that it should be in this part of literature for children that is accessible, that is widely available." 

Reinforcing that, Emma shares that 16% of kids in the United States speak Spanish at home, and one-quarter of kids in the US today are Latino. 

There's much more conversation, with great tips(!), stories about breaking into the business, insights, and an engaging Q&A. 

An inspiring and helpful panel!

Authors Panel: Authentic Voices In Early Readers with Valerie Bolling

Valerie Bolling is passionate about creating stories in which all children can see themselves and feel seen and heard, valued and validated. She is the author of six picture books -- LET’S DANCE! (SCBWI Crystal Kite Award winner), TOGETHER WE RIDE, TOGETHER WE SWIM (2023 Kirkus Prize Finalist), RIDE, ROLL, RUN: TIME FOR FUN!, BING, BOP, BAM: TIME TO JAM!, and I SEE COLOR (Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection) -- as well as a Scholastic Acorn early reader series, RAINBOW DAYS.

A graduate of Tufts University and Teachers College, Columbia University, Valerie was an educator for 30 years and is active in the kidlit community, teaching picture book classes (independently and for the Highlights Foundation), presenting at conferences, and participating in book festivals.

You can find out more about Valerie at valeriebolling.com/index.html. Valerie is represented by James McGowan. Here's the story about how Valerie and her agent found each other.

Valerie wrote her early reader Rainbow Days  series for Scholastic Acorn because she wanted to create inclusive stories for children. The series features a girl named Zoya and her dog, Coco, who love to make art.

After successfully publishing picture books like Let's Dance and because of her engagement with the kidlit community, Valerie became interested in Scholastic's call for books featuring BIPOC characters. Kate Corella, editorial director at Scholastic, recognized Valerie's talent and potential, and encouraged her to read as many early readers as she could. 

Valerie said that Kelly Starling Lyons was an early mentor, providing invaluable guidance and support. 

It's exciting to be providing books who are just becoming independent readers, says Valerie. She loves working on books that helps children see themselves.

Valerie's tips on writing early readers:

You need to read many books in the genre.

You need an engaging story.

Create a character that you really love and that you can live with. What makes your character special? For example in Valerie's Rainbow Days series, Zoya is a character associated with glitter. When she figures something out, she always says, "oh, oh, I know!" This makes it more fun for the creator and the reader.

Early reader series is not necessarily the genre you should lead with when you're querying, says Valerie.

Bonus info:

In terms of scheduling, all three of the books in Rainbow Days came out within a year. 

Valerie says in her experience, picture books pay more. She points out that this might differ, depending on the context (individual author, illustrator, publisher). She also said that for her early reader series, she received payment after the third/final book came out.

Welcome and Keynote with Felicita Sala

Welcome and Keynote with Felicita Sala

Happy Day Two of the 2024 SCBWI Summer Conference!

The morning began with the most exciting presentation by Felicita Sala! Though she wasn't able to join us for a live session, the pre-recorded keynote was absolutely fabulous! 

Felicita Sala began with a bit of her background but spent most of her time diving into her influences, why she makes picture books, and how they shaped her work.

Felicita wasn't always a picture bookmaker. In fact, it wasn't necessarily her dream. She just happened into it. But as a kid who loved to read and to escape to fantasy worlds with imaginary friends. From a very young age, Felicita had a love and fascination with fairytales that she would listen to on audio cassettes and read along. Some of her earliest influences were Italian illustrators and authors from the 60s and 70s. She would pour over them, and attribute them to her sense of aesthetic. 

Felicita thought that these books just existed. She didn't realize that an artist- made the pictures, even though she grew up in Italy looking at brilliant artwork. 

So she began to ask herself:

"What it means to be a child, and what is her service to them?"

When Felicita creates, she doesn't think of the audience when she begins a story but rather, thinks more about the personal need of what the story needs.

As a teenager, Felicita read Sophie's World which led her to study philosophy.

That is when she became interested in the word "WONDER," which she feels means to "leave space for something mysterious."

What attracted her to "wonder" was the connection between child and philosopher. This connection to the artist.

" I don't believe we can make children's books if we have lost the faculty of wonder."

Disillusioned by modern and post-modern art, Felicita went on to explore other things. She didn't think illustration could be a career path until she returned to Europe where she discovered picture books were an art form. 

Picture books lives outside the conventional art world. It bridges the world of adults and children and called back to the fairytales of her childhood. 

"Children have the key to understanding them (on picture books), that most adults have lost."

So Felicita began her work in the publishing world. She mostly works with Australian and UK publishing which she believes has a different sensibility than US publishing, and this has been a great environment for her experimental and playful aesthetic and storytelling.

Felicita loved books that "help children climb through the window, not the door."

Here are some of her INFLUENCES:

Gianni Rodari 

A creator of picture book from 60s through the 80s who played with words  annd surrealism. 

Felicita loved the experimental aspects of his writing and own "The Grammar of Fantasy" by Gianni Rodari, which dives into the storytelling she admires and loves. 

Emanuele Luzzati 

Illustrator that was influenced by folk art from Eastern Europe. 

The decorative, flat style influenced Felicita's aesthetic. 

Loves surreal, nonsense, over-the-top things, entertaining- Feeds her inner child

Scandinavian Literature: 

Felicita loved the way these artists drew children and this influenced several of her books and how she drew children.

"When you work on something that appeals to your inner child, it will appeal to children as well"

Russian Influences: 

Leo Lionni "Swimmy" 

It is textural, and experimental, where the artist is free from creative constraints.

This influenced Felicita's book "When You Find the Right Rock." 

In this book, she allowed herself to play with paint, brushes/brushstrokes, and collage which she usually doesn't do. It felt very freeing and this is one of her favorite works which releases in September 2024.

FELICITA'S PROCESS

Starts with a light sketch to map out the piece.

Using masking fluid to keep some spaces white, and light washes of color

More washes of color and added color detail.

Deepening color, defining shapes, and adding more details.

Color pencil to add features, minute details.

Then she scans and adds/cleans up digitally.

At the very end, Felicita showed some pages from SKETCHBOOK:

 Sketchbooks allow you to work on fundamental skills (linework, texture, etc) and allow you to learn to play.

Check out her STUNNING work!

https://www.felicitasala.com/

Felicita Sala
Illustrator

About
Felicita was born in Rome but grew up in Perth. She graduated with Honours in Philosophy form the University of Western Australia. She moved back to Italy in 2007 where she taught herself illustration and very slowly started making picture books. Over the years she collaborated on various papercut animations with husband and animator Gianluca Maruotti. She now works as a full time illustrator. One of her books 'She Made a Monster' was selected among the 10 best picture books of 2018 by the New York Times, and her self authored book 'Lunch at 10 Pomegranate Street' has been translated in over 10 languages. In 2020 she won the Premio Andersen as best illustrator in Italy. She lives in Rome with her family.