If you live near Maryland/Delaware/West Virginia, you might want to check out the cool conference that area has planned for children’s/YA writers sponsored by the regional SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) on July 17 & 18, 2010.
They have a fabulous lineup of speakers and breakout sessions for authors and illustrators at all stages of their craft–from beginners to the multi-published. Read on for a tentative schedule, then click here for more details, a brochure, and a downloadable registration form.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
8:00 – 8:50 AM Registration/Breakfast Snacks/Book Sales/Raffle Tickets/Making Friends
8:50 – 9:00 AM Introductions & Welcome
9:00 – 9:50 AM Stephen Fraser—“Leaping into Action: How an Agent Sells Your Book”
9:55–10:45 AM Michelle Poploff and Edie Hemingway—“Partners In Imagination: The Author/Editor Revision Process”
10:45-11:00 AM Break / Book Sales
11:00 – 11:50 AM Morning Breakout Sessions
Marc Aronson—“Trends in Nonfiction”
Bonnie J. Doerr—“Writing the Eco-Mystery Novel / Balancing Entertainment with Education”
Carolyn Reeder—“Look Before You Leap”
Amie Rose Rotruck—“Building a Fantasy World”
12:00 – 12:50 PM Lunch / Networking / Book Sales and Signing
1:00 – 1:50 PM Keynote Speaker, Margaret Peterson Haddix— “Along for the Ride: Taking Readers Where Your Imagination Takes You”
2:00 – 2:50 PM Afternoon Breakout Sessions
Editor/Agent Panel—Michelle Poploff, Louise May, Michelle Corpora, Stephen Fraser
Elana Roth (agent)—“The Great Query Caper”
Kelley Cunningham and Karen Nelson—“Illustrators’ First Look”—See registration page for details
2:50 – 3:10 PM Cookie Break/Book Sales and Signing/Networking
3:10 – 4:00 PM Marc Aronson—“The Truth Is… A Question”
4:00 – 4:50 PM “Steps in the Write Direction: A Panel Discussion on Writing Programs”
4:50 – 5:00 PM First Day Wrap-up and Raffle
Sunday, July 18, 2010
7:45 – 8:15 AM (Optional) Regional Chat Session in Dining Room
7:45 – 8:20 AM Registration/Breakfast Snacks/Book Sales
8:20 – 8:30 AM Welcome
8:30 – 9:20 AM Elana Roth—“The Scoop on High Concept”
9:25 – 10:15 AM Carolyn Crimi—“Baking Chocolate Cake: All the Ingredients You Need To Make Your Picture Book Delicious”
10:15 – 10:30 AM Break / Book Sales
10:30 – 11:20 AM Morning Breakout Sessions
- Teresa Crumpton—“Where Self-Editing and Revision Collide—For Stronger Prose”
- Mary Bowman-Kruhm and Wendie Old—“Leap into Blogging and Social Media! (Will There Be Time to Write?)”
- Donny Bailey Seagraves—“Finding Fiction In Our Own Backyards: Creating Home-grown Characters and Imaginary Setting Inspired by Real Life”
- Karen Nelson—“Taking Your Imagination to the Marketplace” (for illustrators)
11:30 – 12:30 PM Lunch / Networking / Book Sales and Signing
12:30 – 1:20 PM Keynote Speaker, Joyce McDonald—“The Transformative Power of Fiction: How Real-life Stories Inform and Shape Our Own”
1:20 – 2:10 PM Louise May—“Creating Books Featuring Diversity: How Do I Leap In?”
2:10 – 2:30 PM Cookie Break / Last Book Sales
2:30 – 3:20 PM Debra Hess and Kelley Cunningham— “Imagination Is Just The Beginning”
3:20 – 4:00 PM “First Page” Panel
4:00 – 4:15 PM Raffles and Farewell
General Session Blurbs (in order of presentation)
“Leaping into Action: How an Agent Sells Your Book” –Stephen Fraser
Discussing the simple principle, which an agent uses to sell your book, agent Stephen Fraser of The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency talks about some recent sales, how and why they sold, how to succeed in today’seconomy, and how to be your best creative self.
“Partners In Imagination: The Author/Editor Revision Process”—Michelle Poploff and Edith Hemingway
You’ve revised and polished before submitting, but what happens after your manuscript is accepted? More revision! Michelle Poploff, V.P. and Executive Editor of Delacorte Press, and author Edith Hemingway will discuss working together to make a book the best it can be.
“Along for the Ride: Taking Readers Where Your Imagination Takes You”—Margaret Peterson Haddix
So you’ve dreamed up an incredible plot and/or extraordinary characters and/or a fascinating setting. How do you make your readers understand and fall in love with your story, too? And how do you fill in parts of the story that your imagination is still a little vague about?
“The Truth Is…A Question”—Marc Aronson
My books center on questions that I, or an expert with whom I collaborate, want to investigate. Formulating the right questions, figuring out how to answer them, and then bringing the results to young readers require many leaps of the imagination. My session will show the risks that writing non-fiction requires.
“The Scoop on High-Concept”—Elana Roth
We keep hearing agents say they’re on the look-out for this mysterious beast called the high-concept project. But what is it? Is it just the simple Hollywood pitch? Also, if there’s high-concept, does that mean there’s low-concept? And does high-concept have to mean low-quality? In this talk, Elana will demystify this term and give you the scoop on why these high-concept books are so appealing in the market.
“Baking Chocolate Cake: All the ingredients You Need to Make Your Picture Book Delicious”—Carolyn Crimi
Picture books should be as enjoyable and as memorable as that perfect slice of chocolate cake. So why does yours taste more like broccoli? Carolyn Crimi will help you learn to mix, sift, and blend your picture book batter until it’s the perfect consistency. No cooking experience necessary!
“The Transformative Power of Fiction: How Real-life Stories Inform and Shape Our Own”—Joyce McDonald
When our inspiration comes from the news media, the reason we are drawn to these real-life stories isn’t always evident at first. Sometimes these stories haunt us until we finally confront them through narrative. We write to understand, and in the act of writing, we often arrive at unexpected places and surprising truths. In this session, I will talk about the tragic facts that informed my novels, Swallowing Stones and Shades of Simon Gray, and how I transformed them into fiction.
“CREATING BOOKS FEATURING DIVERSITY: HOW DO I LEAP IN?”—Louise May 3, 2010
Is it okay to write and/or illustrate across cultures? Do I need to be of the same background as the characters in my story? Do books featuring people of color have to be nonfiction or historical fiction? Is there a place for realistic fiction? What about fun and fantasy in books focusing on diversity? These questions and more pertaining to creating diverse stories for all of today’s young readers will be answered, from the point of view of Lee & Low Books, one of the country’s premier publishers of children’s books “about everyone~for everyone.”
“Imagination Is Just The Beginning”—Debra Hess and Kelley Cunningham
This joint presentation by Highlights Editor, Debra Hess, and Highlights High Five Art Director, Kelley Cunningham, will discuss the practical realities of putting together a magazine—what they actually do on a day-to-day basis and how it all works.
Breakout Sessions (in order of presentation)
“Current Trends in Nonfiction”—Marc Aronson
Marc Aronson will talk about trends in writing nonfiction—what is currently selling and traditional NF voice vs. creative or narrative NF voice, leaving plenty of time for Q & A.
”Writing the Eco-Mystery Novel / Balancing Entertainment with Education”—Bonnie J. Doerr
Follow the unique writing journey of combining environmental science with fiction. Topics covered include choice of location, inspiration, plot development, research, observation of endangered species, interaction with natural environment, character development, and teaching without preaching.
“Look Before You Leap”—Carolyn Reeder
Historical fiction is much more than a story set in the past. Explore why it’s important to know the history before imagining the fiction, discover ways of bringing the past to life for your readers, and pick up some tips on making your characters authentic.
“Building a Fantasy World”—Amie Rose Rotruck
What color is the sky? Who’s the king/president/dictator? What’s the most common tree? How does the food taste? Good fantasy is not only about a good plot and interesting characters, but a fully-realized world. Even if you’re writing urban fantasy set in your own neighborhood, you still have some work to do to make your fantasy world believable. We’ll look at some examples of well-created worlds, discuss how to find inspiration for your world, and do some world-brainstorming.
“The Great Query Caper”—Elana Roth
Querying an agent is often the first step to breaking into today’s market, but even if you’ve written a novel, these brief letters of introduction can be intimidating. Elana will lead participants in a real-time simulation of her slush pile experience, followed with a group critique of those very real query letters she has received and reveal why they worked—or didn’t work—for her. Please note this is not a pitch session but a chance to learn how an agent thinks and how you can stand out in the crowd.
“Leap into Blogging and Social Media! (Will There Be Time to Write?)”—Mary Bowman-Kruhm and Wendie Old
Award-winning, multi-published authors Wendie Old and Mary Bowman-Kruhm discuss two free blogging platforms (WordPress and Blogger) and strike a glancing blow at other social media. Bring a laptop or pen and paper and you’ll leave the session with a start on your own blog and basic information about social media.
“Where Self-Editing and Revision Collide—For Stronger Prose”—Teresa Crumpton
This fast-paced session is for all writers of fiction from beginner to multiply published professional. Together, we will work through a structured method, which blends general self-editing with deeper revision. Based on a series of strategic worksheets, in a half-session we’ll work through a Structure Analysis Worksheet and demonstrate its power. In the second half, we’ll use a basic Self-Edit Worksheet and note its benefits. Please bring a story or novel (yours or a published one) to work with. Handouts will be provided.
“Finding Fiction in Our Own Backyards: Creating Home-grown Characters and Imaginary Settings Inspired by Real Life”—Donny Bailey Seagraves
How do you take a real-life event and turn it into a fictional story? A local family tragedy inspired me to write the middle-grade novel that became my first published book, Gone From These Woods. In this hands-on workshop, we will walk through the real place that became my book’s fictional world and we’ll meet some of the people who morphed into the characters there. Can you make the journey from your real-life event to fictional story? Bring pen and paper and I’ll show you how.
“Taking Your Imagination to the Marketplace”—Karen Nelson
This session for illustrators will focus on the inner workings of a publishing company, art department and the role of the art director. Learn about marketing tools, approaches that work, and case histories, leaving time for Q & A.
I’ve gained so much by being a part of SCBWI over the years. (That’s Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, for those who aren’t familiar with the acronym.) Some of my first critique partners introduced to me many of the editors I work with now. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be earning my living by writing. I’ve also learned so much by attending conferences and critique groups. My fellow critters are among my dearest friends. They’ve not only shared writing expertise, they’ve also served as cheerleaders, psychologists, and shoulders to cry on. And who else could possibly understand the crazy compunction to put words on paper and send them out time and time again for rejections. And who can better understand the joy of those acceptances?
