October 2, 2019
Announcing the 2019 Work-in-Progress and Don Freeman Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the 2019 Work-in-Progress Grants and Don Freeman Illustration Grants! Both awards are part of SCBWI's program to assist children's book writers and illustrators who are in the process of completing a specific project currently not under contract.

The Work-in-Progress recipients will have their work posted on a special site which will be made available to a hand-selected list of agents and editors. The Karen Cushman Late Bloomer Award also comes with a stipend of $500 and tuition to any SCBWI conference.
 
Work-in-Progress Grants

Picture Book Text: 
Our Greatest, Great, Great Grandma  by Chris M. Regier (Oregon)

Chapter Books/Early Fiction: 
Ouch and Pouch   by  David Goldstein (Maryland)

Middle Grade Fiction: 
A Dance of the Dead  by Megan Lynch (Pennsylvania)

Young Adult Fiction: 
Dreamers   by Marie A. LaVanier Gollias (San Diego)

Translation:
A Kiss Before Breakfast by Kip Wilson (Massachusetts)

Nonfiction: 
Chasing Guano  by  Helen Taylor (San Francisco)

Multicultural Fiction/Nonfiction: 
Hammerin' Hector vs. Godzilla Gomez  by  Catherine Ann Velasco (Illinois)

Karen Cushman Late Bloomer Award:
Empty by Jennifer Rawlings (Los Angeles)

The Don Freeman Illustration Grants awards $1,000 towards the completion of an illustration project. The 2019 awards were judged by Maria Middleton, Corey Tabor, and Molly O'Neill.

Don Freeman Illustration Grants

Published Award:  Candace Camling (Iowa)
See Candace's illustrations   HERE

Pre-published Award:  Candelaria de la Losa (New York)
See Candelaria's illustrations   HERE
SCBWI and Smithsonian Institution Announce a Nonfiction Workshop
National Museum of the American Indian
SCBWI is proud to announce the creation of a new nonfiction workshop developed with and featuring experts from the Smithsonian Institution. This exciting new event will focus on best practices in nonfiction research, trends in nonfiction publishing and opportunities in the trade, educational, and new media markets. The workshop will be held Friday and Saturday, April 24 and 25, 2020 at the Smithsonian’s   National Museum of the American Indian  in Washington, DC. Faculty will include renown nonfiction authors, editors, and agents as well as research and publishing experts from the Smithsonian. The 2-day event will include opportunities to pitch nonfiction projects to editors and agents plus a third optional day, Sunday, April 26, to explore Smithsonian’s extensive collections with other workshop participants. More information will be posted on the SCBWI website in November.

About the Smithsonian: Established in 1846, the Smithsonian—the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex—includes 19 museums and galleries and the National Zoological Park. The total number of artifacts, works of art, and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collections is estimated at 156 million, the bulk of which is contained in the National Museum of Natural History, which holds more than 145 million specimens and objects. The Smithsonian is a renowned research center, dedicated to public education, national service, and scholarship in the arts, sciences, and history. www.si.edu
SCBWI Affinity Groups Coming Soon
SCBWI is proud to announce a new program, one which we believe will revolutionize the way kids’ book creators engage with the SCBWI community. We know that our members have things to say—this is the place to share your thoughts and ideas about the topics that matter to you, and to have the conversations worth having.

SCBWI Affinity Groups will debut with thirteen separate sections: Ethnic & Racial Diversity, PAL/Published, LGBTQ+, Translators, Spanish Language, Debut Authors/Illustrators, Differently Abled, Nonfiction, Students, Non-print Media, Self & Indie Published, Public Speaking, and Book Club. Members are free to join as many or as few as they wish. Within these groups, users will communicate with each other through highly-focused discussion boards, where moderators will guide conversations on a limited number of relevant topics. Users will be able to suggest future topics so that we can tailor each group to the needs of its members.

Affinity Groups are the first SCBWI program which will allow members to form deep social connections over the internet, finding each other based on shared interests and goals rather than physical distance. The groups will go live on SCBWI.org in early 2020, so check back for more information about how to participate.
NY20 Registration Opens October 24
Secure your place at the New York Winter Conference before all the spots are gone! The intimate work-shop oriented format, which allows members to get personal instruction from industry masters, also limits the number of attendees we can support. This event sells out every year, and we expect no different from NY20 when registration opens on October 24 .

The event will run from February 7 to 9, and is set to included keynotes from Caldecott Award winner Jerry Pinkney , Golden Kite and E.B. White Award winner Kate Messner , and Newbery Honor winner Derrick Barnes . Attendees will sign up for three rounds of intensive breakout sessions, which will include specific tracks for published authors, writers of nonfiction, and illustrators. Kicking off the weekend is the Golden Kite Awards Gala , an evening of champagne and celebration with a special appearance by a celebrity guest.

NY20 will unfortunately be our last year at the Grand Central Hyatt--the hotel is being demolished later next year. However, we are happy to announce that the 2021 Winter Conference will take place at the New York Hilton in Midtown.
Happy Book Birthday to October New Releases
Dawn Babb Prochovnic is the winner of our special October promotion for Happy Book Birthday. Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? and Where Does a Pirate Go Potty? will be released on October 8 from West Margin Press. Ten copies of Cowgirl will be purchased and sent to Reading Is Fundamental . Click here to read an interview with Prochovnic about the genesis of her work, and click here to watch an accompanying video about the book.

Happy Book Birthday returns to its normal process for the month of November, and submissions for that month will be open until October 20. For the full details about how to submit to Happy Book Birthday, see our submission page here .
Illustrator's Corner
Debbie and the Broken Crayon
Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Debbie Ridpath Ohi is the author-illustrator behind  Where Are My Books?  and  Sam & Eva , and she has also illustrated many books including  I’m Bored and  I’m Worried  written by Michael Ian Black. Next year, Simon & Schuster will publish  Gurple and Preen , a book that was years in the making, and had a remarkable start as a popular blog. 

“You never know what will come out of a broken crayon.” That was the phrase behind Ohi’s Broken Crayon blog, an inventive gallery combining illustration with found object art (actual broken crayons that Ohi weaves into the reality of the drawing). What started out as a fun exercise turned into such a winning idea that some schools began adopting the idea, encouraging kids to create their own broken crayon drawings and posting the results on Twitter. It was inevitable that Ohi’s idea would catch the attention of the publishing world, but she actually turned down many opportunities to turn the blog into a book.

The stars eventually aligned, which is why the broken crayons will find new life in  Gurple and Preen , written by Linda Sue Park , with editing by Justin Chanda and art direction by Laurent Linn .
 
Ohi was kind enough to answer our questions about creation, social media, and waiting for the right collaborator.

CLICK HERE to read more.
Did You Know?
All PAL and Full members are eligible to be a part of our Speaker's Bureau . Teachers and librarians use this resource to find authors and illustrators in their area who are willing to do school visits--a great way for kid's book creators to supplement their income and share work with kids who'll love it.
To join, go to your Member Profile (click My Home on the main site) and click 'Edit Profile' in the left-hand column. Find the 'Searchable on Speaker Bureau' and tick the box that says 'Yes'. Save your work, and your bio will automatically be uploaded to the Speaker's Bureau.
SCBWI Exclusive with...
Patrice Caldwell
Patrice Caldwell is a graduate of Wellesley College and the founder & fundraising chair of  People of Color in Publishing –a grassroots organization dedicated to supporting, empowering, and uplifting racially and ethnically marginalized members of the book publishing industry. Born and raised in Texas, Patrice was a children’s book editor before shifting to become a literary agent at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency, where she represents everything from chapter books to adult. In 2018, she was named a Publishers Weekly Star Watch honoree and featured on The Writer’s Digest podcast and Bustle’s inaugural “Lit List” as one of ten women changing the book world.

Her anthology,  A PHOENIX FIRST MUST BURN 16 stories of Black girl magic, resistance, and hope–is out March 10, 2020 from Viking Children’s Books/Penguin Teen! Visit Patrice online at  patricecaldwell.com , Twitter  @whimsicallyours , and Instagram  @whimsicalaquarian .

CLICK HERE to read the interview.
Three Cheers for Hannah Holt!
Hannah Holt is a children’s author with an engineering degree. Her books, The Diamond & The Boy (Balzer+Bray) and A Father’s Love (Philomel) weave together her love of language and science. Hannah says:

I joined SCBWI in 2009, and since then SCBWI has helped grow my writing skills with craft workshops, critique partner meet ups, and conference connections. One special connection occurred during the 2016 Oregon SCBWI Fall Retreat when I had a one-on-one critique with Jill Santopolo of Philomel.

At the end of our critique session, Jill asked about my other projects, and I chatted up a picture book manuscript featuring different animal dads called,  A Father's Love . She requested it. My agent sent it, and within two weeks we had an offer. I knew it would be a delight working with Philomel because I'd already had a positive critique experience with this editor thanks to SCBWI!

By the way, I still haven't sold the original story I brought for critique back in 2016, but another thing I've learned from SCBWI is this--don't get stuck: keep moving forward and trying new things!

Three Cheers is an  Insight  feature in which we periodically select SCBWI members who have a phenomenal success story to share. If you have realized a dream through your involvement with SCBWI, please send your story to  threecheers@scbwi.org.
Draw This!
Draw This! is our monthly prompt word for illustrators. 

Congratulations to the September winners! September's prompt word was "Trouble"
Click HERE to view the September Gallery
Joy Dabby
Keith Allen
October's prompt word is: " Blustery "
Click Here for Draw This! guidelines
Nadia Salomon, CoARA, CA: SF North and East Bay; Nikki Shannon Smith, CoRA, CA: North/Central; and Barbara Bietz, ARA, CA: Central/Coastal.
Silver & Steam Gala at the SCBWI 2019 Midsouth Fall Conference
2019 Summer IPOC Women's Scholarship Winners Rehannah Khan and Kelly Baptist
with Associate Executive Director Sarah Baker