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If you published a book in 2019, you won’t want to miss the SCBWI BookStop promotional season. The creation process began on August 28, when we released our new line of pre-designed BookStop templates. For the next six weeks, all SCBWI authors and illustrators are invited to create web pages to promote their 2019 new releases. Last year’s BookStop gallery attracted over 55,000 consumers, and we hope that the fresh new designs in 2019 will create an even bigger sales opportunity for our members.
Whether you are promoting a wistful picture book, an edgy teen drama, or a STEM activity book, the 2019 line has a template design to complement your style.
Click here
to view the ten template options.
The BookStop creation period will last until
October 8
, when all the pages will go live on the SCBWI website. Consumers will have until
November 25
to browse the gallery, and hopefully purchase our member's books for the holiday shopping season.
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Catch Up on Highlights from LA19
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Art director Laurent Linn and Lin Oilver
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During the second weekend of August, over one thousand authors and illustrators turned out to celebrate three days of peace and literature (and a rockin' Woodstock tribute) at LA Live. Hosted at the JW Marriott, the Los Angeles Summer Conference featured a full schedule of intensives, craft consultations, and keynotes from
M.T. Anderson
,
Meg Medina
,
Yuyi Morales
,
Christian Robinson
,
Darcey Rosenblatt
,
Anna Shinoda
,
Raul the Third
, a
nd
Renée Watso
n
. Topping off an extraordinary weekend, the master of rhythm and rhyme herself,
Mem Fox
, hosted an unforgettable lunch on Sunday afternoon.
CLICK HERE
to watch a sizzle reel of all the best moments you may have missed at LA19.
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The Keys to the Kingdom: Keynote Highlights from LA19
by Martha Brockenbrough
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It’s no secret that some of the finest moments of an SCBWI conference come during the keynotes, when leading writers and illustrators in our field share insights, inspiration, and idiosyncrasies of their working habits.
The 2019 Summer Conference had some of the best keynotes yet.
M.T. Anderson
talked about lessons he learned living in a haunted house in Vermont (technically, the ghost of the shrieking child lurks outside a window, but still). His search beneath the floorboards of the house reminded him that “There are levels of history in any story, lying beneath the floorboards, waiting to be discovered. Think about the way that your prose can have resonance, hidden histories, and of being a place that many people can visit and find their spirit in it.”
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by Martha Brockenbrough, with Mike Jung, Traci Sorrell, Jolie Stekly, and Jaime Temairik
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One of the best ways to level up your skills through an SCBWI conference is to choose breakout sessions geared to your specific interests and needs. The conference featured 72 breakout sessions by accomplished industry professionals along four tracks: general, illustrator, nonfiction, and professional.
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Announcing Plans for NY20 Winter Conference
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Though we may still be drifting through one of the hottest summers on record, preparations are well underway for the 2020 Winter Conference in New York City. This year’s event kicks off on the evening of Friday, February 7 with the Golden Kite Awards Gala which will feature a special celebrity guest speaker. Over the course of the weekend, there will be panel discussions from industry professionals, deep-dive intensives, and keynote addresses from renowned children’s book authors and illustrators. This year’s lineup includes Caldecott Award winner
Jerry Pinkney
, Golden Kite and E.B. White Award winner
Kate Messner
, and Newbery Honor winner
Derrick Barnes
.
The Winter Conference is a unique opportunity for attendees to dive deep into the craft of writing and illustrating for children and young adults. The weekend is structured around intensive breakout sessions. These smaller, workshop-oriented sessions explore a specific element of craft and are taught by master-level writers, illustrators, agents, editors and art directors. Each session will include lectures, exercises, feedback, and opportunities to strengthen and polish your work. There will be specific tracks for published authors, writers of nonfiction, and illustrators. Registration opens in late October.
Registration for NY20 opens
next month
. This event always sells out quickly, so keep an eye out for more information about October registration.
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Happy Book Birthday Special Fall Promotion
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Congratulations to
Shanda McCloskey
, winner of our special September promotion for Happy Book Birthday. Her picture book
T-Bone the Drone
will be released on September 10, 2019. Ten copies of
T-Bone the Drone
will be sent to Reader to Reader, and we also conducted a short interview with McCloskey about her creative process, which you can read
here
.
We will be running the same promotion for books released in October. The winner will receive promotion in
Insight
, an interview, and also have the c
hance to create a one-minute video promoting their new book—this is in
addition to the standard Book Birthday prize. Every month, ten copies of the winning book are purchased by SCBWI and donated to a worthy organization promoting children’s literature.
Submissions for books published in October began on
August 15
and will continue until
September 20.
For details about how to submit to Happy Book Birthday and participate in this amazing opportunity, see our submission page
here
.
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Illustrator's Corner
Interview with Portfolio Showcase Winner
Andy Musser
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Andy Musser accepts his award from Sarah Baker
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Before winning the Portfolio Showcase Grand Prize at LA19, Andy Musser had racked up an impressive list of awards including an SCBWI Mentorship Award, two SCBWI Summer Conference Portfolio Showcase honors, and a Portfolio Showcase 2nd place award at the SCBWI Seattle conference. Musser quickly became known in the SCBWI community for his bold chimerical illustrations.
Andy Musser was gracious enough to answer some questions after his triumphant win.
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Three Cheers for Lynn Marie
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Lynne Marie's picture book MOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE SCARES came out on August 6, 2019 from Sterling Books for Young Readers. She has also authored HEDGEHOG GOES TO KINDERGARTEN, HEDGEHOG'S 100TH DAY OF SCHOOL, both with Scholastic, and THE STAR IN THE CHRISTMAS PLAY with Beaming Books.
She joined SCBWI in 2000 and has attended many SCBWI conferences on state and international levels. MOLDILOCKS was actually acquired as a result of a conference critique at SCBWI Florida in Miami in January, 2016.
In her own words, she describes that opportunity:
I had submitted another manuscript, THE DINOSTORE, for a conference critique and was assigned to Meredith Mundy from Sterling. When I sat down for it, she looked at me and said, "I really love your dinosaur book but already have too many dinosaur stories on my list. What else do you have?"
And so I pitched her MOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE SCARES and a few others. She asked me to send them to her when I got home, and I did. Moldilocks was #1 on that list and she made an offer, which I was over-the-moon excited to accepted. And all, because of an SCBWI conference critique and being ready to pitch other manuscripts!
Lynne Marie is a huge fan of SCBWI and is active in her current SCBWI Florida Chapter. She attributes SCBWI with fostering better craft, creativity, professionalism, opportunity and a wonderful and supportive community.
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.
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Draw This! is our monthly prompt word for illustrators.
Congratulations to the August winners! The August's prompt word was
"Dress Up"
Click
HERE
to view the August Gallery
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September's prompt word is:
"Trouble"
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Dance floor at the Woodstock: 50 Years Later Gala at LA19
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