Over the course of recent weeks, SCBWI has found itself involved in an issue that began with a statement that was published on social media acknowledging the rise of anti-Semitic hate crimes. As the dialogue and response to this statement grew increasingly fraught, on June 27, our chief equity and inclusion officer, April Powers, who posted the statement, resigned on her own volition from her position. In the weeks that followed, we have had resignations from Board of Advisory members Laurie Halse Anderson, Meg Medina, Linda Sue Park, and Melissa Stewart. SCBWI greatly appreciates all the hard work and tremendous contributions they have made over the years to this organization. We have also had resignations from the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Subcommittee—Kathleen Ahrens, Lesa Cline-Ransome, TeMika Grooms, Karol Ruth Silverstein, and Melanie Rook Welfing. We look forward, once we have a new E&I officer in place, to all of the aforementioned once again lending their voices to SCBWI’s E&I efforts.
SCBWI is moving forward, as promised in our recent membership communication, in the hiring of a new equity and inclusion officer. With the help of our Board of Advisors, as well as members of the regional volunteer teams and equity and inclusion committees, we will reconstitute our DEI committee, which serves a very important role in advising both the search firm selected and candidates considered and hired for this crucial position.
We have over 2,500 attendees registered for SCBWI’s 50th anniversary conference, with more than 200 new attendees signing up in the past two weeks. And, for the third year in a row, SCBWI is granting 38 scholarships to the conference, including 25 for BIPOC creators (five of which are reserved for women), five need-based scholarships for any attendee, one A. Orr Fantasy Grant winner, one Volemos Grant winner, two student writers, two student illustrators, and two winners of the Emerging Voices grant.
Additionally, at the conference, we are including innovative, real-time writing/illustration sessions where participants have an opportunity to hone their skills. The first of these sessions will be led by Daniel Nayeri, author of this year’s Printz Award-winning book, Everything Sad is Untrue, and focuses on scene building. The second will be led by the illustrator committee of the board of advisors and will answer pre-submitted questions from attendees, and the third of these sessions will be led by NYT best-selling Young Adult and Middle Grade author Ellen Hopkins, and will focus on character development.
The SCBWI is working to take positive steps to meet the needs of our entire children’s book community, while we continue to provide all the member benefits that you have come to expect. We are committed to both growth and change.
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SCBWI Announces 2020 Crystal Kite Awards |
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The winners of the 2020 Crystal Kite Awards have been announced! Given to books in fifteen regions that represent excellence in the field of children’s literature, the Crystal Kites Awards are peer-selected, voted on by SCBWI members from local regions. Congratulations to the 2020 winners of this prestigious award and their wonderful books, proudly presented here by regional division.
Here are the 2020 winners:
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Atlantic (Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Wash DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland)
EVELYN DEL RAY IS MOVING AWAY
Meg Medina (Sonia Sánchez, illustrator)
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Australia, New Zealand
HOW TO MAKE A BIRD
Meg McKinlay (Matt Ottley, author)
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California, Hawaii
EFRÉN DIVIDED
Ernesto Cisneros
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Canada
NIGHT WALK
Ellie Arscott (Sara O’Leary, author)
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Europe, Latin America, Africa
THE HUNGRY GHOST
Helle Norup
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Mid South Division (Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana)
THE OLDEST STUDENT: How Mary Walker Learned to Read
Rita Hubbard (Oge Mora, illustrator)
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Middle East, India, Asia
THE LAST GARDEN
Rachel Ip (Anneli Bray, illustrator)
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Mid West Division (Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio)
OLD ROCK (is not boring!)
Deb Pilutti
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New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island)
LET’S DANCE!
Valerie Bolling (Maine Diaz, illustrator)
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New York
THE BOY AND THE GORILLA
Jackie Azúa Kramer (Cindy Derby, illustrator)
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South East Division (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama)
THE LITTLE BLUE COTTAGE
Kelly Jordan (Jessica Courtney-Tickle, illustrator)
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South West Division (Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Southern Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico)
MIDNIGHT AT THE BARCLAY HOTEL
Fleur Bradley (Xavier Bonet, illustrator)
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Texas, Oklahoma
DUSK EXPLORERS
Lindsay Leslie (Ellen Rooney, illustrator)
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United Kingdom, Ireland
BOY, EVERYWHERE
A.M. Dassu
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Western Division (Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Northern Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota)
THE STARKEEPER
Faith Pray
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SCBWI Turns Five-Oh with Enormous Summer Conference |
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Over 2500 attendees have registered for The Big Five-Oh, SCBWI's most ambitious event of the year. Beginning on July 29, and running through August 2, the Big Five-Oh is a commemoration of SCBWI's fifty years in existence, which is why we have stacked the schedule with fifty unmissable talks from some of the biggest names in kid's publishing. This is the largest faculty we've ever assembled, and each literary icon has a prepared a lesson on a different aspect of craft and technique, including specific and helpful tips on writing, illustration, selling, and promoting children's books.
The main conference will be bookended by an extra Intensive Day on Thursday, July 29, where attendees may choose between a Launchpad Intensive and a Pro Day program for published creators, and a free Illustrator Intensive on Monday, August 2. The exclusive Pitch Roundtables, also on August 2, are sold out, but the rest of the Intensives have slots available. Children's book creators have two more weeks to sign up for this unique virtual event.
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Making the Most of Virtual Networking
by Jolie Stekly
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The opportunity to network is one of the many reasons people choose to attend conferences and events. It’s a chance to connect with editors, agents, and art directors as well as with other writers and illustrators. Now with so much online, including the upcoming Big Five Oh!, one might think networking can’t be a benefit of attending. But really, networking during an online conference is not much different than when attending in-person.
So how do we do this, especially in an online forum? Here’s seven tips:
Tip 1: Get out of your comfort zone
The mere thought of networking can drive fear in the heart of many, especially creatives. If networking in-person makes you want to run or hide, the online forum makes doing so quite easy. So, if networking is something you want to do, it starts with getting out of your comfort zone. You can do it!
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New Grants for SCBWI Self-Published Members |
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The Independently Published Book Launch Marketing Grant provides authors or illustrators with $2,500 to help with the promotion of their newly self-published work. Two of these grants will be offered annually, with one reserved specifically for a book creator from an underrepresented community.
The Independently Published Pre-Publication Grant will also be awarded annually and provides $2,500 to help offset the cost of self-publishing. Both grants are open to submissions starting in October, with winners announced in mid-January.
These new grants are part of SCBWI’s ongoing effort to support authors and illustrators who choose to publish their book outside the traditional publishing path. Starting July 1, 2021, all SCBWI members can take advantage of new self-publishing benefits. This includes access to a ratings database of self-publishing publishers and service providers, a tri-annual self-publishing magazine from the Alliance of Independent Authors, an all-new guide on how to self-publish a children’s book (coming in the fall of 2021) and much more! Check out the full list of benefits HERE.
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Announcing the Volemos Grant Winners |
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THE SCBWI is thrilled to announce Jenny Lacika as the winner of the Volemos Grant, a new opportunity for writers of Hispanic/Latinx/Ibero-American heritage. Newbery Medal winner Meg Medina created, sponsored, and judged in part this grant for the SCBWI, which rewards writers with a promising manuscript written in English or Spanish.
As the winner, Lacika will receive a $500 prize, a free year's membership to the SCBWI, free tuition to the Big Five-Oh Summer Conference, and a coaching session with Medina to further her budding career. Honorable mention Cecilia Alonso will also receive a free coaching session. The second runner-up was Belen Cabot. Congratulations to these talented writers.
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Surviving the Fallow Period
by Dahlia Adler
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When you’re a new writer just starting out, the path feels so clear:
Step one: Get an agent
Two: Who will then sell your book
Three: Which will be the start of a healthy, consistent career.
Of course, anyone who’s made it past that first hurdle knows it’s only the beginning, but what about making it past the second one? Surely once you sell, you’ve got it made, right?
If only. A million different things can happen after you’ve been published, from life getting in the way to writer’s block preventing the next story from emerging to your publisher not meshing with your next offering. And sometimes that means that you finish out a contract with nothing new on a horizon that suddenly feels vast and gaping.
So what then? What does one do when they hit a fallow period?
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Social Media Uncovered:
Enjoying Twitter Chats
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One of the fun things about social media is being able to connect with others who are interested in the same types of subjects you are. An easy way to do that is through a Twitter chat. Twitter chats are recurring, scheduled online conversations that are usually hosted by the same account at the same time each week or month. Every chat has its own hashtag so you’ll be able to follow the comments. At SCBWI, we use Twitter chats during our conferences (often called Twitter socials) to encourage attendees to connect and exchange ideas.
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SCBWI Exclusive with...Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Agent, Birch Path Literary
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Alyssa Eisner Henkin founded Birch Path Literary, a full-service literary agency, in January of 2021 after more than twenty years in publishing. A proud English major alumna of the University of Pennsylvania ‘98, Alyssa was an editor at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for seven years before joining Trident Media Group as an agent in late 2006. She represents a multi-award-winning stable of authors including Ruth Behar, Julie Berry, Jen Bryant, Lisa Greenwald, and R.J. Palacio among many others. Alyssa is actively seeking kidlit of all kinds as well as select fiction and nonfiction for grownup readers. In all genres, Alyssa is passionate about heartfelt storytelling and fresh underrepresented perspectives and concepts. She loves quirky character, settings rich with ethnic flavors and hints of magic, and retro art. In her leisure time, she enjoys pairing audio books with long walks, seasonally flavored coffee and cultural outings with her family and friends.
What was your path to becoming an agent?
I began my career in editorial at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. I loved everything about the job, from my wise colleagues to the craft of editing, to learning how to pitch books to sales and marketing. But over time it became clear to me that collaborating on book ideas with my talented authors and illustrators and advocating for their rights was my favorite part of the job. I spoke to several industry colleagues and quickly realized that agenting was even better suited to my entrepreneurial mentality.
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Regional Corner: Singapore
by David Liew
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Singapore sees itself as a Little Red Dot, a tiny island in Southeast Asia. As a reflection of the city-state being both a historical and contemporary meeting point for the world, the SCBWI chapter reflects this very international vibe, too, with roughly half its 62 members hailing from different parts of the world. Members come from the region like neighboring Malaysia to further afield like India, Australia, Canada, Israel, the UK, and the USA. Even members who have relocated still keep their ties to the chapter, thus bringing “extended representation” to Thailand, the Netherlands and Swizterland.
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Kate Dopirak Award Winner Announced |
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SCBWI is pleased to share the news that Laurie Young has won 2021 Kate Dopirak Craft and Community Award winner. Thank you to everyone who participated. The judges were impressed by the quality of the submissions this year and we look forward to seeing more fantastic work in the future.
MG/YA Winner:
Laurie Young for her manuscript GROUNDED
This award includes:
- Full tuition to the 50th SCBWI Annual Summer Conference (Summer 2021)
- A 20-minute phone consultation with literary agent Tracey Adams from Adams Literary
- A 20-minute phone consultation with editor Kelly Delaney of Knopf Books for Young Readers
Call for Picture Book Submissions
Picture Book writers, you’re up NEXT! In 2022, one picture book writer will be selected by a panel of judges as the recipient of the 2022 Kate Dopirak Craft and Community Award. Polish those picture books and get ready to submit!
Who is eligible?
Any member of SCBWI who is experiencing a financial barrier to attending the conference, wants to improve their craft, and desires to expand their community is welcome to submit a middle grade or YA manuscript for the 2021 KDCC Award.
When and where do I apply?
Submissions will be accepted September 1 through October 31, 2021.
This award is offered in celebration of Kate Dopirak, a picture book author and beloved SCBWI member who lived her life lighting the way for others.
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Draw This! is our monthly prompt word for illustrators. Artists can post their DrawThis! entries on Twitter and Instagram with the tag #SCBWIDrawThis
There is no longer a gallery for DrawThis! View all entries by searching the tag #SCBWIDrawThis.
The June prompt was YIKES
The June winners are...
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The July prompt is TREE HOUSE
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