Registration Opens December 2 for 2022 Winter Conference |
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It’s hard to believe that we just celebrated our 50th year with the Big 5-Oh conference and that it’s already time for our annual Winter conference scheduled for February 11-13, 2022. The two-day event will take place live on ZOOM, making it easily accessible to all SCBWI members.
The conference includes the dynamic keynotes and industry panels you’d expect from our international events, plus special limited sessions with editors and agents. The theme of the conference is Creating and Selling Successful Children's Books in 2022, and the focus will be to provide insight on what authors and illustrators need to know about post-pandemic book publishing in order to succeed.
Kicking off the conference on Friday evening, February 11, will be a rare keynote from the one and only Brian Selznick, creator of THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET and WONDERSTRUCK, whose latest book KALEIDOSCOPE was called a “lockdown masterpiece” by the New York Times. The entire day Saturday, February 12, will be packed full with keynotes and panels. Keynotes will be from Kelly Yang, the New York Times bestselling author of FRONT DESK and winner of the 2019 Asian Pacific American Award for Children's Literature; Paula Yoo, whose YA non-fiction book, FROM A WHISPER TO A RALLYING CRY: THE KILLING OF VINCENT CHIN AND THE TRIAL THAT GALVANIZED THE ASIAN AMERICAN MOVEMENT won the 2021 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction; and New York Times best- selling illustrator for THE KING OF KINDERGARTEN, Vanessa Brantley Newton.
Interspersed between the keynotes are three panels featuring 15 industry professionals. The topic of each panel is Recipes for Success in 2022 and will feature individual presentations from five editors, five agents, and five art directors, whose relevant and timely observations will provide a guide for creating and selling children’s books in the current environment. The cost for the main conference is $150. Multiple scholarships will be available, and announced by the time registration opens on December 2.
Sunday, February 13, features an optional full morning session, which will be offered for an additional fee. During the morning, editors and agents will offer intensive sessions in which they will detail their process, their house, and their wish list. Lucky attendees will get to select two sessions to attend, and will be invited to submit queries to the leaders of BOTH sessions they selected. The additional fee for that morning is $150, and space will be limited. Sunday afternoon, however, is a free illustrators' event and is included with the cost of the conference and open to all attendees.
Also included in the basic conference registration are peer critiques, an orientation, and multiple socials. We fully expect enrollment to be fast and furious, so mark your calendar with the registration date. The full program and schedule will be posted on the SCBWI website on December 1.
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SCBWI has engaged Axle Impact Studio, a consulting agency specializing in issues of equity and inclusion, to assist us in assessing our programs and policies around DEI, In conducting a full-scale audit of our current practices, Axle will work with the staff, the Advisory Council and the Board of Directors to establish and implement revised best practices across all areas of the organization. The work will begin this month, and is expected to continue through the first quarter of 2022.
Executive director Lin Oliver commented, “It’s imperative for us to examine SCBWI, all our policies and practices and governance, through an equity and inclusion lens. We are eager to embrace new ideas, learn from Axle’s expertise, and undertake an honest examination of how we can do better.” Associate Executive Director Sarah Baker added, “All arms of the organization stand ready to jump into this endeavor with commitment and an open mind.”
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Announcing the Work-in-Progress, Karen Cushman, and Don Freeman Grants |
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We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 Work-in-Progress Grants and the Don Freeman Illustration Grants! These awards are given to children’s book creators who are in the process of completing a specific project not currently under contract.
The Work-in-Progress, Karen Cushman, and Don Freeman recipients will have their work promoted and sent to a hand-selected list of agents and editors.
Work-in-Progress Grants
Picture Book Text:
Ms. Minnie and Me by Rhett Trull (North Carolina)
Chapter Books/Early Fiction:
The Robot in the Library by Bryan Avery (California)
Middle Grade Fiction:
Renli’s Guide to Photography by Jessie Erwin (Florida)
Young Adult Fiction:
The Universe is Not An Empty Place by Elva Hills (Scotland)
Nonfiction:
The Sound Collector by Marta Magellan (Florida)
Underrepresented Voices:
A Pottu is a Promise by Jyoti Gopal (New York)
The Karen Cushman Late Bloomer Award, which is for an emerging author over the age of 50, comes with a stipend of $500 and tuition to any SCBWI conference.
Karen Cushman Late Bloomer Award:
Johnny Bell Baker and the Coal Mine by Bonnie Kelso (Nevada)
The Don Freeman Illustration Grants awards $1,000 towards the completion of an illustration project.
Don Freeman Illustration Grants
Published Award: Jana Curll (Canada)
See Jana’s illustrations HERE
Pre-published Award: Angela Vives (England)
See Angela’s illustrations HERE
Congratulations to our spectacular winners. The Work-in-Progress Award, Cushman Late Bloomer Award, and Don Freeman Grants will open for submission again in March 2022. CLICK HERE to learn more.
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An Interview with Nora Pelizzari
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The SCBWI has been a supporting member of the National Coalition Against Censorship for many years. Children’s books are among the most challenged books in America today. As part of our advocacy for the right to read, we sign many letters sent out by NCAC, and join many campaigns, supporting authors whose work has been challenged. We believe that supporting NCAC, a high-quality, effective organization, provides a unified voice from our community. There is strength in unity.
Below is an in-depth interview with Nora Pelizzari, the Director of Communications for the National Coalition Against Censorship. We hope you proudly support SCBWI and NCAC in our efforts to make good books and freedom of thought available to all.
Can you briefly describe the origin and history of the National Coalition Against Censorship?
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) was founded in the early 1970s as an off-shoot of the ACLU. NCAC is funded by a variety of foundation grants, corporate support and individual donors. Our primary corporate sponsors are book publishers. We are a 501(c)3 and a proudly non-partisan non-profit organization.
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Re-launching Your Book, Post Pandemonium
by Antonio Cerna
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Every single book publisher, large or small, is dealing with the supply-chain-gate, formerly known as “the global shipping crisis”. Articles in Publishers Weekly and The New York Times outline the many challenges created by what was, until-a few years ago, a complex logistical yet kind of boring process involving ships, international ports, containers, and trucks. There is, despite the chaos of this past year, one silver lining for indie booksellers, BookTokers, and readers everywhere: Backlist is now more important than ever.
To be clear, Backlist is never not important. The industry is built on Backlist. However, due to a web of globally intricate channel breakdowns, backlist titles find themselves at the front of the pack once again.
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Remembering Jerry Pinkney |
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The SCBWI is saddened to report that Jerry Pinkney, artist, SCBWI Advisory Council member, and dear friend, has died after suffering a heart attack. He was 81.
Growing up in Philadelphia, the middle child of five siblings, his was a family of storytellers. On evenings he sat rapt as family members and neighbors shared their favorite fables, folk, and fairy tales. He loved the stories and wished to read more, but early in his schooling, he struggled with dyslexia. To express himself, he turned to art and discovered how much he enjoyed telling his own stories through illustration.
After art school, Jerry worked for a greeting card company before illustrating, in 1964, his first children’s book, The Adventures of Spider: A West African Folk Tale. Among the more than 100 books that followed, many celebrated the diversity of cultures he had encountered on the streets and in the Philadelphia public schools he attended. He once said, “As an African American artist often doing black subject matter, I try to portray a sense of celebration, of self-respect and resilience, and also a sense of dignity.”
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SCBWI Exclusive with...Jazmia Young
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Jazmia Young is an associate agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. She received her bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing at the City College of New York and was a graduate of the Publishing Certificate Program at CCNY. She is interested in representing children books, picture books through YA, focusing on middle-grade fiction/non-fiction with the goal of amplifying underrepresented voices and experiences. She particularly loves stories with friendship ties, complicated family dynamics, and grief or loss. Being a New York native, anything based in the great NYC has her heart. Jazmia is also the Administrative Assistant of the Association of American Literary Agents.
What was your path to children’s book publishing?
I didn’t come around to children’s book publishing until I started working at my current position at Curtis Brown, Ltd. At my alma mater, the City College of New York, I studied English with a concentration in creative writing. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it, all I knew is that I enjoyed writing and reading. To be around peers who enjoyed those things too, was a dream. My professors there were always encouraging the students on different paths related to their degree and that’s how I found out about the Publishing Certificate Program at City College. The program was imbedded in my curriculum so I didn’t need to take extra courses on the side so I was able to graduate on time. The courses were taught by publishing professionals who were very inspirational.
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In August 2020, Emily Balistrieri’s translation of Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono was published in the UK with the translator’s name nowhere on or in the novel. Balistrieri, a member of SCBWI Japan, received assurances that this omission would be corrected in future printings, but the question of how it had happened niggled.
“It’s not like I want anyone to be cancelled for making an honest flub but . . . presumably more than one person had to sign off on the design and everything,” Balistrieri said. “It also feels especially glaring since the illustrator is credited so visibly.”
The case was a reminder that while many people recognize what authors and illustrators do, many don’t know what translators do. Multiple employees of a major publisher thus failed to see that every line of the 208-page English edition had been crafted by Balistrieri, with an eye to both fidelity and effect, using a singular combination of specialized knowledge and artistry.
Far from mechanical, literary translation is a creative act of bringing art to life in a new form, much like performing a play or a piece of music. Nanette McGuinness, an opera singer and translator—and member of SCBWI San Francisco North and East Bay—writes, “Both singing and translating are creative activities in which I recreate another artist’s imagined vision.” Like authorship and illustration, translation is a critical task done by an artist not on the publisher’s payroll, who must be credited to sustain a career.
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Congratulations to Regional Team WOOP and RAM Winners |
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SCBWI would not be the same without our regional teams, the passionate and dedicated individuals who organize local events and build community around the world. In recognition of their service and talent, the SCBWI gives two annual awards to RTs making great books.
The Work of Outstanding Progress (WOOP) award is given to a promising unpublished manuscript by a regional team member, while the Regional Advisor Marketing (RAM) Grant is given to assist in the promotional campaign of an RT's newly published book. Here are the winners:
WOOP Award for $2,000
Carolyn Dee Flores for
YA historical novel LINEAGE
Southwest Texas
WOOP Honor Award for $1,000
Nicki Jacobsmeyer for
Nonfiction picture book SCRAPS OF HOPE
Kansas / Missouri
RAM Award for $2,000
Rob Sanders for
Middle Grade novel BLOOD BROTHERS
Florida
RAM Honor Award for $1,000
Alison Stegert for
picture book BOOGIE WOOGIE BIRDS
Australia East / New Zealand
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Regional Corner: The One Where Illinois Pivots |
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Deborah Topolski and Jennifer Wagh |
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Do you remember the Friends episode where Ross, Rachel, and Chandler are trying to move the couch up a narrow twisty staircase?
Ross repeatedly yells, “Pivot!”
Like so many regions, the Illinois region has made many pivots the past two years. The good news is we have great friends to help us along the way.
These friends include a system of twenty Illinois Networks established by Esther Hershenhorn, Regional Advisor Emerita. Networks connect our creators across Illinois in local cafes, bookstores, and libraries. Last year our Network Representatives had to pivot, pivot, pivot! Our volunteers recognized the needs of our writing community and quickly twisted and turned to build an amazing wealth of online programming. We experienced A World Full of Love with YA writer Ronni Davis, Picture Book Creation with Cozbi Cabrera, Using Libraries to Find Your Readers with Anny Rusk, and more. Each month offers new and exciting virtual discussions on craft and critique. Pivoting to online platforms has made connecting with other creators infinitely accessible. That accessibility allowed us to reach out to inspiring speakers such as the First Indigenous Astronaut (and picture book author), John Herrington, as well as Matthew Salesses, author of Craft in the Modern World.
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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 October prompt was MASQUERADE
The October winners are...
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The November prompt is: HOLIDAY TRADITION
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