October 3, 2022

Winter Conference Registration Opens November 10, Both In-Person and Virtual Events

After three long years of its virtual-only existence, the 2023 SCBWI Winter Conference is FINALLY going to be held in-person. This year’s event takes place at the New York Hilton Midtown on February 11 and 12, 2023. If you can’t attend the in-person conference, fear not! There will be a virtual version of the event two weeks later on February 25.

Both events feature an all-new format––a focus on long-form, craft-oriented intensives. The two conferences will also have keynote addresses from Marla Frazee, Aisha Saeed , and an industry panel of agents, editors, and art directors.

In-Person

The in-person conference features day-and-a-half long intensives on Novel Revision (taught by Elana K. Arnold & Eliot Shrefer), Beginnings & Endings (taught by Cheryl Klein), Writing the YA Novel (taught by Nova Ren Suma), Character Development and the Transformational Arc (taught by Varian Johnson & Larissa Theule), Picture Books from A-Z (taught by Allyn Johnston), Fantasy World Building (taught by Tracey Baptiste), Marketing Plans for Published Authors (taught by Tonya Duncan Ellis), Picture Book Biographies (taught by Lesa Cline-Ransome & James Ransome), and Digital Illustration (taught by William Low), plus intensives on Marketing for Illustrators, A Survey of Traditional Media for Illustrators, and Graphic Novels.

We're also offering a limited number of one-on-one manuscript and portfolio critiques, plus the career-launching portfolio showcase, a competition for published authors to see who has the best marketing plan, and a networking dinner to meet your fellow attendees.

Online

The online conference will feature the same keynotes and panel as the in-person event, PLUS, half-day craft intensives for both authors and illustrators along with online socials and peer critiques.

Registration opens on November 10 at 10am PACIFIC TIME for both conferences. Save the date so you don’t miss out!

Ready, Set, Sketch! Artober is Here!

Join the SCBWI Illustration Community in October for 31 days of illustration prompts under the hashtag #ScbwiArtober!

Each day includes a prompt to inspire your daily practice. Work in your favorite medium or play with new materials. Share your art when you can or post it each day with the #ScbwiArtober hashtag on Instagram and Twitter. The main goal is to develop a regular practice of creating and sharing new art––perfectionism is out.

Here's a reminder of the rules:

– This is not about perfection. The goal is to develop a daily practice.

– We encourage you to try new media––analogue and digital.

– Share you work on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #ScbwiArtober.

– Go to the hashtag to see inspiration and cheer on other SCBWI Illustrators. This is a great way to find your online community.

– Play and have fun each day!

The Art and Craft of Eco-Fiction

by Claire Datnow

Eco-fiction and climate fiction are stories that include environmental themes, which can be written in a wide variety of styles and span all genres, including mystery, romance, thriller, coming-of-age, dystopian, utopian, magical realism, and realist fiction. This sub-genre can be as diverse as our natural world. It is multicultural, global, and explicitly explores humanity’s impact on the natural world.

But how do writers frame an environmental crisis as a satisfying mystery for young readers? An ecological mystery is a scientific investigation and a mystery combined into an exciting adventure story. In an eco-mystery, the role of villain is played by an ecological problem that is harming a species. The characters are affected by the problem, and like good detectives they must carry out an investigation that will identify the causes of the problem and then help to solve it. The characters are the emotional engine of the stories, including the victims who are hurt by the crisis, and villains who are responsible for that hurt. The heroes bring a promise of reprieve for the victims.

SCBWI Marketing Panel Featured at Alliance of Independent Authors Online Conference

The Alliance of Independent Authors’ upcoming, no-cost conference features a panel of SCBWI members! The panel, moderated by SCBWI’s Manager of Events and Special Programs, Laurie Miller, stars authors Silvia Acevedo, Tonya Duncan Ellis, and Michael Hale and focuses on best practices for getting self-published books into the hands of readers. Click HERE for more information and to register for this free, virtual event.

Apply to one of our awards, grants, and scholarships today!

LEARN MORE

Great Reads. Important Themes.

All-new books by our members.

LEARN MORE

Latinx Kidlit Book Festival

SCBWI sponsored an in-depth boot camp for writers and illustrators for the Latinx Kidlit Book Festival, featuring the dynamic duo of Pam Muñoz Ryan and Jacqueline Alcántara. They shared their ideas on how to enrich stories with multicultural elements and create books that offer authentic representation of ourselves and our communities. The pair also offered great insight into how authors and illustrators can add cultural nuance to create a world in which all readers can see themselves. The panel was moderated by Latinx Kidlit Book Festival co-founder Ismée Williams.

If you missed it, do yourself a favor and check out the recorded conversation.

WATCH HERE

Current in KidLit

PEN America Report Shows ‘Rapid Acceleration’ of Book Bans in Schools by Andrew Albanese, PublishersWeekly.com

Bloomsbury Partners with Renée Watson and Indie Bookstores for Book Donations by Iyana Jones, PublishersWeekly.com

It's Never Too Late: Seven Authors on Making Their YA Debuts After Age 50 by Julia Edelstein, PublishersWeekly.com

Joint Statement in Response to Fight for the Future’s Letter Falsely Claiming that the Lawsuit Against Internet Archive’s Open Library Harms Public Libraries, The Author's Guild

Every month, SCBWI chooses a talented artist to be our Featured Illustrator. This month, we’re featuring Neha Rawat. Neha creates expressive characters in colorful settings that pull you into the image, showcasing her ability to tell a great story. Learn more about her work by visiting Neha Rawat’s website at https://www.nrbstudio.in.

CLICK HERE to watch a video interview between Neha Rewat and SCBWI Manager of Design and Illustration TeMika Grooms.

Are you interested in submitting work to be Featured Illustrator? Click here to watch the Featured Illustrator's interview and apply! https://www.scbwi.org/featured-illustrator/

SCBWI Impact and Legacy Fund: October Updates

Happy Autumn, friends and colleagues. This October, the Impact and Legacy Fund is knee-deep in new initiatives and programs.

First, we’re online! We’ve launched accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Follow us for updates on all grants, awards, and programs administered by the ILF, as well as the occasional pithy observation.

In mid-September, we also kicked off two new awards: the Stephen Fraser Encouragement Fund, which is open for submissions until November 15, and the Tomie DePaola Professional Development Award, which is open for submissions until November 1. Both of these awards are open to all children’s book professionals who have traditionally published at least one book, regardless of SCBWI membership status. Please spread the word and tell your friends to apply!

SCBWI Exclusive with...Alice Fugate, Associate Agent, Joy Harris Literary

Alice Fugate joined The Joy Harris Literary Agency in 2021. Originally from Atlanta, GA, she graduated from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN with a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing. Prior to joining JHLA, she was an associate agent at Trident Media Group, where she worked for two and a half years. Alice works primarily in the children’s book space, across all formats and genres, fiction and nonfiction, with a strong focus on picture books and middle grade. She also enjoys working on select adult projects, including stories about the American South, historical fiction, and works that explore faith, religion, music, world cultures, or nature––these topics are great for kids’ books too! She’s drawn to literary or well-written commercial projects that have a classic but fresh feel with distinctive, surprising voices from diverse backgrounds. In children’s books, she loves animal fables, fairy tale retellings, comedies of manners, light fantasy, magical realism, adventure tales, heartfelt contemporary, and narrative nonfiction. She’s not the best fit for stories involving aliens, outer space, paranormal romance, gross or slapstick humor, or novels told in verse. In everything, Alice looks for wit and whimsy.

Q: What was your path to becoming an agent?

A: I attended the Columbia Publishing Course in the summer of 2018 to try and ingratiate myself into the publishing industry. I was applying to jobs in publicity and marketing but not getting any interviews, feeling a little panicky, when I saw a listing for a receptionist/literary agent assistant position. It turned out that the agent hiring the assistant was an alumna of the program and sitting on a panel that afternoon. I spoke with her, figured out the connection, and applied that Monday afternoon after the panel—even though when I learned about agencies earlier that summer I thought to myself, “That sounds terrible. Who wants to sit around reading bad manuscripts all day?” But I got an interview immediately. I interviewed with HR on Tuesday and then with the CEO and the agent I’d be assisting on Thursday, got the offer that night, accepted, finished the course the next day (Friday), and started work the following Monday. Whew!