Spring is writing conference season. In March, there are eleven conferences for writers of children’s and young adult literature, fifteen in April, and seven in May. There are plenty of workshops coming up, too, just be sure to check the deadlines for applying and sending in critique materials. The deadline for the Writing Barn’s April workshop with Linda Pratt and Hannah Barnaby, WRITE FOR YOUR LIFE: TURNING FACT INTO FICTION is right around the cornier, March 12!
Fresh news! SCBWI-Houston has just announced an Illustrators Day with Geisel Award winning author-illustrator Greg Pizzoli! This exciting workshop will be held at the beautiful Lanier Library.
We’ve got a nice spread of events this week, two workshops and two author presentations, one fiction, one not. Scroll down to see the conference updates. Please use the Subscribe to Updates form on the left to keep up with these weekly additions.
KIDLIT AUTHOR EVENTS
MARCH 2, WEDNESDAY, 5:00 PM
Blue Willow Bookshop
Obert Skye, MG Author
Obert Skye will discuss and sign LOST & FOUND, the second book in the WITHERWOOD REFORM SCHOOL series. Tobias and Charlotte Eggers are not on vacation. Well, I suppose they are on a vacation from everything they once knew. Locked within the walls of Witherwood, high upon a mysterious mesa, they are still looking for a way out. There are distractions, however. The very ground is shaking, and the creatures that protect the school are revolting. When one of their only friends goes missing it leads to a devastating secret. But there is hope. There are other students who have clear minds and are also fighting to get out. Luckily for everyone, Tobias has a plan. It’s a dangerous one, but if it works, it could forever change their fate and Witherwood’s future.
MARCH 5, SATURDAY, 9:30 AM-12:30 PM
Writespace
Workshop: Worldbuilding
Instructor: Cassandra Rose Clarke
COST: $30-$45
In fiction, setting can be as an important of a character as the people. And in speculative fiction, that character often needs to be built from the ground—and history, and culture, and physics—up. In this workshop, instructor Cassandra Rose Clark will be tackling worldbuilding. What issues arise when you set a story in a world that’s not our own? How can we build worlds as complex and lived in as the real one? How can we avoid creating the same fantastical world that’s been created a thousand times before? This class will attempt to answer these questions and more through writing exercises and class discussion. This workshop is designed to have you step forward carrying the seeds of a brand new world.
MARCH 5-19, SATURDAYS, 1-2:30 PM
Writespace
Workshop: The Art of Reading Your Work Aloud
Instructor: Julietta Parra Ducote
COST: $50-$70
Does the idea of reading your literary work aloud leave you feeling nervous or even terrified? Never fear, for a few simple techniques will help you to relax, enjoy your reading, and captivate your audience’s attention. Whether you have never read your work aloud or have read dozens of times and want constructive feedback, this workshop will boost your confidence and transform your skills. Preparation is key to giving an excellent reading, so in this workshop, we will learn how to prepare—for, as Benjamin Franklin said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Participants should wear comfortable clothes and bring a water bottle, an audio recorder (such as, an app on a phone), and a writing sample to practice reading aloud. This workshop includes take-home assignments that can easily be accomplished in 1-2 hours.
MARCH 7, MONDAY 7:00-9:00 PM
Tracy Gee Community Center
SCBWI Meeting: Nonfiction Author Wendy Lanier
The public is welcome to join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and author Wendy Lanier for a presentation and discussion about writing for the educational market. Wendy Lanier is a former elementary science teacher whose writing experience includes titles for Lerner Books, Capstone Press, Lucent Books, KidHaven Press, and contributions to such publications as Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse, CBN.com, MOPS.org, DevoKids.com, and The Amazing Bible Factbook for Kids (a publication of Time Inc. Home Entertainment and the Livingstone Corp.).
Here’s this week’s conference updates! Click over to the main pages for more information on these events.
AGENTS AND EDITORS AT CONFERENCES
MARCH 10-13: NEW YORK PITCH CONFERENCE, NEW YORK, NY
AGENT: Paula Munier/Talcott Notch Literary Services
EDITORS: Michelle Vega/Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin Group; Elizabeth Poteet/St. Martins Press; Brendan Deneen/Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan; Kat Brzozowski/St. Martins/Macmillan; Ibrahim Ahmad/Akashic Books
MARCH 18-22: MOUNT HERMON CHRISTIAN WRITERS CONFERENCE, SANTA CRUZ, CA
EDITORS: Catherine DeVries/David C Cook, Children’s Resources; Kristen Gearhart/Keys for Kids; Lynn Gilliam/Pockets; Linda Howard/Tyndale House Publishers; Jillian Manning/>Zonderkidz/Blink/Harper Collins Christian Publishing; Peggy Schaefer/Worthy Kids & Ideals
APRIL 9: KWELI JOURNAL ANNUAL CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITERS CONFERENCE, New York, NY
AGENTS: Victoria Wells Arms/Wells Arms Literary; Beth Phelan/Bent Agency; Regina Brooks/Serendipity Literary Agency
EDITORS: Joanna Cardenas/Viking/Penguin; Jessica Echeverria/Lee & Low Books; T.S. Ferguson/Harlequin Teen; Katherine Harrison/Knopf; Andrew Harwell/Harper Collins; Cheryl Hudson/Just Us Books; Connie Hsu/Roaring Brook, Macmillan; Grace Kendall/FSG/Macmillan; Cheryl Klein/Arthur A. Levine, Scholastic; Alvina Ling/Little Brown Books for Young Readers; Lynne Polvino/Clarion; Natalia Remis/Scholastic; Eileen Robinson/MOVE Books; Rachel Stark/Skyhorse Press; Harold Underdown/Freelance Editor/ The Purple Crayon; Stacy Whitman/Tu Books, Lee and Low Books; Phoebe Yeh/Crown Books for Young Readers, Random House Children’s Books
APRIL 29-MAY 1: MISSOURI WRITERS GUILD CONFERENCE, KANSAS CITY, MO
AGENTS: Reiko Davis/DeFiore and Company; Adriana Dominguez, Full Circle Literary
EDITORS: Philip Martin/Crickhollow Books/Crispin Books; Georgia McBride/Month9Books; Eileen Robinson/>Move Books
BONUS! SCBWI-Houston author Crystal Allen will talk about the process of getting noticed as a new author and going from Zero to Series.
PLUS! SCBWI-Oklahoma author Gwendolyn Hooks will discuss Nonfiction for Kids and Work for Hire.
JUNE 9: SCBWI-MIDATLANTIC AUTHORS WORKSHOP, ROANOKE, VA
EDITOR: Kelsey Murphy/HarperCollins Children’s Books, Balzer + Bray
SEPTEMBER 30-OCTOBER 2: 24TH ANNUAL SCBWI CAROLINAS FALL CONFERENCE, CHARLOTTE, NC
AGENTS: Josh Adams/Adams Literary; Tracey Adams/Adams Literary, Stephen Fraser/Jennifer deChiara Agency, Deborah Warren/East West Agency
EDITORS: Jill Davis/Katherine Tegan Books; Stacey Friedberg/Dial Books; Alyson Heller/Simon & Schuster; Annie Nybo/Margaret K. McElderry Books; Harold Underdown/Freelance Editor/The Purple Crayon
ART DIRECTOR: Giuseppe Castellano/The Penguin Group
RETREATS & WRITING WORKSHOPS
JUNE 19: WRITING FOR THE EDUCATIONAL MARKET, HONESDALE, PA
AUTHOR: Jan Fields
EDITORS: Cindy Kane (Dial Books for Young Readers), Paula Morrow/(Cricket Magazine Group/ Schoolwide, Inc.)
JULY 8–11: PICTURE BOOK RETREAT: PICTURING WORDS AND WRITING PICTURES, CROPTHORNE PERSHARE, WORCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Lynne Chapman
JULY 17-23: SUMMER CAMP AT THE BARN: A WEEK OF CREATIVE MENTORSHIP, HONESDALE, PA
AUTHORS: Kathryn Erskine, Jillian Sullivan, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Mitali Perkins
AGENT: Adriana Domínguez/Full Circle Literary
INSTRUCTORS: Patricia Lee Gauch/(Philomel Books), Alison Green Myers/National Writing Fellow
AUGUST 21-24: HOW DO POETS GET PUBLISHED? LEARNING WHAT IT TAKES, HONESDALE, PA
POET: David L. Harrison, N. Griffin
AUGUST 21-27: WHOLE NOVEL WORKSHOP, HONESDALE, PA
AUTHOR: Tobin (M.T.) Anderson
SEPTEMBER 9-11: NYWCU-SCBWI NOVEL REVISION RETREAT, SYRACUSE, NY
INSTRUCTOR: Darcy Pattison/Mims House Publisher
SEPTEMBER 11-15: THE HEART AND CRAFT OF WRITING POETRY FOR CHILDREN, HONESDALE, PA
POETS: Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Georgia Heard
EDITOR: Rebecca M. Davis/ Boyds Mills Press/WordSong
OCTOBER 5-9: PERFECTING THE PICTURE BOOK TEXT, HONESDALE, PA
AUTHORS: Kathryn Erskine, Kristi Dempsey
OCTOBER 23–26: CREATING PAGE-TURNING NONFICTION FOR MIDDLE GRADE READERS AND UP, HONESDALE, PA
AUTHORS: Deborah Hopkinson; Pamela S. Turner
OCTOBER 26–29: CARVING OUT YOUR PICTURE BOOK FOR SUBMISSION, HONESDALE, PA
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Eric Rohman
AUTHOR: Candace Fleming
NOVEMBER 1-6: WRITING AND REVISING NARRATIVE NONFICTION, HONESDALE, PA
AUTHORS: Deborah Heiligman; Barbara Kerley
EDITORS: Carolyn P. Yoder/Calkins Creek Books, Boyd’s Mills; Nancy Feresten/National Geographic Children’s Books
NOVEMBER 10-13: CRASH COURSE IN CHILDREN’S BOOK PUBLISHING, HONESDALE, PA
EDITOR: Harold Underdown/Independent Editor
AUTHORS: Jo Knowles; Lindsay Barrett George
PUBLISHING CONSULTANT: Bobbi Combs
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