SCBWI Events, Book Festivals, and Conventions Happening in 2018

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Andrea Custer, Book Festivals, Book Fests, Claire Moore, conferences, Conventions, Helena Ku Rhee, Jacob Gerhardt, Lynn Becker, PB Rippey, Sarah Parker-Lee, SCBWI Annual Summer Conference, SCBWI members, Summer Conference

Hone your craft and connect with other writers, illustrators, and children’s book industry professionals at this year’s book fests and events. Grab your calendars and mark these dates.

Here are the dates for SCBWI’s biggest events for 2018:

March 3
Writers Day
Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles
This is a full-day to immerse yourself in expert keynote speakers, manuscript critiques, and agent pitch sessions. This year’s event, themed “Time to Level Up!,” offers writers a choice of three different levels based on experience and goals.
Read PB Rippey’s writer’s perspective on 2017’s event. Last year’s event also included illustrators. Read Lynn Becker’s illustrator’s perspective.

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Volunteer as a STAR Reader, Keep Kids Reading

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literacy, reading to kids, volunteering

Most folks in kid lit were big readers, and writers, as soon as they could string together sentences, myself included. But literacy among children isn’t a given. Kids’ book sales have been rising, which is great news, but there are still huge populations of kids who are underserved and overlooked when it comes to literacy. And that isn’t just bad for kid lit sales, it’s bad for society at large. According to the NEA, “…poor reading skills correlate heavily with lack of employment, lower wages, and fewer opportunities for advancement…And deficient readers are less likely to become active in civic and cultural life, most notably in volunteerism and voting.” Nobody wants that! So I decided to do something about it, and there’s an easy, fun way that you can too:

Vroman’s Steve ‘Mr. Steve’ Ross Shares Lessons From Storytime

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Bony Becker, Ezra Jacks Keats, Helen Palmer, Jon Agee, Kady MacDonald Denton, Mo Willems, Mr. Steve's Storytime, P.D. Eastman, Sandra Horning, Scott Campbell, Steve Ross, Valeri Gorbachev, Vroman's

Steve Ross has worked at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena since 1989, but chances are good that if you call the store and ask for him by his first and last name, the employee on the phone will think you have the wrong number.

That’s because Ross is known simply as Mr. Steve, as in Mr. Steve’s Storytime, a Vroman’s staple that takes over a bright corner of its voluminous children’s book section twice a week. Since taking the helm of Storytime in 1993, Ross has become a store icon whose image is captured in life-sized cardboard cutouts displayed around the store.

2016 Sue Alexander Service & Encouragement Award, Crystal Kite Award, and 2017 Writers & Illustrators Day Contest Winners

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Brian Won, Cheryl Bommarito Klein, Christina Wise, Cindy Marcus, Crystal Kite Award, Eliza Wheeler, J.R. Krause, Jill Tuckman, Kara B. Wilson, Kate O'Shaughnessy, Kes Trester, Kristen Baum, Laura Belevica, Molly Ruttan, Outer Space Bedtime Race, Sara Bayles, Sue Alexander Service and Encouragement Award, Tony Piedra, Wherever You Go

While Writers & Illustrators Day on Feb. 25 gave attendees a roadmap for projects upcoming and in progress, it also was a day to honor the creative and volunteer success of SCBWI members. Read on to find out the winners of the Sue Alexander Service and Encouragement Award, Crystal Kite Awards and Writers & Illustrators Day writing and illustration contests.

The 2016 Sue Alexander Service and Encouragement Award, selected from member nominations and presented to an SCBWI member for outstanding volunteer service, went to Jill Tuckman, SCBWI-LA webmaster.

Here’s what Sally Jones Rogan, SCBWI-LA co-regional advisor, said when presenting the award:

Writers & Illustrators Day 2017: PB Rippey, A Writer’s Perspective

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Lisa Cron, Melissa Manlove, Pam Gruber, PB Rippey

Author and SCBWI member PB Rippey reports on this year’s Writers & Illustrator’s Day.

The Skirball Cultural Center, nestled in the Santa Monica mountains, presides serenely over the 405 freeway’s regular traffic jams, yet is removed from city chaos. Inside, a foyer of vaulted glass, contemporary murals and magical installation lighting exudes a calming aura—one absorbed by the friendly mob checking in to the annual Los Angeles Writers & Illustrators Day on Feb. 25. I sipped complimentary coffee and mingled with chatty strangers, feeling transported from Los Angeles to a rural writer’s retreat.

A Whale of a Tale Children’s Bookshoppe: Bookstore Profile

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A Whale of a Tale Children's Bookshoppe, Adam Gidwitz, Alex Uhl, Fancy Nancy, Jen White, Jenna Bush, JK Rowling, Julie Andrews, Laura Bush, Mo Willems, Mother Bruce, Office Buckle and Gloria, Pax, Peggy Rathmann, Peter Brown, Robin Preiss Glasser, Ryan T. Higgins, Sarah Pennypacker, Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave, The Inquisitors Tale, The Wild Robot

Alex Uhl, left, and JK Rowling

A Whale of Tale Children’s Bookshoppe has been a fixture in Orange County since 1989.

The Irvine store gained a following through owner Alex Uhl’s expert book recommendations and author events, drawing publishing stars like JK Rowling, Julie Andrews, Laura and Jenna Bush, and Lemony Snicket.

Since moving to a smaller location three years ago, Uhl has focused on organizing author events at local schools and libraries.

“Whether you inspire one or five children,” she says. “It’s the glow in their eyes when they say ‘They came to my school.’”

What books are kids gobbling up right now?

Industry News: Augmented Reality

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Anomaly, Augmented Reality, Between Worlds, Brian Haberlin, Jay Anacleto, Morton Heilig, Penguin Random House, Skip Brittenham, YA, YA Fantasy

I recently attended a demonstration of the amazing Augmented Reality (AR) which accompanies Skip Brittenham’s new YA speculative fiction book, Between Worlds (released August 30^th). The AR is created when your mobile device’s camera registers one of the book’s thirteen illustrations, enabling three-dimensional images to literally pop out of the pages. Readers can interact with the characters by tapping these images. The AR also includes additional text not found in the book itself.

Brian Haberlin, Co-Founder of Anomaly Productions talks with us today.

Getting Your Geek On: Why You Should Check Out Comic-Con

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authors, Cindy Pon, Comic Con, Elizabeth Briggs, Emerge, Future Shock, Maryelizabeth Yturralde, published, Romina Russell, San Diego Comic Con, SCBWI members, SDCC, Serpentine, Tobie Easton, writing tips, YA, YA Fantasy, young adult, Zodiac series

Author Tobie Easton signing “Emerge” for fans in the signing area.

As a debut author, I have spent this year—and the time leading up to it—learning as much as I could about the publishing industry and about all the different ways to build a successful career as an author. One lesson that has stood above all the rest so far is that publishing is about finding your people. That team of people who really gets your writing—and who falls in love with it. It starts out with just you, then your critique partners, then (if you pursue traditional publishing) your agent, editor, and other members of the team at your publisher, then booksellers, and finally readers. No matter what stage of your writing career you’re at right now, here’s why conventions are so beneficial: They help you find your people.

SCBWI Los Angeles at the L.A. Times Festival of Books

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authors, community, illustrator tips, illustrators, middle grade, news, nonfiction, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, volunteers, writer, YA

How do you get 150,000 dedicated book buyers to consider your book? How do you get 50 authors and/or illustrators together to sell their work to those 150,000 eager buyers? The answer is the Los Angeles SCBWI booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Industry News: Important Recent Amazon Changes

by Christine Van Zandt

Last month, Amazon implemented important changes wherein books which appear to have “quality issues” are being flagged. Quality issues include typos, unsupported characters, cover issues, image quality, formatting, links, table errors, duplicated text, missing content, wrong content, content unsuited for reading on Kindle, and disappointing content.

Heated debate has ensued. Is Amazon infringing on our rights and acting like Big Brother? Or, is it about time they enforced restrictions to ensure mostly error-free books?