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My name is Lorijo Metz and, once again, I am coordinating the SCBWI-IL Speakers Directory. The 2009-2010 enrollment begins August 1 and runs through September 30. If you haven’t visited the Speakers Directory, check it out at http://www.scbwi-illinois.org/Speakers.html. Continue reading SCBWI-IL Speakers Directory Food for Thought is occasional, informal, member-generated programming designed to support our published members (“published” includes writing/illustrations in books, magazines, and religious publications). Usually held on Saturday mornings, at various locations suggested by our members, the programs are a chance to exchange expertise and experience on a given topic. To date, Food for Thought programs have helped members plan school visits, understand contracts, delve into online publicity, and launch savvy websites. Sometimes Food for Thought brings in a guest speaker, and often these programs are opened up to all our SCBWI members. October 17 will feature such a program. Robin Hoffman is on Scholastic’s national committee that chooses books for Scholastic Book Fairs. She will speak about the Book Fairs, including the book review and selection process, the members of the committee, the intersection with book clubs, and the Kids Are Authors program. Robin also proposes to bring Roy Schlegel, Field Sales Manager, to the program and invite several local Field Sales Reps (who are direct conduits to the schools) to attend. These are people you want to meet—with information you want to hear. Continue reading An Inside Look at Scholastic Book Fairs By Juliet C. Bond, LCSW
I was an hour and a half early. It was awesome. Continue reading An Early Bird Gets the Worm…at ALA By Jenny Meyerhoff Book in a Month: The Fool-Proof System for Writing a Novel in 30 Days For many authors, the idea of writing a “fast first draft,” or 50,000 words in a month, sounds incredibly alluring. However, for some, the intense pressure of the NaNoWriMo—five pages a day by the seat of your pants—method makes their fingers freeze. After attempting to fast draft several times, I’d pretty much resigned myself to being, if not a slow drafter, at the very least an average drafter. Continue reading A Fool-Proof Way to a Faster Draft By Carol Coven Grannick Sometimes no matter how hard you work at staying resilient, you hit a patch of space and time that overwhelms. You use every ounce of energy you can muster to keep yourself from heading into a downward spiral. The negativity pulls you down, but you want to stay afloat with your writing life, believing that your commitment and consistent effort will lead to your dreams coming true. But the realities of the business and the current financial climate frighten you and threaten to drag you down. You see a question on a writing listserv: “Is it fair that more and more agents and editors are saying you can only submit as a conference attendee, which eliminates all people who cannot afford to spend money for conferences?” You think, yes, that’s me. Is it fair? And more: Is it right? Continue reading Surprises for Hard Times By Sara Grant Ever considered ghostwriting children’s fiction? Ghostwriting can be a lucrative means to hone your craft, gain experience, and break into publishing. Working Partners is a creative think tank, specializing in series fiction for children, that works with ghostwriters. Continue reading Sara Grant of Working Partners: Writers Wanted By Brenda A. Ferber First Person, Past Tense…Perfect
There is so much to love about The Wednesday Wars, by Gary Schmidt. The complex and interesting characters. The fully realized historical (1967) setting. The seamless weaving of Shakespeare into the storyline. The humor. The heart. I could go on and on. But for this column, I’ll focus on just one thing. Voice. And since voice is a pretty big topic itself, I’ll focus on something even smaller…how to handle past tense in a first-person voice. Let’s learn from a master, shall we? Continue reading Books That Make You Go, “Oh!” By Dawn Malone In the few Kidslitosphere columns written so far, I’ve enjoyed finding blogs that stand out because of their unique content and/or design and bringing them forth to you. This month’s column is devoted to not just the usual handful of links, but several dozen. Why so many, you ask? Because the talent, knowledge, wit, and creative energy of your fellow SCBWI-Illinois members who blog are limitless. Yes, this column is all about our homegrown writers and illustrators who allow us to peek into their lives as they work, share, and inspire. I’ve had the pleasure of looking at all of these blogs over the past two weeks. Some I had known about already and check regularly; others are new to my “favorites” list. As you treasure hunt through the list below, I’m sure you’ll enjoy getting to know these blogs as much as I have. Continue reading Our First SCBWI-Illinois Blogroll! By Eileen Fesco I asked my 17-year-old bookseller and avid reader, Maria Granados, what goes into her decision to read a book. “I pick up a book that has an interesting cover, not a plain cover with just words on it. I’ll read the title and then the back cover, and if I like what it looks like and what it says, I’ll read it.” When asked for an example, Maria selected Sarah Dessen’s book Along for the Ride. “It has a cover that is attractive, and you want to know what it is all about.” I asked for more examples of what books she liked, and Crank and Glass, both by Ellen Hopkins, were pointed out. The covers on these were pretty plain, so what prompted her to read them? It turned out that these books were recommended by friends. Continue reading Owner of the Book Mouse on What Sells By Carmela Martino I can hardly believe that I’ve been writing this column for almost three years now. While I have enjoyed it very much, other projects are calling me. I hope readers have found this column helpful. If so, and you’d like to read more of my thoughts on the craft of writing, I hope you’ll visit the new blog I am now part of: http://www.TeachingAuthors.com. As a farewell gift to readers of this column, I thought I’d share “a few of my favorite things”—the craft books I’ve found most helpful over the years (and a few of my favorite blogs). Many of the books are on the bibliography of “recommended reading” I give my writing students, so I’ve listed them by author rather than by title. Also, many of these are older books that may no longer be in print, but you should be able to find them at your library or online through a used bookseller. Continue reading A Few of My Favorite Things 
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Early in the morning, when all the sane people are still asleep, I am wide awake. Sometimes I’m writing, but more often I’m reading. I’m knee-deep in something like the fabulous Liars’ Club, by Mary Karr, or a powerful Chris Crutcher young adult novel. My mind is sharpest at about 5:00 a.m., when the Lake Michigan fog still hovers above the water and the lone sounds of a runner’s feet slap their way up my block. So it was par for the course, really, that I left my house at 6:30 a.m. to drive down to McCormick Place for the first morning of the American Library Association (ALA) conference. I didn’t need to be there until 8:30 a.m. to set up for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) book signings, but I couldn’t wait, and I was up anyway, so…
The Wednesday Wars