Three things every writer should do…

1. Enjoy their craft
2. Laugh a lot
3. Attend at least one SCBWI Summer Conference

Six years ago I registered for my first SCBWI Summer Conference with the hopes of learning more about writing for children from professionals in the field. I wasn’t sure what to expect, wondered what to pack, and hoped that the money spent would be well worth it.

Let me start by telling you the answers to the questions that plagued me my first time. That way, if you’ve never been to the SCBWI-LA Summer Conference and are thinking about going you’ll be one step ahead of most first-timers. Expect to make friends, be inspired, and have a large selection of breakout sessions to choose from. Pack comfortable clothes, your laptop, pens, notepad, business cards, your Saturday night costume for the party, and cash (SCBWI offers a discount on everything purchased at the bookstore if you use cash). And yes, the money spent is well worth it.

It doesn’t matter if you’re new to writing for children or a seasoned veteran, there’s something for everyone. From dancing between words in picture books, to mastering the visual language, to putting together a good portfolio, it’s extremely rewarding to pick up useful tips and techniques you can apply to your own work-in-progress (called a WIP by seasoned writers).

While I didn’t come home with a book contract—and yeah, even though I knew the chances of that happening were rare, this girl still hoped it would—I did come home inspired, and the knowledge I gained far exceeded my expectations. I gained valuable insight into the publishing industry, had an arsenal of tips ready to be applied to my writing, and learned several new techniques about how to create scenes so vivid the reader would feel as if he or she is walking in my character’s shoes. I was bursting with ideas on how to improve my WIP, and I was able to look at my story with a fresh perspective.

By my third conference, I wanted to further my experience. To do that, I took a class in mastering voice offered by the conference. It ended up being one of the best writing courses I’ve attended. After participating in this 3-hour course I felt I had a better handle on voice and how to make mine stronger. And in 2013, SCBWI is offering even more intensives. So many choices, so little time—what’s a writer or illustrator to choose?

The energy at this conference is something you must experience to be able to understand. It’s just one of the reasons writers both published and unpublished keep going back. For four days you’re immersed in your craft. Four days void of the everyday distractions that become a writer’s excuse for not having time to write. Four days to dedicate solely to you and your writing or illustrating career.

For me, attending the conference is a way of recharging my creative battery. I get to spend four days immersed in the craft I love, hanging out with people who understand what it takes to become a published author or illustrator. I dare you to find out what the conference will mean to you. (You can use this line when you tell your significant other that you’ll be attending—blame it on me for daring you. In fact, I double-dog dare you. Can’t refuse now.)

Before I go, I’d like to leave you with a few easy do’s and don’ts:

• Don’t be afraid to talk to the person sitting next to you in the main auditorium and breakout sessions.
• Do introduce yourself to a group of writers relaxing in the lobby.
• Don’t stalk agents and editors. (Seriously, they don’t want your manuscript slipped to them while they’re eating breakfast.)
• Do say hi and strike up a casual conversation with agents and editors when you see them in the lobby or elevator.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
• Do leave room in your suitcase for the books you’ll buy while there.
• Don’t forget to put a penny in your nametag. (It’s how us Illinois writers and illustrators spot each other quickly.)
• And finally, DO go and let Fate have his or her way with you. You’ll be glad you did.

Cherie Colyer is the author of Embrace and Hold Tight (coming this summer) and co-representative of the SCBWI Illinois Northwest Group, where she enjoys helping budding writers improve their craft and learn more about the publishing industry. For more of her thoughts on writing, stop by her blog at http://cheriecolyer.blogspot.com or Friend her on Facebook.

***EVENTS (roughly by date)***

ANDERSON’S BOOKSHOP
Information is subject to change; some events require tickets. For more information on these and other upcoming events, visit http://www.andersonsbookshop.com/events.php, or call 630-355-2665 for AB Naperville (123 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville) and ATDE (Anderson’s Two Doors East, 111 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville) or 630-963-2665 for AB Downers Grove (5112 Main St., Downers Grove).

• May 16 – Kevin Emerson, author of The Fellowship for Alien Detection and The Dark Shore, 7:00 p.m. at AB Naperville
• May 19- Class Acts event with Chris Healy, author of The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle, Soman Chainani, author of The School for Good and Evil, and Jarrett Krosoczka, author of Platypus Police Squad, 2:00 p.m. at AB Naperville
• Jun. 1 – Divya Srinivasan, author of Octopus Alone, 2:00 p.m. at AB Naperville

BOOK EXPO AMERICA
When: May 29-June 1, 2013
Where: Javits Center, New York, NY
Details: Book Expo features an author conference, marketplace, and breakfast, international forums, and meetings with booksellers. This year’s headliners include Mary Pope Osborne, Rick Riordan, and Veronica Roth. For more information, visit http://bookexpoamerica.com

42^ND ANNUAL SCBWI CONFERENCE
When: August 2-5, 2013
Where: Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles, CA
Details: Registration is available now. For more information, visit http://www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/International-Conferences

***AWARDS***

JOHN NEWBERY MEDAL (ALA)
Winner

• The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Honor Books

• Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick Press)
• Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin (Flash Point, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press)
• Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage (Dial Books for Young Readers)

MICHAEL PRINTZ AWARD (ALA)
Winner

• • In Darkness by Nick Lake (Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers)

Honor Books

• • Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (Simon & Schuster BFYR)
• • Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (Hyperion)
• • Dodger by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
• • The White Bicycle by Beverley Brenna (Red Deer Press)

RANDOLPH CALDECOTT MEDAL (ALA)
Winner

• This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press)

Honor Books

• Creepy Carrots! illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• Extra Yarn illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett (Balzer + Bray)
• Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press)
• One Cool Friend, illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo (Dial Books for Young Readers)
• Sleep Like a Tiger, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Mary Logue (Mifflin Books for Children)

REBECCA CAUDILL YOUNG READER’S BOOK AWARD
For readers 4^th-8^th grade:
Winner

• Smile by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic)

More information at http://www.rcyrba.org

MONARCH AWARDS
For readers K-3^rd grade:

• First Place: Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes written by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean (HarperCollins)
• Second Place: We Are in a Book written and illustrated by Mo Willems (Hyperion)
• Third Place: Even Monsters Need Haircuts written and illustrated by Matthew McElligott (Walker & Co.)

More information at http://www.islma.org

BLUESTEM AWARDS
For readers 3^rd-5^th grade:

• First Place: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
• Second Place: Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea (Random House Children’s Books)
• Third Place: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick Press)

More information at http://www.islma.org

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AWARDS
For readers 9^th-12^th grade:

• First Place: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Penguin Group)
• Second Place: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
• Third Place: The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Penguin Group)

More information at http://www.islma.org

***GRANTS***

MARTHA WESTON GRANT
What: A grant for published SCBWI writer or illustrator members who wish to publish in a different genre for children. The $1,500 grant is expected to fund expenses toward the annual SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles.
Requirements: To apply, email a one-page letter that includes a brief summary of your publishing career, the new genre you wish to pursue, and how the SCBWI Summer Conference will help. Email letters to: Lissa Rovetch, Martha Weston Grant Coordinator, lissa_rovetch@yahoo.com
Deadline: Letters must be received by email by June 1, 2013. The winner will be notified by June 15^th and must plan on attending the SCBWI Annual Conference in August 2013.
More information: http://www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/Martha-Weston-Grant

KATHERINE PATERSON PRIZE FOR YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S WRITING
What: An annual prize for Young Adult and Children’s Literature. Three category winners receive $100 each and publication. The categories are Young Adult (YA), Middle Grade (MG), and Picture Book or Writing for Young Children. One overall first place winner receives $1,000 and publication.
Requirements: Submit by email or postal service an original, unpublished piece under 10,000 words. Your entry may be a short story or a novel excerpt, but if it is a novel excerpt, it should stand alone. $20.00 entry fee. Further instructions can be found at: http://www.hungermtn.org/katherine-paterson-prize-for-young-adult-and-childrens-writing/
Deadline: June 30, 2013

Dana Wilson Easley writes MG and YA novels. She is co-rep of the LaGrange-Naperville network and Managing Editor of The Prairie Wind. She has been working her way through the alphabet for careers, pausing at archaeologist, then attorney, and finally settling on author.

Classes, conferences and workshops provide opportunities for professional contacts, manuscript critiques, networking and fellowship.  Many an unpublished manuscript has been refocused, redefined, rewritten and published after its author attended a class or workshop.

CLASSES

SCHOOL OF ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
37 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago, IL 60603
Dept. of Continuing Studies and Special Program
Children’s Book Illustration Studio
Tuesdays and Thursdays, May 28 to June 27, 2013, 6 to 9 pm
Instructor: Laura Nyman Montenegro, Author, Illustrator
Sharp 1215
This course emphasizes the artist’s role in children’s picture book illustration and focuses on the world of visual storytelling. Through demonstrations and in-class assignments, students working at a variety of skill levels explore materials and techniques used to create children’s book illustrations; images that guide children into a whole new imaginative universe through a sequence of memorable visual images.  Creating book dummies to organize their ideas, students learn to balance text and image on the page.  Students should have some basic drawing skills.
For more information, contact us at CS@SAIC.edu
http://www.saic.edu/cs/noncreditcourses/courses/

BIG TABLE STUDIO SUMMER WORKSHOPS
1700 Crain Street
Evanston, IL 60202
Instructor: Laura Nyman Montenegro, Author, Illustrator
For information or to register: 847-328-4175 or lauramontenegro@sbcglobal.net; http://www.lauranymanmontenegro.com

WORKSHOP ONE:
The Early World-Experiments in Picture Book Making
June 8 and 9, 2013, 9 am to 4 pm
Cost: $240 (Sign up for Workshop One and Workshop Two and pay only $200 per workshop)
Price includes vegetarian lunch both days
Growth, change and transformation are the dynamics of the childhood world and are the deeper currents running through many picture book forms.  In this class, students will create book dummies using transformation as underlying theme.  Through guided exercises, you will learn how to generate story ideas through image making and discover the storyboard as a natural story-shaper. Through a series of pictorial problems, you will build a repertoire of writing pieces, illustration skills and techniques.  Mediums include: cut-paper collage,tempera paint, pen & ink and watercolor.  Emphasis will be on finding and developing personal artistic expression.  No drawing experience necessary. Beginners welcome.

WORKSHOP TWO:
Memory and Image-Making – Experiments in Picture Book Making
June 22 and 23, 2013, 9 am to 4 pm
Cost $240 (Sign up for Workshop One and Workshop Two and pay only $200 per workshop)
Price includes vegetarian lunch for both days
Memory is the taproot to some of the most potent imagery a picture book maker has available when creating a story.   In this class, we will use playful exercises to draw from this well of imagery.  Through guided exercises, students will explore how fragments of these images become springboards tor the creating of several picture book story forms, then build an understanding of story structure through the creation of storyboard and book dummy.  Many of the richest, most rounded stories come to be in this way.  Cut-paper collage, tempera, pen & ink, watercolor and other mediums explored.  Emphasis will be on finding and developing personal artistic expression.  No drawing experience necessary.  Beginners welcome.

The Art Of Making Picture Books
Peninsula School of Art
3900 County F. Fish Creek, WI 54212
July 16 to July 19, 2013, 9 am to 4 pm
Instructor: Laura Nyman Montenegro
The picture book is an art form rich with expressive possibilities.  This studio class is for the beginner as well as the more experienced picture book artist who wishes to develop art techniques and design within the context of the picture book.  As author, illustrator and book designer, you will create several picture book dummies and through a series of pictorial problems, build a repertoire of writing pieces, illustration skills and techniques.   Emphasis will be on finding and developing personal artistic expression.
http://www.peninsulaartschool.com/

Also offering private instruction; call 847-328-4175 or email for information lauramontenegro@sbcglobal.net

COLLEGE OF DU PAGE
GLEN ELLYN CAMPUS
425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn 60137
What: Writing for Children and Young Adults: From Goodnight Moon to Harry Potter
When: Saturday, July 13, 2013, 9 am to 3 pm
Instructor: Carmela Martino
Details: This class is a one-day introduction to the children’s writing field–from picture books and magazines to teen novels.  Learn about the genres of children’s literature, the current marketplace, and how to submit a manuscript.
Cost: $89
Please bring a sack lunch
Course Code: #LEISR–0052-005
For more information: http://www.carmelamartin.com/events.htm

THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY
60 W. Walton St., Chicago
The Write Place: A Facilitated Children’s Book Writers Group
Wednesdays, June 4 through July 17, 2013, 5:45 pm to 7:45 pm
Note: Class will not meet on July 3
Instructor: Author and Children’s Book Writing Coach Esther Hershenhorn
Writers will have the opportunity to share their stories in a supportive, focused and enlightening environment.  Facilitated discussions of participants’ manuscripts will highlight the writing process, story components, elements of narrative, craft, revision and a story’ s marketability within today’s children’s book publishing world.  Writers of all levels, all formats and all genres will be offered a variety of writing exercises, suggested readings and current marketing information.

ELA Area Public Library Series on the Art And Craft for Writing For Children
All sessions are on Saturdays, are free and open to the public. Some speakers will offer optional written critiques; more information about fees and guidelines will be given during their presentations.
Please register for each session separately at http://www.eapl.org under “events” or call 847-438-3433.

Session 6, September 7, 2013, 10 am to 12 pm
Life Happens!  How To Keep Moving Forward With Your Writing
When Michele Weber Hurwitz, author of the middle grade novel, Calli Be Gold, decided to go after her lifelong dream of writing a book, she encountered many obstacles.  Find out what made her keep going, even in the roughest, most doubtful moments.  Michele will share “ten ways to make your writing a priority”–as important as everything else in your life–and inspire you to succeed.

Session 7: September 7, 2013, 1-3 pm
Research For Writers
While authors are told to “write what you know,” sometimes we desire to go further afield.  Barbara Binns, author of the YA novel, Pull, will discuss why research is necessary and how to plan and carry out techniques beyond simple Googling, including personal interviews and the use of social media and collaborative work.

Session 8: October 5, 2013, 10 am to 12 pm
Great Beginnings: How To Hook Readers and Keep Them Turning the Pages
Using examples from fiction and non-fiction, and from picture books to teen novels, Carmela Martino, author of Rosa Sola, will discuss the four key elements of intriguing openings.  Bring the first page (up to 200 words) of a manuscript with the title and genre printed at the top.  If time permits, a few randomly-chosen first pages will be critiqued at the end of the session.

The following classes are taught by Michelle Kogan
Email Michelle with any questions at: mkogan@mdandmk.com

Emily Oaks Nature Center (Skokie)
Plein Air Painting Workshop (244451-01)
May 18th and 25th, 2013 (Rain Date June 1), 9:30 am to 12:30 pm
Cost: Resident Rate $60/Nonresident rate $75
Immerse yourself in a two-day plein air painting workshop on the grounds of the Emily Oaks Nature Center.   Emphasis will be placed in creating strong compositions, color and technique. Some drawing and painting experience is helpful.
For online registration click on: http://www.skokieparks.org or call 847-677-7001

Evanston Art Center
2603 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60201

The Figure: Creating a Body of Work, Class ID: 0176
1st Five week class starts Tuesday, June 11th, 2013; 2nd Five week class starts July 16th, 2013, 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Cost: Regular Member Rate $148 Discounted (Resident) Rate $143
Create a series of related artwork using the figure (life model) as a departure point.  Bring drawing material and materials for the medium you will be working in.  Each class will begin with warm up poses.

Vibrant Watercolors With Tubes & Pencils, Class ID: 0160
1st Five week class starts Wednesday, June 12th, 2013; 2nd Five week class starts July 17th, 2013, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm
Regular Member Rate $138 Discounted (Resident) Rate $133
Join this guild style watercolor class and work  independently on your own paintings.   Create vibrant compositions using watercolor tubes and pencils. Receive individual instruction on composition, techniques and using transparent versus opaque watercolor.
For online registration, click on: http://www.evanstonartcenter.org or call 847-475-5300

Plein Air at the Lincoln Park Conservatory
2391 N. Stockton Drive, Chicago, IL 60614
The Conservatory is located in Lincoln Park, near the northwest entrance of the Lincoln Park Zoo.
1st Five week class starts Thursday, June 13, 2013, 2nd Five week class starts July 25, 2013, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, Rate $150
Bring your paints, easel and brushes and create Plein Air art in the gardens of the Conservatory.  In the event of rain, we’ll work in the greenhouses.   Choose from watercolor, oil, acrylic and drawing mediums.  Beginners will start with monochromatic paintings/drawings and move to full color.  Seasoned artists will be given criticism in composition, color and technique.
Class will not meet on Thursday, July 18th.
To register, email Michelle at: mkogan@mdandmk.com

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago
Plein Air Watercolor Class with exhibited artist Michelle Kogan Teen & Adult Class
Four week class starts Saturday, July 20th, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm Rate $150
Absorb yourself in a Plein Air Watercolor Painting Workshop amongst summer perennials and prairie grasses in the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum’s native prairie.
For online registration click on: http://www.naturemuseum.org or call 773-755-5122

Pamela Dell is offering two classes this summer at New Trier High School’s adult education division:
The Nuts, Bolts & ABC’s of Fiction Writing:
In weekly presentations as well as in-class exercises and take-home assignments, this 10-week class covers all the basics of the craft of fiction writing — plot, character, dialog, etc.  This is essentially the same class as Pamela’s previous “Nuts, Bolts & ABC’s of Writing For Kids” class and will address specific material for “kidlit” authors.  But since the essential skills of writing fiction are the same no matter the audience you’re writing for, any aspiring fiction writer is welcome.
Workshopping Your Short Story or Novel
If you have a fiction work in progress, or an idea in mind that you’d like to get going, this10-week class will give you the opportunity to get great feedback in an easygoing, informal setting as well as input from  longtime experienced editor (Pamela). Meeting weekly to discuss the specifics of participants’ work is a great motivator for moving forward and it will also greatly sharpen your writing skills.  Creative nonfiction writers are also welcome!

Both classes will begin in mid-June, the workshop will probably be scheduled for an evening weeknight. Course fee is $200 for each class (slightly less for seniors).  For more information, contact Pamela Dell at pjdell@earthlink.net

The following institutions also offer classes and workshops for writers and illustrators.  Specific class information was not available at time of publication.

THE RAGDALE FOUNDATION
Lake Forest, IL
Phone 847-234-1063 or visit http://www.ragdale.org

THE WRITERS CENTER AT ELGIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Elgin, IL
Regular writing workshop plus weekend special-topic workshops
Phone 847-697-1000, Ext 7578

July 11, 12, 13, 2013
Peninsula Art School
Door County, WI
The Artist’s Sketchbook.  For advanced beginners
Instructor: Sallie Wolf, Author
Participants must be able to draw independently.
How do you develop your ideas and grow as an artist?   Where do you explore and store your images? For Sallie, the answer lies in keeping an artist’s journal/sketchbook.  You don’t keep a sketchbook?  In this workshop you will explore many different ways to use a sketchbook, from journal-keeping to drawing from life, from compositional thumbnails to color studies, from studying, analyzing and copying the masters to logging your own ideas daily. You will learn how the practice of keeping a sketchbook enables your art to grow in depth and in new direction.  You will even have the opportunity to bind a simple sketchbook in a size and format of your own choosing.
For information concerning the Peninsula Art School and this workshop, see http://www. peninsulaartschool.com.

SCBWI ILLINOIS
June 21 to June 23, 2013
Words in the Woods Reflections Retreat
Villa Maria
1903 E. Lake Shore Drive
Springfield, IL
Contact: Alice McGinty

SCBWI INDIANA
May 3 to May 5, 2013
Wild, Wild, Midwest SCBWI Conference
Fort Wayne Marriott
305 East Washington Center Road
Fort Wayne, IN 46825
This conference reflects the combined efforts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio SCBWI

SCBWI-IOWA
June 1, 2013, 9 am to 4:30 pm
A Wave of Inspiration
Coralville Public Library
Contact: Connie Heckert, RA

SCBWI OHIO
June 22, 2013, 9 am to 4 pm
Summer Progressive Writer’s Retreat
Roots and Wings Ranch
6589 Carsten Road
Medina, OH 44256
Contact: Victoria Selvaggio,RA

July 20, 2013, 10 am to 12 pm
Critique Meet with Author, Joan Arbogast
Conference Room, Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library
3512 Darrow Road,
Stow, Ohio 44224
Contact: Victoria Selvaggio, RA

August 17, 2013, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
No More Excuses…Time Management for Writers
North Olmsted Library  (big meeting room)
27425 Butternut Ridge Road
North Olmsted, OH 44070
Contact: Victoria Selvaggio, RA

SCBWI WISCONSIN
May 4, 2013
2 workshops for Children’s Writers with authors Linda Skeers and Marcia Hoehne
Muehl Public Library
Seymour, WI
Contact: Miranda Paul

SCBWI INTERNATIONAL
42nd Annual Summer Conference
August 2-5, 2013
Los Angeles, California
Visit http://SCBWI.org for faculty, registration and information.

RETREATS, CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES

HIGHLIGHTS FOUNDATION FOUNDERS WORKSHOPS
FOR PROFESSIONAL AND ASPIRING WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS
Honesdale, PA
Conferences include seminars, small-group workshops, and one-on-one sessions with some of the most accomplished, prominent and supportive authors, illustrators, editors, critics and publishers of the world of children’s literature, all determined to help authors and illustrators meet their goals

May 12 to May 18, 2013
Whole Novel Workshop: Fantasy
Workshop Faculty: Franny Billingsley, Laura Ruby, Anne Ursu, Deborah Kovacs
Special Guests: Karyn Henley, Christine Heppermann, Cheryl Pientka

May 19 to May 23, 2013
The Poet’s Poetry Workshop
Workshop Faculty: Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Special Guests: Rebecca Davis, Lee Bennett Hopkins

May 30 to June 2, 2013
Sharing Our Hope: Writing for Religious and Inspirational Markets
Workshop Faculty: Paula Morrow, Kristi Holl

June 2 to June 9, 2013
Writing Retreat With Two Authors in Residence
Workshop Faculty: Kim T. Griswell, Lori Ries

June 2 to June 5, 2013
A Concentrated Course in Nonfiction
Workshop Faculty: Peter P. Jacobi

June 9 to June 12, 2013
Writing Jewish-Themed Children’s Books
Workshop Faculty: Barbara Krasner, Pnina Moed Kass, Debra Hess, Rebecca Short, Emily Seife, Regina Griffin

June 12 to June 16, 2013
Playing Tio Win: A Dramatic Approach to Solving Story Problems
Workshop Faculty: Sandy Asher, Joe Lauderdale

June 16 to June 22, 2013
Writing Fiction For Children and Young Adults
Workshop Faculty: Patricia Lee Gauch, Kathryn Erskine, Rich Wallace, Janet Taylor Lisle
Special Guests: Holly McGhee, Jennifer Brown

June 23 to June 26, 2013
Writing for the Educational Market
Workshop Faculty: Paula Morrow, Jan Fields

June 30 to July 3, 2013
The Unfinished Manuscript And What To Do About it
Workshop Faculty: Susan Pearson, Juanita Havill

July 1 to July 7, 2013
Guided Retreat: Writing in Residence–July
Workshop Faculty: Jillian Sullivan

July 7 to July 13, 2013
Writing From The Heart
Workshop Faculty: Joy Cowley, Jillian Sullivan

July 14 to July 20, 2013
Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults
Workshop Faculty: Peter P. Jacobi,  Stephen R. Swinbourne, Larry Dane Brimner, Lionel Bender

August 4 to August 10, 2013
Whole Novel Workshop: Young Adult
Workshop Faculty: Cynthia Leitich Smith, Greg Leitich Smith,Tina Wexler, Nancy Werlin
Special Guests: Sarah LaPolla, Bethany Hegedus, Amy Rose Capetta

August 12 to August 17, 2013
Kid’s Book Revision Retreat
Workshop Faculty: Harold Underdown, Eileen Robinson

August 17 to August 24, 2013
Carolyn P. Yoder’s Alumni Retreat
Workshop Faculty: Carolyn P. Yoder

August 24 to  August 28, 2013
Fairy Tales Revisted
Workshop Faculty: Donna Jo Napoli, Gail Carson Levine

August 29 to September 2, 2013
Advanced Illustrator’s Workshop
Workshop Faculty: E. B. Lewis, Matt Tavares

For all workshops, phone 877-512-8365 with questions.  To register or to request more information, e-mail Jo Lloyd, Program Assistant, jalloyd@highlightsfoundation.org

May 30 to June 2, 2013
Sharing Our Hope: Writing for Religious and Inspirational Markets
Highlights Foundation
Boyds Mills, PA
Instructors: Paul Morrow and Kristi Hall
http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/workshops/writing-for-the-Christian-market

June 23 to 26, 2013
Writing For the Educational Market
Highlights Foundation
Boyds Mills, PA
Instructors: Paula Morrow and Jan Fields
http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/workshops/writing-for-the-educational-market

August 24, 2013, 10 am to 11:30 am
LaGrange-Naperville Network of SCBWI-Illinois.
Lisle Library
Writing For the Magazine Market
Instructor: Paula Morrow

Off Campus Writers’ Workshop (OCWW) meets every Thursday morning at the Winnetka Community House, 620 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka.
The workshops provide outstanding authors, editors and publishers throughout the season from September through April each year.  Fred Shafer, an experienced literary editor, writer, and teacher of writing in the Northwestern School of Continuing Studies, kicks off the year with four dynamic workshops in September. All sessions are open to the public at $15 per session.  You don’t have to be a member of OCWW to attend.  However, there are many professional and personal benefits of membership.  Each year’s sessions help all writers to extend their talents in today’s complex and changing markets.  The networking with fellow writers starts at 9:00 each session date.  OCWW members ($30) per year receive session discounts and are eligible to have their manuscripts professionally  critiqued.
Please visit http://www.ocww.bizland.com website for further information.
If you have any questions, contact Sarah Schwarcz at saschwarcz@sbcglobal.net

RESIDENCY PROGRAMS

VERMONT COLLEGE BRIEF RESIDENCY
MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN WRITING FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS
Montpelier, VT
July, January
11-day intensive residencies in July and January on campus alternate with 5 month nonresident projects (4 semesters, 5residencies)  Faculty includes M. T. Anderson, Kathi Appelt.Marion Dane Bauer, Sharon Darrow, Ellen Levine and Norma Fox Mazer
Contact Melissa Fisher at 800-336-6794, Ext. 8637 or e-mail melissa.fisher@tui.edu or visit the website at http://www.tui.edu/vermontcollege

SPALDING UNIVERSITY BRIEF RESIDENCY
MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN WRITING PROGRAM
Lousville,KY
with a Concentration in Writing For Children
Semesters begin in May or October
Program is 4 semesters, 5 residencies
Contact Graduate Admissions at 800-896-8941, Ext. 2423 or e-mail: mfa@spalding.edu or visit the website at http://www.spalding.edu

LESLEY UNIVERSITY LOW-RESIDENCY
MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN CREATIVE WRITING
Cambridge, MA
Offering a concentration in Writing for Young People
Semesters begin in January and June Nyman
Program is 4 semesters, 5 residencies
Contact Jana M. Van der Veer, Assistant Director-Advising and Student Services, http://writersonlineworkshops.com, jvanderv@lesley.edu

HAMLINE UNIVERSITY LOW-RESIDENCY
MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN WRITING FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS
1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104
Semesters begin in January and July
Program is 4 semesters, 5 residencies
Office phone: 651-523-2047, Fax: 651-523-2490
For questions, call 651-523-2900 or e-mail gradprog@hamline.edu

LEARNING ON-LINE
INSTITUTE OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
Correspondence courses and access to articles, tips, chat room discussions on writing.
Visit http://www.Institutechildrenslit.com

WRITER’S DIGEST ONLINE WORKSHOPS
“Fundamentals of Writing For Children”  (12 week beginning course)
“Focus Course in Writing For Children” (14 week intermediate course)
For details and starting dates on these workshops and other Writer’s Digest Online Courses, visit http://www.writersdigest.com

June Sengpiehl lives in Oak Park, with her husband, Paul.  She writes poetry, articles, picture  books and chapter books.  Her email is: jsseng629@yahoo.com

Fly #X91C-86QA-291B
Daily Report
November 10, 2012
Palatine, Illinois, USA

I rose at dawn with the other flies in my cohort. There was little wind and a fair sky; it was a perfect day for scouting food sources.

Detecting a slight odor of banana, I followed it until I arrived at Harper College, a large facility 0.6 km to the southeast. I had not scouted this location in many months, as the humans who usually occupy those buildings are quick-reflexed and irrational in their swatting.

But on this day, that prickly group was not present. Instead, two sets of humans were approaching two different doors: a group of artisans selling crafts, and a motley collection of writers. I followed the writers, as they appeared less inclined to smashing insects and more inclined to drop crumbs from muffins.

Keynote Address

The writers began their day in a large auditorium, where one of them—Susan Campbell Bartoletti—talked to all the others. The writers called this a “keynote address,” but I could not understand why. It was true that many writers took notes, but none of the notes said anything about keys or addresses.

As I circled the room searching for bits of chocolate on the writers’ collars, I listened to Ms. Bartoletti’s speech.

She spoke about how children are a tribe separate from adults, a tribe with its own rules, rituals, and culture. To prove her point, she sang a song about a child smashing a bumblebee. I loved it. Bees are the worst.

Ms. Bartoletti also discussed how her mother inspired her with the words, “If you’re not having fun, it’s your own fault.” This really resonated with me, for my own mother has always been an inspiration. Although she has been gone for many months now, I can still hear her saying to me, “You! Get over here! I’m hungry!”

Ms. Bartoletti added that books for children are a lot like books for adults—they can be long or short, simple or complex, challenging or easy. I couldn’t have agreed more, because both kinds of books can smash a fly.

But I felt like swooping down and grabbing the microphone when I heard Ms. Bartoletti say that children’s book writers should remember how it feels to be a child. This is just a crazy, crazy idea and no one should do it. Ask any fly—they’ll tell you children are terrible creatures to be avoided at all times. Sure, adult humans are dangerous too, but at least they won’t come after you with a baseball bat or a tennis racquet.

Suddenly I felt anxious that the writers might start swinging at me; so while they applauded Ms. Bartoletti, I zipped up to the ceiling and waited there for the room to clear out.

Opening Panel

But no one left! They all stayed in their seats while a bunch of other people sat in front and talked. Writers really like talking, I guess.

From what I could tell, some of the people up front weren’t writers. They were editors and agents. I had nothing better to do, so I wrote their names in spit on the ceiling:

• Marietta Zacker, Agent—Nancy Gallt Literary Agency
• Lisa Yoskowitz, Editor—Disney-Hyperion
• Elizabeth Parisi, Creative Director—Scholastic
• Dianne Hess, Executive Editor—Scholastic
• Meredith Mundy, Executive Editor—Sterling Children’s Books
• Beverly Horowitz, Vice President & Publisher—Delacorte

Apparently, these people are involved in making children’s books, so of course I didn’t like them. (See my earlier comments on books and fly-smashing.) But I wasn’t going to leave that ceiling until everyone left, so I listened to them anyway.

They talked about something called “slush,” and they said they hoped to find talent and potential in it. This made no sense to me, because the only things I want to find in slush are either sugary or rotten.

I was starting to think maybe I should have gone to the craft show.

They talked about how the book business is always changing, and how some classic books like “Winnie the Pooh” or “Goodnight Moon” would be hard to publish today. But they also said they could publish some books today that they couldn’t have published years ago—for instance, really long books that were rarely published until J.K. Rowling showed it could be done.

They said a lot of people were publishing their own books these days. I thought that sounded really cool because as you know, flies are full of punk spirit. But the agents and editors didn’t seem thrilled by the idea. They said it’s hard to make a great book without an editor’s help. I was getting tired of hanging onto the ceiling, so I was glad when everyone applauded and stood up.

After the room cleared, I headed toward one of the smaller rooms, hoping to find some spilled coffee in a garbage can.

Workshop: Crafting Irresistible First and Last Lines for Picture Books

I had just hit the trashcan when something hit me: a water bottle tossed by one of the writers, who were streaming into the room where I’d hoped to find a little space to scrounge in peace.

No luck.

The writers seemed pleasant, at least. A few were even carrying the kind of canvas bags that marked them as “wouldn’t hurt a fly” humans.

Then someone started speaking again. It was an editor, Meredith Mundy. I remembered her because during the previous panel discussion it took me an especially long time to spit her name and title onto the ceiling. She really needs a shorter title.

Anyway, she started talking about how picture books need an exciting problem on the first page.

I almost spit out my coffee.

Humans? Problems? Seriously?

Humans don’t even know what problems are. If you want to know about problems, talk to a fly. Have you ever had to outfly a robin in a rainstorm? Ever had to dodge spider webs in a forest preserve? Ever had to lay eggs in … I think I’ve made my point.

Anyway, Ms. Mundy said the human children’s picture books are supposed to have a “problem” in the first line, and their endings should be either satisfying or subversive. Personally, I think they should all be subversive. Which is why I subverted the rest of the workshop and headed to lunch.

Lunch

Lunch was delicious and I totally filled up, but:

Humans … vegetable wraps? The top of the food chain should be able to do better than vegetable wraps. Come on.

Editor/Agent Negotiation

After lunch I was tired and contentedly full, so I buzzed into the main room, found a corner, and took it easy.

All the writers seemed to feel the same way. They flowed in and sat down to listen to Beverly Horowitz and Marietta Zacker talk business. I didn’t catch much of the talk because, digestion. But a few snippets got through:

Beverly:

• Writers have imagination and intellect.
• Publishers are gamblers.
• Remember that our painstaking conversations about books are about characters who don’t really exist.

Marietta:

• Worry about one book at a time.
• Don’t waste time reading about other people’s book deals.
• It’s usually better for your book to earn out than to get a big advance.
• Try to find an agent who will like a particular project of yours.

Breakout Session 1: First Pages

At the end of the negotiation session, I was still feeling fat and happy so I stayed put.

Ms. Bartoletti came back again, talking about how to start a story. She said writers should expose very quickly what their main character wants most in the world. I tried to think about what I wanted most in the world, but all I came up with was sherbet. Maybe that’s a story, maybe it isn’t.

Then she said you need to start your story at “the place that’s different.” I thought this was strange advice because it seemed to me that no matter where you started the story it would be different, since before that you hadn’t been anyplace at all. I sort of blew my own mind with that one.

Then there was some murmuring and applause, and everyone left. That seems to be what writers do all day: sit, listen, applaud, leave.

Breakout Session 2: Something Visual

By this time I was feeling pretty comfortable around these humans. “Writers are pretty good people,” I thought.

I flapped my wings a few times and landed on a writer’s shoulder, figuring to just let her carry me wherever she was going. Which was a pretty great idea, because she went straight to the snack table. She grabbed a cookie, I grabbed a crumb.

We headed to our last session. This one was with Elizabeth Parisi, who isn’t a writer at all but a visual designer. Because most of the people in the session were writers, she mostly talked about the relationship between writing and visual design.

She said writers should write with all their senses, which made sense to me because flies do everything that way. She said that a lot of book covers these days are using iconic artwork because you can do more things with it, especially in electronic formats. As for me I like electronic books because no one ever uses them as weapons against insects.

Conclusion

I could tell by the way the writers wearily ambled toward the main room that their day was about to end.

Mine was, too. It was getting dark and I’d had my fill of cookie crumbs, coffee, and vegetable wrap—not to mention all the writing advice I’d received. I am totally going to use it in my daily reports from now on.

I squeezed through a small gap in the door and happily flew the 0.6 miles back home.

By any measure, my expedition to Harper College was a success. I recommend this writers’ conference to all flies in the Greater Palatine area and beyond.

P.S.

About a week after my day at the writers’ conference, I learned from Fly #X91C-86QA-387C (who had visited Harper to check out the action), that four budding authors had had their manuscripts selected for recognition by the agents. I was hurt that my sherbet manuscript hadn’t even been considered, but what can I say—I’m just a fly on the wall.

Brenda Bowen chose two winners—Greg Daigle and Natalie Wainwright. Marietta Zacker chose Julie Stiegemeyer as her winner and Eileen Meyer as her runner-up. The winners received a 30-minute one-on-one consultation, plus written comments. Congratulations to Greg, Natalie, Julie, and Eileen!

John Bowen lives in Normal, Illinois, where he amuses himself—and perhaps only himself—by writing picture books. He also enjoys theater, gardening, baseball, and walking the dog.

Early Years and Art Schools

Hop aboard! We’re going on a multicolored journey, through my interrelated art pursuits of illustration, painting, and writing. As a young child I was always creating, in crayon, paint, words, and pictures. I was also very encouraged; my mom was a spot illustrator, constantly reading with me, and is an artist. Therefore, my journey into art was relatively smooth. Upon entering high school I already knew I was going to art school for college. There wasn’t any choice; I was always creating art. I went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), and at that time it was a perfect choice for me because I was able to try out many different mediums and was exposed to many different types of artists and people. While there I also learned about being an artist, exhibiting your work, and developing a tough skin from surviving critiques.

I spent hours in the Art Institute looking at art and more hours as a college work-study student at the Museum of Contemporary Art, working with the registrar, writing up reports on wonderful pieces of art from their collection. I also scoured the gallery districts on a regular basis, and while at SAIC, met my future husband, who was a graduate sculpture student. The year before my graduation I decided to acquire some practical skills for future job prospects, and I interned at the Chicago Public Library main branch as a graphic designer. This proved to be helpful later on. I wanted to go to graduate school and study painting, but I wasn’t quite ready. After working at a couple of the local Chicago art stores and as a picture framer, I was able to secure a job as a graphic designer. I worked first at the Chicago History Museum and then at the University of Chicago Publications Office. Although I am a very good graphic designer, my heart beckoned me back to painting. Now with a gap of six laboring years, I headed back to school in the MFA painting program at Northern Illinois University, and while in graduate school I began teaching art.

Developing My Painting Style

After graduate school I switched mediums from oils and acrylics to watercolor. I was a new mom, still teaching and exhibiting but with very little time, and I needed a medium that was more immediate. The watercolor medium was fantastic and allowed me to create luminous, vibrant colors and glazes. Watercolors also were very well suited for the plein air painting classes I began teaching at different nature venues in the Chicago area. Over the years my paintings evolved and focused on nature, flora/fauna, figures, and conserving our environment. In addition the paintings developed a common thread, of being allegorical and narrative. They are about stories. A moving story that made a lasting impression on me was from the movie Mary Poppins, when Burt, Mary, Michael, and Jane all jump into Burt’s chalk painting and head off on an adventure. My paintings and children’s illustrations are about creating adventures, or places we can travel to both imaginary and real.

There I was, finally figuring out how important stories were to my painting, and it took me only two art degrees, numerous exhibits, working as a graphic designer, an art instructor, having two children, and taking out umpteen zillion picture books from the library to read and share with my kids. The librarians got to know me very well! The light bulb went on and I thought, I would really like to illustrate children’s books.

Illustration/Writing Pursuits

So while teaching, raising two kids, applying for grants, and exhibiting my work, I took on this new challenge of learning about children’s picture books and getting published. Around this time I somehow found out about SCBWI and signed up. My interaction to begin with was minimal, but that didn’t last too long. At the same time, I also signed up for a children’s Illustration class with Lisa Cinelli at SAIC. The class was great, and Lisa suggested I check out the local illustrators group, the Chicago–area Illustrators Network, which had and has co-reps Terri Murphy and Janet McDonnell. Joining the Illustrator’s Network has been one of the best training and support moves for me. My hat goes off to my illustrator’s group, along with kudos to Terri, Janet, and the numerous additional illustrators whom I’ve gotten to know over the last few years. Earlier this year I attended and helped out with our Illinois Illustrator’s Conference: An Illustrator’s Toolbox, with art director Martha Rago (HarperCollins) and illustrator Will Terry.

This fall I attended my second Prairie Writer’s Day and was very taken by the author Susan Campbell Bartoletti. There are also two great writer’s networks in the Chicago area that I try to get to, Shop Talk, which meets in Winnetka and is run by Carolyn Crimi and Michael Bricis, and the Hyde Park/Southside Chicago Network organized by Kate Hannigan. I also had the great pleasure of intimately hearing from authors Megan McDonald and Esther Hershenhorn at Esme Codel’s Planet Esme. One final note here. There is a hop, skip, and a jump from painting to creating children’s illustrations for picture books, and all these programs seem to make that gap a little bit narrower.

My Illustration Painting and Writing Today

I often feel that I’m like Mirette from Emily Arnold McCully’s Mirette on the High Wire, balancing my different art pursuits. So I’ll walk you across my tightrope and bring you full circle to where my connected art pursuits are headed. In illustration, I’m working on the pictures for a fantasy picture book that I’ve written and that is almost ready to send out. It’s called Through a Sunflower, and it’s about a young girl who travels through a sunflower from her own garden to help out in a garden in another land. The story has gone through many revisions from critique groups, a fellow author, and a review at last year’s Prairie Writer’s Day. I’ve also been working on a collection of nature haikus. Many of these I write while taking walks or after dropping my daughter off at her bus stop at 6:30 a.m.

I’m preparing for a solo painting exhibit of my watercolors, called Michelle Kogan Narratives of Nature. It’s happening this coming summer at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago, from July 12 to October 13, 2013. Presently I’m also an instructor at the Evanston Art Center where I offer classes in painting, drawing, and figure drawing. I also offer many plein air watercolor painting classes at the Lincoln Park Conservatory, the Chicago Botanic Garden, and the Emily Oaks Nature Center.

Thanks for your ear on my journey. I thought I’d leave you with a couple of kernels that are important to me and help me along in my different pursuits, three words that an artist/writer can use that my husband, a fellow artist, passed on to me: patience, persistence, and perseverance; having paper, pen, or pencil always within reach; meditating, taking walks, and remembering after critiques that we all have something that we are really good at, a skill or craft that is uniquely our own, and we need to hold onto it, constantly hone it, and embrace it.

Michelle Kogan lives in Chicago with her artist designer husband, two multitalented children, some pets, plants, and a wonderful garden. You can view more of her work at her website http://www.michellekogan.com, her art blog http://www.moreart4all.wordpress.com and her Etsy Shop http://www.MichelleKoganFineArt.etsy.com

I am at the top of the toboggan slide at East Park. The platform is icy, the snow squeaky under my clunky black boots. I brush the scrabble of ice off the plastic toboggan pad with my mitten. I sit down, tuck my feet into the big wooden curl, and grab the rope, pull it tight to me. I scoot the toboggan forward. I balance on the very ledge of the platform. One more scoot. The toboggan tips forward and shoots down. I see the wood sides tipping away and see how smooth they are, worn and shiny. I am going faster and faster. My little red coat that I love so much because it is thin catches on a nail sticking out of the side of the slide and I hear it rip. I love my coat and now it has a big L-shaped tear in it. I can’t have fun anymore because I feel bad about my coat.

How is it that I can close my eyes and see before me this scene as if I am experiencing it right now? How is it that my childhood memories are fixed and unchanging, that they play in front of me the same way, over and over? How is it that the shiny glimmering bottle-green fly that I lie on the ground looking at at the age of two is still cleaning his legs and I am still studying him and the sun is shining and I feel completely safe?

And how is it that I will replay this moment when I am ninety years old and it will be just as satisfying and vivid as it was when I had the actual experience?

I lie on my cot. I have pneumonia. My mother has set up my cot in the dining room. My sister’s cot is across the room. There are white sheets on our cots and we are positioned so that we can see the TV. It is daytime. The walls are green, dark green wallpaper with a pattern. The light is pouring in the windows. We have the TV on. It is a delicious feeling. To lie here when everyone else is in school. My sister right across from me and my mother coming in now and again to check on us to see if we are OK. I feel hot. The table is still in the middle of the room with the big green tablecloth draping to the floor that makes our table into a house to play under. The Early Show is on. That means it is 4:00. The clock is ticking. My mother is slightly worried about us. Does that mean WE should worry? Pneumonia.

How is it that I can still see the texture of the rug, feel the delicacy of the late afternoon light, hear my mother in the kitchen? And how is it that I can feel the subtlety of the emotion surrounding this moment, the slight uneasiness of the situation, taking my cues from my mother about our illness.

I hear men calling each other. I pull the covers back and feel my way down the hall. My sister’s room is glowing. We kneel down and watch the burning house. Flames pour out of the windows into the night. In the morning, I go over there and sift through a pile of ashes with the toe of my shoe. I find a pair of wire-rimmed glasses that are bubbled from the heat.

How is it that I still feel the heat of the fire on my cheeks from my place at the window, see the little black silhouettes of the men in their firefighting coats running to and fro against the light of the fire, pulling their heavy hoses around to get a better position?

And what am I, a writer-illustrator, to do with this rich source of material, these childhood memories, these constants in my life? What am I to do with these memories that play again and again, smooth as well-worn stones?

How am I to use them in my work?

Write them, draw them. Write with all the specific detail that you can. Draw what you see, what you feel. Let them be clumsy. They are mysterious and very real. Follow the taproot of memory to emotion, this is where the heart of story lies.

Three memories here, each one personal and emotional. They come back to me, whether invited or not, to take on the mantle of mythology. They are the richest source of material given to picture book makers.

Laura Nyman Montenegro is a faculty member of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she teaches Children’s Book Illustration. She is author/illustrator of A Poet’s Bird Garden (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), A Bird About to Sing, Sweet Tooth, One Stuck Drawer (all Houghton Mifflin). Her books have won Parent’s Choice Awards and A Bird About to Sing was featured on Reading Rainbow. She is a founding ensemble member, musician, and visual artist of Theatre Zarko, Puppet Symbolist Theatre. www.lauranymanmontenegro.com, lauramontenegro@sbcglobal.net

August 2, 2012

5:15 a.m.

O’Hare Airport—Kiss and Fly

Three yawny kids were snuggled into the back of our car. A taxi pulled away and my husband swerved into the tiny space like he was landing an aircraft. Minivan style. I pulled my license out of my wallet.

“I don’t really feel ready, this time.”

My plane would soon whisk me off to my fourth SCBWI National Conference in LA. In years past, I had specific goals for specific manuscripts, and although I came home inspired each year by something surprisingly unexpected, I always found comfort in having a concrete purpose for each conference regardless of whether or not I would realize that goal over the course of the weekend.

“I mean, I know it’s going to be fun! I can’t wait to see my friends…”

The first year I went, I didn’t know a soul. I had saved all of my Christmas, birthday, and private teaching money so that I could attend the conference. Although I was tired from traveling, I felt very alone—my roommate, whom I did not know, wouldn’t arrive until later—so I forced myself to take the elevator down to the lobby and I began to talk with people who, like me, were also alone and wondering.

It didn’t take long for me to find “my tribe,” as Lin Oliver says. In four short years, I went from having one roommate, whom I did not know, to having six roommates who know way too much!

“It just feels like I don’t have an agenda this year.”

“That’s probably a good thing.” My husband said leaning in to do right by the Kiss and Fly sign. “That way you’ll be ready for anything.”

I was concerned because I had been focusing on this novel for a couple of years and hadn’t completed what I wanted to get done before I left for the conference—so I felt a little, shall I say, unsuccessful? Yes. Unsuccessful. But, I didn’t care. I was going to go and have a good time and not worry about publication.

As I buckled in and prepared for takeoff, there was no way I could have prepared myself for the surprise in store.

After I arrived in Los Angeles and met up with one of my roommates, we made our annual trip to the grocery store to fill the fridge. We were checking texts and emails like a couple of nutty hens for news from the rest of our friends because they were all arriving at different times. I opened my inbox and to my surprise, an email with the word SUBMISSION was sitting at the top. My first thought was: what the heck is this? I’ve been working on this novel. I don’t have anything out on submission.

I looked again. It was from Andrea Welch at Beach Lane Books.

Wait… what?!

I had almost forgotten that I had sent her a manuscript entitled I [HEART] YOU several months ago. It was the shortest story I’d ever written. A spare text showing that love is the ultimate action verb. It’s a special story because it encapsulates everything I’ve ever felt for my children.

I took a deep breath. We have to be realistic with these things. By nature, I am a very hopeful person, but over the past ten years, rejection and I had become old friends. Neither of us liked each other all that much, but we were often paired together nonetheless.

At least I’m here, I thought, among friends who understand this process. And at least we picked up that bottle opener at the store cause I’m probably going to need it in a minute.

I opened the letter.
And then I was confused.
“What?”
This letter contained exclamation points.
“What?!”
It said that she loved my story.
“Whaaaaaaaaat!”
It said that they wanted to publish it!

Then I screamed the kind of scream that comes just before the police kick a door in. My roommate ran over—because, turns out, the police were unavailable. “What?” she said.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” I pointed at my phone.

She was frightened. This primal form of communication was not effective. Finally, I pulled myself together enough to say the words that I had been hoping to say for the past ten years.

“They want my story! They want to publish it! It’s going to be a book!”

My roommate joined in the hysteria. I jumped from the floor to the bed to the floor to the bed and screamed out the sliding glass door because it seemed effective at the time. I pity the eardrums that were enjoying their Chardonnay on the balcony below me.

Then I called my husband. I had told him I would call as soon as I got settled, but I don’t think he was expecting this kind of call.

“I [HEART] YOU is going to be a book!” I cried into the phone.

It was the best phone call home.

It wasn’t until I sat down to write this article that I remembered what I had said earlier that morning at the Kiss and Fly. “I don’t feel ready. I don’t have an agenda.” How could I have?

Sometimes, surprises happen.

I’m not saying to avoid goals, but I think it’s helpful to keep a healthy distance from expectations. We don’t know how, where, and why things land the way that they do, but we have to keep our hands open so that when possibilities land, we are able to catch them.

It seems to me that the road to publication doesn’t really happen in any sensible order. It’s this confusing, yet compelling, clump of comings and goings with no apparent timeline.

I first heard about Beach Lane Books at an end-of-the-year school picnic. I was talking with my daughter’s third-grade teacher about summer plans. She told me about her vacation and I told her about this writer’s conference I was going to. She said, “Oh, my daughter goes to those!”

“Is she a writer, too?” I asked.
“Well, she is a very good writer. Excellent, in fact. I always tell her she should write more, but she hasn’t had much time lately.”
“Oh my gosh, is she an illustrator?” I gushed. This was getting exciting. I have always found illustrators to be magical people.
“No,” she said, “She works more on the editorial side of things.”
“Wait… what?”
“Yes. And actually they’re going to be launching a new imprint in a couple months.”
“Hang on. Your daughter is an editor?” I kind-of choked on a fleck of chocolate cupcake.
“Yes, but really just for children’s books.”
“Oh.” I said, as if this little clarification somehow made the conversation normal.
“But they mostly do picture books,” she reassured me.
“Oh well, that’s … that’s what I mostly write.”

It was nearly five years ago that I stood by the Fox River and had this conversation with Andrea Welch’s mom. I never would have guessed how things would play out. I never could have predicted this surprise. When I returned home from the conference this summer, I was met with yet another excellent surprise when I signed with my dream agent, Emily van Beek, at Folio Literary Management. I am completely in awe of her and I feel lucky to be so supported. My road to publication is finally taking shape and I think I’ll have to spend a lifetime thanking SCBWI for making it all possible!

Meg Fleming spends most of her time writing, dreaming up new stories, and searching for more spare time. She teaches voice lessons and creativity classes and she is a contributing writer for www.worddisco.com– an awesome website for people like YOU! Meg is represented by Emily van Beek at Folio Literary Management, and her debut picture book, I [Heart] You, is forthcoming with Beach Lane Books. Meg writes from her home in Fox River Grove, where she lives with her three kids, her one husband, and a scratchy-sniffy dog.

I feel extraordinarily lucky to have known Dennis Brindell Fradin of Evanston, Illinois, my SCBWI-Illinois kin of at least three decades, who sadly lost his battle with bone cancer on August 29.

Dennis’s genuine earnestness and passion for writing and research defined him. His legacy includes 300-some award-winning fiction and nonfiction books for young readers and young adults—many written with his vibrant wife Judith (Judy) Bloom Fradin, as well as the thousands of young writers he personally inspired and encouraged as he visited classrooms and presented at Young Authors Conferences across the Midwest and his home state of Illinois.

Chicago-born, CPS/New Trier/Northwestern-educated, and a former second-grade teacher, Dennis often shared with students how he’d wanted to become an author since he was in first grade. He’d cite his fourth- and six-grade teacher Mrs. Domer for teaching him how to work with note cards, outline, and give his all to projects. That work ethic paid off in the thorough research and planning Dennis gave his subjects, from earthquakes and the Battles of Lexington and Concord to Samuel Adams, Jane Addams, and Ida B. Wells. Appropriately enough, a book on the state of Illinois, a prototype for a publishing series on our fifty states, launched his full-time professional career as an author

Dennis and Judy worked both individually and collaboratively, Judy often referring to their writing partnership as a “Ma and Pa business.” Their website boasts, “Research is our middle name.”

This year saw the publication of three titles—Tornado! and Stolen Into Slavery (National Geographic) and Zora! (Clarion). Walker Children’s releases The Price of Freedom in spring 2013. Dennis’s many awards include the 2004 SCBWI Golden Kite Honor Book award for The Power of One: Daisy Bates and the Little Rock Nine (Clarion). Jane Addams: Champion of Democracy (Houghton Mifflin) won the 2007 Society of Midland Authors Children’s Nonfiction Award. Bound for the North Star: True Stories of Fugitive Slaves (Clarion) won the SMA award in 2001, and Ida B. Wells: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement (Clarion) was a finalist that same year.

“We liked writing about remarkable African Americans—particularly African American women, whose lives were little-known,” Judy said. “Everyone knows Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, but there are so many others that people should really know about.”

Nancy Feresten, Dennis’s National Geographic Society editor, sang Dennis’s praises in a Chicago Tribune write-up. “Dennis was a brilliant thinker, a vivid storyteller and a lovely human being. He brought all of these qualities to his nonfiction for children, which was crisp, informative, and, most important of all, moving. It’s been a joy and a privilege to work with him.”

I can’t imagine future Illinois Young Authors Conferences without Dennis Fradin. Several times I shared the stage with Dennis at the closing ceremony. He’d shake each winner’s hand so heartily; you knew he knew just how much the honor meant to each and every Young Author.

On a personal note, I keep thinking about the win-win aspect of his beautifully told, impeccably researched, inspiring titles. Dennis’s heart and the heart of his subject were inside each book, beat-beat-beating.

Esther Hershenhorn is SCBWI-Illinois Regional Advisor Emeritus.

I was both flattered and terrified when I received the email stating that my name had come up during a meeting (AHHH!) and they would like me to write the article “Promote That Book” for the Prairie Wind newsletter! Seriously?!

Imagine my surprise. I’m a first time author, whose picture book, “The Spaghetti-Slurping Sewer Serpent,” was just released in April 2012. I certainly don’t consider myself an expert on promotion. But I can tell you that I have been on a wild ride, trying to learn all I can since its release. If anything, I’m hoping you’ll avoid the main mistake I made . . . procrastination!

For everyone out there whose book has not come out yet, let me tell you, learning all you can about promotion right when your book is about to be released is probably not the best idea. But unfortunately for me, that’s exactly what I did. How do I define promotion? Getting the word about your book out there. Telling as many people who are willing to listen as you can. So what have I learned along the way? And what have I been doing to promote my book? Well. . .

I’ve learned you need an EASY to update website that you have control over.

Your website is a place people can learn about you, your book, your school presentations, and of course, other authors’ books (What? Why would you talk about other people’s books? More about that later). Your website is a “must have” tool in promotion. Any social media or printed promotion you do can send people to your site, where they can learn more about you and even buy your book! The website I had when my book was released was not working for me. The only way I could make a change was by calling the guy who set it up, and then I would hope he understood what I wanted done. As creative people, we tend to have an idea and an opinion on how we want things to look. I couldn’t add pictures or even fix a spelling error on my own. Then a fellow author friend told me about iWeb, where I was easily able to create my site and revise, revise, revise, any time I wanted. I was even able to add a book trailer and links to buy my book, and I am NOT tech savvy by any means. For me, it’s like a Website For Dummies. Did I create the best site ever? No, but it gets the job done and works for me. And I think that’s what you need to think about when you’re creating your website, find what works for you and run with it.

So now your site is up, link some promotion to it! There are several printing options out there, I personally have used www.iprint.com for my bookmarks and www.vistaprint.com for my postcards and business cards. I have also heard that www.overnightprints.com does a great job as well, though I personally have not used them yet. Stop by your local library, schools, and bookstores, introduce yourself, and drop off some bookmarks or postcards that have your book cover and website on them. Also take a look at your book. Does it fit well with a certain market? My book is an alliterative picture book that focuses on the letter S. So I have been focusing my promotion efforts on speech therapists. Try to think about who would be interested in your book and tell them about it.

Here’s the postcard I sent out right before my book was released. I used the cover on the front and put a synopsis along with my website on the back. I’m a huge fan of simple, I don’t like too much on there.

Here’s the front of my bookmark (unfortunately I’m having trouble getting the back image to attach, sorry about that!). The back is full color as well, and I included a review along with my website.

So I have a website and some bookmarks . . . what else have I done to promote my book?

I think the main keys to successfully promoting your book are simple. Okay, simple may be the wrong word—if it were that simple, we would all be Best Selling Authors! The idea behind promotion is simple—tell as many people as you can about your book. But how? Network with other authors and get involved in as many organized functions as you can.

Network with other authors? The fact that you are reading this tells me you’re already on the right path. I’m a huge fan of SCBWI—without it, I never would have sold my first book. Getting involved and learning from other authors is priceless. And with them, you can network in many ways. You can do something as simple as putting their book on your website and see if they’ll do the same for you. Sometimes it’s hard to talk about your own book to someone and tell them how they need to get it, their kids will love it! But it’s not so hard to do that about someone else’s book, is it? Why is that? Who knows? But if you can link up with some great friends and spread the word about each other’s books, it’s a wonderful thing. Where do you meet all these authors, you ask? Go to conferences! SCBWI holds local and national conferences that are packed with priceless knowledge for both the beginning author and seasoned published authors. And there you will find yourself surrounded by hundreds of people in the same boat as you.

In fact the SCBWI Summer Conference in LA is where www.worddisco.com was born. Word Disco is a kid lit blog that eleven of us joined forces to create. We pick a theme each month and we all write a piece around that theme. It has great links to other blogs and is keeping us connected to others in the industry. I’m not saying you need to go and write a blog, but check blogs out and read them—soak in all the information you can. You will also want to keep your eyes and ears open for the opportunity to participate in any library conferences. A roomful of librarians is a wonderful place to promote your book. The more people who find out about your book the better. Even if it’s not a book they would be interested in, they may tell a friend about it who would be interested in it.

To sum it all up, learn all you can now, don’t wait until your book is out. Do your homework early. Create a buzz. Meet the local bookstore owners before your book comes out, so they too are excited for its arrival. Network with other authors. Talk to your local schools about doing school visits. I still believe word of mouth is the best form of advertising and promotion. I buy books because someone I know has read it and says, “You have got to read this book!” (And I don’t care if that person is a complete stranger either.) If someone tells me they liked a book, I will check it out. So go introduce yourself to the very people who love books—librarians, bookstore owners, teachers, and other authors, and have fun doing it! You made it this far. . . now go promote that book!

Laura Ripes was born in Chicago, IL. She’s a children’s book author and voiceover talent. Articulation and diction play an important role in the voiceover industry, which prompted her to write The Spaghetti-Slurping Sewer Serpent. Check out her website at http://www.lauraripes.com

• Inspiring keynotes from the likes of Jane Yolen, Lin Oliver, and Peter Brown
• Presentations by editors/art directors, including Kendra Levin, Brett Duquette, and Laurent Linn
• Talks by authors, including Franny Billingsley, Kathi Appelt, and Rhonda Gowler Greene
• Presentations by agents, including Linda Pratt and Jill Corcoran

Optional portfolio reviews and manuscript critiques will be available. Several optional intensives will be offered on Friday afternoon. Sponsoring SCBWI regions are Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Watch our Illinois website (www.scbwi-illinois.org) for details on all the conference offerings, beginning February 1. Registration will open online on February 8. Be sure to act quickly to register for any of the optional activities—critiques, portfolio reviews, and intensive session slots will fill up early.