Celebrate the release of Maureen McQuerry's Beyond the Door (Abrams/Amulet) at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park this Saturday, March 22, at 6:30 p.m. The Mossyback Morris Men will be special guests, and there'll also be dancing, cupcakes, good times. The book is the first in her Time Out of Time series. VOYA says,... Continue Reading →
Nomination period for Crystal Kite begins
It's official! The submission period is now open for the annual Crystal Kite Awards! You have between March 18 and March 26 to nominate your book for this auspicious award, so hop to it! Voting begins in April, and the winners in each chapter are announced in May. To register your book for consideration, click... Continue Reading →
Graphic arts guild workshop
Our own Kevan Atteberry will present a Graphic Artists Guild Workshop on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 from noon to 1:30 p.m. The topic is "Just Make It Work," and he says, "This is a crazy industry with wild fluctuations in what works and what doesn't, mostly at the whim of people you'll never meet. Pursue... Continue Reading →
Conference faculty profile: Justin Chanda
Justin Chanda, vice president and publisher of the three flagship children's imprints at Simon and Schuster (S&S), recently edited Battle Bunny and the Caldecott honor book Creepy Carrots, among others. In addition to speaking at SCBWI Western Washington's 23rd Annual Writing and Illustrating for Children conference, which will be held April 12-13, 2014, he will... Continue Reading →
Heads up, Eastside…it’s kid lit drink time!
Coming soon...to a conference near you! Our annual pre-conference Kid Lit Drink Night, on the site of our annual hootenanny. Come to network, come to relax, or come and be glad there are others in your tribe of kid-lit creators. NOTE: This event is open to EVERYONE, even if you aren't attending the conference. Live... Continue Reading →
Because writers are the ones who can fill the gap
Two new opinion pieces in the New York Times, the first by Christopher Myers and the second by Walter Dean Myers, thoughtfully renew discussion regarding the glaring gap of characters of color in children’s literature. Both are well worth a read. — Contributed by Kjersten Anna Hayes
Roundtable faculty profile: Mandy Hubbard
Mandy Hubbard is a Tacoma-based literary agent for D4EO Literary, where she represents authors of middle-grade and YA fiction. She is also the author of Prada & Prejudice, You Wish, But I Love Him, and a number of other YA novels. In her blog, Mandy shares that she writes under her own name, as well... Continue Reading →
Roundtable faculty profile: Kathleen Ortiz
Kathleen Ortiz, an agent at New Leaf Literary & Media, joins our fray as a roundtable critique leader on Saturday, April 12, as part of our pre-conference opportunities. Kathleen is the director for subsidiary rights, which means she deals with audio and translation rights for her clients' work. Her client list is primarily YA, and... Continue Reading →
Master your craft!
Our Writing and Illustrating for Children Conference in April is barely a month away, and the seats are filling fast! Remarkably, there's still a seat or two available in nearly all of our 3-hour master classes on Saturday, April 12. First come, first served for these hands-on workshop opportunities: Character, Character, Character with associate art... Continue Reading →
Last chance to submit your 2013 books for the Crystal Kites
PAL members who haven't yet added their 2013 publications to their profiles at scbwi.org still have a few days to do so and flag them for inclusion in this year's Crystal Kite awards, our SCBWI peer awards. Hit up scbwi.org for details. Voting for the awards, which are given by broad geographical region, is expected... Continue Reading →