Looking Ahead: October Regional Events

I've been talk talk talking about the just wrapped SCBWI Annual Summer Conference, dear readers, and, although it was the best-attended one ever, still only a fraction of SCBWI members were in there. If distance/time/cost/etc. keeps you from the Big Daddy of SCBWI events, remember that there are a ton of terrific regional conference that may be just a short road trip away.

Hopefully you're all aware of the Events calendar on the SCBWI website. In addition to info on the awesome international conferences held in August and January, the calender also offers an exhaustive list of local chapter goings-on including meetings, schmoozes, speaker events, retreats, and conferences. Regional events are, of course, smaller and more intimate than the LA and NYC conferences and a great way to meet agents and editors, have manuscript and portfolio critiques, and network with local writers and illustrators.

October is a beautiful time of year to get together and talk children's book with industry insiders and your peers. Below is a list of the October regional SCBWI conferences with information currently available. For more see the Regional Events calender on SCBWI.org. Remember, it's never to soon to plan ahead for conference travel, and early registration often means savings on tuition cost.

If you see something on the list that interests you, click the event names for more information.

October 7 - October 10
Oregon Annual Fall Retreat
Silver Falls Conference Center, near Salem, Oregon
INFO: Our Special Guests: Chris Eboch, Haunted series author; Claire Horowitz, writer; Elizabeth Rusch, author; Abigail Samoun, editor: Tricycle Press; Kelly Sonnack, agent: Andrea Brown Literary Agency

October 8 - October 10
Michigan Fall Conference
Yarrow Golf Resort, Augusta, Michigan
INFO: Workshops with Cinda Chima, NYT fantasy bestseller; Darcy Pattison, acclaimed author and writing instructor; Patrick Collins, Art Director (Henry Holt); Susan Chang, Senior Editor with Tor Books (fantasy publisher); Amy Lennex, Sleeping Bear Press editor;;Betty Raum, author; Crystal Bowman, picture book author.

October 9 
Ohio: Central and South 2nd Annual Scarlet & Gray Event
Upper Arlington Senior Center
INFO: Speakers include associate agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency; Lisa Klein, author; Marcia James, author and expert on cyber promotion.

October 15 - October 17 
Sierra Nevada/Nevada South Conference on the Comstock
Virginia City, Nevada
INFO: Presenters include: editor Cheryl Klein, Arthur Levine Books; agent Tracy Adams, Adams Agency; editorial consultant, Emma Dryden; editorial consultant, Harold Underdown; illustrator Priscilla Burris; MG author Terri Farley; YA author Ellen Hopkins; PB author Verla Kay; MG author Susan Hart Lindquist; PB author/illustrator Terri Sloat; MG author Suzanne Morgan Williams.

October 15 - October 16 

Southern Breeze Writing & Illustrating for Kids '10

Spain Park High School, Birmingham, AL
INFO: Faculty lined includes Darcy Pattison, author and instructor, Keynote Speaker; Stacey Barney, editor, Penguin/G.P. Putnam's Sons; Kate Sullivan, assistant editor, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Jamie Weiss Chilton, agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency; Kerry Martin, senior designer,
Clarion Book.

October 15 - October 17 
Wisconsin Annual Fall Retreat
Siena Center, Racine, WI
INFO: Speakers include editor Greg Ferguson, Egmont USA; editor Lisa Yoskowitz, Dutton Children's Books; art director Loraine Joyner, Peachtree Publisher; author Bruce Hale (Chet Gecko Series); author Deborah Wiles (Each Little Bird That Sings, Freedom Summer); agent Mary Kole, The Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

October 15 - October 17 

New Mexico Fall Retreat
Hummingbird Music Camp near Jemez Springs
INFO: Critique group facilitators include Chris Eboch, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Lois Ruby, and Pari Noskin Taichert; Editor manuscript critiques with Pamela Kelly Glauber, associate editor, Holiday House.

October 23 
San Francisco East/North Bay Area Fall Conference--From Acorns to Oaks: Inspiration to Creation
Mills College, Oakland, CA
INFO: Presenters include Lisa Yoskowitz, assistant editor of Dutton Books; Kaylan Adair, editor, Candlewick Press; Caryn Wiseman, agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency; Ammi-Joan Paquette, associate agent at Erin Murphy Literary Agency; Bruce Hale, author; Tim Myers, author; Ginger Wadsworth, non-fiction PB and MG author; Pamela Turner, nonfiction author; Joe Cepeda, illustrator.

October 30 

California: Ventura/Santa Barbara Writers' Day

California Lutheran University
INFO: Presenters include Rubin Pfeffer, agent, East West Literary Agency; Stacy Whitman, editorial director, Tu Books; Andrea Welch, editor, Beach Lane Books; Mary E. Pearson, author.