SCBWI's INSIDE STORY is this weekend, Nov 2 and 3, 2013!

SCBWI, in conjunction with First Book, is launching its first international "Inside Story" event at select independent bookstores this November.

The pilot program will launch in ten cities. It has two purposes: to provide an opportunity for young readers, teachers, librarians, and children's book lovers to become acquainted with new releases, and to build traffic and sales for independent bookstores. A group of authors and illustrators will have a brief time to share the "inside story" behind their 2012 or 2013 publications and support independent bookstores.

SCBWI will provide publicity, volunteers for the day of the event, and special prizes to help bring in patrons, including a drawing to win a phone call from a famous author and a grand prize drawing across all bookstores to have a character in a new Almost Identical book by Lin Oliver named after them. In addition, First Book will donate a book to a child in need for every book purchased at an SCBWI Inside Story event.

SCBWI President Stephen Mooser and Executive Director Lin Oliver say,

“We are delighted that the SCBWI is partnering with First Book to call attention to the great books our illustrator and author members have created. We hope that by next year independent bookstores around the world will be a part of this very special day.”

If you're lucky enough to be geographically close to one of the participating bookstores, make sure to check out Inside Story this weekend!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Have You Heard Of The Independent E-Book Stores?

Disclaimer: The following history of book selling in physical stores is super-simplified to share my thought process.

In the "golden age" of Independent Book Stores, that's where you went to buy books.

Then Barnes & Noble and Borders kind of took over the selling of books, and then Amazon took over from them.

Independent bookstores still exist, though they're fewer in number. And they still serve an important function - curating selections is becoming more and more crucial as self-published work ups the amount of books available.

However you look at it, things have changed dramatically.

In the much newer realm of e-bookstores, We've pretty much started with the big platforms: iBooks, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

And now it looks like indie e-bookstores are the next evolution. A recent post at Cassandra Daily highlighted these three Indie E-Bookstores:


Libiro: Fantasy author/self-publishing consultant Ben Galley and designer Teague Fullick want to help all writers get their books on the digital bookstore shelves, not just those with the backing of big publishing houses. Not only offering underdogs a better shot at exposure, Libiro also offers an 80% royalty as standard.

Tomely: New Australian e-book store Tomely provides independent authors and small presses with a DRM-free distribution platform. Tomely sees itself as sort of the Etsy of digital books, and all their titles can be sent to social reading tool Readmill in just one click, especially appealing to readers who prefer to digest their books in groups.

Kobo: When Kobo’s former primary retail partner, Borders, shuttered in 2011, the Canadian e-reader company was forced to change strategy, focusing on forging partnerships with independent booksellers. They see themselves as "the true bookworm’s e-reader." Users of the Kobo eReader, Kobo Arc tablet, or the Kobo eReading app can opt to purchase titles from their favorite local bookstores through the Kobo eBookstore. Among the long list of participating shops are Book Soup (West Hollywood, LA), Greenlight Bookstore (Brooklyn), and City Lit Books (Chicago).

It will be fascinating to see what happens in the future with indie e-bookstores and e-book sales.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

SCBWI Launches New Website!

Check out what happens when you go to scbwi.org

It's our new state of the art website!

The new home page at scbwi.org

And when I say our - it's ours - yours, mine, everyone who is part of the community that is SCBWI.

Go ahead - you can Ohh and Ahh! over the cleaner, easier-to-navigate design!

What else is new?

All SCBWI events will now appear on a central searchable calendar, which means you have access to information about SCBWI events around the world. The new website also now hosts all the regional websites, so connecting with your local activities is just a click away.

The world of SCBWI is just a click away!

Nine other shiny new features that we have to tell you more about:

The Discussion Boards + Verla Kay's Blue Boards = An Awesome Community-Wide Discussion!

Those of you who use our Discussion Boards are probably already aware that we have merged with Verla Kay’s Blue Boards and brought aboard her team of knowledgeable moderators and the large community that is part of the Blue Boards. If you have not visited the Boards in a while, we think you will be pleasantly surprised with the active, vocal, helpful community that exists there. You’ll want to join in the conversation.


The Online Bookstore!

A bookstore!

New to the site is an online bookstore where both PAL and FULL (i.e., independently published) members can post their books for sale, including synopses, book trailers and reviews. The store will be linked directly for sales to Indie Bound, Barnes and Noble, Amazon or to your own website. The SCBWI will heavily promote our bookstore to drive traffic to the site, so that it will become an important option for anyone looking to buy children’s books. For those of you who are independently published and have sought alternative means of selling your books, our online bookstore will meet your needs. And for those who are traditionally published and distributed, it will provide one more place where both your in-print and out-of-print work can be discovered.


Book Launches!

Book Launch Parties!

Four times a year, beginning in March 2014, members with books (both those published traditionally and independently) debuting during the calendar year will be able to host a virtual Launch Party. Members will have access to attractive, professionally designed templates from us to help you design and build your Launch Party page—or go wild and design your own. It’s your party! There will be room for visuals, videos, reviews, a guestbook, and a message from the author. We will publicize the book launch party date both with our membership and with the community at large, reaching out to publishers, educational institutions and organizations, and the general book buying public. In these times when drawing attention to your work is so challenging, the SCBWI Book Launch Party will become a quarterly special event.  Your book launch page will stay posted until the next launch party, and then will be archived for one year. Launches will require a $25 charge to cover design and promotion.


The Speakers Bureau!

There's a Speakers Bureau!

Our new and improved Speakers Bureau is now open to all members (both PAL members and Full members) who have published a book for children. Members can post information about speaking, along with a sample video if you desire, and teachers, librarians and organizations will now be able to search for speakers in a variety of ways including by book title, zip code, Skype availability, and grade level. We are planning several new outreach programs to publicize the Speakers Bureau, to help people find you.


Blog Listings!

All members, whether published or pre-published, are eligible to list their blog in our blog roll. Those seeking to reach blogs about children’s books will have a centralized table of contents where they can find your blog. In addition, each month we will select from this listing ten member blogs to feature on our homepage. It’s a huge opportunity to drive traffic to your blog.


New and Improved Illustrator Gallery!

The New Illustrator Gallery!

We drew on a panel of art directors, agents, and illustrators to make our Illustrator Gallery entirely searchable and user friendly. Illustrators who list in our gallery can be searched based on genre, style, keyword, name, or region. Make sure to tag your images with keywords and genre descriptions to take advantage of the new search capabilities. Many illustrators find work through our Illustrator Gallery, and the opportunities for your work to be discovered are now tremendously improved.


The Bulletin Archive!

The Bulletin Archive!

After years of work, the Bulletin Archive has been completed after a comprehensive scanning. Two hundred and fifty issues of SCBWI’s bi-monthly Bulletin, representing forty-two years of articles and advice, are now easily searchable by keyword. We doubt there is any other resource currently on the web that contains this much information on the field of children’s books.


Podcasts!

SCBWI is in production on regular thirty to forty-five minute podcasts, with interviews from leaders in our field—from editors and art directors to authors and illustrators. The first four podcasts are currently being released, and will be available for free download to SCBWI members. One podcast per month will follow. This is an amazing and free benefit to being an SCBWI member.


Video Intensives!

SCBWI will be producing three video intensives per year, with more to follow. These intensives will focus on timely and much needed topics and will be available to all members, especially those of you who are not able to travel to conferences that feature intensives. We want to make the best instruction and information available to all our members.


So go check out the new scbwi.org, update your profile, and make it your connection to the worldwide community that is the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.  Your tribe.

Huge cheers of thanks to Sarah Baker, Chelsea Confalone, Sally Crock and Josh Smith at the SCBWI Main Office for making this new website - that's been nearly two years in the making - the sparkling reality it is today!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

The Five Finalists for the 2013 National Book Award for Young People's Literature Are...

Here are the finalists and their book blurbs:

Kathi Appelt for “The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp” (Atheneum)

Raccoon brothers Bingo and J’miah are the newest recruits of the Official Sugar Man Swamp Scouts. The opportunity to serve the Sugar Man—the massive creature who delights in delicious sugar cane and magnanimously rules over the swamp—is an honor, and also a big responsibility, since the rest of the swamp critters rely heavily on the intel of these hardworking Scouts.

Twelve-year-old Chap Brayburn is not a member of any such organization. But he loves the swamp something fierce, and he’ll do anything to help protect it.

And help is surely needed, because world-class alligator wrestler Jaeger Stitch wants to turn Sugar Man swamp into an Alligator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park, and the troubles don’t end there. There is also a gang of wild feral hogs on the march, headed straight toward them all.

The Scouts are ready. All they have to do is wake up the Sugar Man. Problem is, no one’s been able to wake that fellow up in a decade or four…

Cynthia Kadohata for “The Thing About Luck” (Atheneum)

Summer knows that kouun means “good luck” in Japanese, and this year her family has none of it. Just when she thinks nothing else can possibly go wrong, an emergency whisks her parents away to Japan—right before harvest season. Summer and her little brother, Jaz, are left in the care of their grandparents, who come out of retirement in order to harvest wheat and help pay the bills.

The thing about Obaachan and Jiichan is that they are old-fashioned and demanding, and between helping Obaachan cook for the workers, covering for her when her back pain worsens, and worrying about her lonely little brother, Summer just barely has time to notice the attentions of their boss’s cute son. But notice she does, and what begins as a welcome distraction from the hard work soon turns into a mess of its own.

Having thoroughly disappointed her grandmother, Summer figures the bad luck must be finished—but then it gets worse. And when that happens, Summer has to figure out how to change it herself, even if it means further displeasing Obaachan. Because it might be the only way to save her family.

Tom McNeal for “Far Far Away” (Knopf)

Jeremy Johnson Johnson’s life has begun to feel like a cruel fairy tale. He hears voices – “strange whisperings” – so the citizens of the small town of Never Better treat him like an oddity and an outcast. Meanwhile, his mother takes a bite of a cake so delicious it’s rumored to be bewitched and runs away with another man. Jeremy’s heartsick father goes into his room and stays there unhappily ever after. Then the town’s coltish, copper-haired beauty takes a bite of the cake herself and falls in love with the first person she sees: Jeremy. In any other place, this would be a turn for the better for Jeremy, but not in Never Better, where the Finder of Occasions—whose identity and evil intentions nobody knows—is watching and waiting, waiting and watching. . . 

Meg Rosoff for “Picture Me Gone” (Putnam)

Mila has an exceptional talent for reading a room—sensing hidden facts and unspoken emotions from clues that others overlook. So when her father’s best friend, Matthew, goes missing from his upstate New York home, Mila and her beloved father travel from London to find him. She collects information about Matthew from his belongings, from his wife and baby, from the dog he left behind and from the ghosts of his past—slowly piecing together the story everyone else has missed. But just when she’s closest to solving the mystery, a shocking betrayal calls into question her trust in the one person she thought she could read best. 

and Gene Luen Yang for the graphic novel “Boxers & Saints” (First Second).

In two volumes, Boxers & Saints tells two parallel stories. The first is of Little Bao, a Chinese peasant boy whose village is abused and plundered by Westerners claiming the role of missionaries. Little Bao, inspired by visions of the Chinese gods, joins a violent uprising against the Western interlopers. Against all odds, their grass-roots rebellion is successful.

But in the second volume, Yang lays out the opposite side of the conflict. A girl whose village has no place for her is taken in by Christian missionaries and finds, for the first time, a home with them. As the Boxer Rebellion gains momentum, Vibiana must decide whether to abandon her Christian friends or to commit herself fully to Christianity.

The winner will be announced in a ceremony in New York City on November 20, 2013.

It's cool to note that his year there were five additional titles that made it onto the National Book Awards for Young People's Literature "long list" of heralded books:

Kate DiCamillo, Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures (Candlewick Press)

Lisa Graff, A Tangle of Knots (Philomel, A division of Penguin Group USA)

Alaya Dawn Johnson, The Summer Prince (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic)

David Levithan, Two Boys Kissing (Knopf Books for Young Readers/Random House)

Anne Ursu, The Real Boy (Walden Pond Press/an Imprint HarperCollinsPublishers)


To find out more about the National Book Awards, you can check out The National Book Foundation's website here.

 We all have some wonderful reading ahead of us!  


Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Innovations in Book Marketing - A Guest Post By Greg Pincus

Greg's debut middle grade novel

Greg Pincus

As my friend, social media guru, and frequent SCBWI Conference Faculty member Greg Pincus' book launch party (for his "The 14 Fibs of Gregory K.") draws near (it's this Saturday, October 19, 2013), I asked Greg to share what he's up to marketing-wise, because it's pretty cool.

Greg's plan involves live-streaming his launch party, remote purchases - and orders for personalized signed copies - and triangulation from bookstore to facebook to blog to his intended audience.  Wait, that's not a triangle, it's parallelogram...

Here's Greg to explain:

I knew when I set up my book launch at the Flintridge Bookstore here in the greater Los Angeles area that the event would be a lot of fun... but, of course, not everyone who wanted to be part of the celebration would be able to make it. Besides the fact that there's never a perfect time when everyone is free, the truth is that because of social media, having lived on both coasts, and meeting people at conferences and the like, I have friends and family (and I think even fans!) all over the globe. So, I decided to make my launch a live online event, too, so that everyone could get a chance to celebrate together.

The Flintridge Bookstore also put together a way on their website for folks to order a copy of my book - and leave instructions for who to personalize it to. This way, people can order now or even during the launch party itself and be part of the event that way. The store will continue to let people order signed books from me after the launch, and if the personalizing thing is a big success, we hope to keep that going, too.

The challenge in all this is that it's technology and internet based and, well, anything could happen as the event draws near. Still, the tech I'm using is Google+'s Hangouts on Air (yay, social media!), and Google tends to be pretty reliable. In fact, one way to watch the event live is on my channel on Google-owned YouTube: it'll be streaming live from 3-5 Pacific time on Saturday, October 19th here.

The live event should (tech-willing!) also be available at my blog Gottabook at the same time.

I'll keep updating news at my blog and at the Facebook event I set up to let people know about the party. Watching should be easy, no matter where you do it.

It was fun to create something where all my friends (online and offline) could actually participate. Obviously, it's still not that perfect time when everyone's free... and some of the in-person fun (like PIE!) won't translate online... but there are so many people who've been part of my journey that having a chance to celebrate with them makes the possible hiccups seem pretty insignificant.

Greg's middle grade book is about hating math - or maybe figuring out how to love math - and it's definitely about loving pie (which Greg will be serving at the in-person event at the Flintridge Book Store launch party!)

You can find out more about Greg and THE 14 FIBS OF GREGORY K. and the launch - and how it all goes - at his blog Gottabook.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Mark Your Calendars! #NY14SCBWI - The 2014 SCBWI Winter Conference in New York City will be February 22-23, 2014 (with Intensives on Feb 21!) REGISTRATION OPENS OCTOBER 25 AT 10AM PDT

Get Ready!

SCBWI's 15th Annual Winter Conference promises to sell out (as it's done for the past few years) so here's the information you need:

We'll be in New York, New York February 22-23, 2014 (with the optional Pre-Conference Intensives February 21.)

It's an amazing lineup of keynote speakers and panels, including Keynote Addresses by:

Sharon Draper

Jack Gantos

Kate Messner

Elizabeth Wein

Keynote Panels: The Art of The Picture Book with

Peter Brown

Raul Colon

Marla Frazee

Oliver Jeffers

Shadra Strickland

Moderated by Arthur Levine

and The Future of Authorship with:

Paul Aiken

Jean Feiwel

Jane Friedman

Abbi Glines

Timothy Travaglini

and Banned Books with

Joan Bertin and

Ellen Hopkins

AND 24 hands-on Breakout Sessions with editors, art directors and agents on Seven Essentials You Need to Know About...(on craft and marketing topics ranging across all genres)

Intensives on February 21 (optional) Our pre-conference intensives are highly sought after and fill up fast. This year, they include:

I. Writers' Roundtable: This intensive gives writers two opportunities to share their first pages with a group of agents and editors.

II. Writers Intensive Plot and Structure in Fiction: Limited to a maximum of 50 students, an incredible faculty (Sharon Draper, Emma Dryden, Kate Messner, Jill Santapolo, Harold Underdown, Elizabeth Wein and Jane Yolen) provide seminar style instruction on the nemesis of all writers----plot.

Participants bring a synopsis of a work-in-progress for critique and workshopping.

III. The Illustrator Intensive: World Building
Step-by-step construction of compelling scenes that will not only convey but enhance a narrative. Faculty includes Pat Cummings, David Diaz, Tomie DePaola, Brian Floca, Brett Helquist, Arthur Levine, EB Lewis, Lily Malcolm, Holly McGhee, Cecilia Yung and Paul O. Zelinsky.

There will be a PORTFOLIO SHOWCASE Friday, February 21.  Illustrators, don't miss out on a golden opportunity to have your work seen by the top art directors and editors in the business! For those enrolled in the Illustrator Intensive this is included. For those who are not, you can still display your art for a fee of $50.

SATURDAY NIGHT PARTY Back by popular demand, we are holding our Saturday night party with buffet and drinks for everyone to network with their regional advisors, old friends and new ones!

GENERAL INFORMATION Conference Tuition: Basic tuition includes all conference workshops & events on Saturday and Sunday, February 22 and 23, the Gala Party on Saturday night (includes cocktail, food, and a drink ticket), and bagels, tea and coffee before the first session each morning. Tuition does not include the pre-conference intensives on Friday, February 21.

Early Registration (Before January 15):
$400 SCBWI Member Registration
$500 Non-Member Registration

Regular Registration (January 15 and thereafter):
$440 SCBWI Member Registration
$540- Non-Member Registration

Intensives:$225 each

Portfolio Showcase $50 Fee to participate in Friday Night Private Portfolio Showcase. No fee to those enrolled in the Illustrator Intensive.

Venue Information: GRAND HYATT NEW YORK 109 East 42nd Street (at Grand Central Terminal) New York, NY 10017 (212) 883-1234 Special SCBWI Room Rate: $249, single or double occupancy (limited rooms available so book quickly! ) Includes free in-room internet. Click here to book.

REGISTRATION OPENS AT 10AM PDT OCTOBER 25
How to register: You can register online at www.SCBWI.org or by phone (323-782-1010). You must be a current SCBWI member at the time of registration to be eligible for the member's discount.

Full conference schedule and more details will be available in the coming weeks at scbwi.org

We'll be tweeting the conference with the hashtag #ny14scbwi and blogging about it at the official scbwi conference blog.

Hope to see you there!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Reading To Boost Your Emotional Intelligence

We know reading is good for you, good for kids, good for teens, good for everyone.

We know about Catharsis.

We know about Empathy.

And now, maybe we need to add Social Skills as a benefit of reading as well.

A new study published in the journal Science was discussed in the recent New York Times article by Pam Belluck, For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Chekhov

"It found that after reading literary fiction, as opposed to popular fiction or serious nonfiction, people performed better on tests measuring empathy, social perception and emotional intelligence — skills that come in especially handy when you are trying to read someone’s body language or gauge what they might be thinking."

The parsing out of what kinds of books were beneficial to read and the guesses as to why ranged from interesting to, well, elitist.

Are the findings ammunition for teachers who want to teach "literary fiction?"

Does it hurt those of us who write everything else?

How does this fit in with the new Common Core?

And does this even apply to children and teens, and to kids' and teen books?

There are so many questions this study brings up.

Emanuele Castano and David Comer Kidd, researchers in the New School for Social Research’s psychology department, are continuing to research the connection between reading and emotional intelligence. They're even asking for volunteers here.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

E-Books Via Subscription... Would You Sign Up?

The idea is that people pay a monthly amount to watch movies on Netflix, so maybe they'll pay a monthly amount to read ebooks from, among other publishers, HarperCollins.

Scribd announced last week that HarperCollins is the first of the five major publishers to make a deal with them, and they're negotiating with the other four. From the LA Times Article:

How it works: Scribd will charge $8.99 a month for the service, which will offer unlimited access to titles published before July 2012. It will also offer books from smaller publishers.

HarperCollins and authors will get a cut of each book read. It's not clear whether the monthly fees will be enough to make up for lower sales of printed books.

Would you sign up? Is this a "good thing" for authors and illustrators?

It will be fascinating to see what happens as our industry moves into the future!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

The 2013 Crystal Kite Winner Profiles: New Jersey's Ame Dyckman (for "BOY + BOT")

The 2013 Crystal Kite Award for the USA Atlantic Region (Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland) goes to Ame Dyckman for her picture book, "BOY + BOT!"

Crystal Kite Winner Ame Dyckman!

"BOY + BOT" was published by Alfred A. Knopf (Random House Children's Books) and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino.

I contacted Ame to find out more...

Lee:  Tell us about your book!

Ame:  BOY + BOT (illustrated by the amazing Dan Yaccarino) is a funny and sweet friendship-despite-differences story between a boy and a robot. They meet in the woods and have a terrific time playing--until Bot bumps his power switch and is turned off! Worried that his new friend is sick, Boy brings Bot home in his wagon and tries all the remedies he knows (applesauce, a story, and tucking him in). But when Bot is reactivated after Boy has fallen asleep, it's Bot's turn to help his "malfunctioning" friend!

Lee:  How long have you been involved with SCBWI, and can you share what you feel you've gained by being a member?

Ame:  I wouldn't be published without SCBWI! When I joined my local SCBWI chapter (YAY, NJ SCBWI!) five years ago, I had the love of kidlit in my heart--but absolutely no idea how to write it! But thanks to all the fantastic regional and national SCBWI events in our area, I had lots of opportunities to listen, learn, and practice my writing. Four years ago I participated in the Agent Pitch Session at the NJ SCBWI Annual Conference, Super Agent Scott Treimel offered me representation, and BOY + BOT was on its way! Since then, Scott has sold three more of my books, and I knew I'd love working with my editors because I'd already met them through SCBWI!

Lee:  Do you have any advice to share with other children's book writers and illustrators?

Ame:  If you haven't yet, get involved with your local SCBWI chapter! You'll learn tons, have SO much fun, and SCBWI WORKS! 

Thanks, Ame!

I also reached out to Leeza Hernandez, the Regional Advisor for SCBWI New Jersey to find out more. Here's what she wrote:

I remember when I first met Ame at a mentoring workshop in the NJ chapter. We were in a peer group together. She was super friendly, enthusiastic, kind and honest with her critiques and everyone could tell she had a natural passion for children's books. Ame worked hard, stayed true to her self and her craft, and stuck at it, and now she has all these amazing books along with awards, including the Crystal Kite.

During the time I have known Ame, and even now with her busy schedule, she's always been involved with the chapter giving support and helping out in any way she can, and she does it wholeheartedly without complaint or for anything in return. Roles have included workshop facilitator, volunteer coordinator at past annual conferences, organizing first page sessions, presenter, mentor, and much more!

We're all thrilled for Ame and winning the Crystal Kite Award and wish her many more in the future. It's awesome and much deserved!

You can find out more about Ame and her books at her website here, and on Twitter @AmeDyckman where she posts "picture book reviews and a good deal of whatever pops into my head. ;)"

What's going on with SCBWI New Jersey? Leeza writes:

The chapter comprises of approximately 700 members, published and to-be published. We have an RA, ARA and IC as well as a wonderful and dedicated committee of 14 people plus an amazing host of volunteers who step up to help when we need them. The New Jersey chapter offers members a variety of events throughout the year. Its been a busy year for us! 2013 has been about trying some new ideas such: as a meditation workshop with writing/ illustration exercises to help you overcome blocks or obstacles; a portfolio development day with industry mentors; Ame Dyckman gave her Picture Book Word Count Smackdown workshop to rave reviews; we hosted a Free PIBoIdMo and NaNoWriMo kickoff night this week in three locations around the state. There's free kidlit socials, evenings with industry professionals, and we have our Fall Craft weekend coming up in November which is jam-packed with workshops, editor/agent one-on-ones, first-page sessions, illustrator track and more. Our annual summer conference was held in June which ran for two-and-a-half days and included genre-specific intensives, critiques, nearly 80 workshop sessions, industry panels, a bookfair, and two wonderful presentations from our keynotes: Peter Brown and Lauren Oliver. I'm excited about the year ahead and hope we can continue to bring more events like this to our members. We have some great ideas planned for PAL members too!

Learn more about SCBWI New Jersey at their website here.

Thanks to Ame and Leeza, and cheers to Ame for her Crystal Kite Award for "BOY + BOT!"

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Funny. And Amazing Character Development. (From Jerry Seinfeld and Sarah Silverman!)

Check out this Sarah Silverman episode of Jerry Seinfeld's Getting Coffee With Comedians. (note: Sarah curses, though the f-bombs are beeped out. If that's not your thing, skip it. Otherwise, enjoy!)

They're both funny. But what really jumped out at me is Sarah's quick sketches of her parents, at around 3:25 in.

It's only one minute long - a couple of sentences to describe each parent, but we learn SO much about Sarah's dad and mom, her childhood, and we get a lot of insight into who Sarah is, too.

As we create our characters, it's inspiring to recognize how much you can convey so quickly.

They make it look easy, don't they?

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee