7. We've got STAR Power!
Meg Medina was named one of CNN's "10 Visionary Women" of 2014. In her CNN profile, Meg says,
“I want multicultural fiction to no longer be considered niche fiction. It’s just fiction about who’s here.”
Meg also won the 2014 Pura Belpre award for her YA novel, "Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass." The Pura Belpre Award is the American Library Association’s top award for Latino children’s and youth authors “whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.”
Meg is on faculty at our conference - She'll be part of the Friday afternoon Diversity Panel, she'll be co-hosting a Saturday lunchtime "Diversity Chat" with fellow author Lamar Giles, and she'll be teaching two breakout sessions: Saturday Morning's Creating Characters With Depth and Sunday Afternoon's Pro Track Marketing with Meaning: Building Community and Reputation.
She's just one of the amazing authors who we'll all learn from!
6. Doing your homework is good. Sometimes, cramming can help.
It's amazing how much more you can get out of a session or keynote if you've been able to read and study the books that faculty member has published, but what happens if you arrive at the conference realizing you didn't get to check out any of Salina Yoon's novelty books and you're planning on attending her Friday afternoon breakout session, "The Art and Business of Novelty and Board Books (How To Create and Sell Them!)"?
Here's where the Conference Bookstore can really help. Check out (and purchase) titles from all the conference faculty - and hey, this is how you get books for the faculty to sign. Like Judy Blume. Yeah, THE Judy Blume. Signing. Her. Books! (And giving the final conference Keynote on Sunday afternoon!)
Wow - Number six ended up with STAR power, too!
5. Need some travel reading for inspiration? Check out twelve pre-conference interviews with our amazing faculty:
Judy Blume (whose books have sold over 70 million copies!)
Editor Jill Santopolo
Newbery-Winning Author Linda Sue Park
Editor Sara Sargent
Publisher and Editor Bonnie Bader
Newbery-Winning Author Cynthia Kadohata
Author and Editor Deborah Halverson
The 2014 Sid Fleischman Humor Award Winner Bill Konigsberg
The 2014 Golden Kite Award Winner For Illustration Peter Brown
The 2014 Golden Kite Award Winner For Fiction Tim Federle
The 2014 Golden Kite Award Winner for Nonfiction David Meissner
and the 2014 Golden Kite Award Winner for Picture Book Text Pat Zietlow Miller
STAR power, again!
4. Extend Yourself - metaphorically.
Follow the brilliant teaching author Esther Hershenhorn's advice and attend one session that's outside your zone of comfort - you may be surprised what inspiration flows!
3. Extend Yourself - physically.
There's yoga for conference attendees (with the lovely author and Yoga instructor Lori Snyder), there's dancing at the Saturday night Gala, and there's that moment when you're sitting next to someone you don't know, or standing in line next to a stranger who is also wearing a conference nametag... that's when you reach out and say,
Okay, you need to use your own name there, but the point is these are YOUR people - OUR people - and that's how you make friends and build community.
2. The Illustrator Journals are back!
We're stoked that we'll have six amazing illustrators each share a piece they'll create of/from/inspired by their 2014 SCBWI Summer Conference experience. Participating this time round are:
Lisa Anchin
Ruth McNally Barshaw
James Burks
Maple Lam
Diandra Mae
Rodolfo Montalvo
Their illustrations will be posted on The Official SCBWI Conference Blog, so keep an eye out!
1. Have fun!
You're giving yourself an entire weekend to marinate in your passion. An entire conference to focus on being inspired, learning craft, mastering business, grasping opportunities, and reveling in being part of a vibrant, warm and encouraging community.
Don't try to do everything (you can't - cloning isn't that advanced.)
Be open.
Be friendly.
Take time for yourself (Yes, you're allowed to write and draw and brainstorm this weekend!)
And if you're attending the conference or not, know that SCBWI TEAM BLOG -- this time around:
myself - Lee Wind,
Martha Brockenbrough,
Jolie Stekly,
and Jaime Temairik --
will be posting great stuff live from the conference floor on The Official Conference blog, and on twitter (follow #la14scbwi and @scbwi )
Here's to an amazing conference ahead!
Illustrate and Write On,
Lee
She's just one of the amazing authors who we'll all learn from!
6. Doing your homework is good. Sometimes, cramming can help.
It's amazing how much more you can get out of a session or keynote if you've been able to read and study the books that faculty member has published, but what happens if you arrive at the conference realizing you didn't get to check out any of Salina Yoon's novelty books and you're planning on attending her Friday afternoon breakout session, "The Art and Business of Novelty and Board Books (How To Create and Sell Them!)"?
Here's where the Conference Bookstore can really help. Check out (and purchase) titles from all the conference faculty - and hey, this is how you get books for the faculty to sign. Like Judy Blume. Yeah, THE Judy Blume. Signing. Her. Books! (And giving the final conference Keynote on Sunday afternoon!)
Wow - Number six ended up with STAR power, too!
5. Need some travel reading for inspiration? Check out twelve pre-conference interviews with our amazing faculty:
Judy Blume (whose books have sold over 70 million copies!)
Editor Jill Santopolo
Newbery-Winning Author Linda Sue Park
Editor Sara Sargent
Publisher and Editor Bonnie Bader
Newbery-Winning Author Cynthia Kadohata
Author and Editor Deborah Halverson
The 2014 Sid Fleischman Humor Award Winner Bill Konigsberg
The 2014 Golden Kite Award Winner For Illustration Peter Brown
The 2014 Golden Kite Award Winner For Fiction Tim Federle
The 2014 Golden Kite Award Winner for Nonfiction David Meissner
and the 2014 Golden Kite Award Winner for Picture Book Text Pat Zietlow Miller
STAR power, again!
4. Extend Yourself - metaphorically.
Follow the brilliant teaching author Esther Hershenhorn's advice and attend one session that's outside your zone of comfort - you may be surprised what inspiration flows!
3. Extend Yourself - physically.
There's yoga for conference attendees (with the lovely author and Yoga instructor Lori Snyder), there's dancing at the Saturday night Gala, and there's that moment when you're sitting next to someone you don't know, or standing in line next to a stranger who is also wearing a conference nametag... that's when you reach out and say,
"Hi! I'm Lee, and I'm a writer..."
Okay, you need to use your own name there, but the point is these are YOUR people - OUR people - and that's how you make friends and build community.
2. The Illustrator Journals are back!
We're stoked that we'll have six amazing illustrators each share a piece they'll create of/from/inspired by their 2014 SCBWI Summer Conference experience. Participating this time round are:
Lisa Anchin
Ruth McNally Barshaw
James Burks
Maple Lam
Diandra Mae
Rodolfo Montalvo
Their illustrations will be posted on The Official SCBWI Conference Blog, so keep an eye out!
1. Have fun!
You're giving yourself an entire weekend to marinate in your passion. An entire conference to focus on being inspired, learning craft, mastering business, grasping opportunities, and reveling in being part of a vibrant, warm and encouraging community.
Don't try to do everything (you can't - cloning isn't that advanced.)
Be open.
Be friendly.
Take time for yourself (Yes, you're allowed to write and draw and brainstorm this weekend!)
And if you're attending the conference or not, know that SCBWI TEAM BLOG -- this time around:
myself - Lee Wind,
Martha Brockenbrough,
Jolie Stekly,
and Jaime Temairik --
will be posting great stuff live from the conference floor on The Official Conference blog, and on twitter (follow #la14scbwi and @scbwi )
Here's to an amazing conference ahead!
Illustrate and Write On,
Lee
I'm trying to find out who won the Sue Alexander award this year. Can you tell me, and what genre the work was?
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