Saturday, May 1, 2010
8:30 am to 5:30 pm
Check in and breakfast from 7:45-8:30 am
Lexington Lansing
Hotel
925 South Creyts Road
Lansing, MI 48917
(517) 323-7100
(877) 322-5544
Whether you relate to the tortoise or the hare, this conference is designed to help you on your journey to
the finish line: Publication! Some writers are published faster than others, while some find themselves on the scenic route.
Some illustrators take classes and others dive right into their first picture book. Some of you work all the time, and some
of you only work when you can carve out a few spare moments. Whatever your speed, we invite you to attend a spring conference
filled with presenters and breakouts to coach you on your journey.
To
register, click on the Register Now link in the Quick Links box (to the right), print the registration form, and follow the
mailing instructions.
Click on the link to the right for directions to the hotel, or to visit their website.
Scroll down for more information about the conference. If you have a question
not answered below, contact conference co-chairs Janice Broyles (conanthe3rd AT charter
DOT net) or Rachel Anderson (writingal AT michigancis DOT com).
Presenters
Jay
Asher
Jay spent more than a year on the New York Times bestseller list with his debut novel,
Thirteen Reasons Why. What began with a Work-In-Progress grant from SCBWI has now sold to over two dozen foreign
markets and been performed as a high school play. To learn more about Jay, visit his website at www.thirteenreasonswhy.com.
Donna Gephart
A writer of humorous greeting cards, stories, and essays for twenty years,
Donna is the author of the middle grade novel As if Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother is Running for President!,
which won the prestigious Sid Fleischman Humor Award in 2009. Her latest novel is How to Survive Middle School. You
can learn more at www.donnagephart.com.
Dave Coverly
In 2009, Dave won the prestigious Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist
of the Year, given by the National Cartoonists Society for his internationally syndicated cartoon panel Speed Bump.
His work has been collected in three award-winning books, published as a line of greeting cards and calendars, and reprinted
thousands of times in magazines and textbooks. Sue MacDonald Had a Book, written by James Tobin, is the first book
Dave has illustrated for children. He has two more forthcoming books, which he has both written and illustrated: 10 Things
Not to Do on a Soccer Field and The Late Bird. He and Tobin are also collaborating on one more book, The
Very Inappropriate Word. Dave's website is www.speedbump.com.
James Tobin
Jim is the author of several books of narrative history. His most recent
is To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight. His first book, Ernie Pyle's War:
America's Eyewitness to World War II, won the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award in biography. In 2009, MacMillan
published Jim's Sue MacDonald Had a Book, illustrated by his friend and collaborator, Dave Coverly. In 2006 Tobin
joined the faculty at Miami University in Ohio, where he is an associate professor of journalism. For more information, visit
http://us.macmillan.com/author/jimtobin.
Beth Fleisher
A literary agent from Barry Goldblatt Literary LLC, Beth is the co-author
of Dragon Moon (Bantam Books). Previously, she was an editor at The Berkley Publishing Group. As an agent, she prefers
nonfiction, including science, history, and natural science; books for boys, including adventure, thriller, and mystery; and
science fiction and fantasy for middle grade and young adult. Learn more about Beth and the Barry Goldblatt agency at www.bgliterary.com
Ruta Rimas
Ruta,
assistant editor, joined HarperCollins Children's Books in 2007 and has been with the Balzer & Bray imprint since
its inception. As an acquiring editor on the B&B team, she is looking to acquire fresh, exciting, fabulous talent from
picture book through young adult. She's had the privilege of working with such distinguished authors as Avi and Jerry
Spinelli, and bright new stars like Amy Huntley and Katie Van Camp. Originally from Chicago, she now resides in Brooklyn with
her boyfriend, pride of cats, and occasional Mid-Western accent. Visit Balzer & Bray's website at www.harpercollins.com.
Lisa Yoskowitz
Lisa is an assistant editor as Dutton Children's Books, an imprint
of Penguin Books for Young Readers, where her current projects include a new anthology from Lee Bennett Hopkins, a picture
book from author/illustrator Doug Cushman, and a YA novel by Heather Hepler. She works on both fiction and nonfiction for
the full range of ages, but she is mostly interested in character-driven picture books that speak to children and wink at
adults; humorous middle grade fiction; and all genres of literary YA, from historical to contemporary, angst-ridden to snarky.
Dutton's website is http://us.penguingroup.com.
Paid Critique Lotteries
A limited number of paid manuscript and portfolio critique slots are available to SCBWI members ONLY, and will be
filled by a lottery. On the registration form, please check your top two choices for critique. Choices are not guaranteed,
but will be honored if possible.
NOTE: You must
attend the conference to participate in any of the lotteries. Members are eligible for one critique per category per year.
Fall begins the new year. If you had a critique in fall, you are not eligible for the same critique this spring. (The manuscript
critique and the portfolio critique may occur at the same conference or at separate conferences. However, you may only enter
one time per category per conference.) If you are not currently eligible for a critique slot, but want to take a chance that
a slot may become available, you may enter the critique lottery.
Postmark deadline for critiques is March 26, 2010.
For either critique, please include a separate check for $40 payable to SCBWI-MI.
If your entry is not chosen, your check and your manuscripts will be shredded. There is no need to send a SASE for their return.
For MS critiques, please choose your genre and include the
required documents:
- For picture books: two
copies of the complete manuscript
- For middle grade or young
adult: two copies of one complete chapter (10 pages max) and two copies
of a 2-3 page summary of the entire manuscript
- For magazine,
short story, or non-fiction: two copies of the complete manuscript
For portfolio critiques, please bring your entire portfolio with you to the conference. Do not send it
in the mail.
If you have questions about
any of the lotteries, contact Janice Broyles: conanthe3rd AT charter DOT net.
To enter any of the lotteries, please click on the Register Now link in the Quick Links section at the top right
of this page.
Tentative Schedule
Saturday, May 1
7:45-8:30
am Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 am
Welcome
8:45 am Jay Asher "How to Sell a Book
in 12 Years or Less!"
9:35 am Breakout I
- Jay Asher (YA) "No Bookmark Allowed" (repeated in afternoon)
- Donna Gephart (MG) "12 3/4 Ways to Tickle Young Readers' Funny Bones"
- James Tobin & Dave Coverly (PB) "Show and Tell: How a Writer and a Cartoonist
Made Their First Picture Book"
10:45 am Breakout II
- Ruta Rimas "What Makes a Book Great"
- Lisa
Yoskowitz (PB) "Slow and Steady Wins the Race"
- Beth
Fleisher "Setting: The Overlooked Component to Great Story Telling"
11:45 am Book and Merchandise Sales and Book Signing
12:00 pm Lunch
12:45 pm Ruta Rimas
TBA
1:30 pm Beth Fleisher "How NOT to Get Published"
2:20 pm Breakout III
- Jay Asher (YA) "No Bookmark Allowed" (a repeat of morning session)
- Dave Coverly "Illustrating Humorously"
- Donna
Gephart "Creating Quirky Characters"
- James Tobin
"Writing a Great Story Through to the Finish"
3:45 pm Lisa Yoskowitz "Standing Out in the Slush Pile"
4:30
pm Q&A with Speaker Panel
5:15 pm Wrap up/Book & Merchandise Sales/Book Signing
