SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) Conference in Hawaii

2011 SCBWI-Hawaii Conference Preview

Reka Simonsen, executive editor at Houghton Children’s Books

Author John Ritter

Illustrator Michael Furuya

Our 2011 conference is set for Saturday, February 19, at the Ala Moana Hotel, Ilima Room, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Featured guests will be Reka Simonsen, executive editor at Houghton Children’s Books, author John Ritter, and illustrator Michael Furuya. Plan to come and “be with your people” at this inspiring annual event!

In addition, John Ritter will lead an optional fiction workshop, “How to Give your Stories Depth, Interest and Intrigue,” for conference attendees the day before the conference, Friday, February 18, at Paki Hale from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by lunch and schmooze until 2:30 p.m.
We have emailed complete information recently, and it is also available at the link below, but here are some of the highlights.

For all:

• “A Primer on Queries and Synopses and Postcards” with Reka Simonsen.
• “How to Make Your Website Work for You (even if you don’t have one yet)” panel discussion with John Ritter, Tammy Yee, Sue Wyshynski and Elizabeth Oh.
• first-pages/first look session with Reka Simonsen, John Ritter and Michael Furuya.
• optional manuscript and portfolio critiques.

Especially for writers:

• session with acclaimed novelist John Ritter (www.johnhritter.com ) “Is Your Issue Showing?: how to explore cultural or political themes in our books without sacrificing story”
• optional fiction workshop with John Ritter (for novelists and picture book writers)

Especially for illustrators:

• “From page to Stage and Beyond,” session with children’s book illustrator and ‘Ohi‘a Productions co-founder Michael Furuya.

Costs and Deadlines:
The cost of the February 19th conference (including lunch) is $90 for members, or $120 for nonmembers, with additional fees for optional manuscript, dummy, or portfolio critiques.

The cost of the optional February 18th fiction workshop with John Ritter is $60 for members and $85 for nonmembers (space available); optional lunch is an additional $15.  Please note: you must be registered for the conference to attend the workshop.

Postmark deadline to register for the conference with manuscript critique is January 18, 2011. You must send your manuscript(s) in with your registration and fee(s).
Deadline to register for the conference and fiction workshop is February 11, 2011.
Deadline to register for the conference alone or with portfolio critique is February11, 2011.

2011 SCBWI-Hawaii Conference Information and Registration

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Work Isn't Over Once You're Published....

It's in the contract:

"The Authors agree to promote the Work to the best of his/her abilities...particularly in the first quarter following the Work's publication..."

Expect to find a similar clause in all your contracts, detailing your required participation in autograph sessions, interviews, and digital promotion on websites and social networking sites.

In the New York Times editorial, "I Wrote It, Must I Also Hustle It?" television personality and author Dick Cavett details his experience in having to promote his latest book, coming off of a dozen back-to-back radio interviews. We should all be so lucky, but what he drives home is the responsibility for authors to participate in promoting their work. Another article by Mr. Cavett details what many authors (including myself) have experienced: finding that stores haven't been able to sell your books, despite all the promotion you've done, not because they've been selling out but because they haven't been getting them from the publisher: "An Author’s Nightmare."

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Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Plan

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes moving weaned female monk seal pups to mainland Hawaiian Islands, where there are less predators, to improve the survival rate of sexually mature females:

"According to NMFS, 60 to 90 percent of NWHI (North West Hawaiian Islands) seals die by the age of three. However, research has shown that MHI (Main Hawaiian Islands) seals do well, with 60 percent surviving to adulthood. Jeff Walters, of the NMFS, said a reason for this could be that there are less predators and competitors on MHI."

Read the full article here, detailing concerns the local community has on the impact relocating seal pups may have on fishing:The Molokai Dispatch~Save Our Seals

Locals swim alongside KP2, an abandoned monk seal pup raised by humans

KP2's friendliness was of concern. Officials worried his playfulness might injure people as he matured.

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Mission Houses Museum: Bookfair and Story-a-thon

From the Mission Houses Museum:

Please join us at Mission Houses Museum for Historic Bites on Tuesday, Oct 5th at noon in the Chamberlain House Kitchen.

Our topic is...

Victorian Horrors

Senior Curator, Elizabeth Nosek will give a background look at this unique genre of literature during the early 19th century before welcoming author, Mary Shelly who will read from her famous work, Frankenstein...

The program is FREE

Two other pieces of information

• This program is a nice introduction to the Story-a-thon: A Celebration of Literacy event on October 22 which begins with Victorian Horrors ($15 a person, registration strongly recommended).

• Don't forget this weekend's Bookfair at and Noble.  You can support Mission Houses and read great books!

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Happy Halloween

What is it about this spooky holiday that inspires us to dress up as witches, ghouls and zombies? Americans love Halloween so much, we spend 2 billion dollars a year on costumes, candy and decorations, making it the second highest grossing holiday (after Christmas, of course).

And what about those crazy giant pumpkins, like the 1,500 pound monster grown by Jake van Kooten of British Columbia, who won $9,000 at California's Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Harvest and Festival? Did he really ship his pumpkin all the way from Canada to California?

If Mr. Kooten's prize money doesn't cover shipping his gourd back to British Columbia, then perhaps he can paddle his pumpkin home, like the good folks at the world's largest pumpkin boat race at the Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival in Germany. Every year enthusiasts don their pumpkin hats and paddle across the moat of a 17th Century castle in 200lb hollowed-out gourds. Between races, visitors can check out the 450 varieties of pumpkins, admire the pumpkin sculptures, and partake in pumpkin pies, stews and curries. Yum. A boat you can eat.

History of Halloween

Unnaturally large squashes aside, Halloween dates back some 2,000 years and in its current form is a mishmash of ancient Celtic practices, Catholic and Roman religious rituals, and of course, modern commercialism. Long before Walmart, October 31 marked the Celtic holiday of Samhain, a harvest festival observing the end of summer, when ancient Celts disguised themselves in costumes and masks and lit bonfires to ward off evil spirits. The harvest holiday was especially important because it marked the seasonal transition between the warm "lighter half" of the year, or the growing season, and the cold, dreary "darker half". This transition from a time of bounty to impending austerity extended into the spiritual world; it was believed that the boundaries between the living and the "otherworld" became especially thin, allowing the dead to pass over into this world.

Samhain and its pagan rituals, and some elements of the Roman festival of Feralia, which honored the dead, became integrated into All Saint's Day and all Soul's Day. In medieval Ireland and Britain, the poor would go from door to door asking for food in return for prayers for the dead, giving rise to "guising", a tradition in which Scottish and Irish children disguised themselves in costumes and went door to door requesting food and coins.

Save on Halloween decorations with these fun, printable Halloween origami and crafts.

Bat Origami	Black Cat Origami
Owl Mask	Owl Origami
Owl Paper Bag Puppet	Pinwheel Spider
Pumpkin Box	Skeleton

©2010 Tammy Yee

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Children’s Writing Class at UH Outreach

For those interested in writing children's nonfiction, this sounds promising (I'm thinking of going):

Michael Elsohn Ross, a science educator and an award-winning author of more than 40 books for children on nature, science, and art will be teaching a two-session noncredit evening course UH called ‘Writing Your Children’s Book’ (Event ID: P11028). The class will meet on November 4 (Thursday) and 9 (Tuesday) from 6 to 9 p.m. in Kuykendall 303, and the course fee is $65. Michael describes the class as follows: “Discover the wide variety of styles and formats of current books, and pick up some useful writing and publishing tools from an author with extensive experience in the field. Participants will have a chance to write and edit short pieces, as well as get an overview of the publishing process.”

Michael, who works as a naturalist in Yosemite, presents at schools and conferences throughout the U.S. and internationally and teaches writing workshops. See his website at www.bugauthor.com. (While we don’t know Michael personally, he’s an SCBWI member, and the Regional Advisor where he lives recommends him highly.) Register online at www.outreach.hawaii.edu/noncredit/registration.asp, or call 956-8400.

And for those not familiar with SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Hawaii's website, check out their online publication, Trade Winds.

This issue features helpful writing and publishing tidbits from the SCBWI Conference in L.A., as well as summary of what local publishers in Hawaii (Island Heritage, Mutual Publishing, Bess Press) are seeking.

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Book Launch: Plenty Saimin, by Feng Feng Hutchins

The celebration will begin Sunday, September 26th, 2010 at 3 p.m. inside Native books. Light refreshments, books, friends and family. Fresh noodle packets of saimin from the Sun Noodle Company will be given away with the first 25-signed copies.

Book Launch Celebration And Signing

Native Book/ Na Mea Hawaii
Ward Warehouse (Ewa end)
1050 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, Hi 96814
www.nativebookshawaii.com

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Stories, Storytellers and Their Place in Our Lives

Join Mission Houses Museum on Tuesday,  Sept 7 , 2010 at noon for its monthly "Historic Bites" luncheon lecture in the Chamberlain House Kitchen.

Curator Elizabeth Nosek introduces the museum's program theme for the upcoming year - Talk Story: Legends, Myths & Fables.   The museum looks forward to seeing how universal themes and characters appear throughout the world helping us to understand our place in it.

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Whales' Tails and Turtle Trails

Ta-daah...I signed books at Hanauma Bay and got my first glimpse of my new children's book from Island Heritage Publishing, Whales' Tails and Turtle Trails. Created in PhotoShop, which will probably be the medium for my next book as well. Very satisfied with the publisher's color reproduction...Hanauma Bay said they pre-ordered the book and were only able to get 12 copies.

What fun!

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Origami Folding Robot

This little contraption has been programmed to fold itself into a boat or an airplane. Looks like it will be a long wait before they invent Transformer robots...

For more information, visit Discovery News.

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SCBWI International Summer Conference

The 39th Annual SCBWI International Summer Conference features 4 days of agents, editors, publishers, workshps and networking designed to take your writing and illustration to the next level. From individual consultations on your manuscript or portfolio with an editor or agent, to keynotes and targeted workshops from best-selling writers and illustrators, the SCBWI Summer Conference gives you the opportunity to focus on honing your craft while networking with industry decision-makers.

Published or pre-published, you can't afford to miss this opportunity! Get the latest information on the market from the industry leaders in publishing for young people, and be inspired by some of the most well-known authors and illustrators working in children's literature today.

Make sure you're logged in as an SCBWI member, then click on the links above to learn and REGISTER NOW to reserve your place today!

What: 39th Annual Summer Conference
When: July 30 - August 2, 2010 
Where: Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles

SCBWI brings together top professionals in the children's publishing world to share their knowledge and expertise with attendees twice each year. The annual SCBWI Summer & Winter conferences are also excellent networking opportunities for those already established in the children's industry, and for those just starting to enter the world of children's book writing and illustrating.

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Purple Dragonfly Book Awards Competition

FIVE STAR PUBLICATIONS UNVEILS NEW LITERARY CONTEST:

PURPLE DRAGONFLY BOOK AWARDS TAKE FLIGHT

CHANDLER, Ariz. — May 21, 2010 – With nearly 25 years of experience under its belt, Five Star Publications knows award-winning books. Its own titles recognized in numerous national writing contests, the Arizona-based publisher is taking its industry expertise to new heights by honoring the work of others. Preparing for its first annual
Purple Dragonfly Book Awards competition, Five Star Publications is raising the bar for children’s books in 19 categories—from stories about families, hobbies and pets to tales about the environment, religion and health.

Submissions must be received by Five Star Publications by June 14, 2010. Winners will be announced at the Arizona Literary Awards Banquet on November 6, 2010 in conjunction with Arizona Authors Association Literary Contest and Book Awards.

“Five Star Publications is proud to announce the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards,” said Linda F. Radke, Five Star founder and president, “because we want to help parents give their children only the best in reading excellence. Geared toward stories for children between the ages of four and 10, the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards are designed to bring families together with great children’s literature, and a Purple Dragonfly seal on a book’s cover lets parents choose new titles for their bookshelves with confidence.”

The Purple Dragonfly Book Awards are currently open to children’s books published between the 2007-2010 calendar years. Exceptions include titles by Five Star’s employees and their immediate family members; contributing editors and writers;
affiliated authors; and close acquaintances and relatives of contest judges. Participation is open to authors of both traditionally published and self-published books from any press except Five Star Publications. A Grand Prize winner and First and Second Place Winners in each category will be selected based on content, originality and overall readability, with emphasis on innovation and creativity.

The Five Star judging panel will include experts from the fields of editing, reviewing, bookselling and publishing. “Being honored with a Purple Dragonfly Award will confer credibility upon each winner, as well as provide extra positive publicity to further their success,” said Radke.

 

Based in Chandler, AZ, Five Star Publications has been publishing and promoting award- winning fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, children’s literature and professional guides since 1985. For more information, visit www.PurpleDragonflyBookAwards.com.

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University of Hawai‘i KIDS FIRST! Film Festival

The award-winning University of Hawai‘i KIDS FIRST! Film Festival returns with four summer Sundays of free family films. KIDS FIRST!, a project of the Coalition for Quality Children's Media, is the largest traveling children's film festival in the world.

Curated locally by Outreach College and free to the public, the UH KIDS FIRST! Film Festival includes an entire program devoted to animations adapted from children's literature by esteemed authors and illustrators and are free of gratuitous violence; race, gender, or religious bias; inappropriate content; and condescension towards children. Age-appropriate groupings of films entertain through a balance of animation and live action, plus varied themes from different cultures. To add to the festivities, door prizes are awarded at all screenings.

What: University of Hawai‘i KIDS FIRST! Film Festival
When: Sundays • June 13 & 27, July 11 & 18 • 3:00pm
Where: UH Manoa Art Auditorium • FREE!
http://www.outreach.hawaii.edu/summer/kidsfirst.asp

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Southampton Children’s Literature Conference

July 28 to August 1, 2010
 
The Southampton Children’s Literature Conference provides a unique forum in which to
study and discuss the craft of writing for children. World-renowned authors, illustrators
and editors offer inspiration and guidance through workshops, lectures, group discussions
and special presentations. Open to both established and aspiring writers, the Conference
is located in the Hamptons on the East End of New York’s Long Island—a resort area of
natural beauty.

WORKSHOPS
The Children’s Writing Workshops are led by authors and editors of the first rank. The
distinguished faculty includes:

• Caldecott Medal-winning author/illustrator Ed Young
• Award-winning middle-grade author Tor Seidler
• Accomplished editor and novelist Cindy Kane
• Best-selling author/editor Emma Walton Hamilton
• Award-winning YA author Margaret McMullan

GUEST SPEAKERS AND SPECIAL EVENTS
In the afternoons and evenings, participants choose from a wide range of elective sessions
presented by notable authors, editors, publishers, and agents. The schedule of formal and
informal gatherings is rich—from author receptions to open-mic night—with a few
surprises, too.

Among the guest presenters scheduled to appear this year are Arlene Alda and Lisa
DeSimini, Jim and Kate McMullan, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Catherine Creedon,
and Whiting Award-winning poet Julie Sheehan.

We’re pleased to offer three graduate credits to eligible students.

Workshop size is limited; some scholarships still available. Apply now!

http://www.stonybrook.edu/writers
http://www.facebook.com/SouthamptonWriters?ref=ts

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Peachtree Publisher's Blogspot: The Development of a Book Cover

My dear friend and colleague, Shan Correa, just came out with her middle-grade novel, Gaff, and I am so proud of her!

As an author and illustrator, I am well aware of the challenges faced in developing a book cover, and have sometimes wished I could "do-over" a cover.

Peachtree's Blog, Judging a Book by its Cover, features Shan's novel as a demonstration of how a cover was selected:

"When creating anything, especially book covers, changes are going to happen and first ideas will become third ideas or even sixth ideas.  But, with every change or every new idea comes a more polished and a more cohesive cover, so that the end result is something that we are all proud of and something that highlights the story."

Congratulations, Shan!

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