QHow - Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

nov|dec 2009

c o n t e n t s | N o v E M B E R / d E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9 

aSaMI HaSEGawa 

22 

26 

2 scBWI November/december 2009 

19 

features 

17 Illustrating Self-Published Books · Elizabeth O. Dulemba 

18 Harnessing the Power of the Internet · Jennifer R. Hubbard 

19 Plot vs. Character · Kathryn Lay 

20 The Game of the Name · Christiane Tibbitts 

21 The Picture Book Marathon · Jean Reagan and Lora Koehler 

22 Twitter 101 · Alice Pope 

25 Self-Employment Tax for Freelancers · Julian Block 

26 Librarians on the Ramparts · Sarah S. Brannen 

MICHaEL LauRITINo

NoEL TuaZoN 

departments 

4 News & Notes 

5 Events of Interest 

7 Poem: First Draft 

8 Book Review: The Right to Write 

9 The Truth about School visits 

10 To Market 

11 what the Tech? 

12 art Tips 

13 The Illustrator’s Perspective 

14 Illustrator Profile 

16 Here, There & Everywhere 

28 People 

33 Regional Events 

37 Publisher’s Corner 

39 Legally Speaking 

11 

8271 Beverly Blvd., Los angeles, Ca 90048 

323.782.1010 · scbwi@scbwi.org · www.scbwi.org 

eDItoR STEPHEN MooSER & LIN oLIvER 

nY contRIBUtInG eDItoR CoNNIE C. EPSTEIN 631.928.1425 

contRIBUtInG eDItoR SHERRILL KuSHNER 

PeoPLe eDItoR REva SoLoMoN people@scbwi.org 

MARKetInG ADVIsoR SuSaN SaLZMaN RaaB sraab@raabassociates.com 

DIRectoR, coMMUnIcAtIons & DesIGn/WeBMAsteR aaRoN HaRTZLER 

DesIGneR MIKE waTTERS 

BoARD oF ADVIsoRs 

KaTHLEEN aHRENS, author; JudY BLuME, author; PRISCILLa BuRRIS, Illustrator; 

BRuCE CovILLE, author; PaT CuMMINGS, Illustrator; davId dIaZ, Illustrator; 

JudITH RoSS ENdERLE, author; SId FLEISCHMaN, author ; 

JaMES CRoSS GIBLIN, author/Editor; STEPHaNIE JaCoB GoRdoN, author; 

ESTHER HERSHENHoRN, author; doRoTHY LEoN, author; 

aRTHuR a. LEvINE, Editor/author; JEN MCvEITY, author; waLTER dEaN MYERS, author; 

LINda SuE PaRK, author; SuSaN PaTRoN, author; Q.L. PEaRCE, author; 

JERRY PINKNEY, Illustrator; RoBERT SaBuda, Illustrator; 

BaRBaRa SEuLING, author/Illustrator; JoHN SHELLEY, Illustrator; 

FRaNK SLoaN, Editor/author; MELISSa STEwaRT, author; 

BRIdGET STREvENS-MaRZo, Illustrator; LISa YEE, author; JaNE YoLEN, author; 

CECELIa YuNG, art director; CHERYL ZaCH, author 

ToMIE dEPaoLa, Illustrator/author (Board Member Emeritus) 

Us ReGIonAL ADVIsoR cHAIR CHERYL ZaCH cherylzach@scbwi.org 

InteRnAtIonAL ReGIonAL ADVIsoR cHAIR KaTHLEEN aHRENS kathleenahrens@scbwi.org 

ILLUstRAtIon cooRDInAtoR PRISCILLa BuRRIS burrisdraw@sbcglobal.net 

InteRnAtIonAL ILLUstRAtIon LIAson BRIdGET STEvENS-MaRZo b@bridgetstevens.com 

ReGIonAL eVents cooRDInAtoR REBECCa L. GoLd rebecca@familiagold.com 

MAGAZIne MeRIt cooRDInAtoR doRoTHY LEoN 805.579.0317 

MeMBeRsHIP & oFFIce ADMInIstRAtoR GEE CEE addISoN 

conFeRence cooRDInAtoR/AWARDs ADMInIstRAtoR LIZ BRowN 

R.A. LIAson/tecHnoLoGY ADVIsoR SaLLY CRoCK 

CovER aRT ©2009 PETER BRowN 

The SCBWI Bulletin is a bimonthly publication of the Society of Children’s Book writers and 

Illustrators, a professional international organization for writers and illustrators of children’s 

literature, located at 8271 Beverly Boulevard, Los angeles, Ca 90048. Membership dues are 

$75 for the first year and $60 each renewing year. Send email to membership@scbwi.org for 

general queries as well as membership and conference information to webmaster@scbwi.org 

for website issues and questions. all content copyright ©2009. The Bulletin makes no specific 

endorsements of any books or products mentioned in its pages. 

sUBMIssIon The Bulletin welcomes submissions or articles of interest to our illustrators 

and writer members. Payment for full-length articles is $50 plus a year’s membership in the 

SCBwI. we also welcome illustration submissions. Payment for black and white art is $25 

per drawing. For illustrations we retain only first-time rights. For articles we take only onetime 

Bulletin and all SCBwI website rights. For submission guidelines, visit www.scbwi.org/ 

bulletinsubs.htm. 

scBWI onLIne visit the SCBwI website at www.scbwi.org where you will find a calendar 

of events, regional information, and many other resources. Current SCBwI members have 

special access to the latest publications and the members-only discussion Boards where you 

can participate in the SCBwI online community. Remember, this is your organization. Please 

send your suggestions and ideas to scbwi.org. 

HeAtH InsURAnce InQUIRIes TEIGIT (Cigna Plan), www.teigit.com or 800.886.7504. 

oFFIce sUPPLY DIscoUnt To request a catalog, visit www.penny-wise.com or call 

800.942.3311. 

HeRtZ Rent-A-cAR DIscoUnt To receive a Hertz discount Card, send a self-addressed 

stamped envelope to the SCBwI Executive office, 8271 Beverly Boulevard, Los angeles, 

Ca 90048. 

November/december 2009 scBWI 3

news 

&notes 

BY aaRoN HaRTZLER & SHERRILL KuSHNER 

And the Award Goes To… 

2009 Sue Alexander Award 

Selected from manuscripts submitted for 

individual critique at the SCBWI Annual 

Summer Conference in Los Angeles, 

the Sue Alexander Most Promising New 

Work Award is given to the manuscript 

deemed most promising for publication. 

Industry professionals who critique 

the manuscripts at the Los Angeles 

conference determine the finalists. 

Until her sudden death in July 2008, Sue 

Alexander made the final selection. Now, 

a three-member panel from Sue’s writing 

group of 20 years makes a final selection 

after the conference. 

The winner receives an expense-paid 

trip to New York to meet with interested 

editors. Only manuscripts submitted for 

conference manuscript critiques by fulltime 

conference attendees are eligible; 

see deadline and submission guidelines 

in the conference brochure or online, 

to be made available in mid-May. There 

is no prior application process for this 

award. 

2009 Winner 

Sharon Cameron for her manuscript 

Stranwyne Keep. 

Here’s what our judges had to say: 

Stranwyne Keep has strong, compelling 

writing and an air of mystery grip the 

reader from page one of this fascinating 

manuscript. The historical setting is vivid 

and finely detailed, the well-conceived 

plot is filled with intrigue, foreboding and 

unexpected twists, and the sympathetic 

main character is at once resilient and 

vulnerable. 


2009 Honorable Mentions 

» Ditched by Jean O’Neill 

» Consequence by Tiffany Daniels 

» Give and Take by Genny Heikka 

2009 Nominees included: 

» Jazz Kitty by C.H. Brown 

» George Washington’s Hercules by Glenda 

Armand 

» Mughda the Dressmaker by Jennifer 

Wagh 

» Paradise Paved by Becky Hawkins 

» Tall Tale Ray: Voice of Appalachia 

by Shannon Hitchcock 

» 16 Miles Per Hour by Kristi Olson 

» Salamander and the Lounge Lizards 

by Dan Blackley 

» Silk and Cedar by Laura Pegram 

» The Window Shoppe 

by Rita Crayon Huang 

» Penelope and the Great Moodler 

by Paige E. Britt 

» Last Dance by Sandi Greene 

» Golden by Rachel Marks 

2009 Work-in-Progress Grants 

Nearly 400 entries were received for this 

year’s Work-in-Progress Grants. Winning 

grants are for $1,500. Runner-up grants 

are for $500. The First Readers and the 

judges were very impressed this year 

with the overall quality of writing, and 

were in agreement that they had never 

seen such a string pool of applicants. 

Board member and author Melissa 

Stewart, author John Ritter, along with 

Feiwel and Friends editor Liz Szabla 

judged the award for a previously 

unpublished writer. This year’s winner is 

NIKKI SHoEMaKER 

Tracy Clark of Gardnerville, Nevada, for 

her contemporary YA novel, The Circle 

Journal. Runner-up award went to Jeff 

Hirsch of Astoria, New York, for his YA 

After the End of the World. 

Judges for the General Work-in- 

Progress grant were Board member Frank 

Sloan and author Brenda Seabrooke 

along with Bloomsbury editor Margaret 

Miller. They selected Brad Strickland of 

Oakwood, Georgia, for his historical YA 

novel, Young Ben Franklin and the Witch of 

Water Street. This year’s runner-up grant 

goes to Rebecca Hogue Wojahn of Eau 

Claire, Wisconsin, for Malcolm at Midnight, 

an animal fantasy. 

The SCBWI/Anna Cross Giblin 

Nonfiction Research Grant, funded by 

James Cross Giblin, was awarded this 

year to Laura Anne Woollett of Waltham, 

Massachusetts, for Circus Fire, a narrative 

nonfiction book for middle grade to YA. 

Runner-up grant in nonfiction has been 

presented to Betsy Rosenthal of Pacific 

Palisades, California, for Looking for Me, 

a poetry collection for middle-grade 

readers. This year’s judges were Board 

member and writer James Cross Giblin, 

author Ann Bausum and Houghton 

Mifflin editor Erika Zappy. 

The 2009 SCBWI Contemporary Novel 

Grant, this year goes to Angelina Corallo 

Hansen of Maple Falls, Washington, 

for her novel Why I Told. Tina Tocco of 

Pleasantville, New York, is the recipient 

of the runner-up grant for The Wish 

Lady. The Contemporary Novel Grant 

judges for this year were Board member 

and author Walter Dean Myers, author

William Durbin along with Farrar, Straus 

& Giroux editor Janine O’Malley. 

The SCBWI also acknowledged 

the following entrants in the WIP 

competition with Letters of Merit. 

» Cynthia Bates, Atascadero, CA 

(Contemporary Novel) 

» Andrea Cheng, Cincinnati, OH 

(Nonfiction Research) 

» Jean Heilprin Diehl, Chevy Chase, MD 


» Kathryn L. Gaglione, Alexandria, VA 

(General) 

» Amy Butler Greenfield, Waltham, MA 

(General) 

» Sharlene P. Nelson & Ted W. Nelson, 

Federal Way, WA (Nonfiction Research) 

» Kekla Magoon, New York, NY 


» Karen Marie Odden, Scottsdale, AZ 


» Susan Lea Clifton, Oro Valley, AZ 


» CS Perryess, Los Osos, CA (General) 

» Barbara Rosenstock, Vernon Hills, IL 

(General) 

» Angie Smibert, Roanoke, VA (General) 

» Jean Ann Williams, Glendale, OR 

(General) 

This year’s recipients plan to use their 

money for a variety of purposes from 

continuing their education via classes 

and workshops, to research travel and 

child care to free up writing time. 

Our congratulations to all the winners 

and thanks to the judges along with 

first readers Virginia Frances Schwartz, 

Vicki Berger Erwin, Kim L. Siegelson, 

and Nancy Antle, and especially to 

Coordinator Sue Burgess, who has been 

administering these awards for many, 

many years. At the recent Summer 

Conference Golden Kite luncheon Sue 

received a plaque designating her our 

Work-in-Progress Grant Emeritus. All of 

us, and all of those who benefited from 

her efforts over the years, owe Sue a great 

debt of gratitude. 

Applications for the 2010 grants are available here: 

http://www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/wIP-Grant. 

Everyone in the SCBWI, except for past winners is 

eligible to apply for the Golden Kite Award. Gephart 

received her award on Sunday, August 9th during 

the annual Golden Kite Luncheon at the SCBWI 

International Summer Conference in Los Angeles. 

events of 

interest 

BY CoNNIE EPSTEIN 

The 2009 Annual Meeting of the 

Children’s Book Council was held 

on September 15 at the new location 

of The Times Center in New York 

City attended by approximately 200 

members and guests. Business 

matters led off the morning with 

the chair, Suzanne Murphy of 

Scholastic, conducting a vote on 

the new slate of board members, 

the treasurer Justin Chanda of 

Simon & Schuster reporting that 

a profit had been achieved for a 

second consecutive year and the 

executive director Robin Adelson 

summarizing activities over the 

last 12 months. Of special interest 

was the process of turning the CBC 

foundation’s Every Child a Reader and the CBC into a separate 

partnership. However, the two organizations share the same staff and work 

together to promote children’s reading, with events increasing from five to ten 

during last spring’s Children’s Book Week. 

The second half of the program presented a panel discussion on “The Current 

State of E-Publishing in the Digital Age.” The moderator was Craig Morgan Teicher, 

Publishers Weekly contributing editor, and the panelists were: Len Feldman (Follett 

Digital Resources), Andrew Weinstein (Ingram Digital), Erica Lazzaro (OverDrive, 

Inc.), and Josh Koppel (ScrollMotion). Questions posed by Teicher covered topics 

that included format, pricing, rights, and piracy. All seemed to see a promising 

future ahead since, as Koppel pointed out, e-books provide instant access to child 

readers wherever they are. Also, Feldman noted, touch buttons that the company 

is experimenting with make the contact far more interactive, and Weinstein added 

that having both elements of reading and audio in one place is another strong plus. 

When asked how ready publishers are to use this new technology, Lazzaro 

saw opportunities for companies like hers that are able to show them how they 

can enter the digital age and use it as a new way to sell their product. Overall, 

Weinstein said, he believes the e-book market is basically sounder than the 

troubled e-music market as a book cannot be divided into parts as easily as a 

group of songs. In fact, Feldman added, the format of choice for a gift to pass down 

through a family is still paper as nothing digital is likely to last 100 years. 

CORRECTION: The photograph of Golden Kite nonfiction recipient 

Pamela Turner on the back page of last month’s Bulletin was 

incorrectly identified. Our apologies to Ms. Turner for the error. 

MICHELLE HENNINGER 


n e W s & n o t e s 

International 

Awards 

MEXICO 

Judy Goldman 

Uncle Monarch and the Day of the 

Dead 

illustrated by René King Moreno 

Best Children’s Books of the Year 

Bank Street College of Education 

(shortlisted) 

TAIWAN 

Ariel Pang 

What We All Should Know: 

Understanding the UN Convention 

on the Rights of the Child 

Best Human Rights Book 

BRITISH ISLES 

Jeremy strong 

Beware! Killer Tomatoes 

illustrated by Rowan Clifford 

Sheffield Children’s Book award 

Gateshead award 

Leicester award 

Cumbria Spellbinding Book award 

(Cumbria) 

Miriam Halahmy 

Samir Hakkim’s Healthy Eating 

Diary (in Give Me Shelter, Tony 

Bradman, editor) 

uKLa award (shortlisted) 

tish Farrell 

Write Your Own Science Fiction 

Story 

Golden duck awards for excellence 

in children’s science fiction - 

Special award (united States) 

Write Your Own Adventure Stories 

authors Licensing and Collecting 

Society award for Educational 

writing – Society of authors 

(shortlisted) 

Jane clarke 

Stuck in the Mud 

illustrated by Garry Parsons 

Nottingham Children’s Book 

award, Favourite picture book 


David thorpe 

Hybrids 

Lewisham Schools Book award 

Sefton Super Reads award 2008 

(shortlisted) 

Jason chapman 

Ted, Bo and Diz - The First 

Adventure 

Booktrust Early Years awards 

– Best Emerging Illustrator 

(shortlisted) 

John shelley 

MVP (douglas Evans author) 

Nutmeg award (Connecticut, 

uSa) 

CANADA 

christopher Paul curtis 

Elijah of Buxton 

Td Canadian Children’s Literature 

award 

Geoffrey Bilson award for 

Historical Fiction 

CLa Book of the Year 

Governor General’s Literary 

award Finalist 

Newbery award Honour Book 

Red Maple Nominee 

Coretta Scott King award 

Alma Fullerton 

Libertad 

Governor General award Finalist 

walking on Glass 

2008 Yalsa Quick pick 

Rebecca Upjohn 

Lily and the Paper Man 

illustrated by Renne Benoit 

ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the 

Year award, Children’s Picture Book 

Blue Spruce award (finalist) 

Lizann Flatt 

Let’s Go! 

CYBILS nonfiction picture book 

(shortlisted) 

Many International SCBWI members have won awards this 

year for books published in the 2008 calendar year. Here are 

the shortlisted and awarded titles created by our members 

living outside of the United States. Congratulations to all! 

Frieda Wishinsky 

Please Louise! 

winner: Marilyn Baillie Picture 

Book award 

Td Canadian Children’s Literature 

award (Nominated) 

Shining willow award, 

Saskatchewan Young Readers’ 

Choice (Nominated) 

Blue Spruce, ontario Library 

association (Nominated) 

Everything but the Kitchen Sink 

(co-authored with Elizabeth 

MacLeod) 

Silver Birch (Nominated) 

Duncan Weller 

The Boy from the Sun 

Governor General award winner 

Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz award 

winner 

Marthe Jocelyn 

A Home for Foundlings 

Rocky Mountain Book award 

How It Happened in Peach Hill 

CLa Young Readers’ Choice 

award (shortlist) 

‘Best Book’ of 2008 by YaLSa – 

Young adults Library Services 

Alison Lohans 

This Land we Call Home 

Saskatchewan Book award for 

Young adult Literature 

HONG KONG 

Roseanne thong 

Wish (Chronicle u.S.) 

Chicago Public Library Best of the 

Best Book 

Smithsonian Magazine’s Notable 

Book for Children 

AUSTRALIA AND NEW 

ZEALAND 

sherryl clark 

Sixth Grade Style Queen (Not!) 

Children’s Book Council of 

australia Books for Younger 

Readers, Honour Book 

Matt ottley 

Requiem for the Beast 


australia Picture Book of the Year 

Kate Forsyth 

The Gypsy Crown series (6 books) 

aurealis award for Excellence in 

Children’s Fiction (five titles) 

Jackie French 

Pharaoh: The Boy who Conquered 

the Nile 


australia older Readers 

(shortlisted) 

Jackie French and Bruce 

Whatley 

The Shaggy Gully Times 


australia older Readers 

(shortlisted) 

Joy cowley 

Snake and Lizard 

New Zealand Post Book of the 

Year Junior Fiction 

JAPAN 

Holly thompson 

The Wakame Gatherers 

Cooperative Children’s Book 

Center Choice 2008 

Compiled by Christopher Cheng 

Co-RA Australia and New Zealand 

from information supplied by all the 

international RAs. Visit Chris online at 

www.chrischeng.com.

ill Thomson Wins 

connecticut book Award 

BILL THOMSON RECENTLY won the 

2009 Connecticut Book Award in the 

Children’s Illustrator category for his 

latest book, Baseball Hour. Thomson’s 

meticulous paintings, executed in 

acrylic paint with colored pencils, 

are highly realistic and utilize strong 

perspectives and dynamic compositions 

to engage the viewer. 

The winners were announced at 

a ceremony on September 20 at the 

Hartford Public Library. The Connecticut 

Book Award is a project of the Connecticut 

Center for the Book, an affiliate of the 

national center in the Library of Congress, 

with help from the state Commission on 

Culture and Tourism. 

Thomson was also a finalist for 

Connecticut Book Awards with his 

two previous books, Karate Hour 

(2005) and Building with Dad (2007), 

PAULA DANZIGER WAS one of the most 

beloved figures in the world of children’s books, 

a writer who was both a fearless truth-teller 

and an uproariously funny personality. The 

SCBWI established the Amber Brown Fund & 

Grant to honor Paula by helping schools bring 

authors and illustrators to their classrooms. 

The SCBWI is deeply grateful to the 

following for generous contributions to the 

Amber Brown Fund: 

» The Midsouth SCBWI Region, in memory of 

Joshlin Glaser. 

» Marilyn Yates in memory of member Rebecca 

Arkenberg’s late mother. 

» Patti Trollinger, in honor of Tracy Barrett’s 

distinguished service to the SCBWI Midsouth 

Region as Regional Advisor. 

Contributions to the fund can be sent to the Amber Brown 

Fund/Museum at the SCBWI Executive Office, 8271 Beverly 

Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048. Members are also invited to 

nominate a deserving school as a potential Amber Brown 

Grant recipient. For an application, visit the “Awards & Grants” 

section of the SCBWI website at www.scbwi.org. 

but this is the first time that he has 

won the award. His books have also 

received accolades from the National 

Parenting Publications (Gold Award), 

the International Reading Association 

(Children’s Book Award Notable), 

the American Library Association 

(Booklist Editor’s Choice), and have 

been nominated for state book awards 

in Washington, South Dakota, South 

Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Indiana. 

Bill Thomson is an Associate 

Professor of Illustration at the Hartford 

Art School at the University of Hartford 

where he received the Award for 

Outstanding Teaching in 2004. Thomson 

lives and works in Southington, 

Connecticut, with his wife, Diann, and 

their three sons, Billy, Nik, and Ethan. 

For more of Thomson’s artwork, please 

see www.billthomson.com. 

Amber brown Fund & Grant 

MaRGaRET HoLLINGSwoRTH 

P o e M 

NoEL TuaZoN 

First draft 

I wrote a rhyming picture book 

with monsters and a dragon, 

a bunny and a cuddly bear, 

a fish who pulled a wagon, 

a talking dog, a jealous mouse, 

a pig who missed its mother, 

a girl who had to learn to love 

her brand-new baby brother, 

a birthday that was almost ruined, 

a Martian fighting shyness, 

a King who said, “My name is Steve, 

don’t call me ‘Royal Highness’ . . . ,” 

a turtle who misplaced his shell, 

nine baseball-playing princes, 

a boy who turned into an owl 

from eating magic blintzes, 

a beaver who preferred to loaf, 

a duck who hated quacking. 

There’s not a subject dear to kids 

my picture book is lacking! 

I have no doubt my picture book 

will last throughout the ages . . . 

if I can only find a way 

to cut six hundred pages. 

— Bob Schechter 


n e W s & n o t e s 

remembering Norma Fox mazer 

NORMA FOx MAZER died on Saturday, October 17, after a battle with 

brain cancer. Mazer was a Newbery-Honor & Edgar winner, and an 

instructor in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at 

Vermont College. Born in 1931, Fox authored more than 30 picture 

books and novels for young readers. In 1988 she received the Newbery 

Medal for her book, After the Rain. She accumulated many awards and 

commendations during her career, and occasionally collaborated with 

her husband, children’s book author Harry Mazer. 

A longtime member and supporter of SCBWI, Norma was on 

the faculty of many SCBWI national and regional conferences. She 

was a brilliant teacher and mentor, who gave her wisdom and time 

generously to SCBWI members. We always remember the story she 

told about how she wrote her first drafts wearing a big, wide-brimmed 

hat pulled down over her eyes so she could not see the computer 

screen in front of her. She said not seeing the words helped her 

visualize the scene in her mind. An inspired writer and an empathetic 

person, Norma will be dearly missed by our entire community. 

randomly… 

SCBWI MEMBERS ARE encouraged to learn more about… 

» The International Board of Books for Young People: www.ibby.org. 

» 

United States Board of Books for Young People: www.usbby.org. 

These organizations help promote and foster communications 

between creators of children’s books around the world. Dues are $35 

per year. 

WRITInG GREAT BooKS for Young Adults is a new book by Regina Brooks 

the founder of Serendipity Literary Agency. Additional information 

from the publisher at www.sourcebooks.com. 

A Special SCBWi member Offer from Publishers Weekly 

AS AN SCBWI member you are invited to take advantage of this 

special offer from Publishers Weekly. Purchase PW’s Spring 2010 and 

Fall 2010 Children’s Announcement issues for just $25, which includes 

postage and handling. 

You may order these issues by calling Publishers Weekly’s tollfree 

number, 800-278-2991, and mentioning codes PWYFEB1510 and 

PWYJUL1910. The Spring and Fall Announcement issues will be dated 

2/15/10 and 7/19/10 respectively. 

If you are a subscriber to Publishers Weekly, these issues are 

included as part of your subscription. This offer is valid for delivery to 

domestic U.S. only. 


aBIGaIL MaRBLE 

B o o K R e V I e W 

The Right 

to Write 

B y J u l i e S t i e G e m e y e r 

JULIA CAMERON’S BOOKS and workshops about 

the creative process have buoyed artists across the 

spectrum—from painters to songwriters—for nearly 20 

years. The Artist’s Way, her general guide to unblocking 

creativity, has become somewhat of a classic. 

In her book, The Right to Write, she busts myths 

about writing which keep us from putting pen to 

paper. A companion volume, The Writer’s Life, distills 

her advice in a smaller resource. 

Early in the book, 

Cameron dismantles the 

notion that a writer needs 

a year off to write a novel. 

Writing, she insists, takes 

place in the midst of life, 

tHe RIGHt to WRIte 

By Julia Cameron 

(Jeremy P. Tarcher/ 

Putnam, 1999) 

and writers steal moments to further the storyline in 

their novel or figure out a troubling rhyme. 

She also emphasizes getting rid of the “censor.” “I 

remembered that once upon a time, writing had been 

fun for me. My job was to do the writing, not judge 

the writing. For the moment, my job is just to get it 

down, just to catch the thought, which I can add to or 

embellish later on.” Instead of editing while writing, 

simply write. 

Cameron also recommends “morning pages.” Crawl 

out of bed and write three pages in a journal without 

stopping before doing anything else. No shower. No 

coffee. Only writing. Taking time to write morning 

pages shuts off the internal “censor” and gets your pen 

moving again. “The minute we start thinking of writing 

as something exalted and difficult…writing becomes 

an elusive and difficult art…” Morning pages, she 

insists, help to teach us that writing becomes regular 

and easy when we are writing regularly and easily. 

Not only will Cameron’s practical and excellent 

advice encourage putting pen to paper; her luminous 

writing is, in itself, an inspiration to emulate and will 

help readers embrace their right to write. 

Julie Stiegemeyer is a children’s author who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

Learn more about Julie’s books at www.juliestiegemeyer.com.

t H e t R U t H A B o U t s c H o o L V I s I t s 

Tips for Nonfiction Authors 

By AleXiS O’Neill 

SNEED COLLARD III once pointed out 

that schools often view nonfiction “as 

an aberration or specialty, to be featured 

as something different from their usual 

fiction fare.” 

Marsha Skrypuch of Authors Booking 

Service in Ontario, Canada, concurs: 

“We find that fiction writers are far 

more likely to be asked to do school and 

library visits [than nonfiction writers]. 

Even award-winning and high-profile 

nonfiction writers have a tough go of it.” 

At every grade level in school, kids 

are required to write reports, letters, 

book reviews, opinion essays – all works 

of nonfiction. Like students, nonfiction 

writers research facts, check them, 

and synthesize them. They also have 

to find the “hook” and “story” among 

those facts to have readers identify with 

their content. They must be masterful 

storytellers of the truth. 

Even so, it’s challenging to turn public 

perception around. The last nonfiction 

book to win the Newbery Medal was in 

1988 – yet one of the “hot topics” cited in 

the International Reading Association’s 

newsletter, Reading Today, in 2009 

was “informational /nonfiction texts.” 

Hopefully April Pulley Sayre is right when 

she says, “Administrators are also starting 

to recognize that nonfiction writing is the 

key to student achievement.” 

So how can nonfiction writers tap into 

this need and garner more school visits? 

Here are some insights from teachers and 

librarians, parents, kids and authors. 

Program 

Chris Crowe reports that 95% of the 

time schools are more interested in the 

content of his books than they are in the 

writing process. Brandon Marie Miller 

says that her history talks are chosen 70% 

of the time. While content can attract 

schools to a specific author, authors 

like Joanne Mattern make a point of 

comparing what they do as writers to the 

reports kids have to do in school. Most 

authors spend 30–50% of their program 

time sharing their writing process. 

What Teachers and Librarians Want 

With the Internet-era of cut-andpaste, 

teachers struggle to get kids to 

understand what plagiarism is, why it’s 

important not to plagiarize and how to 

avoid it. They want students to know how 

to research, take notes, do a bibliography, 

and paraphrase. They also want students 

to be able to identify a reliable source 

of information from an unreliable one. 

They would love for visiting authors to 

reinforce standards-based skills that they 

are teaching in the classroom. 

What Parents Want 

Parents wish nonfiction authors would 

check with grade-level teachers ahead 

of time to find out what class projects 

the kids might be working on, and 

demonstrate research and writing 

strategies. A big frustration for parents is 

helping kids to organize or outline their 

material. Perhaps authors could show 

their process for doing this. 

What Kids Want 

Kids love to be actively involved in 

presentations. Melissa Stewart has 

primary grades act out a butterfly life 

NoEL TuaZoN 

cycle and older grades do Readers 

Theater based on her books. Amy Hansen 

has kids do the “Dinosaur Stomp,” 

shaking stones in jars with lettuce to 

show the digestive process. Jan Thornhill 

brings a “museum-in-a-bag.” Kids love 

content with the “that’s so cool factor,” 

says Katy Duffield. Marsha Skrypuch 

suggests that the nonfiction writers she 

books have “to do something memorable 

... that engages and involves kids. Kids 

need to touch stuff.” 

What Authors Want 

Biographer Jeri Chase Ferris wants kids 

to “be much more sensitive to injustice 

and unfairness [and] see that they too 

can succeed despite hardships.” Caroline 

Arnold loves it when kids “rush back 

to the classroom and start working on 

their own stories and reports.” Tanya Lee 

Stone is invigorated when she sees kids 

getting that “a-ha!”moment during her 

presentations. Wendie Old wants kids 

to learn “there are REAL people behind 

those subject books called nonfiction.” In 

general, nonfiction authors want to get 

kids excited about finding out about the 

world around them. 

While it’s terrific to have these 

overarching goals, don’t forget to leverage 

the knowledge and power that you have 

as a nonfiction writer. Create interactive, 

kid-friendly presentations. Offer not 

only subject content, but also practical 

writing advice that students and teachers 

can apply immediately in the classroom. 

Entertain, involve, inform. Do this, and 

you’ll become the darling of the school 

visit circuit. 

Alexis O’Neill, Ph.D., is the author of The Recess 

Queen and other books. A former teacher, teacher 

of teachers and museum educator, she is a popular 

presenter and school visit expert. You can contact her 

at info2@schoolvisitexperts.com 


t o M A R K e t 

Settling Up with Google 

By SuSAN SAlzmAN rAAB 

WHEN THIS IS published, a federal judge 

will have ruled or postponed the decision 

on the Google Book Settlement. In any 

event, it’s clear that Google’s intent to 

create a massive database to provide 

access to out-of-print books has changed 

views on what our digital future might 

look like. 

By copying millions of books at 

major libraries without negotiating 

rights in advance, Google made this 

a policy debate that goes well beyond 

our industry. The list of organizations, 

corporations, government agencies and 

individuals who have claimed a stake 

in the outcome keeps growing, and the 

issues are complex. 

Those who’ve supported the proposed 

settlement include the Author’s Guild, 

the Association of American Publishers, 

the American Library Association, the 

Association of College and Research 

Libraries, the Conference on Civil Rights, 

the American Association of People with 

Disabilities, Sony Corporation, and a 

group of adult and children’s authors 

who recently published their names, 

http://tinyurl.com/yah3t6u, on the Author’s 

Guild website. 

The list of those opposed, which 

grew substantially late in the game with 

the creation of the Open Book Alliance, 

includes Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo, the 

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of 

America, the National Writer’s Union, 

the American Society of Journalists 

and Authors, the Special Libraries 

Association, the U.S. Copyright Office, 

the William Morris Agency, several 

state attorneys general, and even the 

government of Germany. 

Advocates cite the value of broad 

access to books that are out-of-print 

or have limited availability – certainly 

something that’s easy to support. 


And because this should provide 

copyright holders who register at 

www.googlebooksettlement.com opportunity 

for future use of their books, many look 

forward to new revenue streams that 

can evolve from this digital library. Some 

think it might even raise the profile 

of some books sufficiently to warrant 

bringing them back into print. 

But there are also concerns. One 

is that the current situation puts the 

onus on authors and illustrators to 

claim and manage books that are in 

Google’s database to be eligible to receive 

payments. How will accounting be done 

and payments issued? Who will set 

prices? How will this impact illustrators, in 

terms of percentages they’d receive? What 

constitutes fair payment? What happens 

when there’s an ownership dispute? 

recent articles on the topic 

Unsettled: the PW survey on the Google 

Book settlement 

Publishers Weekly 8/24/09 

http://tinyurl.com/l6r9yj 

sony sees Google Books settlement as 

“Profoundly Positive” 

Los Angeles Times 8/28/09 

http://tinyurl.com/m3v4c3 

Google Book Plan Hits Privacy snag 

Wired Magazine 9/8/09 

http://tinyurl.com/mgce34 

copyright office Assails Google’s 

settlement on Digital Books 

New York Times 9/10/09 

http://tinyurl.com/oktmea 

Justice Department Voices concerns over 

Google Books settlement 

Wall Street Journal 9/19/09 

http://tinyurl.com/y9otgqn 

Author’s Guild executive director, Paul 

Aiken, said these have been considered, 

and some will need to evolve over time. 

He stressed that “it’s important to realize 

authors, illustrators and publishers have 

shared goals to control of rights and 

revenue. Our objective has been to create 

a process that allows for the right of 

reversion and the right to arbitrate.” 

And there are broader questions that 

extend outside our industry. Does this 

create a monopoly for Google? Has it 

created new precedent about copyright? 

What about privacy? Would Google 

collect data on what people are reading? 

Would safeguards be put in place to 

address who has access to information? 

In many ways, this can be viewed 

as found money, which is certainly 

good. The issues of monopoly and legal 

concerns have to be decided in court. 

The questions about privacy are part of a 

larger discussion raised by our increased 

ability to track consumer behavior, collect 

data and utilize information that it 

provides. Articles I read alluded to this as 

a slippery slope where the devil’s in the 

details. 

The concern is that not acting will 

have risks of its own. Authors and 

illustrators should educate themselves 

on what’s going on and should talk with 

their publishers and literary agents to ask 

what they recommend. 

Susan Salzman Raab is the author of an author’s 

Guide to Children’s Book Promotion and the 

marketing advisor for SCBWI. She is host of the 

University of Connecticut’s “Teachers for a New Era” 

children’s literature podcasts and records for Kids 

Public Radio. She’s been a correspondent for the 

nationally syndicated, Recess! Radio and is President of 

Raab Associates Inc., a marketing and public relations 

agency that works with authors and publishers 

internationally. An archive of “To Market” columns can 

be found at www.raabassociates.com. Questions can 

be sent to sraab@raabassociates.com.

W H A t t H e t e c H ? 

Adventures in didge 

By mArk lONdON WilliAmS 

“DIDGE” IN THIS case is monosyllabic 

shorthand for “digits,” which is the 

format my current book series, Danger 

Boy, is heading towards. 

And by “digits” I mean “e-books,” (or 

“eBook,” in a Sony Reader shorthand), 

and by “e-books” I mean the Amazon 

Kindle. 

The background of my tale is this: 

the Danger Boy series has enjoyed a good 

run under the auspices of its current 

print publisher, who was very good 

editorially, in terms of letting me stretch 

and push the material, but who could 

be – as publishers are wont – somewhat 

hit and miss on the marketing side, 

overlooking various online, social media 

opportunities, specific ways of bringing 

the books to the attention of larger 

numbers of, well, boy readers, etc. 

Again, scarcely unique in the annals 

of a business as whimsical and finally 

random as publishing, just as the tale of 

turnovers on the editorial and marketing 

side – with resultant shifts in in-house 

tastes – is hardly unique as well. 

So I was faced with a series finale, a 

fifth book, that was written, edited, ready 

to go – sitting unreleased. As well as 

the eventual spectre of the existing four 

books migrating to “OP” status, as schools 

and readers kept requesting books that 

became increasingly hard to find. 

And while the ultimate fate of the 

books in print form remains at a kind of 

precipice – a current film option has led 

to an active spate of meetings, and the 

result may determine the books’ future 

“hard print” availability – what was an 

author to do in the meantime? 

Thankfully, with the availability of 

digital publishing platforms, authors 

now have the same opportunities garage 

bands do – for both better and worse – 

and can release material directly to fans, 

sometimes for free (the way writers like 

Cory Doctorow, of Hugo nominated Little 

Brother fame, does, concurrent with a 

book’s “traditional” release – and it hasn’t 

hurt sales), sometimes directly via an 

author’s website or sometimes on a large 

“social publishing” site like Scribd, where 

you can upload PDFs of books and charge, 

or not. 

Then, of course, there’s the Amazon 

Kindle, the 800-pound gorilla of the 

e-book revolution, which of course, isn’t 

800 pounds at all, but more the weight of 

a paperback. You can self-publish on the 

Kindle, essentially splitting the take with 

Amazon, but how do you get noticed on 

a nearly “infinite” shelf where you don’t 

even have the option of lucking into a 

“face out” display? 

(On which note, you’re also in charge 

of creating your own covers for Kindle 

editions, if you’re uploading your own 

work, and since I didn’t own the artwork 

for the current Danger Boy covers, I’d be 

faced with “re-branding” the look of the 

editions.) 

One way to get noticed is by price. A 

very, very low price. As journalist/author 

Bryan Gilmer writes in his “Future of the 

Book” column, about his adventures with 

his crime thriller Felonious Jazz: 

“My Kindle edition went live last 

Monday at $7.99, so I announced it on 

a couple of Kindle message boards. 

By Wednesday, I’d sold one copy. One! 

Message board replies said, ‘If you want 

us to try a new author, give us a really 

low price. It’ll generate sales and reviews.’ 

So I marked it down to $1.99 and posted 

the price change on the same boards. 

What happened next was remarkable: 

“As of 5 p.m. Friday – about 36 hours 

later – Felonious Jazz was the No. 1 selling 

hard-boiled mystery on the Amazon 

Kindle Store and the 17th best-selling 

title in Mysteries & Thrillers.” 

Of course, Danger Boy wouldn’t be a 

NoEL TuaZoN 

PARt 

one 

one way to get noticed 

is by price. A very, 

very low price. 

debut book on Kindle, but simply another 

version of an already established title. 

Still, Kindle prices skew lower than 

“regular” book prices, for generally good 

reason: the “means of production” are 

much lower. 

Since I owned the e-book rights to 

all the Danger Boy books (except for one 

which reverts to me soon), I started 

planning ways of making then available 

to fans, old and new, so they’d have a 

public life of some sort regardless of 

their fate in “analog” form. And the rerelease(s) 

of the existing titles could lead, 

finally, to the debut of the never-seenbefore 

finale, where numerous loose ends 

are tied up (and others further loosened!) 

And that, as fate would have it, is 

when I began chance discussions with a 

direct-to-Kindle publisher. 

To be continued... 

Mark London Williams is the author of the currently 

morphing “Danger Boy” time travel books, contributed 

to history anthologies, and writes for L.A.-area papers. 

He’s reachable at scribe@dangerboy.com or Tweetable 

@mlondonwmz 


arttips 

EdITEd BY aLISoN LYNE 

WE ILLUSTRATORS PURSUE our careers in many different 

ways, but can all use a helpful tip along the way. This column is 

meant to remind us of things we may already know, but might 

have forgotten. Here are insider tips on “Your favorite quick 

fix: Whether it’s how to clean a fatal splotch in watercolor, or that 

Photoshop shortcut that saves you HoURS, what ‘quick fix’ has saved 

your sanity?” from SCBWI members: 

New uses for old stand-bys: baby oil and 

toothpaste to remove oil paint from skin 

I’d been painting my kitchen cabinets, walls, and some 

unfinished furniture with oil-based primer. I hated using 

thinners and harsh brush cleaners to clean myself up each day 

(oil paint all over my arms and in my hair), not to mention the 

health hazards. My solution: baby oil breaks down petroleumbased 

products as well as thinning oil-based paints. Therefore, 

I’d been rubbing baby oil on my skin to clean primer off my 

hands. It didn’t take very long, but being impatient, I squeezed 

a squirt of toothpaste to give an added abrasive to speed things 

along. Not only did it work like a charm, but my hands are 

smooth and minty fresh. Plus, no harsh chemicals are going 

down my sink. I also know that lemon juice breaks down baby 

oil so I’m planning to try this on my brushes to remove the baby 

oil as a final step before soap and water. 

— Ann Jewett, oviedo,FL 

To get a good start on 

clean watercolors, try 

using only transparent 

colors. begin with a 

yellow, a red and a blue. 

mix your colors with 

these for awhile and 

then slowly add in semiopaques, 

then opaques. 


ArT TIPS NeXT ISSUe 

our next topic is: ”drawing on Your Inner Creativity: 

what visual and aural factors in your workspace 

draw out your creativity?” we’re looking for 

ideas on advice/career topics of interest to the 

professional illustrator. Please email your art Tips 

to alison@lyneart.com or mail to SCBwI art Tips, 

8271 Beverly Blvd., Los angeles, Ca 90048. 

Save Photoshop file with layers in case of changes 

I always merge the layers in Photoshop before sending. If it’s a 

spot illustration, I will leave the spot on a separate layer from 

the background but that’s about it. Do remember to save the 

version with all the layers in it for yourself in case the client 

needs changes – it will make your life much easier. 

— Jennifer E. Morris, Luneburg, MA 

For clean colors, start with transparent pigments 

To get a good start on clean watercolors, try using only 

transparent colors. Begin with a yellow (Auerolin or New 

Gamboge), a red (Permanent Rose) and a blue (Cobalt). Mix 

your colors with these for awhile and then slowly add in 

semi-opaques, then opaques. When you play with different 

mixes, keep color charts with tiny squares of color with notes 

on transparency and whether or not the colors are opaque, 

granulating, or staining. 

— Wendy Myers, Bend, oR 

Alison Davis Lyne has been a freelance illustrator since 1996. She has illustrated six 

published children’s picture books with Pelican Publishing Company. For more art tips 

visit www.lyneart.com. 

davId BoSToN

t H e I L L U s t R A t o R ’ s P e R s P e c t I V e 

cold calls 

By ANNe SiBley O’BrieN 

ON A BRIGHT September Saturday, I’m 

visiting the tiny public library in Winter 

Harbor, Maine. It’s a bit unlikely for me to 

be showing slides of my Korean graphic 

novel to a few attendees in a small 

Down East village. Far more unlikely 

is that the event is being documented 

by a camera crew sent to Maine by a 

broadcasting company in South Korea! 

This unexpected development in my 

book career can be traced back three 

years to a strategy of my publicist, 

Kirsten Cappy (www.curiouscity.net): cold 

calls. Kirsten supplements the marketing 

work of her clients’ publishers with direct 

outreach to specialty audiences perfect 

for a book but not likely to be reached 

through the standard channels. For The 

Legend of Hong Kil Dong: The Robin Hood 

of Korea, the audience was the Korean- 

American community, the three largest 

concentrations of which are in L.A., New 

York, and the Metro D.C. area. 

So when I got invited to attend the 

Kennedy Center Multicultural Book 

Festival five months after my book’s 

release, Kirsten urged me to extend the 

trip by a few days to make contacts in 

the area. My first advance calls were to 

everyone I knew near D.C., including 

family and friends from my childhood 

in Korea. Someone happened to know a 

reporter at the Korea Times D.C. bureau, 

which led to a small news article on the 

day of the Festival. I did online searches 

for groups that served the local 

Korean-American community. (The best 

hits were from extensive resource links 

on the websites of several organizations.) 

I emailed or called many of them, 

sharing information about my book and 

the Festival and requesting meetings 

with some. 

Once in D.C., I met with members of 

the Korean adoptive families network, 

GINGER NIELSoN 

and with the Director of the Culture and 

Information Service of the South Korean 

Embassy. (His first response when I 

showed up with a copy of my book was 

bewilderment; apparently he didn’t have 

the scheduled meeting on his calendar 

and he couldn’t imagine why I was there. 

But by the end of our conversation, he’d 

agreed to sponsor an essay contest and 

purchase 200 copies of my book!) 

The essence of cold calling is the 

hard slog of just making a whole lot 

of personal contacts, with no idea of 

what will work and what won’t. Start 

by making a list of what’s in your book 

(dogs? magic? knitting? fire safety? 

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula?). Imagine 

audiences who would connect to that 

content that won’t get reached by 

catalogs, review journals and book 

conventions. What kinds of groups serve 

these audiences? Do a web search to find 

specific organizations and their contact 

information. 

I introduce myself in emails, calls 

or meetings with the idea that I’m 

bringing a gift to the contact, news about 

a book that will matter to them. Once 

I’ve connected, if the person or group 

seems really promising, I give them a 

copy (donated by the publisher – limited 

number, or purchased at my author 

discount). My experience is that the 

majority of calls don’t lead to anything 

The essence of cold 

calling is the hard slog 

of just making a whole 

lot of personal contacts, 

with no idea of what will 

work and what won’t. 

that actually sells books, but there’s 

always the possibility of the one that will. 

(If this seems like the absolute last thing 

you’d want to do with your time, then go 

make more books so you can eventually 

hire someone for this job.) 

In May of 2007, I was back in D.C. as a 

direct result of a cold call Kirsten made 

to the Smithsonian, which developed 

into a reader’s theatre presentation of my 

book at the Museum of Natural History 

in conjunction with the opening of the 

Korea collection there! Several Koreanlanguage 

dailies covered the event, 

including once again the Korea Times. 

That article was read by a journalist 

in Busan, Korea, who requested an 

interview, which was seen by the 

broadcasting company in Seoul. Two 

years later they requested permission 

to film me for a documentary on the 

character Hong Kil Dong which will air in 

Korea on “MBC Prime” on December 17. 

Meanwhile, the week before the 

filming, I was back in D.C. I’d been invited 

to the Festival once again, and I had a 

new book on Gandhi and nonviolent 

resistance. I’d scheduled a few extra days 

to walk the streets from one peace and 

social justice organization to another, 

making cold calls. 

Anne Sibley O’Brien (anneSibleyoBrien.com) has 

illustrated 28 books, 13 of which she also wrote. 


I L L U s t R A t o R P R o F I L e 

About the cover 

A Chat with 2009 November/December Cover Illustrator Peter Brown 

By Sherrill kuShNer 

PETER BROWN started writing and 

illustrating his own stories at age six. He 

has illustrated four picture books that 

he has written himself, all published by 

Little, Brown and Company. They include: 

Flight of the Dodo, Chowder, The Fabulous 

Bouncing Chowder, and The new York Times 

Bestselling The Curious Garden for which 

he recently received the New Atlantic 

Independent Booksellers Association 

(NAIBA) award for the Best Picture Book 

of the Year. NAIBA recognizes authors 

who are born or live in its region, and/or 

a book whose story takes place there. He 

has also illustrated two books written by 

Cat Weatherill, Barkbelly and Snowbone, 

I always keep a 

notebook with me. 

I never know when 

inspiration will strike. 


as well as Kaline Klattermaster’s Treehouse, 

by Haven Kimmel. Born and raised in 

Hopewell, New Jersey, he has lived in 

Brooklyn, New York since 2002. 

SCBWi: How did you begin your journey 

in children’s books? 

Peter BrOWN: I’ve always loved 

storytelling with words and art. But 

Maurice Sendak’s book, Where the Wild 

Things Are, is one of the reasons I first 

got interested in making children’s 

books. I loved it when I was young and 

revisited it in art school and still had a 

very strong connection to the story and 

art. More than anything, I would like to 

look back at my career someday and find 

that I made a couple of books that were 

important in some way – that my work 

resonated with people. 

Describe your work space? 

I have a big home office with two desks; 

one for painting and drawing, the other 

for my computer. I really enjoy spinning 

between the desks on my roller chair. 

I tape the sketches from the book I’m 

creating onto the office walls. That way 

I get a good feel for the flow of the book, 

whether there are any compositions 

that look too similar, and what the book 

looks like as a whole. On my other walls 

are recent drawings and sketches that I 

particularly like, as a reminder of things 

that work. 

What is your writing and illustrating 

process? 

When I work on my own books I start 

with an idea, jot down some words and 

then do some doodles. I go back and 

forth, over and over and over, between 

writing and drawing, and eventually a 

picture book begins to take shape. It’s a 

strange and painful process. After the 

words and sketches are pretty solid, I 

fine-tune it with my editor and agent and 

occasionally share them with friends. 

Where do your ideas emanate from? 

I always keep a notebook with me. I never 

know when inspiration will strike. It 

could be seeing a dog walking off-leash 

(my inspiration for my book Chowder), or 

driving around and seeing an abandoned 

building (which I included in The Curious 

Garden). Most of the ideas are terrible. 

I log them into my computer and go 

through the hundreds of ideas from time 

to time. Ninety-nine percent of them are 

stupid, but every once in awhile there’s 

something worth revisiting. Over time 

I find that I’m doing less sketching and 

more writing. 

Your illustration style has been 

described as “retro.” Do you agree? 

A retro look was truer of the art for The 

Curious Garden, but my first three books 

were pretty contemporary. I used Pixar 

movies as my inspiration for that book— 

realistic, dimensional, light and shadow 

with a naïve drawing quality. I’m trying 

now to combine super modern digital art 

with a naïve drawing style. 

What media do you use? 

For the books that I paint, I use acrylic 

and pencil on illustration board. For 

black and white art for kids’ novels, 

I use pencil on copy paper. I’m now 

experimenting more. I would like to 

make final artwork that is somehow 

based on my pencil drawings, perhaps 

coloring them with simple washes 

of watercolor or scanning them and 

coloring them digitally. I love the loose 

quality of my drawings as compared to 

my more rigid painting style.

Above, Peter 

Brown’s New York 

Times Bestselling 

The Curious Garden. 

Right, a poster for 

his beloved Chowder 

book. 

Do you supplement your writing/ 

illustrating of children’s books? 

I do a lot of school visits and little side 

illustration jobs here and there. I have 

done work for magazines and have 

created the artwork for a children’s 

puzzle and placemat. 

How did attending the Art Center 

College of Design in Pasadena help your 

work? 

Art Center is a really incredible school. 

The cross pollination of working with 

students studying interesting and 

different areas (product design, film 

making, photography, fine art) helped me 

develop my visual style. 

Which artists have inspired you? 

Heinrich Kley (especially his loose ink 

drawings), James Marshall, early 20th 

century political cartoons, illustrators of 

Golden Books, and the biggest influence, 

Maurice Sendak. 

What are you working on now? 

My next picture book is one I am 

illustrating for Simon and Shuster – The 

Purple Kangaroo by Michael Ian Black. I 

generally don’t like to illustrate other 

author’s books because the system 

doesn’t allow for collaboration, but 

sometimes it’s good not to have to 

The Art 

Director’s 

Perspective 

By Patti ann Harris 

WHen I fIrST saw Peter’s sketches 

for The Curious Garden I was struck by 

how fantastic his vision was for the 

book. Peter’s own curiosity for the 

abandoned railway, the High Line, gave 

his sketches an authenticity. from 

the beginning, his sketches were very 

detailed and lively. His page layouts 

also explored different points of view; 

sometimes in full bleed, spot art or 

multiple panels. This unique pacing 

allowed Peter to portray the many 

different moods and emotions that are 

woven throughout the book. 

Peter maintained the energy found 

in his original sketches when he went 

to final color art. His sensitivity to 

Check out the SCBWI’s one-on-one interviews 

with editors, agents, authors & illustrators! 

The new Industry PROfile for November/December is 

Gretchen Hirsch, associate editor at Atheneum Books for 

Young Readers/Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint 

of Simon & Schuster. The interview can only be accessed 

by SCBWI members at SCBWI.org. To learn more about 

Gretchen, log in, then click on “Resource Library” and 

“Industry PROfiles.” 

worry about the manuscript and the 

illustrations. If the manuscript is done, 

I can just focus on visualizing it. I am 

also working on what will be a graphic or 

illustrated novel. I had the idea four years 

ago and I’m finally getting serious about 

it. I am eager to try other genres but will 

probably always write for children. 

color and light added a sense of drama 

to each page. His eye for detail created 

the fantastical yet believable world 

that makes The Curious Garden such 

an outstanding picture book. It was a 

pleasure working with him. 

Patti Ann Harris is senior art director at Little, 

Brown Books for Young Readers. 

november/December 2009 SCBWI 15

H e R e , t H e R e & e V e R Y W H e R e 

Korea’s city of books 

By JeNNy deSmONd WAlterS 

MORE THAN TWENTY years ago, seven 

publishers in Korea met on the trails of 

Mt. Bukhan, the guardian mountain of 

Seoul. While hiking, they debated issues 

then plaguing the publishing industry 

in the Republic of Korea: exorbitant 

costs with low productivity, inefficient 

distribution systems, illogical business 

dealings and antiquated production 

processes. Their talking led to an 

ambitious vision: create a city where all 

aspects of publishing would be united 

and where ecology, humanity and culture 

would come first and lead the way for 

other cultural sectors to make innovative 

advancements. 

When the men returned to their 

offices, they realized that making this 

dream a reality was worth pursuing. After 

two decades, hundreds of committee 

meetings, countless hours of planning 

and deliberation, endless resources and 

unrelenting dedication to overcome 

seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the 

dream came true – Paju Bookcity was 

born. 

In August 2002, Paju Bookcity’s 

first occupant took residence. Ground 

construction continued until 2007 when 

phase one was completed. Today, this 

urban development, 25 miles northwest of 

Seoul, is home to 200 leading publishers, 

printing companies, book binding 

firms, literary agencies, paper-makers, 

copyright negotiators, writers, book 

design firms, bookstores, and a massive 

book distribution center, giving Bookcity 

the added distinction of being a national 

industrial complex. The entire area sits 

on reclaimed marshland not far from 

the Demilitarized Zone, the boundary 

between North and South Korea. 

Bookcity is also renowned for its 

unusual architecture and eco-friendly 

construction. Unlike nearby cities 


with towering offices and apartments, 

Bookcity’s buildings are low, modern and 

designed to harmonize with the local 

environment. Their straight lines and 

angles shoot up among the reeds and 

wetland grasses in a 

tribute to the linear 

letters of the Korean 

written language. 

This publicationculture 

community 

is a utopia of books 

and publishing 

like no other in 

the world. It brings 

together, in a single 

location, an entire 

industry previously 

dispersed across 

the country. Every 

bookmaking process, 

from conceiving an 

idea to placing a 

final product on bookstore shelves, is 

combined in seven blocks. The result is a 

dynamic synergy where competition and 

cooperation drive the Korean publishing 

industry to continual new heights. 

This one-stop publishing complex also 

affords a reduction in costs associated 

with printing. This has been especially 

helpful to many small publishing firms 

that comprise the majority of Korean 

publishers. For those residing in Bookcity, 

this is considerably more cost-effective. 

As hoped, the achievement of 

this collaboration has brought about 

a significant increase in the quality 

of publications produced in Korea. 

Consequently, Korean children’s books 

have been receiving a higher level of 

international attention as evidenced by 

Korea being selected as Guest of Honor 

for the Illustrators Exhibition at the 

Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2009. 

As a recent newcomer, I am delighted 

to uncover the Korean people’s great 

A Publishing 

Culture Community 

appreciation for art and literature and to 

live in a country where they are held in 

such high esteem. Bookcity stands as a 

testament to this fact. This remarkable 

cultural showcase is an environmentally 

R. SLadE waLTERS 

A distinctive sign along the roadside marks the entrance to Paju Bookcity. 

sound industrial complex that also 

embraces humanity through its “space” 

and architectural design. It is the home 

of literary virtue; a true “Publishing 

Culture City.” 

Jenny Desmond Walters is the founder and regional 

advisor for SCBWI Korea. She lives in Seoul with her 

husband and three daughters and takes regular trips to 

Bookcity to enjoy its literary culture. For more information 

on Paju Bookcity, visit www.pajubookcity.org. 

Additional photos can be seen on the SCBWI Korea Flickr 

Photostream flickr.com/scbwikorea. 

If you would like to contribute to the 

international column, “Here, There & 

Everywhere,” please query editor Erzsi deàk 

at Erzsideak@scbwi.org. If you would like 

to start an SCBwI chapter outside of the 

u.S., please contact International advisor 

Chair Kathleen ahrens (kathleenahrens@ 

scbiw.org). Traveling? Check out the SCBwI 

Guide to International School visits in the 

“Resource Library” at scbwi.org.

By elizABeth O. dulemBA 

WITH TODAY’S NUMEROUS selfpublishing 

options, anybody can 

write and publish a picture book, and 

illustrators are being approached left and 

right to illustrate them. 

It sounds like a great opportunity 

and a potential revenue stream in these 

economically hard times. However, 

self-published authors rarely have 

experience dealing with freelancers or 

the publishing market and can have 

unrealistic expectations. This can create 

unique problems for illustrators. Don’t 

let a self-publisher’s lack of experience 

(or yours) burn you. Learn how to protect 

yourself. 

Never work without a contract. 

Even if the author is your favorite 

cousin, issues can arise. You need an 

agreement in place before you pick up 

your pencil. Topics that especially need 

to be addressed are payments, copyright, 

revision limits, and kill fees. 

Payment 

If a self-publisher wants you to work 

solely for royalties or a percentage of 

the profits, it’s usually because he/she 

doesn’t have the money to pay you upfront. 

But if the self-publisher can’t pay 

you, he/she probably can’t pay for the 

marketing efforts required to make the 

book a success either. This means the 

book is unlikely to sell many copies and 

may never earn royalties. In other words, 

you could end up working for free. 

To guarantee you get compensated 

what you feel your work merits, demand 

payment up-front or in reasonable 

increments such as upon signing the 

contract, completion of sketches, and 

submission of final art. Royalties are 

usually unheard of in self-publishing 

and should therefore be considered an 

unexpected bonus. 

Copyright 

Self-publishers often want to own 

the work you create. Sometimes this 

is requested out of ignorance and 

sometimes it’s so he/she can then 

use the art any way he/she chooses 

any time. This can mean the artwork 

might show up in places for which the 

illustrator was never compensated or 

the illustrator never intended. This can 

also mean that in the off chance the 

book does do well, the illustrator won’t 

share in the book’s success. 

In traditional publishing, illustrators 

always keep the copyright to their work 

(the publisher usually pays for this). 

Keep your copyright and always make 

sure your artwork is returned to you. You 

created it, you own it. 

Revision Limits 

Some people hire illustrators as “hands” 

to create what they wish they had 

the skill to. This can lead to countless 

revisions and headaches as the illustrator 

tries to achieve the author’s vision (or a 

likeness of his/her grandchild or favorite 

pet - no joke). 

In traditional publishing, an editor 

hires you because he/she likes your 

particular style or vision. Traditional 

publishers want to see what you will do 

don’t let a self-publisher’s lack of 

experience (or yours) burn you. 

Learn how to protect yourself. 

Illustrating 

Self-Published books 

aLISoN KoLESaR 

with a story, not dictate what they want 

to see. 

There will often be limitations to 

how many revisions can be requested 

– up to three changes per illustration is 

reasonable. It’s also wise to try to work 

out all the changes during the sketch 

phase rather than after you’ve completed 

the final art. 

Kill Fee 

If you’ve given the project your best 

effort, a reasonable number of revisions 

have been made, and the author still isn’t 

happy, it’s important to have a kill fee 

written into the contract to pay you for 

the work you’ve already completed. Just 

because the author didn’t like the work, 

doesn’t mean you didn’t do it. You still 

need to be paid at least a percentage of 

the agreed total amount. 

All said, working with self-publishers 

has become a way some illustrators now 

supplement their income, but with strict 

parameters in place. If this is an avenue 

you are considering, protect yourself 

by making sure you work with a strong 

contract and realistic expectations. It 

only takes one bad experience with a 

self-publisher to convince you it’s just 

not worth your time. If a self-publisher 

isn’t agreeable to these terms, consider 

walking away. 

Elizabeth O. Dulemba is an award-winning children’s 

book illustrator and now author. Check out her newest 

book, Soap, soap, soap ~ Jabón, jabón, jabón! (Raven 

Tree Press). Visit dulemba.com to learn more and 

download free coloring pages for your school, library or 

bookstore. 


The public library is one of the 

most precious free resources 

we have in our communities. 

harnessing 

the Power 

of the 

Internet 

By JeNNiFer r. huBBArd 

IN LATE MARCH 2009, 20 other bloggers 

and I issued this challenge: For each 

comment on today’s blog post, I’ll donate 

money to my local library (or to a bookrelated 

charity, such as Books for Africa). 

Word spread through cyberspace. Five 

people also made flat donations to their 

local libraries. Ultimately, we raised more 

than $1500 for libraries and organizations 

throughout the world. A complete listing 

of the challengers may be found on 

my blog at http://writerjenn.livejournal. 

com/93576.html. 

Excited by this example of how the 

Internet may be used as a force for 

positive change, we hope to repeat this 

effort in the future. As participating 

writer Jama Rattigan stated, “Raising 

money for libraries is important, 

but equally as important is raising 

consciousness about its significance in 

our lives. The public library is one of the 

most precious free resources we have in 

our communities.... [W]e have to share 

the responsibility for taking care of it.” 

I started the challenge after seeing 

a giveaway with a twist on the blog of 

Sarah Cross, author of Dull Boy 

(http://sarahcross.livejournal.com/). She was 


Blogging 

for Library 

Dollars 

giving away Sarah MacLean’s YA historical 

novel, The Season, using blog comments as 

entries. If she got at least 50 entries in the 

contest, she would start reading Pride and 

Prejudice. There was the first part of the 

idea: a blog-comment challenge. 

The rest of the idea was sparked 

by the knowledge that the economic 

downturn is hitting our libraries too. 

I decided to open a special blog post 

and donate 25 cents per comment (per 

unique commenter, that is—no getting 

100 comments from the same person!) 

to my local libraries, up to $100 total. 

Twenty other bloggers stepped up with 

similar challenges, choosing their own 

donation goals and recipients. 

Running a challenge like this enables 

writers to “give back,” and it’s a fun, 

simple way for blog readers to get 

involved. 

As of this writing, Cynthea Liu, author of Paris Pan 

Takes the dare and SaSS: The Great Call of China, 

continues to collect comments for her local library and 

special education program, with the goal of reaching 

1000 comments. She’s also offering some special 

prizes and critiques! For details, see www.cynthealiu. 

com/2009/03/bloggers-library-loving-challenge/ 

Questions about the Bloggers’ Library-Loving 

Challenge may be sent to Jennifer Hubbard at 

jennifer@jenniferhubbard.com. 

SUGGeSTed GUIdeLINeS 

For bLoG chALLeNGeS 

• Make it as easy as possible. I gave 

the participating bloggers a template 

message to post on challenge day. They 

could write their own messages; they 

could add a special giveaway or other 

features if they chose. But if they didn’t 

have a lot of time, they could simply fill 

in the template. The “make it easy” rule 

applied to commenters too. They didn’t 

have to spend their own money or look 

up information. They just had to leave a 

comment, and if they didn’t know what 

to say, the template suggested “I love 

libraries!” as a default message. Happily, 

many commenters chose to share their 

own library-loving messages. Several 

bloggers quoted these messages in their 

wrap-up posts. 

• Keep people informed. I kept a list of 

the participating blogs and updated it 

throughout the challenge. Part of the fun 

was watching people meet their pledge 

goals, and watching the comment totals 

creep upward. I asked the bloggers 

to post a wrap-up message for each 

challenge and to report out on the 

funds raised. People were encouraged 

to spread the word and to jump in with 

their own challenges. 

• Be flexible. we didn’t want the 

challenge to end too soon, nor did we 

want it to drag on. we wanted to hit our 

pledge caps, but not too quickly, or else 

we would lose the consciousness-raising 

aspect. Some of us met our goals early 

and decided to push on to higher goals. 

Some of us extended our deadlines, 

doubled our per-comment pledges, or 

added new short-term challenges to 

reach new goals. The comment numbers 

from this year’s effort can serve as 

baseline estimators for the challenge 

the next time around.

aSaMI HaSEGawa 

By kAthryN lAy 

I’VE READ BOOKS that I have considered 

more plot-driven, while others appeared 

to be more character-driven. Yet, the 

character-driven books were not void of 

plot and the plot-driven books still had 

well-formed and believable characters. 

Plot may be influenced by the characters 

or characters driven, motivated, and 

changed through plot. 

But what happens if you feel more 

comfortable creating strong, realistic, 

memorable characters but are struggling 

in plotting? Or, perhaps you have fun 

coming up with an interesting and 

creative plot, but struggle with the 

characters’ inner motivation, needs, and 

growth? 

While working on a mid-grade novel 

rewrite, I was encouraged to change 

my main character to someone new. 

Now, the plot must change because the 

character has a different personality, 

different motivation, and different flaws 

to overcome. I find that I am struggling 

with re-creating my plot through this 

new character’s eyes, building strong 

scenes that are not “told,” but happen 

through my character. 

Can character work without plot 

or plot without character? So what do 

I do to “understand” my character? 

As I struggle to make my characters 

believable and flow with the plot, I 

find that if I don’t know my characters 

intimately, all my plotting can fall flat. 

“Stop thinking from the outside, 

start feeling from the inside. Play out 

your scenes in slow-mo and dissect it 

second by second, taking note of what 

you’re thinking, doing, noticing, feeling. 

Plot vs. 

Character 

Then—as a writer—your job is to take 

that second-by-second bit of life you just 

lived, and figure out what actually needs 

to be on the paper,” says Amanda Jenkins, 

author of Repossessed and night Road. 

Even before I begin my story outline, I 

see that I need to develop my characters, 

figure out who they are and where they 

fit into THIS story. Each character will see 

the story differently if they are fleshed 

out properly. Each will act and react in 

his or her own way. Understanding this 

has been an “ah-ha” moment as I rewrite. 

When you know you struggle in either 

plot or character, it won’t kill the muse to 

be prepared or to make a stronger effort 

with that area. Real writing rarely comes 

with a quick flurry of putting down 

immediate thoughts and ideas without 

planning and rewrite. Sometimes that 

planning requires time to outline the plot 

and get to know the characters before 

their story begins. 

If One Leads, the Other Will Follow 

I can tell when my story isn’t working. The 

plot seems interesting, fun, or creative. 

Yet, everything is falling flat. Ah ha! It’s 

that characterization again. Can’t I have 

a deep plot without a deep character? 

Perhaps, but it’ll be a slight book. 

“There is nothing worse for me 

than the empty feeling I get when I’m 

writing bare bones plot with cardboard 

characters,” says Robin Merrow 

MacCready, author of Buried. 

So what do you do when your character 

is wooden? Or your plot goes nowhere? 

Study Strong Characters and Plots 

Find books with memorable characters. 

Read books where the plot and storyline 

I find that if I don’t know my 

characters intimately, all 

my plotting can fall flat. 

make you want to read on and on. Certain 

novels and picture books have stayed 

in my mind for years because of the 

character. Others have “wowed” me with 

plot twists and turns or how it flowed 

smoothly and made me forget I’m not 

really walking alongside the character. 

Build Strong Characters and Plots 

When you are strong in one of these 

areas, don’t give up on the other. Spend 

time building, creating and digging 

deeper into your story. If you’ve never 

outlined before, try it. If you’ve never 

created character sketches and really 

gotten to know your character and how 

he would react in the plot problem, you’ll 

be throwing him into it. Try it. 

Destroy Strong Characters with 

Strong Plotting, and Then Rebuild 

Them 

If your character’s struggle is easy 

to overcome, the reader won’t get as 

emotionally involved. 

When plot is a struggle, the story itself 

falls flat. If you have great characters 

with no place to go, you may have a 

character sketch, but is it a full-fledged 

novel? Whether it’s plotting or character 

that is your weak area, the best answer 

is digging deeper and working harder. 

And just like your character, you’ll have 

overcome your own story problem and 

grown and changed in the process. 

Kathryn Lay is the author of Crown Me!, Josh’s 

Halloween Pumpkin, and 14 chapter books, novels, and 

picture books soon to be published or under contract. 

Check out her website at www.kathrynlay.com. 


By ChriStiANe tiBBittS 

NAMING THE CHARACTERS in your 

stories is one of your most crucial 

decisions. The main character in Gone 

with the Wind was originally named Pansy 

O’Hara. Can you imagine this strong, 

willful woman being called Pansy? It 

sounds too soft, sweet and weak. Scarlett, 

however, is a unique, bold name that 

evokes images (scar, the color scarlet) 

and establishes her as someone who 

will dominate the story. Scarlett O’Hara 

captures the spirit of the character as 

much as the spirit of the book. 

The right name can add power and 

dimension to a character; the wrong 

one can add nothing, or worse, make a 

character unbelievable. And for me, a 

story doesn’t take off until I’ve found the 

best-fitting name for my main character. 

So how do you come up with the 

perfect name? I’ve developed criteria and 

techniques for the process I’ve dubbed 

The Game of the Name. 

Uniqueness 

To have a main character stand out, 

choose a name that’s not currently 

popular and would blend in with other 

trendy names. For historical fiction, check 

a name dictionary to avoid selecting 

one that’s wrong for the time period. 

Also, don’t use the name of a famous 

historical figure or well-known character 

in literature. In addition, consider the 

character’s ethnicity and the story’s 

setting. For example, variations of 

Catherine include Catalina, Katarina, 

Karin, Katya, and Caitlin, among others. 

Finally, don’t pick a name that’s hard 

to read, pronounce or remember. Once 

you’ve named your main character, 

choose supporting character names that 

sound different and begin with different 

letters, to avoid confusion. 


Sound 

By saying a name aloud, you can 

hear its rhythm and how the vowels 

and consonants sound. They should 

reflect your character’s personality and 

appearance – unless you want a name 

that’s directly the opposite, to add 

comedy or irony. For example, I named a 

tiny mouse Bartholomew. Names that are 

alliterative (Benjamin Bunny) or rhyme 

(Amelia Bedelia) can be playful, but too 

much of this draws attention to itself 

and away from your story, and can annoy 

readers, especially editors. 

Meaning/Connotation 

I often choose names for their particular 

meanings, which come from their 

root words. For example, Cecil/Cecilia 

means “dim-sighted.” Even if readers are 

unaware of the meaning, the syllables 

of a well-chosen name can bring images 

to mind that show something about the 

character. Good literary examples are 

Ichabod Crane, Mordred, Bilbo Baggins. 

Sometimes I want an original name, 

especially when I write fantasy or 

science fiction. While there are online 

name generators, I prefer to use one or a 

combination of the following techniques 

to create a meaningful name. 

Thesaurus/Dictionary 

I look up words that call to mind qualities 

of my character. Occasionally, I’ve found 

a word that fits and actually sounds like a 

name. For example, I named a boy Twitch. 

But more likely, I’ll find a word I want to 

use only part of, like “val” from “valiant.” 

To complete the name, I try one or both 

of the following techniques. 

Crossword board game 

I play around with letter tiles to make 

original names. For “val” I added “yra” 

to make Valyra, the heroine of a fantasy 

story.

Exquisite Corpse 

I apply this drawing game to text. 

Instead of folding a sheet of paper 

into quarters, I cut it into quarters, 

using maybe six sheets of paper. 

Then I write the first and last parts of 

a name on the pieces. For example, 

Lorraine could be split into “lor” and 

“raine,” Belinda into “bel” and “inda.” 

I fill all the paper pieces with other 

divided names. Next, I move them 

around, reconfiguring them into new 

names, like Lorinda and Belraine in 

my example. 

Then ask these questions: Is your 

moniker really unique? (To make 

sure it’s not the name of a new 

prescription drug, search the 

For me, the story doesn’t 

take off until I’ve found 

the best-fitting name 

for my main character. 


Internet!) Does the name’s sound 

and rhythm fit the character? Do the 

syllables inspire images that give 

clues about him or her? 

The right name will help establish 

your character immediately and 

succinctly. Even better, it might be 

just the spark your character needs 

to come alive for readers and win a 

place in their hearts forever. 

Christiane Tibbitts had fun naming the characters 

in her middle-grade fantasy novel manuscript 

Toadbell. Her nonfiction picture book, Seashells, 

Crabs and Sea Stars, was named a Best Family 

Beach Guide by Family Fun, June 2005. She 

works as editorial assistant at The Ensign, a 

recreational boating magazine. You may contact 

her at valyra7@bellsouth.net. 

The Picture 

book marathon 

By JeAN reAGAN 

ANd lOrA kOehler 

PICTURE BOOK WRITERS, are your writing 

practices sagging? What writing practice, 

you ask? Perhaps you need a picture book 

marathon. 

Looking to jump start our own writing, we 

were inspired by friends tackling novels-ina-month. 

This past September, we decided 

to write a picture book a day for a month. 

Allowing a few rest days left 26 writing days, 

and a picture book marathon was born. 

The marathon provided a lesson in 

reserving time to write. We found it important 

to schedule the time or at least give it thought 

each morning. And on those days when writing 

was a struggle to fit in, we found we needed 

to jot down at least enough of a first draft to 

capture the feel of the story. 

We used story starters, such as “once upon 

a time,” as a cue to “get writing!” and we took 

a few minutes at the end of a writing session 

to generate three ideas for the next day. 

Throughout our day, we were attuned to any 

possibility for a story. We became practiced 

in “narrative on demand,” with a beginning, 

middle, and end, rather than spending our 

writing time doodling on the page. Saving a rest 

day took the pressure off the end of the month. 

Once you start running, er, writing you’ll 

probably find you stay ahead of your inner critic 

– she just can’t keep up. 

So, we’ve often gotten that “bottom 

line” question: how many of the stories 

are “worthwhile?” We’ve had a hard time 

quantifying this because who knows what 

character or scene might end up where. But we 

each felt that about a third of our stories had 

real promise. 

If you’re interested in your own picture book 

marathon and want to join us, we’ll be starting 

another soon. Check our website at 

www.picturebookmarathon.org. 

Jean Reagan and Lora Koehler are children’s writers living in Salt 

Lake City. Jean’s new picture book, always My Brother, will be 

published in April 2009 by Tilbury House. Lora is a children’s 

librarian whose published work includes the book Internet 

(Children’s Press) and numerous news and magazine articles. 


By AliCe POPe 

UNLESS YOU LIVE under a rock, you’ve 

heard talk of Twitter (www.Twitter.com), 

but if you haven’t checked it out or 

participated in it you may be confused 

about just what it is, how it works, and, 

as a writer or illustrator (published or 

not), whether should you sign on. (And if 

you do—what next?) 


Just like a website, a blog, and a 

Facebook page, Twitter can be a powerful 

networking tool and an important 

spoke in your platform wheel—a way 

to connect with other writers and 

illustrators, publishing professionals, 

librarians, readers, fans and more. 

Simply put, Twitter is a microblogging 

platform on which you answer 

the question “What are you doing?” at 

From Tweets to 

Retweets to Hashtags, 

Here is Everything 

You Need to Know 

intervals of your choosing. It’s similar 

to offering status updates on Facebook 

minus everything on Facebook. Most 

Twitter users post multiple times a day 

about all sorts of things, publishingrelated 

and not. They make statements, 

post questions, participate in discussions, 

offer links to blogs and websites (their 

own and other people’s), offer news, even 

post Twitter novels (see Kathleen Duey’s

Russet, @kathleenduey), along with 

non sequiturs, comments, and random 

minutiae. 

Once you go through the simple signup 

process, you can begin “tweeting”—in 

the twitterverse, a post is called a tweet. 

Tweets top out at 140 characters so you 

must be concise. Tweeting is a great way 

to practice writing tight! (Note that links 

are counted as part of your 140 character 

limit, so always visit www.tinyurl.com to 

create short versions of long links.) 

Using Twitter Effectively 

At a recent conference, social media 

expert Chris Brogan (who has more 

than 100,000 followers) said, “Twitter is 

not about talking, it’s about listening.” 

And he’s right. Just as with any social 

networking platform, Twitter is all 

about making connections and friends, 

participating in the community, and 

being part of the discussion. 

But first you have to find that 

community. You can start by visiting the 

Twitter page of someone with similar 

interests. Let’s use mine for example. 

(You can go to www.twitter.com/alicepope 

or type “alicepope” in the search box 

on your page or the Twitter homepage 

to find me.) Once you find my Twitter 

account, you can click on my following 

list, find everyone I follow, page down the 

list, and choose to follow some of them, 

too. My list includes book world types 

like editors, agents, publishers, authors, 

and illustrators as well as various other 

tweeters who interest me (SCBWI, cast 

members of Glee, Anderson Cooper, NPR, 

Zappos, Wil Wheaton…) 

Just like a website, a blog, 

and a Facebook page, Twitter 

can be a powerful networking 

tool and an important spoke 

in your platform wheel. 

Key To TWITTerSPeAK 

twitterspeak = the language of Twitter 

tweet = a post on Twitter 

tweeple = people on Twitter 

tweeps = your peeps on Twitter (if you’re 

more slang-y) 

twitterverse = the Twitter universe 

tweetup = an in-person meetup of Twitter 

friends 

twinterview = a Twitter interview 

twihaiku = a Twitter haiku 

RT = retweet 

# = topic hashtag (#SCBwI09) 

@ = username (@alicepope) 

It’s also a good idea to sign up on 

www.wefollow.com. This site allows you to 

register in three categories (I chose editor, 

publishing and blogger) so Twitter users 

with common interests can find you and 

follow you. Here you can search for things 

like “picturebooks” or “literaryagents” 

or “yafiction” to find tweeps to follow. 

Reciprocal following is general Twitter 

etiquette unless you’re a celebrity (although 

Lady Gaga promptly followed me back), and 

a good practice when starting out. 

Another way to gain followers and 

build relationships on Twitter is to 

“retweet.” When you read a tweet you 

find interesting, you can retweet it to all 

of your Twitter followers. You simply copy 

the original post, precede it with “RT” 

and tweet it. For example, agent Michael 

Bourret (@MichaelBourret) retweeted me 

here when I mentioned I’d be attending 

an event for one of his authors: 

RT @alicepope: Come see the 

awesome @sarazarr tonight at 7 pm at 

@JosephBethCincy on her ONCE WAS 

LOST tour. (I’ll be there.) sarazarr.com 

FoLLoW US oN TWITTer! 

www.twitter.com/SCBWI 

Everyone likes to be rewteeted. Why? 

They say the average lifespan of a tweet 

is about five minutes. But if 10 of your 

followers send your tweet to all of their 

followers, the lifespan and the number 

of Twitter users who see it increases 

exponentially. 

Also be sure to include your Twitter 

account in your email signature. Just as 

you would a website or blog, send your 

Twitter name to everyone you email. And 

offer a link to your Twitter pages on your 

blog or website. 

If you’re a blogger you can feed your 

blog posts to Twitter and your Twitter posts 

to your blog. You can set up an account at 

Twitter Feed (www.twitterfeed.com) and the 

service will automatically tweet a link to 

every new blog post you create. You can 

auto-tweet multiple blogs to your Twitter 

account. You can also Google for Twitter 

widgets that feed your tweets to your blog 

or website so visitors can see your most 

recent Twitter posts. 

Twitter Hashtags 

As you use Twitter, you’ll notice tweets 

including hashtags: #something. These 

tags are used for searching purposes. 

(You may notice them under trending 

topics on your home page.) These are 

useful for Twitter events (like #kidlitchat), 

conferences (like #SCBWI09), and popular 

topics (like #NaNoWriMo). Simply enter a 

term (#FollowFriday) in the search box and 

you’ll see all tweets including the hashtag. 

#FollowFriday is a popular Twitter 

hashtag. Every Friday Twitter users 

recommend other Twitter users to 

their followers. I follow everyone who 

recommends me on #FollowFriday and 


As with any community, 

you’ll learn the ropes 

and make discoveries 

as you spend time in 

the twitterverse. 

many other Twitter users do the same, so 

if you’re on Twitter, be sure to participate 

in #FollowFriday. 

Replying, Direct Messaging and 

Favorites 

As a participant of the Twitter 

community, it’s important to answer 

questions or make comments when you 

are so inclined and this is easy to do on 

Twitter. If someone tweets and you’d like 

to respond, you can reply to a tweet by 

clicking on the curvy arrow on the right 

of a tweet. (It will come up when you put 

your cursor there.) Their Twitter name 

will appear in the box at the top of the 

page (@alicepope) and then you can type 

in your reply. 

You can find any replies to your own 

tweets or mentions of your Twitter 

name by clicking on @yourname on 

your Twitter home. You can also send 

someone a direct message as long as you 

are mutual followers. Simply click on 

Direct Messages on your Twitter home 

and you’ll get a drop down box of your 

tweeps. These messages are only seen by 

the recipients. And if you click the star 

on the right side of a tweet it is saved to 

your Favorites so you can refer to it later. 

These are the Twitter basics—what 

you need to know to get started. As with 

any community, you’ll learn the ropes 

and make discoveries as you spend time 

in the twitterverse. You don’t have to sign 

up for Twitter in order to read tweets, 

so at least click around and check it 

out—you may be enticed to join the fun 

and find that Twitter is a great tool and a 

great way to make connections. 

Alice Pope is the long-time editor of Children’s 

writer’s & Illustrator’s Market. She blogs at 

cwim.blogspot.com and led SCBWI TEAM BLOG 

at the 2009 Annual Summer Conference. (Visit 

scbwiconference.blogspot.com to see the team’s 

conference reports.) Find her on Twitter: @alicepope. 


Advice from the Twitterverse 

SO I COULD offer you a demonstration of how your Twitter community can 

be useful, I posted the following question on Twitter as I was working on this 

article: 

@alicepope I’m writing an article on Twitter (aimed at writers and 

illustrators). What’s your best Twitter tip (in 140 characters or less, of course)? 

In a matter of minutes my question had been retweeted several times and I’d 

gotten more than a dozen useful tips (from writers, editors, and other publishing 

professionals) which you’ll find below. I suggest you follow each of the tweeps 

who replied to me—and follow their advice as well. 

• @HeatherMccorkle: Twitter tip: Never 

write anything you don’t want to read on 

the front page of the newspaper. Could 

hurt your career later! 

• @aliciapadron: tweet how you like to be 

tweeted 

• @GirlssentAway: Follow 80/20 rule: 

80% professional tweets, 20% to show 

your personality. Interact. 

• @EyeOnFlux: avoid TMI (overly personal 

information). This begs the question: 

what do most people use their Twitter 

accounts for? Professional? Personal? 

Should the two mix? 

• @glecharles: Be relevant, always add 

value and remember, it’s SoCIaL media, 

not just an alternative RSS feed. 

• @loniedwards: Tip: download an add-on 

like tweetdeck to help sort. Especially 

during kidlit chats! 

• @KateMessner: Just aim to be a friendly, 

helpful human being online. It’s much 

better self-promotion than shouting about 

your book. 

• @Lynne_Griffin: I found this helpful 

“RT @EliseBlackwell @thefictiondesk Be 

yourself, not your book.” 

• @Ruthspiro: My tip: Connect w/folks 

ouTSIdE the writing/publishing world; 

they don’t encounter authors daily, and 

think you’re really cool! 

• @wendy_mc: If you want your funny stuff 

to be retweeted, shorter tweets are better 

(leave room for your name) 

• @BrianKlems: Be honest in what you 

post, be it personal or promotional. If you 

wouldn’t read it, don’t post it. 

• @mitaliperkins: Strive for the same 

integrity, vision, and authentic voice on 

Twitter that you pursue in your vocation 

as a whole. 

• @WriterRoss: Keep it tight. omit 

connecting words. Twitter is a wonderful 

tool for learning to edit extraneous 

information. 

• @vboykis: don’t overpromote yourself. 

Reach out to other writers and champion 

the ones whose writing you love. 

• @inkyelbows: Twitter tips: Follower 

count should NoT be your main goal. 

Support other writers. Make every 

character count. 

• @rachelsimon: My best Twitter advice 

is to act on here as you would in real life. 

You are essentially “meeting” the same 

people. 

• @nialleccles: Re: call for Twitter tips... do 

not allow it to distract you from writing 

or illustrating. Tweet during scheduled 

breaks. 

• @marisabirns: Twitter tip: It’s a great 

place for linking writers to online resource 

material. 

• @leewind: Twitter does 3 things well: 

1. drive traffic to links. 2. real-time 

discussions via “#” 3. under 140 trivia/ 

wisdom—like this! 

• @cynDraws: My tip—Be of service 

to others and avoid complaining or 

negativity at all costs. our art should 

inspire others and so should our tweets. 

• @joanna_haugen: Tip: Make sure tweets 

are relevant, interesting and concise to 

your audience.

Self-employment 

Taxes for 

Freelancers 

Questions and Answers from a Tax Expert 

By JuliAN BlOCk 

Q 

I am a freelance writer and 

photographer. I have been told to report 

my book and photo royalties not as income on 

Form 1040’s Schedule C (Profit or Loss from 

Business), but as royalties on Schedule E. The 

word is that by doing so, I can skip paying the 

15.3 self-employment tax, which consists of 

2.9 percent Medicare and 12.4 percent Social 

Security. True? 

A The 

Internal Revenue Service looks 

unkindly on writers, photographers, 

artists and other self-employed persons 

who try to escape self-employment taxes. 

Perhaps we have a case of semantics 

here. Yes, the word “royalties” is used 

on Schedule E, and yes, the IRS defines 

royalties as “payments for intangible 

properties” — for example, books and 

artistic works, which would include 

photos. 

But the IRS is adamant that you 

report royalties for your creative efforts 

on Schedule C, making that income 

subject to self-employment tax. Schedule 

E is for reporting royalties received by 

other people — for example, those who 

purchase or inherit copyrights on books, 

photos and other material that they did 

not create. Limit your use of Schedule 

E for reporting royalties to listing those 

received from coal, oil or gas sites. 

You are playing the “audit lottery” 

if you report book and photo sales on 

Schedule E. True, your ploy might never 

be discovered, but should it be, expect 

to be hit with a hefty bill for back taxes, 

interest, and penalties. 

Q 

who is right? I have office furniture 

and machines that I no longer use in my 

business as a writer and consultant. over the 

years, I claimed depreciation deductions on 

Schedule C that have reduced my tax basis in 

the equipment to zero. My tax adviser says 

that I can donate these items to a charitable 

organization and take a contribution 

deduction for their current market value. 

However, my mother-in-law insists that I am 

not entitled to any deduction because I fully 

depreciated them. 

A She 

is right on the money. 

Unfortunately, you are not allowed 

any deduction. As the equipment’s basis 

is zero, there is nothing of value for you 

to write off as a deduction. 

Q 

How can business owners keep track 

of all the federal deadlines for filing 

returns and sending in quarterly estimated tax 

payments? 

A One 

way is to ask the IRS for its 

Publication 509, “Tax Calendar.” 

While you are at it, ask for Publication 

910, “Guide to Free Tax Services,” which 

lists all of the agency’s booklets. Get 

free copies of the booklets by calling 

1-800-TAx-FORM (they’ll be mailed 

to you), or call 703-368-9694 for an 

automated fax service, or download 

copies from the IRS website (www.irs.gov). 

Q 

a university asked to reprint one of 

my magazine articles in its alumni 

publication. I gave permission without asking 

for any payment. Since this is an educational 

institution, can I take a charitable contribution 

deduction equal to the fee I would have asked 

of a commercial publisher? do I need a letter 

from the school? If so, what should it say? 

A Sorry, a letter will not help. You 

are not allowed any deduction. 

Julian Block, an attorney in Larchmont, NY, has been 

cited as “a leading tax professional” (New York 

Times) and “an accomplished writer on taxes” (wall 

Street Journal). His books include Tax Tips for 

writers, Photographers and artists, praised by law 

professor James E. Maule of Villanova University as “An 

easy-to-read and well-organized explanation of the tax 

rules. Writers, photographers and artists would be well 

advised to buy this book.” To order his books, visit his 

website, www.julianblocktaxexpert.com. Copyright 

2009 Julian Block. All rights reserved. 

November/december 2009 scBWI 25 

JENNIFER desauTELS

Librarians on the 

Ramparts 

Defending Gay Penguins, Guinea Pigs 

and Sacrilegious Polar Bears 

By SArAh S. BrANNeN 

WHEN I DECIDED to follow my dreams 

and become a picture book author and 

illustrator, it did not occur to me that I 

would someday get hate mail and read 

words like “filthy,” “garbage,” “disgraceful,” 

“disgusting,” and “vile” written about my 

work. Nor did I anticipate writing a book 

people wouldn’t feel was fit to be in a 

library. But on the day I decided that my 

story about a wedding was going to be 

about a same-sex wedding, I had a date 

with the American Library Association’s 

Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged 

Books list. 

I knew that people were going to have 

a problem with Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, 

even though my gay guinea pigs don’t 

even kiss each other. They just get 

married. But that’s enough for plenty 

of parents, and the book started getting 

challenges as soon as it got onto library 

shelves. 

The ALA’s Office for Intellectual 

Freedom (OIF) keeps careful records of 

all challenges to books at schools and 

libraries. A “challenge” usually means 

that a library patron or parent has 

requested that a book be removed from 

the library or shelved in a special area, 

or removed from a school’s curriculum. 

I have even heard of a parent suggesting 

that red warning labels be placed on 

books with controversial content. (The 

majority of challenges come from 

parents). Challenges are usually wellmeant, 

not to attack authors but to 

protect children from ideas some parents 

feel are harmful. 

All of the ten most frequently 

challenged books in 2008 were written 

for young people and were challenged for 

homosexual content, explicit sexuality, 

offensive language and religious 


If people care enough to protest your book, 

you’ve written something that made someone 

think. Wade into the fray, and be proud! 

MICHaEL LauRITaNo

viewpoint. For the complete list, and 

more information about challenges, visit 

ala.org. 

Some challenges are successful; a 

“banned book” is one that has been 

removed from a school curriculum or 

taken out of a library, and it still happens 

a lot. The ALA recorded 513 challenges in 

the U.S. in 2008, which research suggests 

may be only 20 – 25% of the total number 

of challenges. 

The ALA has designated the last week 

of September as Banned Books Week, 

and many libraries and bookstores have 

events and displays organized around 

banned and challenged books. The OIF 

hosts a “Read-Out” on the first day of 

Banned Books Week, and I had the honor 

of participating this year, along with 

Chris Crutcher, Justin Richardson, Peter 

Parnell, Stephen Chbosky, Lauren Myracle 

and Cecily van Ziegesar. 

Each author told stories of their own 

experience with challenges. Lauren 

Myracle said she always answers angry 

letters from parents, and tries to get into 

a dialogue with them. Chris Crutcher, on 

the other hand, told me to go ahead and 

get angry. He is a passionate defender of 

first amendment rights and he’s happy 

to wade in and fight for them. Stephen 

Chbosky read a poignant letter from a 

teenager who said that reading his book 

changed her mind about committing 

suicide. Let there be no doubt that 

banning books could be a matter of life 

and death. As Crutcher said, “When you 

ban a book about a kid on the outside, 

you’re taking the first step toward 

banning the kid.” 

The first challenge to Uncle Bobby’s 

Wedding that I know of came in June 

2008 at a library in Colorado. The head 

librarian of the Douglas County Libraries, 

Jamie Larue, wrote a carefully-researched 

Above, Lauren Myracle, 

cecily von Ziegesar and 

chris crutcher at the 

Banned Books Read-out. 

Right, Justin Richardson 

and Peter Parnell 

reading from And Tango 

Makes Three (2005, 

simon & schuster) the 

most-challenged book in 

the U.s. 

PaTRICIa J. MuRPHY PHoToS 

and thorough letter in response, 

explaining why the library would not 

remove my book. It makes for good 

reading, online at jaslarue.blogspot.com. 

Go to the July 2008 archives and click the 

post titled Uncle Bobby’s Wedding. 

More challenges followed in Florida, 

Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., 

and a second one in Colorado. There 

may be others of which I am not aware; 

there isn’t any system in place to notify 

authors. I have come across some of 

these by having a Google alert on the title 

of my book. The ALA believes that most 

challenges go unreported. 

If you hear of a challenge to your 

book, contact Deborah Caldwell-Stone, 

assistant director of the Office for 

Intellectual Freedom: dstone@ala.org. 

Do your best to document the challenge. 

And notify the media! You’ll have to take 

some heat for your book so you might as 

well get a little publicity. I post links to 

nasty articles and blogs about my book 

on my Twitter and Facebook page, and 

the support that invariably follows is very 

comforting. And remember, if people 

care enough to protest your book, you’ve 

written something that made someone 

think. Wade into the fray, and be proud! 

Sarah S. Brannen is the author/illustrator of uncle 

Bobby’s wedding (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2008) and 

the illustrator of The aBC Book of american Homes 

(Charlesbridge, 2008). She is currently illustrating a 

book on ancient Troy for Charlesbridge. For more, visit 

www.sarahbrannen.com. 


people 

EdITEd BY REva SoLoMoN 

we are happy to announce the following good 

news from our members: 

SITES/CDs 

Jan Godown Annino · author · online writing 

studio plus author website · 

bookseedstudio.wordpress.com. 

sandra Asher · anthology · Writing It Right! 

How Successful Children’s Authors Revise and 

Sell Their Stories · writersbookstore.com. 

Kathi Baron · kathibaron.com; 

kathibaron.blogspot.com. 

John claude Bemis · author · 

johnclaudebemis.com · middle-grade novel 

· The Nine Pound Hammer: Book 1 of The 

Clockwork Dark on Cd (Listening Library, 

august 2009). 

Linda Benson · lindabenson.blogspot.com and 

lindabenson.net. 

Ludmila Bernadkin · author interviews · 

authorgeriahearnsinterviews.blogspot.com. 

Ann Bonwill · annbonwill.com. 

Deborah Brodie · freelance editor/book 

doctor · updated website · deborahbrodie.com 

· new section: “wise advice” from authors/ 

agents. 

Kimberly campbell · KimberlyCampbell.net. 

Joan carris · joancarrisbooks.com. 

Julie Day · website/blog · 

julieaday.moonfruit.com and 

julieaday.blogspot.com. 

Rebecca Dickinson · rebeccadickinson.com. 

scott Farrell · author/actor · ChivalryToday.com 

· classroom/library presentations for children; 

podcast · author interviews for adults. 

Della Ross Ferreri · DellaRossFerreri.com. 


christine Graham · christinegrahambooks.com. 

Maggie Grinnell · interview: blogtalkradio. 

com/poeticmonthly then click on “Maggie.” 

Babs Bell Hajdusiewicz · ilikeme.com/blog · 

“How I Got Kids to Take up Reading with No 

Print in Sight.” 

Janet Halfmann · janethalfmann.com. 

Alison Hart · alisonhartbooks.com. 

Felicia M. Hazzard · children’s book reviewer · 

blogcritics.com. 

Barbara Gottfried Hollander · author/editor · 

awritetolearn.com. 

Peter Huggins · author/poet · phuggins.com. 

George Ivanoff · gamersquestbook.com. 

Richard W. Jennings · richardwjennings.com. 

Judith Josephson · judithjosephson.com. 

Barbara Kanninen · author · 

barbarakanninen.com · business and craft of 

writing for children. 

“Trust that little voice 

in your head that says 

‘wouldn’t it be interesting if...’ 

and then do it.” 

~duane Michals, american Photographer (1932- ) 

chris Karim · letkidslead.com. 

Donna M. McDine · 

thegoldenpathway.blogspot.com. 

Ken Mochizuki · kenmochizuki.com. 

Pat Mora · patmora.com. 

Mae Durden nelson · MaeDurdenNelson.com. 

Robin Pulver · Cd · Punctuation Takes a 

Vacation (Live oak Media, 2009). 

Roni capin Rivera-Ashford · site under 

construction · butterflyheartbooks.com. 

Kem Knapp sawyer · kemsawyer.com. 

sharon K. solomon · A Walk with Grandpa 

(Raven Tree Press) · sharonsbooks.net. 

Joyce A. stengel · joyceastengel.com. 

susan VanHecke · AnApplePieForDinner.com; 

RockNRollSoldierAMemoir.com. 

Andrea Vlahakis · andreavlahakis.com. 

April Halprin Wayland · aprilwayland.com. 

Laura Wynkoop · LauraWynkoop.com. 

NoEL TuaZoN

BOOKS 

Alison Acheson · first picture book · Grandpa’s 

Music: A Story of Alzheimer’s (albert whitman 

& Co., September, 2009). 

Michelle Medlock Adams · author · board 

book · fourth in What Is series · What Is 

Thanksgiving? (CandyCane Press, September 

2009) her 26th published children’s book. 

Goldie Alexander · Hedgeburners · An A-Z 

Pi Mystery (Interactive Publications, 2009) 

Illustrator · Marjory Gardner. 

sandra Asher · anthology · Writing It Right! 

How Successful Children’s Authors Revise and 

Sell Their Stories (writer’s Institute, Inc., 

august 2009). 

Becky Barnard · author/illustrator · picture 

book · Adventures of Cubby Corn (Trafford 

Publishing, 2009). 

tracy Barrett · middle-grade series book · The 

Beast of Blackslope · Book 2 · The Sherlock Files 

(Henry Holt BFYR, 2009). 

Linda Benson · second middle-grade novel 

· The Horse Jar (Mondo Publishing, august 

2009). 

Jan Blazanin · Ya contemporary novel · Fairest 

of Them All (MTv Books, april 2009). 

Helena Bogosian · illustrator/author · two 

board books: Clay Quests Minis: Search for 

Shapes!; Clay Quests Minis: Spot the Animals! 

(Sterling, october 2009); board book · I Can 

Count! I Can Add! (Grosset and dunlap, april 

2009); two picture/puzzle books: Clay Quests 

Hidden Picture Puzzles; Clay Quests Maze Magic 

(Sterling, November 2008). 

Linda Brewster · author/illustrator · middlegrade 

picture book biography · Rose O’Neill: 

The Girl Who Loved to Draw (Boxing day 

Books, 2009) Rose o’neill · illustrator · 

Creator of the Kewpie doll and america’s first 

woman comic artist · 100th anniversary of 

cartoon character Kewpie · forerunner to the 

Kewpie doll. 

Marlene targ Brill · two middle-grade 

biographies: Barack Obama: President for a 

New Era (Lerner, 2009) the revision of her 

first book about the President · Barack Obama: 

Working to Make a Difference; and Michelle 

Obama: From Chicago’s South Side to the White 

House (Lerner, 2010); five Ya nonfiction books 

about decades: America in the 1900s, America 

in the 1910s, America in the 1970s, America in 

the 1980s, America in the 1990s (Twenty-first 

Century Books). 

Rachelle Burk · picture book · Tree House in a 

Storm · illustrated by Rex Schneider (Stemmer 

House Publishers, 2009). 

Gayle Byrne · picture book · Sometimes It’s 

Grandmas and Grandpas...Not Mommies and 

Daddies (abbeville Press, September 2009) 

living in a grandparent-led family told from a 

child’s point of view. 

Kimberly campbell · Lois Duncan: Author of 

I Know What You Did Last Summer (Enslow, 

2009) authors teen love series. 

Joan carris · middle-grade animal fantasy · 

Wild Times at the Bed and Biscuit (Candlewick 

Press, 2009) sequel to Welcome to the Bed 

and Biscuit (2006) paperback out September 

2009. 

stephen christenson under his pen name 

sirock Brighton · four anthology books · The 

Currie Street Narrow Gate (2008); 2009: An 

Ephraim Sailor’s Alphabet; and Professor Nesbit 

Perkins, the Snoring Cat (part I & II) · editor/ 

publisher · Brigitta Geltrich (Creative with 

words Publications 2008-2009). 

sneed B. collard · 2008 · three books from 

Charlesbridge Publishing: Reign of the Sea 

Dragons; Wings; and Teeth; Science Warriors – 

The Battle against Invasive Species (Houghton 

Mifflin, 2008); his third novel · Double Eagle 

(Peachtree Publishing); six more entries 

in his american Heroes biography series: 

Jacob Lawrence; George Washington; Lady Bird 

Johnson; Phillis Wheatley; Sitting Bull; and Cesar 

Chavez (Benchmark, fall 2009). 

Gillian collings · writing as Frances Gilbert 

· second book in children’s poetry series · 

Elephant Blue (2009). 

nanette cooper-McGuinness · translation · 

Sin Ilusion (the third and final volume of No 

pasaran – vittorio Giardino’s upper Ya graphic 

novel about the Spanish Civil war) from 

Italian into English (NBM Publishing, June 

2008). 

sue corbett · third middle-grade novel · 

The Last Newspaper Boy in America (dutton, 

September 2009); first picture book · The 12 

Days of Christmas in Virginia (Sterling, october 

2009). 

sheryl Ann crawford · tenth book · Easyto-Read 

Science Plays: The Human Body · 

grades 1-2 (Scholastic Teaching Resources, 

November 2009). 

NICoLE BREKELBauM 


P e o P L e 

Linda G. Davis · Ya fantasy fiction novel · 

Celtic Portal: Insula Sacra (dervla Publishing, 

dry Tortuga Books, august 2009). 

Rebecca Dickinson · fifth picture book · 

Over in the Hollow (Chronicle, august 2009) 

illustrator s.britt. 

ted M.Dunagan · A Yellow Watermelon 

(Junebug Books, 2008). 

Mae Durden-nelson · Ya nonfiction · Four 

Boys, Two Canoes and the Guadalupe River 

(Eakin Press, September, 2007). 

Dotti enderle · Gingerbread Man Superhero! 

(Pelican Publishing, 2009). 

Della Ross Ferreri · picture book · Star of the 

Show (Shenanigan Books, September 2009). 

Ginny Fields · picture book · Punky and 

Bunkee’s Journey (Tate Publishing & 

Enterprises, LLC, august 2008). 

Debbi Michiko Florence · nonfiction · Japan: 

A Kaleidoscope Kids Book (williamson Books, 

July 2009) second book in series · over 40 

hands-on/minds-on activities · ages 8 · 13 · to 

experience Japanese culture. 

Annie Fox · Ya nonfiction · Real Friends vs. 

The Other Kind · Book 2 of the Middle School 

Confidential series · (Free Spirit Publishing, 

June 2009). 

nancy Furstinger · ASPCA Kids: Kids Making a 

Difference for Animals (wiley Publishing, Inc., 

March 2009). 


Bonnie Geisert · third middle-grade novel · 

Prairie Winter (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 

November 2009). 

Mike Graf · nonfiction · 3rd · 8th grades · 

Storm (weldon owen Publishing Company, 

winter 2009) children’s reference book on 

severe weather around the globe with weather 

visuals · tornadoes, hurricanes, hail, dust 

storms, monsoons and more. 

christine Graham · second easy chapter book 

· Peter Peter Picks a Pumpkin House (Henry 

Holt, august 2009). 

nikki Grimes · chapter book series 2009: 

Book #1 · Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel 

(G.P. Putnam’s Sons, May); Book #2 · Rich: A 

Dyamonde Daniel Book (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 

october) both illustrated by Gregory christie; 

picture book · Voices of Christmas (Zonderkidz, 

october 2009) illustrator Eric velasquez. 

Janet Halfmann · nonfiction picture books 

from Soundprints – Smithsonian Institution: 

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea · illustrated by 

steven James Petruccio (2008); Little Black 

Ant on Park Street · illustrated by Kathleen 

Rietz (fall 2009). 

Pamela Hall · The Grammar’s Slammin’ · series 

of six books (aBdo Publishing, January 

2009): Punctuation Celebration; Code Blue: 

Calling all Capitals!; The Wheel of Subject-Verb 

Agreement; The Muscle-Bound Compounds; The 

Stand-In Pronouns Save the Scene; Find Your 

Function at Conjunction Junction. 

MICHELLE HENNINGER 

Renee Hand · Chapter Book Mystery Series · 

The Crypto-Capers in: The Case of the Missing 

Sock (Book 1); The Case of Red Rock Canyon 

(Book 2 · spring 2009; The Legend of the 

Golden Monkey (Book 3 · North Star Press, 

fall 2009); Joe Joe Nut and Biscuit Bill Series: 

Case #1: The Great Pie Catastrophe (North Star 

Press, winter 2009). 

Libby Hathorn · picture book · Zahara’s Rose 

(IP Kidz, august 2009) illustrated by Doris 

Unger. 

Julie Haydon · three books · Fast Forward 

Independent Texts series: Gladiators · 

illustrated by tom Larkey; Skyscrapers; Space 

Tourism (Cengage Learning australia, 2009). 

Barbara Gottfried Hollander · two Ya 

nonfiction · Life Skills series (Heinemann, 

2009): Managing Money; Raising Money. 

Joan Holub · easy reader · Shampoodle 

(Random House Step into Reading pre-K-1st, 

october 2009); picture book · Groundhog 

Weather School (Putnam, december 2009). 

ellen Howard · 18th book · upper middle-grade 

historical novel · The Crimson Cap (Holiday 

House, october 2009). 

Amy Huntley · Ya novel · The Everafter (Balzer 

and Bray/HarperCollins, September 2009). 

George Ivanoff · Ya science fiction novel 

· Gamers’ Quest (Ford Street Publishing, 

october 2009). 

Richard W. Jennings · Ghost Town (Houghton 

Mifflin Harcourt, June 2009) a 12-year-old is 

the best hope for saving a Midwestern town 

from extinction. 

tony Johnston · My Abuelita (Harcourt/ 

Houghton, august 2009) illustrated by Yuyi 

Morales. 

Judith Josephson · two middle-grade 

biographies (Lerner Publications, 2009): Louis 

Armstrong; Nelson Mandela. 

Lita Judge · author/illustrator · nonfiction 

picture book · Yellowstone Moran: Painting the 

American West (viking, September 2009). 

Jacqueline Jules · picture books: nonfiction 

· Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a 

Nation (Charlesbridge, 2009); Benjamin and 

the Silver Goblet (Kar-Ben, 2009); fiction · 

Duck for Turkey Day (albert whitman, 2009).

Janet Lawler · Tyrannoclaus (HarperCollins, 

September 2009). 

ellen Leroe · Ya novel · Dear Big V (westSide 

Books, october 2009). 

neal Levin · six poems in What I Did on My 

Summer Vacation · poetry anthology edited by 

Bruce Lansky (Meadowbrook Press, 2009); 

Poems: “Christmas in July,” “Family Reunion,” 

“Harvey’s Rv,” “Letter from Camp,” “Skeeter- 

Man Jack,” and “Swimming Lessons.” 

Jennifer Guess McKerley · nonfiction: 

Amazing Armadillos, illustrated by Paul 

Mirocha (Step Into Reading, Random House 

Books for Young Readers, august 2009); 

Swamp Monsters · Monsters series (KidHaven 

Press, october 2009); fiction: Rules of the 

Net, illustrated by Evelyne duverne (Read- 

It! Readers by Picture window Books, april 

2009). 

Lyn Miller-Lachmann · Ya novel · Gringolandia 

(Curbstone Press, May 2009) winner of 

an SCBwI work-in-Progress Grant for a 

Contemporary Young adult Novel in 1989 · 20 

years ago finally published! 

Pat Mora · two picture books 2009: 

Gracias~Thanks (Lee & Low Books) and A 

Piñata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of 

Christmas (Clarion Books). 

Barbara o’connor · middle-grade novel · The 

Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis (FS & G/ 

Frances Foster Books, 2009). 

Julie Peters · Rage: A Love Story (Knopf, 

September 2009). 

Wendy Pfeffer · four picture books · Wings 

· with full color photographs (Mondo 

Publishing, august 2009); The Strange Life of 

the Land Hermit Crab · illustrated by Katherine 

Zecca (Mondo Publishing, august, 2009); 

Whale Songs and Sounds · with full color 

photographs (Mondo Publishing, august 

2009); Life in a Coral Reef · illustrated by steve 

Jenkins (HarperCollins, September 2009) 

for “Let’s Read and Find out about Science” 

series. 

Robin Pulver · picture book · Never Say Boo! 

(Holiday House, fall 2009). 

Kate Robinson · second nonfiction book · 

Lewis and Clark: Exploring the American West 

(Enslow Publishing, Inc., october 2009). 

naomi c. Rose · author/illustrator · picture 

book · Tibetan Tales from the Top of the World 

(Clear Light Publishers, November 2009). 

s.L. Rottman · Ya novel · Out of the Blue 

(Peachtree Publishers, october 2010). 

Kem Knapp sawyer · biography · Abigail 

Adams (dK Publishing, august 2009). 

Liz Garton scanlon · picture book · All the 

World (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster, 

September 2009) illustrated by Marla Frazee. 

Donny Bailey seagraves · debut middle-grade 

novel · Gone from These Woods (Random 

House/delacorte Books for Young Readers, 

august 2009). 

sherry shahan · collection of scary short 

stories · Spine-chilling Tales that Will Creep You 

out! (Mondo, July 2009). 

Astrid sheckels · illustrator · picture book 

· The Scallop Christmas (Islandport Press, 

September 2009) author Jane Freeberg. 

elizabeth shreeve · picture book · Oliver 

at the Window (Front Street/Boyds Mills 

Press, october 2009) illustrated by candice 

Hartsough McDonald · follows a young child’s 

adjustment to his parent’s divorce. 

David ezra stein · author/illustrator · 6th 

picture book · Pouch! (Putnam Juvenile, 

2009); Leaves (Putnam, 2007) released in 

paperback. 

Joyce A. stengel · picture book · St. Patrick and 

the Three Brave Mice (Pelican Publishing Co., 

January 2009) illustrated by Herb Leonhard. 

Ginger Wadsworth · nonfiction · Survival in 

the Snow · On My Own History · illustrated 

by craig orback (Millbrook Press, Spring 

2009); nonfiction picture book · Up, Up, 

and Away · illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne 

(Charlesbridge Publishing, July 2009); 

middle-grade historical fiction · Camping with 

the President · illustrated by Karen Dugan 

(Calkins Creek, September 2009). 

Marianne D. Wallace · author/illustrator · 

middle-grade nonfiction · America’s Forests, 

Guide to Plants and Animals (Fulcrum 

Publishing, april 2009). 

sandy Wasserman · picture book (grades 

2 – 5) The Sun’s Special Blessing · illustrated by 

Ann Koffsky (Pitspopany Press, March 2009) 

story about Jewish blessing for the sun · Birkat 

HaChamah · recited only every 28 years. 

April Halprin Wayland · New Year at the Pier 

– A Rosh Hashanah Story (dial, June 2009) 

illustrated by stéphane Jorisch · starred 

review in Publishers Weekly. 

Vicki Wehrman · illustrator · nonfiction 

picture book · Hanukkah around the World 

(Kar-Ben Publishing, 2009) written by tami 

Lehman-Wilzig. 

Kim Ablon Whitney · third Ya Novel · 

historical fiction · The Other Half of Life (Knopf 

Books for Young Readers, May 2009) based 

on true story of Jewish refugee ship, the MS 

St. Louis. 

natasha Wing · biography · An Eye for Color: 

The Story of Josef Albers (Henry Holt & Co., 

September 2009) about an artist that lived on 

her street when she was a girl. 



P e o P L e 

Blonnie Bunn Wyche · Ya novel · Cecilia’s 

Harvest, A Novel of the Revolution (whittler’s 

Bench Press · division of dram Tree Book, 

2009) sequel to · The Anchor – P. Moore, 

Proprietor · events of the Revolutionary war in 

southeastern North Carolina. 

Judy Young · picture book · The Hidden 

Bestiary of Marvelous, Mysterious and (maybe 

even) Magical Creatures (Sleeping Bear 

Press, 2009) illustrated by Laura Francesca 

Filippucci. 

Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld · nonfiction · 

Ghost Mysteries: Unraveling the World’s Most 

Mysterious Hauntings (aladdin, fall 2009). 

FIRST-TIME PUBLICATIONS 

Jan Godown Annino · picture book · She 

Sang Promise: The Story of Betty Mae Jumper, 

Seminole Tribal Leader · illustrated by Lisa 

Desimini (National Geographic Children’s 

Books, March 2010) afterword by Moses 

Jumper, Jr. 

Melissa eisen Azarian · nonfiction · The 

Amistad Mutiny: From the Court Case to the 

Movie · in series Famous Court Cases that 

Became Movies (Enslow Publishers, July 

2009). 

Kathi Baron · Ya novel · Shattered (westSide 

Books, September 2009). 

John claude Bemis · middle-grade novel · The 

Nine Pound Hammer: Book 1 of The Clockwork 

Dark (Random House, august 2009). 

Laura Bingham · Ya novel · Alvor (Cedar Fort, 

Inc., May 2009). 

Ann n. Black · third in series · Readers 

Theatre books: More Readers Theatre for 

Middle School Boys; Adventures with Mythical 

Creatures (Teacher Ideas Press Book, Libraries 

unlimited, Imprint of aBC-CLIo, May 2009). 

Ann Bonwill · picture book · Pocket’s Christmas 

Wish · (oxford university Press, october 

2009). 

Diana childress · Ya nonfiction · Omar Al- 

Bashir’s Sudan (Twenty-First Century Books, 

January 2010) first acting head of state 

charged by the International Criminal Court 

for crimes against humanity for the darfur 

genocide. 


Linda G. Davis · Ya Fantasy Novel (dervla 

Publishing, dry Tortuga Books, august 2009). 

Julie Day · middle-grade novel · Rosie and the 

Sick School (Pegasus Elliott MacKenzie, april 

2009). 

elizabeth o. Dulemba · author/illustrator · 

picture book · Soap, soap, soap ~ Jabón, jabón, 

jabón (Raven Tree Press, September 2009) 

available in bilingual and all English versions. 

Jennifer Jabaley · Ya novel · Lipstick Apology 

(Razorbill, august 2009). 

Donna M. McDine · picture book · The Golden 

Pathway · about the underground Railroad. 

carol Larese Millward · Ya novel · Star in the 

Middle (westSide Books, october 2009). 

Ginger Pate · picture book · Would You Invite 

a Skunk to Your Wedding? (Greene Bark Press, 

June 2009). 

Valerie o. Patterson · middle-grade novel 

· The Other Side of Blue (Clarion, october 

2009). 

eric Pinder · picture book · Cat in the Clouds 

(The History Press, May 2009). 

Joy Preble · Ya novel · Dreaming Anastasia 

(Sourcebooks, September 2009). 

Send Your Good News! 

Mara Rockliff · picture book · The Busiest 

Street in Town (Knopf, october 2009) 

illustrated by sarah McMenemy. 

Astrid sheckels · illustrator · picture book 

· The Scallop Christmas (Islandport Press, 

September 2009) author Jane Freeberg. 

susan VanHecke · picture book · An Apple 

Pie for Dinner (Marshall Cavendish, august 

2009) illustrated by carol Baicker-McKee; 

Ya nonfiction · Rock ‘N’ Roll Soldier: A Memoir 

(HarperTeen, September 2009) co-written 

with Dean ellis Kohler. 

Reva Solomon is a published writer, mixed media 

artist, teacher and creative life coach, working with all 

creative types to dream big, reach for the stars, and 

make things happen. Visit her website: Scribewizards. 

com & blog: CreativeRebelGal.blogspot.com. 

Please submit news items (only in the format used in column) during designated periods by 

the first of the month as listed below. we print PuBLISHEd information only — NoT sales; 

only members moving from associate to Full Member may submit news prior to publication 

date. Reminder: Please send good news about publications FoR CHILdREN only! 

due to space limitations, we can no longer list print-on-demand or self-published books 

in the People Section unless they meet the SCBwI criteria for Full Member qualifications, 

which are sales of at least 1,000 copies. 

Issue submit by category 

Jan/Feb Nov 1 Magazines & awards 

Mar/april Jan 1 Books & Sites/Cds 

May/June Mar 1 Magazines & awards 

July/aug May 1 Books & Sites/Cds 

Sept/oct July 1 Magazines & awards 

Nov/dec Sept 1 Books & Sites/Cds 

Send your “People” news in the body of your email to people@scbwi.org (No 

aTTaCHMENTS and No PRESS RELEaSES). Snail Mail: Reva Solomon, People Editor, 1330 

N. Gardner Street #302, Los angeles, Ca 90046. 

SHaNda McCLoSKY

egional 

events 

dECEMBER 2009 – MaRCH 2010 

EdITEd BY REBECCa GoLd 

AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND 

www.scbwiaustralia.org 

DeceMBeR 2: PAL Network Meeting - New 

South wales. The first wednesday of 

each month PaL members gather at the 

Hughenden Hotel for the monthly Network 

meeting for publishing news and sharing. 

optional lunch afterwards. 10:30am to 

12:30pm. Contact Christopher Cheng at rA@ 

scbwiaustralia.org. 

DeceMBeR 6: Christmas in the Park - western 

australia. Contact dianne Wolfer at dianne. 

wolfer@scbwiaustralia.org. 

DeceMBeR 9: Annual Christmas Bash & Planning 

Meeting in New South wales. The Hughenden 

Hotel, 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Contact Christopher 

Cheng at rA@scbwiaustralia.org. 

CALIFORNIA (noRtH centRAL) 

www.scbwinorthca.org 

DeceMBeR 3: Holiday Mixer. MaIYa art 

Gallery, Sacramento. Contact Patricia Newman 

at scbwicanorthcentral@gmail.com or visit website 

for details. 

CALIFORNIA (sAn DIeGo) 

www.sandiego-scbwi.org 

DeceMBeR 12: Chapter Meeting - Lessons 

Learned and Holiday Book Sale. Featuring 

published authors and illustrators from the 

San diego Chapter of SCBwI. 

JAnUARY 8 - JAnUARY 10: San Diego Children’s 

Writers and Illustrators Retreat. More 

information TBa. 

FeBRUARY 13: Making a Splash Getting Your 

Work out There. Speakers: Blue Slip Media. 

MARcH 13: Taking the Angst out of Cover and 

Query Letters. Speaker: alexis o’Neill. 

Monthly meetings at the university of San 

diego, Hahn School of Nursing from 2:00 to 

4:30pm. Contact Janice yuwiler at 

ra-sd@sandiego-scbwi.org or visit website for 

details. 

CALIFORNIA 

(sAn FRAncIsco eAst/noRtH BAY AReA) 

www.scbwinorthca.org 

DeceMBeR 5: Beyond the Bay Speaker Meeting. 

2:00 to 4:00pm. walnut Creek. 

Contact margaret Speaker yuan at 

books4women@yahoo.com or visit website for 

details. 

CALIFORNIA (sAn FRAncIsco/soUtH) 

www.scbwisf.org 

JAnUARY 9: SF South Saturday Meeting. Panel 

discussions on timely topics in children’s 

literature followed by wine, snacks and 

networking with your local SCBwI colleagues. 

Free for SCBwI members this year only! ($10 

for non-SCBwI members). 4:00 to 6:00pm, 

First Congregational Church of Palo alto. 

Contact kristin Aker howell at 

kristinahowell@aol.com 


FeBRUARY 19 - FeBRUARY 21: Golden Gate 

Conference. asilomar Conference Grounds. 

More information TBa. Contact Amy laughlin at 

scbwisf@mac.com or visit website for details. 

MARcH 6: SF South Saturday Meeting. Contact 

kristin Aker howell at kristinahowell@aol.com. 

CALIFORNIA (VentURA / sAntA BARBARA) 

www.scbwisocal.org 

DeceMBeR 5: Workshop: “The Arc: Not Your 

Mother’s Parabola.” Goleta Library, Goleta. 

9:30am to 12:30pm. Instructor: Thalia 

Chaltas. Contact Val hobbs at valhobbs@cox.net. 

JAnUARY 8 - 10: Retreat: “Thriving in a Changing 

Industry: Cyber-Promotion Tools for Published 

Authors & Illustrators.” old Mission Santa 

Barbara. Experts include Harold underdown, 

anastasia Suen, and Lisa Yee. Contact Alexis 

O’Neill at AlexisinCA@aol.com or visit website for 

details on all events. 


CHERYL TaBoRSKY

R e G I o n A L e V e n t s 

FeBRUARY 6: Workshop: “Picture Books: The 

Perils, Pitfall and Promise.” Instructor: Marni 

McGee. E.P. Foster Library, ventura. 9:00am 

to 12:15 pm. Followed by Critiquenic, 1:30 

- 3:30pm. Bring up to five double-spaced 

manuscript pages to read and receive 

feedback by published authors. Contact Jody 

Fickes Shapiro at jody@jodyfickesshapiro.com. 

FeBRUARY 20: Workshop: “ArchiTEXTURE: A 

Multi-Faceted Approach to Building the World 

of Your Novel.” Instructor R.L. LaFevers. 

Fairview Baptist Church, Bakersfield. 9:30am. 

- 4:00pm. Contact rebecca langston-George at 

the4george@cs.com. 

MARcH 13: Workshop: “1-2-3 GO! Beyond First 

Chapters.” Instructor: valerie Hobbs. San Luis 

obispo art Center, 9:00am - 12:30pm. Contact 

Sidonie Wiedenkeller at doniew@aol.com. 

CANADA (West) 

www.scbwicanada.org/west 

DeceMBeR 2: Young Adult/Middle-Grade 

Manuscript Workshop. downtown vancouver. 

Guest editors: Crystal Stranaghan and 

Jared Hunt of Gumboot Books. Individual 

manuscript critiques offered. $30/members, 

$35/non-members. Contact ken kilback at 

kenkilback@shaw.ca or visit website for details. 

GINGER NIELSoN 


FLORIDA 

www.scbwiflorida.com 

JAnUARY 15 - 17: Regional Conference in 

Miami. Keynote speakers include: Richard 

Peck, alexandra Flinn, Michael Grant, Kadir 

Nelson, Henry Cole, Jennifer Rolf (The 

andrea Brown agency), Michael Bourret 

(dystel & Goderich), Brenda Bowen (Sanford 

J. Greenburger associates) and Lauren 

Hodge (Little Brown). Manuscript critiques 

will be offered for an additional fee, a First 

Books Panel and a visit to Books and Books in 

Coral Gables. Cost: $225 for the weekend or 

Saturday only option. Contact linda Bernfeld at 

lrBJSB@bellsouth.net or visit website for details. 

HAWAII 

www.geocities.com/scbwihawaii 

FeBRUARY 26: Fiction Workshop. on the day 

before the annual conference, author and 

teacher Kathi appelt will lead an all-day, 

limited-attendance fiction workshop at Paki 

Hale (Kapiolani Park), Honolulu, 9:00am 

to 4:00pm. Contact Sue Cowing at 

niuiki@hawaiiantel.net. 

FeBRUARY 27: Annual conference. ala Moana 

Hotel Honolulu. Featured speakers are 

Nancy Siscoe, executive editor at Knopf; 

Kathi appelt, National Book award finalist; 

James Rumford, award-wining picture book 

author/illustrator; and Margaret South, story 

coach. The program includes a first-pages 

session and optional manuscript and portfolio 

reviews. 9:00am to 3:30pm. Contact lynne 

Wikoff at lwikoff@lava.net or visit website for 

details. 

INLAND EMPIRE (WAsHInGton – eAsteRn / 

noRtHeRn IDAHo) 

www.scbwiwaid.org 

DeceMBeR 5: Workshop. Spokane. 1:00 to 

3:00pm. Seven Hundred Seventh Building. 

Featured speaker is Maureen McQuerry. 

Contact deby Fredericks at cat09tales@hotmail.com 

or visit website for details. 

MICHIGAN 

www.kidsbooklink.org 

MARcH 5 - MARcH 7: Networks Weekend. Held 

at various locations throughout Michigan. 

Contact Jennifer Whistler at 

jenniferjwhistler@yahoo.com or Julie Chase at 

ruffdrft@charter.net or visit website for details. 

MISSOURI 

MARcH 20: Agents Day. St. Charles 

Community College, St. Louis. with ammi- 

Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary agency; 

Jennifer Mattson, andrea Brown Literary 

agency; and Stephen Fraser, literary agent 

with the Jennifer de Chiara Literary agency 

in New York City. Contact lynnea Annette at 

lynneaAnnette@gmail.com. 

NEVADA (sIeRRA neVADA / neVADA soUtH) 

www.nevadascbwi.org 

JAnUARY 9: Conference: “Start the New Year 

Write.” university of Nevada, Las vegas. Join 

editor allyn Johnston, agent Jennifer Rofe, 

illustrator david diaz, and authors Marla 

Frazee, Sydney Salter and Ellen Hopkins for a 

fabulous day of craft and critique. Contact ellen 

hopkins at ellenhopkins@charter.net or call 

(775) 849-9585 or visit website for details. 

NEW JERSEY 

www.newjerseyscbwi.com 

JAnUARY 17: Mentoring Workshop. Princeton 

Theological Seminary, Princeton. Mentors 

TBa. Contact kathy temean at 

kathy@newjerseyscbwi.com or visit website for 

details on all events.

NEW YORK (MetRo) 

http://metro.nyscbwi.org 

DeceMBeR 8: Professional Series: Krista 

Marino, senior editor at delacorte, will 

address character voice, and Lexa Hillyer, 

editor at Razorbill, will talk about “an 

Extreme Manuscript Makeover.” Tips for 

making your book cleaner, better, prettier, 

and waY more salable.” all meetings at the 

anthroposophical Society, 138 west 15th 

Street, New York, 7:00-9:00pm. $15 for 

SCBwI members. $20 for non-members. 

Payment is accepted at the door; however, we 

are limited to 80 people. For more information, 

visit website or e-mail scbwi_metrony@yahoo.com, 

or call (212) 545-3719. 

NEW YORK (WesteRn / centRAL UPstAte) 

www.cnyscbwi.org 

JAnUARY 9: New Year’s Resolution Conference. 

Christ Community Methodist Church, 

Baldwinsville. Speakers include author 

Carla McClafferty, illustrator Bob dacy, and 

Charlesbridge editor Randi Rivers. Contact Amy 

emm at cnyscbwi@yahoo.com or visit website for 


aNNETTE FREI 

OHIO (centRAL / soUtHeRn) 

www.coscbwi.org 

JAnUARY 20: Speaker Meeting. Guest: author 

dee Garretson. upper arlington Library, 7:00 

pm. Contact Susan Bradley at coscbwi@yahoo.com 

or visit website for details on all events. 

OHIO (noRtHeRn) 

www.nohscbwi.org 

JAnUARY 16: Critique/Membership Directory 

Meeting. 10:00am to 12:00pm. Barnes and 

Noble, akron. Contact laurie lazarro knowlton at 

rWranch55@aol.com or visit website for details 

on all events. 

PHILIPPINES / ASIA PACIFIC 

http://scbwiphilasia.wordpress.com 

DeceMBeR 14: Children’s Lit Booktalk & Workin-Progress 

Critique. McCafe Greenbelt 1, 

Makati, 6:00 to 8:00pm. Contact Beaulah 

taguiwalo at taguiwalo8888@yahoo.com or 

dominique torres at nikkigtorres@yahoo.com or 

visit website for details on all events. 

RUSSIA (MoscoW) 

http://scbwimoscow.blogspot.com 

DeceMBeR 5: Meeting: Non/Fiction No. 11. 

Celebrating books and authors. Central 

House of artists. Contact Amy thomas at 

writeinmoscow@gmail.com for details on all 

events. 

SCOTLAND 

www.scbwiscotland.co.uk 

JAnUARY 3: Agent’s Party. (Correct date TBa) 

Contact Claira Jo ra@scbwiscotland.co.uk for 


SOUTHERN BREEZE (AL/GA/Ms) 

www.southern-breeze.org 

FeBRUARY 26 - 28: Springmingle ’10. at the 

beautiful atlanta Marriott Century Center 

for learning, networking and inspiration with 

a fabulous faculty representing the best of 

the children’s publishing industry, including a 

keynote by the renowned author Jane Yolen. 

Contact heather kolich at smidgemore@comcast.net 

or visit website for details on all events. 

TEXAS (AUstIn) 

www.austinscbwi.com 

JAnUARY 30: Conference: “Destination 

Publication: An Awesome Austin Conference 

for Writers and Illustrators.” Louu Church in 

Cedar Park. Speakers include: agents Mark 

Mcveigh, andrea Cascardi, and Nathan 

Bransford. Editors Cheryl Klein, Scholastic; 

Lisa Graff, Farrar, Straus and Giroux; and Stacy 

Cantor, walker Books. Keynotes by Newbery 

honor author, Kirby Larson and Caldecott 

honor illustrator Marla Frazee, and illustratorauthor 

Liz Garton Scanlon. Contact tim Crow 

at timcrowscbwira@msn.com or visit website for 


TEXAS (BRAZos VALLeY) 

www.scbwi-brazosvalley.org 

JAnUARY 27, FeBRUARY 24, AnD MARcH 

31: Schmooze. all Schmoozes take place at 

Barnes & Noble, College Station, on the last 

wednesday of the month, 10:00am. Bring 5 

copies of 5 pages of your work-in-progress 

for open critique following the meeting. all 

attendees are invited to help critique. Contact 

liz mertz at lizbmertz+scbwi@gmail.com. 


R e G I o n A L e V e n t s 

TEXAS (HoUston) 

www.scbwi-houston.org 

DeceMBeR 7: Monthly Meeting – Traditional 

Holiday Celebration. Tracy Gee Center, 

Houston. Contact Vicki Sansum at 

vsansum@earthlink.net. 

FeBRUARY 20: Annual Conference: “Reach for 

the Stars.” Merrell Centre, Katy, TX. Speakers 

include: alexandra Cooper, editor, Simon and 

Schuster; Patrick Collins, creative director, 

Henry Holt & Co. (portfolio critique only); 

Sara Crowe, agent, Harvey Klinger, Inc.; 

Nancy Ferensten, editor-in-chief, National 

Geographic; Ruta Rimas, editor, Harper 

Collins; Lisa ann Sandell, author and editor, 

Scholastic Press; Cynthia Leitich Smith, author 

and teacher (vermont College of Fine arts). 

Limited critiques are available. Contact Vicki 

Sansum at vsansum@earthlink.net or visit website 

for details. 

TEXAS (noRtH centRAL / noRtHeAst) 

www.northtexasscbwi.org 

DeceMBeR 19: Holiday Party. First united 

Methodist Church, arlington. 1:00pm to 

4:00pm. Contact George hellstern at 

gfh@gfhellstern.com or visit website for details. 

WASHINGTON (WesteRn WAsHInGton) 

www.scbwi-washington.org 

DeceMBeR 8: Professional Series Meeting. 

Program 1: The ABCs of Crafting a Career in 

YA with Lisa Schroeder, Liz Gallagher, and Jen 

Bradbury. Program 2: Singing in the Rain: One 

Seattle Writer Talks about How to Tune Your 

Voice with Jolie Stekly. 

JAnUARY 12: The Great Critique. Meet in a 

small group with an experienced critique 

leader and receive feedback on your own work 

while learning from comments by the critique 

leader about the work of others. Manuscripts 

and art to be reviewed must be submitted 

before the meeting, and registrations are 

limited. 

FeBRUARY 9: Professional Series Meeting. 

Mini-session: Cultural Authenticity in Fiction 

with Margaret Nevinski. Main Program: 10 Years 

in the Biz: A Practically Perfect Perspective on 

Publishing with Erik Brooks. 

Go online for regional events 

CAN’T READILY FIND your copy of 

the SCBWI Bulletin and want to learn 

about regional events? Go to our Web 

site (www.scbwi.org) which has been 

updated and broadened to better serve 

you! You can now go online and click 

on “Regional Events” (the third button 

on the purple navigation bar at the top) 

where you can view regional events 

happening in each of the chapters by 

year and month. Click on an event, and 

you’ll be taken to the Regional Home 

Page for that area. 


At the new Regional Home 

Page, you’ll be able to see all of the 

details about the event, as well 

as read the latest news from your 

Regional Advisor’s news blog. You 

can easily access information about 

workshops and conferences with 

detailed information about who will 

be speaking, contest information, 

special opportunities, schedule, and 

registration information. 

Also, browse through the profiles of 

members in your region at the Regional 

MARcH 9: Professional Series Meeting. Program 

1: Plotting the Picture Book, Stepping into 

Your Story with Clare H. Meeker. Program 2: 

Embellishing the Picture Book Manuscript: An 

Illustrator’s Story with Karen Lee Schmidt. 

all meetings at the Seattle Pacific university, 

demaray Hall, 7:00pm. Contact Joni Sensel at 

scbwiwa@scbwi-washington.org or visit website 

for details. 

Contact Rebecca Gold for all regional news updates at 

Rebecca@FamiliaGold.com. 

Home Page, and send a message or a 

friend request. 

Writing and illustrating can be 

solitary work, and part of the SCBWI’s 

ongoing mission is to connect members 

with each other on the local level. The 

SCBWI operates 79 regions worldwide 

with the help of many volunteers, 

including our incredibly dedicated 

regional advisors, and it’s never been 

easier to get plugged in to the SCBWI 

action in your area. Visit the all new 

scbwi.org today! 

CaRLoS SILva

publisher’s 

corner 

INFoRMaTIoN GaTHEREd duRING auGuST & SEPTEMBER 2009 

BY CoNNIE C. EPSTEIN 

Again the scott o’DeLL AWARD of $5000 is being offered to a 

distinguished work of historical fiction for children or young 

adults, with the submission period for the 2010 prize open to 

titles published in 2009 until the end of the year. Eligible are 

stories set in South, Central, or North America, written by a U.S. 

citizen, and published by a U.S. company. A copy of the book 

should be sent to each of the three committee members—Hazel 

Rochman, Ann Carlson, Roger Sutton—whose addresses are 

posted on the website www.scottodell.com under the heading 

“The Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction.” In addition, 

committee chair Hazel Rochman asks to be provided with the 

name, phone number, and email address of the publishing 

house contact. Hazrochman@aol.com is her email address. 

j j j 

With the S&S imprint PAULA WIseMAn BooKs for four years, 

most recently as associate editor, ALexAnDRA PenFoLD reports 

that she is finding participation in writing conferences very 

rewarding. Although as a general policy the corporation does 

not accept unsolicited submissions, Penfold is open to work 

from writers attending her programs and, in fact, has acquired 

five projects this way. Asked about her editorial interests, 

Penfold says that she is especially drawn to picture books with 

young humorous themes as well as fiction up to the young 

adult level. 


JessIcA GARRIson, editor with DIAL BooKs in the Penguin Young 

Readers Group for five years, also enjoys contributing to writing 

conferences. Her editorial interests span the age range from 

preschool to young adult, and favorite genres that she mentions 

include coming-of-age tales, relevant historical fiction, chick 

lit, and updated fairy tales. As for submissions, she follows the 

general Dial policy: complete manuscripts for picture books, 

maximum of 10 pages for older work; no query letters. 

j j j 

LIsA YosKoWItZ, assistant editor with DUtton cHILDRen’s BooKs 

for two years, is a supporter of writing conferences too. Projects 

that she is on the watch for are: humorous, character-driven 

picture books, middle-grade stories, and all genres (except high 

fantasy) of young adult fiction.Her submission preference is the 

entire text for picture books (with SASE enclosed) and a query 

only for novels. 

j j j 

The Outreach Council of the African Studies Association 

has sent word that it is now considering nominations, from 

publishers only, of the best titles about Africa with a 2009 

copyright for the 2010 cHILDRen’s AFRIcAnA BooK AWARDs. Books 

must be suitable for children between the ages of 4 to 18, the 

submission deadline is February 28, and winning authors and 

illustrators are named in two categories--Young Children and 

Older Readers. A copy of the book must be sent to each of the 

seven members of the Awards Committee, and their addresses 

are posted on the website www.AfricaAccessReview.org under the 

heading Book Awards along with further information. 

j j j 

soURceBooKs FIRe is to be the name of the young adult imprint 

that DAnIeL eHRenHAFt is launching from the New York office of 

Sourcebooks in the spring of 2010 with a list of seven titles. (See 

the May-June and September-October 2009 Bulletins.) Reportedly 

the program will be offering a wide range of genres, including 

romance, humor, mystery, and fantasy. The company policy 

is to accept unsolicited submissions from agents only as well 

as sample material from writers available for work-for-hire 

projects. 


NoEL TuaZoN

P U B L I s H e R ’ s c o R n e R 

PUBLISHING NEWS 

FIonA sIMPson has been named editorial director of the ALADDIn 

imprint in the Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, 

effective July 20. Previously Simpson held the position of 

executive editor in the Scholastic trade paperback and licensing 

group for eight years, and she has also worked at Random 

House Books for Young Readers. The focus of Aladdin’s program, 

Simpson says, is on middle-grade series along with a few 

picture books, and the current annual output is between 90 to 

100 titles. As reported in the SCBWI Market Survey, query letters 

are accepted but not unsolicited manuscripts. 

ADRIAnA DoMInGUeZ, who left her position of executive editor 

with HarperCollins Children’s Books in June 2008 (see the 

September-October 2008 Bulletin) has now joined Full Circle 

Literary as of last August. At HarperCollins, Dominguez managed 

the children’s division of the Rayo imprint, and she will continue 

to work with picture books and novels, both middle-grade and 

young adult. The Full Circle home office is located in San Diego, 

and Dominguez will be serving as the agency’s East Coast 

representative. She may be contacted by email at 

adriana@fullcircleliterary.com or by phone at 858-824-9269. 

JILL sAntoPoLo, most recently senior editor with the 

HarperCollins imprint Balzer & Bray, has taken the position of 

executive editor with PHILoMeL BooKs in the Penguin Young 

Readers Group, arriving August 17. Previously Santopolo also 

served on the editorial staff of the Laura Geringer Books imprint 

at Harper for six years. Speaking shortly after her arrival, 

she says that middle-grade titles, strongly plotted with high 


CoNSTaNCE LoMBaRdo 

literary merit, are what she is primarily on the watch for. As for 

submission policy, she will be following the Philomel guidelines 

(accepting full picture book manuscripts and the first 10 pages of 

novel manuscripts) but only from writers receiving a “free pass” 

from her at a conference in which she participates. SASE is not 

needed as response is made only when there is editorial interest. 

eRZsI DeàK, the former SCBWI International Region Advisor 

Chair, has taken the position of children’s scout and editorial 

director for fiction with the French publisher Editions de la 

Martinière as of this past August. 

stePHen RoxBURGH, most recently president of Boyds Mills 

Press, has announced further plans concerning his new venture 

nAMeLos that he launched in January 2009. (See March-April 

2009 Bulletin.) In addition to helping authors develop projects for 

submission to publishers, namelos has now started as of this 

past Labor Day to build its own list of children’s and YA fiction, 

nonfiction, and poetry in electronic and print-on-demand 

editions. As posted at www.namelos.com, a fee is charged for 

consideration of an unsolicited submission, and policy details 

are available at http://services.namelos.com. 

sARAH sHUMWAY, senior editor with the HarperCollins imprint 

KAtHeRIne teGen BooKs (see the January-February 2009 Bulletin), 

reports that she is open to participation in three to four 

writing conferences annually. Again her editorial interests 

focus primarily on middle-grade and young adult fiction, and 

her submission policy for writers attending her programs is 

explained in a release that she distributes with her appearance. 

j j j 

CHANGES TO NOTE IN THE 

2009-2010 SCBWI MARKET SURVEY 

JAMes cIHLAR, managing editor of MILKWeeD eDItIons, has 

reportedly left his position. If contact is wanted, his email 

address is jcihlar@earthlink.net. 

tARA WeIKUM, with HARPeRcoLLIns cHILDRen’s BooKs for nine 

years, has been promoted from executive editor to editorial 

director as of September 21. In her new position, Weikum will 

continue to head the editorial group that acquires single-title 

fiction for tween girls and teens. 

j j j 

ADDRESS INFORMATION 

HARPeRcoLLIns cHILDRen’s BooKs relocated its offices on October 

1, later than first expected (see July-August 2009 Bulletin). Again 

the new address is: 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. The 

general phone number is now 212-207-7000, and the personal 

phone numbers of all the staffers have changed as well. 

Connie C. Epstein researches, compiles and writes Publisher’s Corner for the SCBWI. 

She can be contacted at connieepstein@scbwi.org.

L e G A L L Y s P e A K I n G 

copyrighted materials 

Q 

How much material from m y book can 

I use when I want to create promotional 

materials, especially on my website? 

A First, 

what does your contract with 

the publisher say? 

Typically, book publishers will try to 

get ALL rights to both print and what’s 

known as subsidiary rights. Subsidiary 

rights usually include foreign, electronic, 

film, audio, electronic, etc. Depending on 

how much bargaining power you have, 

you may be able to keep some of those 

subsidiary rights. With so many authors 

and illustrators now having websites and 

clearly wanting to promote their material 

on the website, retaining electronic rights 

has become increasingly important (also 

as an additional revenue stream in itself). 

Alternatively, make sure you carve 

out a clause allowing you to use excerpts 

for promotional purposes. The language 

you would look for is something like 

“Publisher agrees that Author may use 

an excerpt of up to ‘x’ amount of words 

to promote or publicize the work in all 

media.” 

If your agreement does not contain 

such language, look to see who actually 

owns the copyright – you or the 

publisher? If you own the copyright and 

you have not granted all rights, there 

is no problem in utilizing excerpts to 

promote your book (unless specifically 

prohibited). If you have granted the 

rights, then ask the publisher for 

permission. Since few publishers actually 

do much promotion for the majority 

of books, they should be happy to see 

you promoting the material, and it is 

certainly in everyone’s best interest to 

allow you to do so. 

Q what 

A Any 

With so many authors and illustrators now having 

websites and clearly wanting to promote their 

material on the website, retaining electronic 

rights has become increasingly important (also 

as an additional revenue stream in itself). 

if I have found my material used 

without my permission? 

use of copyrighted material 

cannot be used without the 

permission of the copyright holder. 

Some people don’t understand this so 

if you find this is happening, a strong 

letter should be sent to violators telling 

them to cease and desist from using 

your material. Ask for all copies of the 

material to be sent to you and you also 

might ask them to remit all money made 

from this use to you. You could also strike 

a deal with them allowing them to use it 

for a specified amount of money. 

This is a general guide in understanding basic legal 

issues without reference to specific state laws, and 

is based only upon the facts provided. Neither the 

accuracy nor completeness of the advice is guaranteed, 

nor does it constitute the advice or comment, nor 

reflect the view of the SCBWI. This does not constitute 

specific legal advice and there is no attorney-client 

relationship between the columnist and any individual 

asking a question. The SCBWI and Sara Rutenberg, 

who is a member of the California Bar, expressly 

disclaim any and all responsibility for any liability, 

loss or risk, personal or otherwise, which may be or 

is incurred as a direct or indirect result of the use and 

application of any advice or comment provided in this 

column. If you submit your question for a response, 

you understand and agree that your question and the 

answer may be posted on the SCBWI website and/ 

or newsletter. Sara cannot give specific advice. For 

information on how to find an attorney, contact your 

local bar association. 

CHERYL TaBoRSKY

QHow - Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

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