General Information
The Ventura/Santa Barbara Region (V/SB) encompasses four counties in the Central/Coastal California area: Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Kern. To travel from one end of the region to the other, it takes a pack mule and a 30-day supply of chocolate.
The V/SB SCBWI region features the following activities:
WRITERS' DAY:
October. A one-day conference addressing both the craft and the business of writing for children. Guest editors. Author/Illustrator Spotlights. "What's Hot in Children's Books" review. Writing contest. Illustration display. Paid critiques. Co-hosted by the School of Education of California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA.
RETREAT:
Usually held in January at Mission Santa Barbara. Friday afternoon - Sunday afternoon. Content focus changes each year. Past retreats have targeted manuscript revision, school visits and business issues. Critiques, open mike sessions and roundtable discussions are included.
WORKSHOPS
Throughout the year. Half-day or full-day sessions that teach a specific skill, offer advice, or provide hands-on experiences. Past topics have included: "Ways to Avoid the Problem of a Novel's Sagging Middle," "First Pages," "How To Sell Manuscripts to Children's Markets," "Using Watercolor Techniques to Investigate Character Building," “The ABCs of EZ Readers,” “Plotting Your Way Out of a Paper Bag,” “Trading Spaces: What Authors & Illustrators Can Teach Each Other About Creating Children’s Books,” “Developing Characters with Depth and Kid Appeal” and more.
ArtWORKS
Spring. One-day, every other year. This event focuses on business concerns of children’s illustrators.
CRITIQUENICS
Throughout the year. Each county hosts one or two informal critiquing sessions each year. Writers are invited to bring up to 5 manuscript pages (12-point type, double-spaced) of a work-in-progress for group feedback.
GRANTS
The V/SB SCBWI region offers two grants per year for tuition to qualifying members to attend the SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles.
This opportunity, worth $1000, is open to any V/SB SCBWI member (published OR not-yet-published) who resides in any of the following counties: Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo or Kern. Go to
www.scbwisocal.org for details.
PROMOTING OUR PUBLISHED MEMBERS
Published SCBWI members residing in our V/SB SCBWI region are invited to promote their latest book through our annual Writer’s Day PowerPoint presentation. Also, PAL published members who do School Visits are also invited to have their names listed in our regional “Presenter Database” and display their most recent book at events.
LISTSERV
You can stay “virtually” connected through our region's ONElist Listserv that gives local SCBWI children’s book writers and illustrators throughout Central/Coastal California a place to share publishing tips, get inside information on the industry, and celebrate milestones and triumphs. Members can sign on at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCBWI-CCal/.
CRITIQUE GROUP CONNECTION
Searching for a critique group in your area (Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern counties)? Are you running a group and would like more members? Please let us know. Contact Ann Rousseau Smith through our local website at
www.scbwisocal.org
V/SB SCBWI Advisory Board
REGIONAL ADVISOR
Alexis O'Neill
COUNTY COORDINATORS
Kern County
Rebecca Langston-George
San Luis Obispo County
Sidonie Wiedenkeller
Santa Barbara County
Val Hobbs
Ventura County
Jody Fickes Shapiro
ASSISTANTS
Kern County
Terry Pierce
San Luis Obispo County
C.S. Perryess
Santa Barbara County
Gwen Dandridge
Ventura County
Joan Bransfield Graham
LIAISONS
CLU Liaison
Dr. Linda Organ
New Member Liaison
Rebecca Langston-George
Book Discussion Leader
Lynn Becker
Critique Group Coordinator
Ann Rousseau Smith
Listserv Administrator
Gwen Dandridge
Illustrator Liaison
Carol Heyer
Graphics & Web Liaison
Kathryn Hunley
Mailing Address
V/SB SCBWI Region
P.O. Box 941389
Simi Valley, CA 93094-1389
Regional News