DATE: September 29, 2012
CONTACT: Mary Cronk Farrell
CHAPTER: Inland Northwest Chapter
LOCATION/TIME: Spokane, WA
Eighth Annual Fall Conference
Jump-Start Your Dreams
Conference Sold Out unless you are applying for the Diversity Grant.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
8:30am-5pm
Spokane, Washington
Jill Corcoran—Featured Agent, The Herman Agency, representing PB through YA.
“I look at manuscripts as both works of art and as products to be marketed. I know some authors think that is cold but my view is shaped by my education, work experience, and writing life,” says Jill. “An author’s passion and hard work creates the art. But, the book must impel customers to part with their dollars. This practical view of creativity helps me understand what is publishable. It helps me choose publishable manuscripts and direct them to the appropriate publishers.”
Ms. Corcoran will speak about current trends in children’s/YA publishing at the SCBWI conference in Spokane, Saturday, September 29, 2012. She will also be critiquing manuscripts and seeking clients. Learn more about l at www.jillcorcoran.blogspot.com.
Stacey Barney—Featured Editor, Penguin/G.P. Putnam's Sons
Ms. Barney recently told http://www.theundercoverbooklover.com “One huge benefit of being an editor is getting to help a writer shape their narrative and voice—to help them tell a story that will resonate and live on long after their actual publication date. As an editor, I’m really in on the ground floor of a career and/or a book that has the potential to really matter to someone in the way only a book can and that’s pretty exciting and special.”
Ms. Barney will speak about how to capture an editors attention with a focus on voice, characterization and plot. She will critique manuscripts for a limited number of conference attendees. Learn more about her at http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/sbarney/
Kelly Milner Halls--Author of books for Children and Teens
For two decades, Kelly has worked hard to bring quirky nonfiction topics to life for young readers of all ages through magazine articles & book reviews – more than 1,500 of them – and nearly 30 books. From baby dinosaurs to albino animals to kid mummies to mysterious animals that may or may not be real, she has documented the unusual with delight and journalistic intensity. Ms. Milner Halls has learned that each writer has a unique voice and distinctive stories to tell. Once they find that voice, the sky is the limit. “Don’t chase the star of another author,” she has said. “Catch one of your very own.”
Ms. Milner Halls will join her agent Jill Corcoran on the dais to speak about how to get an agent and once you do, how to keep the relationship on track.
Maureen McQuerry—Author of books for teens and adults
Ms. McQuerry’s The Peculiars newest book just out this May is a dark and thrilling adventure, with an unforgettable heroine that will interest fans of steampunk, fantasy, and romance. About the book Kirkus says, "The ambiguity surrounding the existence of Peculiars and the origin of their physical deformities—magic? genetics?—is thought-provoking....richly atmospheric read". Forthcoming from Abrams/Amulet are Beyond the Door and Time Out of Time. She is also a teacher, an award winning poet and has written two non fiction books Nuclear Legacy, an IPPY award winner, and Student Inquiry.
Ms. McQuerry will talk about her journey to publication and give beginning writers and illustrators all the Nuts & Bolts of publishing for children and YA. http://www.maureenmcquerry.com/news/
Jaime Temairik—Author/Illustrator
Ms. Temairik has illustrated Lights, Camera, Fashion! and Things That Make Us [sic]. She illustrated Lisa Lutz's How To Negotiate Everything, a picture book out with Simon & Schuster in early 2013. When not drawing or writing Jaime is busy as the Co-Regional Advisor for SCBWI Western Washington, teaching at theUniversity of Washington Extension Program, writing for MSN Entertainment's Bound blog, the SCBWI International Conference Blog and her own blog www.cocoastomp.blogspot.com.
Ms. Temairik will work with illustrators at the conference, present a workshop with picture book writers and critique manuscripts. Learn more about her at http://www.krop.com/jaimetemairik/#/