Spring Fling Picture Book Mini Conference
Apr 05, 2025
Oakdale Church
Let’s celebrate spring with picture books! Join us for a day focused on picture books and filled with information and inspiration from our onsite and virtual presenters. Bring your love for picture books, questions for the presenters, and your desire to move forward with picture book creation to our mini conference designed for writers and illustrators of varying skill levels. Join the fun; get ready to burst into spring with new excitement for picture books.
Schedule
Date and Time
Saturday, April 5, 2025
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Location
Oakdale Church
3425 Emory Church Rd, Olney, MD 20832
Website: here.
SCHEDULE
9:00 – 10:00 AM: Registration
9:30 - 9:45 AM: Welcome
10:00 – 11:30 AM: Deeba Zargarpur, Publishing Behind the Scenes
11:30-11:45 AM: Break
11:45 – 1:00 PM: Rachel Orr, Two Sides of the Same Coin: Writing for Illustrators, and Visual Thinking for Writers
1:00 – 2:00 PM: Lunch (on your own)
2:15 – 3:45 PM: Simultaneous presentations, choose one:
Deeba Zargarpur, To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme
Rachel Orr, Voices Carry: How to Develop Your Authorial Voice
3:45 - 4:00 PM: Break
4:00 – 5:30 PM: Simultaneous presentations, choose one:
Jonathan Roth, Getting Your Foot In for School Visits - Great for both traditionally published and self-published authors
Art Director Virtual Presentation: Brian LaRossa, Kidlit Illustration's Do's and Dont's - For Illustrators
(viewing onsite in one of the classrooms)
PRICES
Premium member price: $110
Regular price: $150
Lunch is on your own. You can eat your lunch at venue. Bring it with you or grab a bite and bring it back.
You must be an SCBWI member and logged in to your SCBWI member account in order to register.
Not a member yet? Learn more here.
Note: if you have a current paid SCBWI membership, you are now a Premium Member.
Registration will close at 5 PM Eastern at 11:59 PM on Thursday, April 3.
ILLUSTRATOR PORTFOLIO SHOWCASE
We want to feature your work at the conference! Send up to three pieces of art for our conference portfolio showcase. Illustrations will be shown as a slideshow in between presentations and will be shared with our conference editors and art director via email after the event. Send your pieces in by April 1st to mddewv-ic@scbwi.org to be included.
Workshop Descriptions
MORNING WORKSHOPS
10:00 AM
Publishing Behind the Scenes
with Deeba Zargarpur
A look behind the curtain of a publisher, featuring an editor's role in your publication journey, and key internal moments during a book's publication cycle. Q&A to follow. Perfect for authors who have just debuted, have just sold their debut, or have just signed with an agent.
11:45 AM
Two Sides of the Same Coin: Writing for Illustrators, and Visual Thinking for Writers
with Rachel Orr
Using examples from her clients’ work, Rachel Orr from Prospect Agency will lead participants through the steps of generating, developing, and drafting fresh and fun picture-book manuscripts. This session is especially great for illustrators who want to write their own stories, as well as for writers who want to think about their stories in a more visual way.
AFTERNOON SIMULTANEOUS WORKSHOPS: 2:15 PM (choose one)
(You can change your selection onsite, if desired.)
Session 1. To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme
with Deeba Zargarpur
A craft presentation on the different narrative styles in picture books, featuring an editor's perspective on how to identify if rhyme is helping or hindering your picture book, as well as navigating how to pivot when it's not. Q&A to follow.
Session 2. Voices Carry: How to Develop Your Authorial Voice
with Rachel Orr
Is your voice flat? Not unique enough? Are you struggling to find your niche in the market? Join Rachel Orr from Prospect Agency in rewriting some great passages in published books poorly in order to better understand the distinction between a solid voice and a flat one that doesn’t grab reader’s attention.
AFTERNOON SIMULTANEOUS WORKSHOPS: 4:00 PM (choose one)
(You can change your selection onsite, if desired.)
Session 1. Getting Schooled on School Visits
with Jonathan Roth
There are large buildings in every community where all our readers gather almost every day. (The mall?) No, schools! What a great place for book creators to speak to kids directly. The problem: How? Do you walk in the door? Do mailings? To whom? How much can schools pay? And once you’re in the door, what do you do?! In this session, author-illustrator Jonathan Roth will give tips on how to research and approach schools, and help you start to plan for presenting to students once you’re there.
Session 2. Kidlit Illustration Dos and Don’ts
with Brian LaRossa
VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: Join Executive Art Director, Brian LaRossa from Scholastic for a Back-to-School lesson in Illustration. With over two decades of experience, Brian will go over best practices and pro tips for KidLit illustration - how to strengthen your site, socials, portfolio, deals, and how to make your best work, your way. Brian LaRossa (he/him) is an executive art director in the hardcover picture book group at Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books. He is a teacher, mentor, and writer. Brian lives and works in New York City.
Meet Our Presenters
Deeba Zargarpur
Deeba Zargarpur is a senior editor at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and Salaam Reads where she acquires picture books, middle grade, young adult, and graphic novels. Her aim is to acquire commercial books that empower young people from diverse backgrounds. She is always on the hunt for stories that inspire a sense of magic and wonder, plot lines that challenge traditional assumptions about morality, and strong character arcs that redefine what it means to be the hero of your own story. She is also the author of FARRAH NOORZAD AND THE RING OF FATE and HOUSE OF YESTERDAY. Visit her at deebazargarpur.com to learn more about her books. WISH LIST/SUBMISSION INFORMATION AND DEADLINE: Deeba Zargarpur's submission opportunity is limited to those who purchase critiques. No time limit. CRITIQUE INFORMATION: Deeba Zargarpur is offering MG and YA critiques. **NEW CRITIQUE ADDED: Deeba Zargarpur is also offering PB critiques.**
Brian LaRossa
VIRTUAL FACULTY APPEARING VIA LIVESTREAM Brian LaRossa (he/him) is an executive art director in the hardcover picture book group at Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books. After hours he teaches a course on design criticism for The City College of New York and is a mentor for We Need Diverse Books. He has written numerous critical essays for publications, such as Design Observer and AIGA’s Eye on Design. He also manages his own display font foundry, which developed a typeface for Google Fonts. In his spare time, he writes fiction. His work has won awards from the Type Directors Club, Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, Print Magazine, and his conceptual poetry is included in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art. He lives and works in New York City. CRITQUE INFORMATION: Brian is offering limited post-even written critiques of full dummies and portfolio PDFs of up to 20 illustrations.
Jonathan Roth
Jonathan Roth is an Earth-bound but space loving author-illustrator of fun, STEAM-themed books for kids including the chapter book series Beep and Bob (Aladdin/S&S), the graphic novel series Rover and Speck (Kids Can Press) and the surprising true story Almost Underwear: How a Piece of Cloth Traveled from Kitty Hawk to the Moon and Mars (Christy Ottaviano Books/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), which is a Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2024. He also teaches art to elementary students in Maryland. CRITIQUE INFORMATION: Jonathan Roth is not offering critiques.
Rachel Orr
Rachel Orr is celebrating her eighteenth year at Prospect Agency, where she represents both authors and illustrators in projects ranging from board books through YA. She previously worked for eight rewarding years at HarperCollins Children’s Books and uses those editorial skills to help prepare her clients’ work for submission. Her clients include Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen and Leeza Hernandez (CATS IN CONSTRUCTION HATS), Mike Ciccotello (LEONARD BUILDS A HAUNTED HOUSE), Cori Doerrfeld (THE RABBIT LISTENED), Claudia Friddell and Jenn Harney (COOL OFF AND RIDE), Susie Lee Jin (KING OF THE MOUNTAIN) and Janna Matthies (OVER IN THE GARDEN). In addition to frequently speaking at SCBWI events (which she loves!), Rachel has served on the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature for over a decade. A native of Pittsburgh and a graduate of Kenyon College, she currently lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with her husband and two children, where she enjoys dancing, running and reading, of course. POST-CONFERENCE QUERIES: Attendees can submit queries to Rachel Orr up to three months after the conference. Additional details will be shared with attendees.
Meet Our Additional Critique Faculty
Katie Heit, Senior Editor, Scholastic
Katie Heit is a senior editor at Scholastic working on fiction and nonfiction picture books and early readers. She works with several talented creators, including Mike Lowery, Charles R. Smith Jr., Christy Mandin, Dean Robbins, Adriana Hernández Bergstrom, Sandra Markle, Nell Cross Beckerman, and many more! For fiction picture books, she is looking for offbeat characters and funny projects! For nonfiction picture books, she's on the lookout for environmental and animal based books.
Laurel Symonds, Agent, KT Literary
Laurel began her publishing career in the editorial department of HarperCollins Children’s Books. She also worked in the marketing department at a small publishing house, in a library, and as a bookseller at one of the nation’s best independent bookstores. She began agenting in 2018 and joined KT Literary in 2022, representing picture books, middle grade and young adult novels, graphic novels, and select nonfiction for children and teens. When Laurel is not reading, she enjoys baking, hiking, and spending time with her dog, Sherlock. Raised in rural New England and having spent a decade in New York City, London, and Chicago, she’s thrilled to have settled in the Pacific Northwest.
Illustrator Portfolio Showcase
Illustrator Portfolio Showcase. We want to feature your work at the conference! Send up to three pieces of art for our conference portfolio showcase. Illustrations will be shown as a slideshow in between presentations and will be shared with our conference editors and art director via email after the event. Send your pieces in by April 1st to mddewv-ic@scbwi.org to be included.