Regional virtual events

December 9, 2023: A hands-on workshop in which Mel Rosenberg, Ph.D., explains the importance of dummy books for authors (length, pace, getting going, anticipation, text per spread, etc.). The participants will create their own dummy ebooks in real time while Mel demonstrates how easily it can be done.

December 9, 2023: Join SCBWI San Diego for this informative webinar featuring several 2023 debut authors and illustrators sharing their experiences as newly-published creators.

December 9, 2023: Learn about the opportunities the education market has for freelance authors! In this presentation Laura Perdew, an author with over ten years experience writing for the education market, provides a step-by-step guide to breaking into this market including how to approach educational publishers and generate a writing sample (even if you are pre-published!). She will also discuss how to choose assignments, research topics, write to assigned specs and reading levels, revise according to editorial feedback, and keep records. In addition, there will be time for Q&A at the end of the presentation.

December 11, 2023: Are you writing a biography? Do you need to interview a subject matter expert for your article, story, or book? Author Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan will share with you tips and techniques on how to request and conduct an interview. In this webinar, she’ll help you brainstorm on how to connect with interview subjects, offer tips on how to prepare for the interview, suggestions for the actual interview, and answer your questions about following up after the interview. Member Ticket: $10 / Non-Member Ticket: $15

January 15, 2024: Kelly Anne Dalton is an illustration professional with 14 years of experience. She has worked for Penguin Random House, Quatro, The Washington Post, Little, Brown and Company and many more. Kelly Anne will provide a written portfolio review for you as well as give you the option of a 30 minute Zoom meeting with her to discuss your critique.

Jnauary 20, 2024: Whether it’s your first or tenth, writing a novel is daunting. There is no exact formula to writing one—and it takes a long time! That “long time” leaves plenty of chances to feel lost and derailed. You are not! You are walking down a well-treaded path. Here, loop arms with me and we’ll go down that path together . . .

February 17, 2024: Meeg Pincus (she/her, author), Meridth McKean Gimbel (they/them, illustrator), and Kelly Delaney (she/her, editor) will each discuss creating sensitive and authentic portrayals of historically-marginalized (in this case, transgender) people. They also will walk us through brief exercises to dive deeper into the process of this kind of picture book creating—Meeg on writing, Meridth on illustrating, and Kelly on acquiring top-quality PBs by and about historically-marginalized creators, characters and communities in today’s climate—all helping us hone our own ideas and works in progress!

March 16, 2024: A good query letter is the equivalent to a good first impression. Often the first way an agent or editor is introduced to your project, the query letter explains why the reader should be interested in your work and, really, why they should move any further in this initial “conversation.” Whether you’re starting to query agents for the first time or are publishing your 10th book, learning how to pitch your book is a valuable skill to hone. In this presentation, Kelly Sonnack, Senior Agent, will discuss the best structure for a query letter, ingredients that can help your work stand out, items to avoid, and will pull examples from real-life query letters submitted in advance.