SCBWI regions around the world offer affordable virtual events you can attend from the comfort of your own home! These sessions, taught by industry professionals, will help you hone your skills and boost your business savvy. Be sure to follow your home region to keep up with the latest local news and activities. Go to your Member Home page, click the My Profile button, then the Edit My Profile button. Scroll down the page and click "Manage Your SCBWI Regions," then click the arrow and choose your home region to add to your profile.
SCBWI regions offer affordable virtual events featuring industry professionals from all around the globe – and you can attend from the comfort of your own home! Check here often to find a webinar that fits your interests and your budget. You can also explore the SCBWI Region pages for upcoming events and programming.
March 8 through April 7, 2024 (registration closes April 6): Did you miss a free/live Network event this winter? No Problem! For a small convenience fee of $10 USD you can enjoy unlimited viewings of the following webinars until April 7, 2024: "Author Visit with Lorelei Savaryn," "Musicality in Manuscripts," "A Day in the Life of a Children's Librarian," "Editor Talk with Josh Gregory, AW and Company," and "Carrie Carlson on Nature Journaling."
March 16, 2024 (registration closes March 14): Join us for this free online presentation on intellectual freedom featuring Brenna Shanks, King County Library Services (KCLS) teen materials selector and Rachel McDonald, KCLS Teen Services Coordinator. Intellectual freedom means providing every person with access to ideas and information that aligns with their values and with the First Amendment right to transformation. Find out what rights our libraries defend and how their staff is preparing for the change in how these challenges are occurring. Learn how these challenges can and will impact the books you create and publish. This presentation is an absolute must for every content creator and is free for all attendees.
March 9, 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.
March 12, 2024: The first step in writing a picture book biography is to choose your subject. Sounds simple, right? Not so fast. There are many questions to consider: should that person be famous or a relative unknown; contemporary or historical; be of wide-spread or niche interest; etc.? Now it’s time to choose what aspect(s) of that person’s life to highlight. Again, there are many questions to consider. Finding a focus for your book can be one of the most difficult parts of writing a biography. This workshop will help you with the many decisions you need to make before writing the first word of your picture book biography. $15 USD Premium Members, $35 USD Preview Plan Users. Recording available for 30 days.
March 12, 2024: What goes into writing a co-authored book? Authors Kathryn Holmes and MarcyKate Connolly will share how they worked together to write their new middle-grade novel, The Thirteenth Circle.
March 13, 2024: What makes a great read aloud? This interactive workshop explores seven ways to make your story not only re-readable, but irresistible! $10 for premium members. Recording will be available to registered participants for a month after the event. PLEASE NOTE - You must register before the event in order to have access to the video.
March 14, 2024 (registration closes March 11): Once illustrators receive a manuscript, they have the incredible task of dreaming up a whole visual world. What would it look like if you illustrated Little Red Riding Hood, for example? What year is it set in, and where? This early stage of the picture book illustration process is a vital part of what makes a story feel real to readers. In this workshop taught by author-illustrator Chamisa Kellogg, we'll take a look at how some of today's working illustrators have created unique worlds for their books, as well as stories that have been told and retold, each time in a new and interesting way. We'll then spend some time dreaming up our own worlds for a classic story, diving into personal experiences to make our own unique interpretations through mood boards and sketching, or even a written description. We'll end the class by sharing screenshots or photos of our mood boards in the chat, with time for a short Q&A at the end. Tools required: sketchbook and/or a personal pinterest board, photoshop, procreate or other image collage tool"
March 19, 2024: Thinking about writing a novel in verse? The novel-in-verse is a unique form that merges elements of poetry and fiction, and is gaining popularity in the kidlit community as a powerful storytelling form. In this workshop, we’ll discuss the craft and thematic elements that make for a strong novel-in-verse, explore some examples of effective novels in verse, and engage in exercises to start investigating this form for our own narratives.
March 23, 2024: How many times have you given up on your novel because it wasn't coming together? Join us in this guided workshop where you will learn to work smarter, not harder, as you create your blueprint for a successful book. This course is for writers who already have a solid idea for their novel and are ready to plot it out.
April 3: Come join Kaitlyn Sanchez, who has sold over 30 books in her first three years as a literary agent, to discuss how to analyze feedback from critiques, agent/editor responses, and published books to help make your book the best it can be. Specific examples will help provide new insight and perspective into forging your own path through the publishing industry. At an additional cost, a limited number of spaces will be available to submit for the chance at live feedback on a first page. A limited number of critiques will also be available at an additional cost.
April 3, 2024 (registration closes April 2): A publishing career has lots of highs, but the path isn't always a smooth one: your next book doesn't sell, you part ways with your agent, your editor leaves, you get a bad review, your book doesn't sell nearly as well as you'd expected. Or maybe you're just stuck. How do you look at where you are, where you've been, and take the next steps to get you where you want to be? How do you pick yourself up and dig back in to find the joy that made you excited about creating in the first place? In this session, we're going to come together to get honest about the tough side of the publishing business, examining the challenges, discussing strategies, and considering ways to pick back up, pivot, and use negative experiences to propel us to what could be the next great thing waiting just around the corner.
April 7, 2024 (registration ends April 6): Authors and illustrators are often told to create “what they know.” But what does that really mean? When it comes to children’s picture books (fiction and nonfiction), how do you parlay your experience into a project that will resonate with publishers and, ultimately, readers? And how does a creator balance the personal with the commercial? In this hour-long-webinar, Chronicle Books Senior Editor Naomi Kirsten will explore examples of titles on her list that reflect successful examples of “picture books with heart,” and share ways to effectively position and present your project to a publisher.
April 16, 2024: Join us and our special guest Julie Scheina to learn what makes an effective query letter as well as strategies you can use to craft a captivating pitch.
April 17, 2024: Join Kristy Nerstheimer for “Teacher Talk” as she explains many different educational topics and acronyms such as DEIB, SEL, ELL, etc . Discover how your picture book could be appealing and marketed to schools. This shop talk will be recorded and available to registered Premium Members through 2024. FREE for Premium Members, $15 USD for Preview Plan Users. Sponsored by Kansas-Missouri SCBWI!
April 20, 2024: How do the latest industry developments and practices affect your creative path? In this session, we’ll talk with Lilly Ghahremani, co-founder of Full Circle Literary, about what creators need to know about today’s book market, from advances to publication timelines, morality clauses to AI and more. If these phrases aren’t familiar, that's even more reason to join us!
April 29-July 14, 2024 (registration opens March 15 and closes May 2): Can't see the forest for the trees at large conferences? Join our 10-week intensive and overnight retreat to take your WIP to the next level. Any author or author illustrator who is craving community and critique groups and wants plenty of opportunity to revise their current work-in-progress for multiple kinds of feedback should attend. Submit, revise, and resubmit for additional review at our retreat roundtables. Weekly online professional programs, critique groups and power hours culminate in our retreat, July 13-14 at Allerton Park & Retreat Center, Monticello, IL.
11-12 May, 2024 (register by 19 April): You've got a book coming out. Your dream is coming true. But why does the idea of self promotion, school visits and launching your book feel like a nightmare? Time to sign up for SCBWI British Isles' famous BOOK LAUNCH BOOT CAMP. Two Days of everything you ever needed to know about launching a book for children and young people. Award-winning authors Candy Gourlay, Sara Grant and Mo O’Hara PLUS panels of industry insiders will get you up to speed. Sign up for two days of ideas, information and inspiration! The sessions will be recorded and the recordings will be available to rewatch until the 11th of June 2024.
May 14, 2024: Sometimes, a story idea you might have is better suited for a different category. A picture book idea might be better suited as a chapter book, or an early reader, or a board book. But how do you know? And how do you tackle a new category? Writing across more categories means more opportunities to create and sell stories. Author and illustrator Vicky Fang talks about how to expand your storytelling skills to different categories, including board books, picture books, early readers, graphic novels, and chapter books. She’ll share her process for diving into a new category, as well as basic information to get familiar with each one. She’ll also provide insights into her overall approach to crafting and pitching.
July 9. 2024: Nancy Churnin will share craft techniques that will show you how to make stories about true events compelling and emotion-filled.
August 17, 2024 (registration closes August 15): In this presentation, Deb Gonzales will unveil the transformative power of Pinterest in book marketing, highlighting its evergreen appeal across genres. Tailored to elevate an author or illustrator's connection with their intended audiences on the platform, participants will discover that Pinterest is the perfect place for all book creators no matter what their stage in the publishing journey may be.