Serious about improving your craft? SCBWI's regional events provide opportunities for professional growth and help you connect with a supportive, creative community.
In this series of webinars, industry professionals Naomi Kinsman, Chrystal D. Giles, Anika Aldamuy Denise, and Elizabeth Law explore Creative Approaches to Storytelling, Compelling Characters, Using Filmmaking Techniques to Enhance Drafting and Pacing, and Revision. Register here for a discount on all four webinars in the series. Or, if you would prefer, you can register for any of the four webinars individually from the buttons below. All webinars will be 7:00-8:30pm MT on January 18, February 29, April 18, and June 6, 2024.
Join us in a discussion about some of the many literary devices authors use to take their writing to the next level. Bring mentor texts that employ literary devices to help guide our study and conversation. This discussion can inform our own writing in picture books, chapter books, and novels. We'll also spend some time socializing and connecting; please bring a small snack to share. Email Laura Perdew at LMPerdew@gmail.com with questions. Please RSVP here (may need to cut and paste link): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdLr7asoYX-z0afnSP2VS1REEFGnTpdbJ6HfWQEHslpbTOf9Q/viewform
Please join RMC and the WOW! Children's Museum for their very first book festival! More than 20 RMC members will be at booths, with activities and readings throughout the event. Book sales are by the nearby Read Queen bookstore. And if you have a child in your life, this is a perfect outing. Cost: Adults $7, Children (<12 years) $13.
Join us in May to learn new ways authors can use Canva (an online graphic design tool) for marketing, creating storyboards, and crafting engaging social media posts. Former high school media specialist and author, Maria Kim, will lead us. Bring a laptop/device to follow along and learn as we go. Remaining Time: Critiques--bring 5-8 copies of your work in progress (up to 5 pages or 1500 words) to share.
For the first half of the meeting, we will do a round-table discussion of the ways we each find our motivation. Be ready to talk about your favorite resources and leave inspired! For the remaining time, we will do critiques and impressions. Bring 5-8 copies of your work in progress (up to 5 pages or 1500 words) or artwork to share. RSVP: Email Leigh Gaddy at rmcsummitconnect@gmail.com
We hope to have a speaker who knows a lot about marketing join us for this meeting! Arrangements are in the works. Watch for further details three weeks in advance. If you are not on the Self-publishing Connect list but would like to receive updates and links to the meeting please contact Ann Cunningham, ann@acunningham.com.
Join us as author Elizabeth Thoms Charles explains how to start a Blogspot blog. As a two-for-one special, author Gina Soldano-Herrle will follow Elizabeth's presentation (each speaking for about 30 minutes) with an overview of social media platforms and how to repurpose your blog content to create a digital presence. Zoom, Email Gina Soldano-Herrle at rmcnfconnect@gmail.com to RSVP and get the link
While everyone approaches revision a little differently, you can learn a lot from hearing how writers --from picture book to nonfiction to YA-- have attacked specific challenges. Elizabeth will be including examples from books she's worked on and quoting from interviews she's done with writers on their process. Included in the talk will be a few tips for getting unstuck as well. June 6, 2024 (7:00-8:30pm MT)
Prolific picture book writer, Jan Shur, will lead us in exploring different methods for story ideation during this month's Connect. She'll have several brainstorming exercises for us to work through together, but invites attendees to share their own brainstorming techniques with the group as well. Remaining Time: Critiques--bring 5-8 copies of your work in progress (up to 5 pages or 1500 words) to share.
Join Amber Owen (aka Z. B. Asterplume) for a deep dive into the process of making a book dummy. Learn about different kinds of book dummies and how they function – from the I’m-just-figuring-out-the-pace type of dummy to the I’m-looking-for-a-book-deal type of dummy. We will discuss how illustrators use a dummy to “write the pictures” so, writers, this could be an excellent opportunity for you, too! In fact, the more writers we have in the workshop, the better the conversation around the relationship between the words (authors) and the pictures (illustrators) will be. If you have a completed manuscript you'd like to work from, please bring two copies. If not, no worries; you can learn the dummying process using a provided mentor text. Paper to make a dummy will also be provided, but please bring your favorite pencil(s). We'll also have some scissors and tape to share, but feel free to bring your own.