Serious about improving your craft? SCBWI's regional events provide opportunities for professional growth and help you connect with a supportive, creative community.
Happy summer SCBWI WWA members! We had so much fun last year that we’re planning another picnic. We would love to see your faces in person again! Feel free to invite your families and kidlit friends to this free outdoor potluck event. You’ll see old friends, make new ones and have an opportunity to donate a favorite children’s or young adult book to the book drive.
A discussion with three creatives who’ve faced the challenges head-on. More than 4,200 book titles were targeted for censorship in 2023 in the United States alone. Special interest groups have taken aim at limiting access to books in public and school libraries. The number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92 percent over the previous year. What happens when you, as an author or illustrator, have a book that’s been challenged or banned? How does it affect your career? Your future creative endeavors? Your responsibility to push back and challenge the challenges? Join these KidLit creators – whose books have been challenged or banned – for an insightful discussion about their experiences: Dori Hillestad Butler (My Mom’s Having a Baby! and the King & Kayla series) Yangsook Choi (The Name Jar) Kirby Larson (Dash) Knowledge is power. Let’s gather to discuss how we can best respond to the current wave of censorship.
The creative process—especially when writing or illustrating for young people—is all about crossing thresholds to navigate unknown and “in between” territory. These range from the dreamy mindset where ideas spring to life, to stories about characters caught between cultures or identities—to the “not there yet” discomfort of unfinished work. Get more comfortable finding your way through these in-between (or liminal) states and learn to harness their power in this one-of-a-kind, day-plus retreat. We’ll dive into and explore betwixt spaces—literally!—including productive time on a moving train. The event will start with a preboarding webinar at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, and then we'll meet in Seattle and spend all day, in person, on Saturday, Oct. 12. REFUND POLICY: Because our costs are all paid up front, refunds for cancellations until Oct. 1 will ONLY be available if we can fill your spot from the waitlist. NO REFUNDS AT ALL after Oct. 1.
Writing a great query letter is an art and a science. This webinar examines the core elements every strong query letter has; you’ll learn how to add the extra pizzazz that will capture the attention of an agent or editor. Real examples from the instructor’s inbox, both good and bad, will be shared, as well as a specific formula workshop attendees can plug their information into in order to generate a great query letter.