Current Scratch: Critique Groups, To Market, Luck, Revolution, Workshops

Howdy, folks!  Spring is in the air.  I hope that you the season is inspiring you to start new projects.

Our Schmooze this month will fall on  3-28-12 at the College Station Barnes and Noble.  Bring copies up to 5 copies for gentle critique at 9:30 a.m.  Our program begins at 10 a.m. and the discussion topic will be Balancing a Writing Life. 

Also locally, sign up now! Free workshop on "Boy Books" March 24 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Andy Sherrod will be our workshop leader on March 24 for our SCBWI Saturday on "What Makes a Good 'Boy Book' and Why Should We Care?" Join us from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the CORRECTION:  Gander Mountain, 2301 Earl Rudder Freeway South, College Station, TX. Bring your own lunch. The event is free, but seating is limited, so we do need to know how many people plan to come. Please contact me at lizBmertz@gmail.com to sign up.

We have an Annual Poetry Contest for local 6th, 7th, and 8th Graders.  If you are interested, on the online blog, fill out the form in the left sidebar.

Also note the upcoming Houston SCBWI Conference is in March.

If you want to join a critique group use our handy form found in the online sidebar on the left.

Critique Groups

A solid nuts and bolts article about critique groups. 

Over at the Purple Crayon with Harold Underdown, a good article about how to find a critique group. 

To Market

Here is a contest that may be of some interest to fantasy writers: Fantasy-Faction Writing Competition.

Luck (Cause Saint Patrick's Day around the corner...)

How to make your own luck using social media over at Rachelle Gardner's blog.

 The Revolution


Penguin is no longer distributing their books through Overdrive.
Discussion about this change at PWxyz blog. 

Workshops


Check out the Highlights Foundation page for information about the upcoming Founder's Workshops.  Scholarships are available.

The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.

Current Scratch: Local Author Opportunities, Business Talk

Howdy, folks!  Another great week to create children's books! Yay for the rain!

 

Our Schmooze this month will fall on 2-29-12 at 10 a.m at the College Station Barnes and Noble.  The topic is effective critiquing.

Also locally, sign up now! Free workshop on "Boy Books" March 24 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Andy Sherrod will be our workshop leader on March 24 for our SCBWI Saturday on "What Makes a Good 'Boy Book' and Why Should We Care?" Join us from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Arts Center, 2275 Dartmouth, College Station, Texas. Bring your own lunch. The event is free, but seating is limited, so we do need to know how many people plan to come. Please contact me at lizBmertz@gmail.com to sign up.

We have an Annual Poetry Contest for local 6th, 7th, and 8th Graders.  If you are interested, on the online blog, fill out the form in the left sidebar.

 

Also note the upcoming Austin SCBWI Conference in February and the upcoming Houston SCBWI Conference  in March.

 

If you want to join a critique group use our handy form found in the online sidebar on the left.

 

Check out our very own Sherry Garland's new book VOICES OF THE DUSTBOWL. Here is a link to the Pelican Publishing website to check it out.  Here is a peek at the cover:

 

Also consider voting for Molly Blaisdell's THE BIG FUZZY COAT, a finalist in the MeeGenius! Author Challenge, a contest on Facebook.  Vote for her book here:

 

 

Local Author Opportunites

 

On Friday, February 24th, the 6th grade GT classes at Brenham Middle School will host the 2012 Authors and Poets Luncheon at the Giddings Stone Mansion in Brenham, Texas.  It is a great experience for the students to meet local authors.  The event starts at 11:30 with a luncheon catered by the parents and then a brief talk by each author (5-10 minutes) on what they are working on/their writing process/inspiration, etc.  The event wraps up around 2:00.  Come out and enjoy a day in Washington County! Please contact April Albrecht if you are able to attend. aalbrecht@brenhamisd.net

 

Also, Giddings Public Library & Cultural Center and the Giddings Area Chamber of Commerce invite all published Texas authors to submit a book for consideration in their upcoming 7^th Annual Texas Word Wranglers Festival on Friday, September 14, 2012.  For more information: contact Minnie Simmang by email at minnie@simmang.com> or  meks@gvec.net.  

 

Business Talk

 

Rachelle Gardner of Books and Such Literary Agency offers a provocative discussion about knowing your business, your custormers and understanding the need for adaptability at her website.

 

You might be wondering how does Amazon fit into the new publishing paradigm. It's reported that Barnes and Noble and Books-a-Million refuse to shelve the Amazon books. Yep, there some tussling going on out there. Here are some thoughts over at the Behler blog.  

 

Here's another article over at PW: How to Navigate a Changing Business? Children's Agents Shed Some Light  By Matia Burnett. This article also gives a dip into the minds of several top agents.

The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.

Current Scratch: The Revolution, Agent Resources, Free, Opportunity

Howdy, folks!  Another great week to create children's books!

Our Schmooze this month will fall on 2-29-12 at 10 a.m at the College Station Barnes and Noble.  The topic is effective critiquing.

Also locally, sign up now! Free workshop on "Boy Books" March 24 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Andy Sherrod will be our workshop leader on March 24 for our SCBWI Saturday on "What Makes a Good 'Boy Book' and Why Should We Care?" Join us from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Arts Center, 2275 Dartmouth, College Station, Texas. Bring your own lunch. The event is free, but seating is limited, so we do need to know how many people plan to come. Please contact me at lizBmertz@gmail.com to sign up.

We have an Annual Poetry Contest for local 6th, 7th, and 8th Graders.  If you are interested, fill out the form in the left sidebar.

Also note the upcoming Austin SCBWI Conference in February and the upcoming Houston SCBWI Conference  in March.

If you want to join a critique group use our handy form found in the sidebar to your left

.  

Local Authors is in the news. 

Kathy Whitehead's Art From her Heart  is featured at Sunday Story Hour and http://www.nyhistory.org/. 

   

Molly Blaisdell's picture book in the MeeGenius! Author Challenge was featured on KBTX as a "Gem of the Day." Here is the video:

Vote for THE BIG FUZZY COAT here.

The Revolution

Maybe you should consider opening up to the world of e-books and social media.
5 Reasons to Embrace the Brave New World

Agent Resources

Chip MacGregor answers questions about agenting, querying, and responding. He's a savvy one.
Chip MacGregor .com: Ask the Agent

Free

Here is the link to a free e-book with publishing advice from some top children's authors like Kirby Larsen, Natasha Wing, and more.  Here is the link: http://cbiclubhouse.com/2012report/. Enjoy!

Opportunity

Writing Round-Up. the Texas Mountain Trail Writers Spring Retreat might be a thing you want to check out.  Western Writers might need a trip out the Davis Mountains.

The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.

Current Scratch: ALA Youth Media Awards, Agent Info, Popular Agencies

Howdy, folks! Yay for the glorious rain. I hope that's got you holed up writing and illustrating!

 

Our Schmooze this month will fall on 2-29-12 at 10 a.m at the College Station Barnes and Noble.  The topic is effective critiquing.

 

Also locally, sign up now! Free workshop on "Boy Books" March 24 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Andy Sherrod will be our workshop leader on March 24 for our SCBWI Saturday on "What Makes a Good 'Boy Book' and Why Should We Care?" Join us from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Arts Center, 2275 Dartmouth, College Station, Texas. Bring your own lunch.

The event is free, but seating is limited, so we do need to know how many people plan to come. Please contact me at lizBmertz@gmail.com to sign up.

We have an Annual Poetry Contest for local 6th, 7th, and 8th Graders.  If you have contact information of someone who is interested in participating in this yearly event, please email me.

Also note the upcoming Austin SCBWI Conference in February and the upcoming Houston SCBWI Conference  in March.

 

If you want to join a critique group use our handy form to your left on the screen.  

 

Finally, noteworthy, Molly Blaisdell is finalist in a nationwide publishing Facebook contest with a New York digital publisher MeeGenius!.  Winning brings a publishing contract,  an e-library of books for Sul Ross Elementary in Bryan, and a $1500 cash prize.   Please give her e-picture book THE BIG FUZZY COAT a look, and if you like, give it a vote.  Feel free to pass this on to whomever you wish.  Here is the link: http://www.meegenius.com/challenge/book/6068/the-big-fuzzy-coat-by-molly-blaisdell/.

 

ALA Youth Media Awards

 

The Newbery? The Printz? The Caldecott?  Follow this link to the winners of the 2012 Youth Media Awards.

 

Agent Resources

 

Are you looking for an agent? Here are some helpful resources to guide you on your journey. 

 

The Association of Author Representatives  --  a professional organization of literary agents with a canon of ethics that all member adhere to. You might want to read that canon of ethics on the site.  Familiarizing yourself with agent ethics is a smart move.

Popular Agent Databases.

QueryTracker  - Agent Database

 AgentQuery  - Agent Database

Popular Blogs and Websites:

http://www.novelnovice.com/ -- here is a link to an excellent sample query letter.

 Chuck Sambuchino’s Guide to Literary Agents Blog – great resource especially for current report of new agents.

Casey L. McCormick – Literary Rambles, an excellent agent resource for children’s authors. Many, many, helpful interviews from various children’s book agents – all genres are represented.

www.nathanbransford.com A great article about how to find a literary agent offered by author Nathan Bransford. Check out the forums on his site for networking too.

guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/ – informative blog with agent news.

http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/  offers numerous interviews with agents. 

http://www.agentsavant.com/ Especially if you want to know about literary agents and digital publishing.

http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/ This blog is a great place to connect with agents.

To get you started, check out these worthy agencies

Here are some well known Literary Agencies that represent children’s books.  Just a starting place, folks. There are way more agencies out there.

               

Writers House

Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Erin Murphy Literary Agency                      

Nancy Coffey Literary Agency   

Greenhouse Literary Agency

Adams Literary

Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency

Word Serve Literary Agency

 

The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.

Current Scratch: Awards, YA, Smiles

Howdy, folks! I hope you are enjoying our way early spring weather. We meet on  Jan. 25,  2012 at the College Station Barnes and Noble at 9:30  for critique (bring copies) and 10 AM for the Schmooze.  Molly Blaisdell will be speaking: Do You Need an Agent? How Do You Snag One?

Also locally:

The Children's Literature Book Club meets on the last Thursday, January 26th, at 4:30 pm in the Arts Council board room. Our book to read this month is Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson.

 

Also note the upcoming Austin SCBWI Conference in February and the upcoming Houston SCBWI Conference  in March.

 

Awards

 

Here's the lists of this year's children's finalists for the Mystery Writer's of America's 2012 Edgar Awards:

 

Best Juvenile: Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger (Abrams/Amulet); It Happened on a Train by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster); Vanished by Sheela Chari (Disney-Hyperion); Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press); The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey (Egmont USA).

 

Best Young Adult: Shelter by Harlan Coben (Putnam); The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (Putnam); The Silence of Murder by Dandi Daley Mackall (Knopf); The Girl Is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines (Roaring Brook); Kill You Last by Todd Strasser (Egmont USA).

 

YA

 

Here's an interesting article in PW called "YA Comes of Age," discussing the juggernaut status YA has in today's publishing climate.

 

Are you a writer of young adult novels?  You might enjoy checking out this blog: YA Highway -- a road worth traveling if you are interested in writing for young adults.  This blog is an immense resource for every aspect of YA fiction.

Smiles

Here is the real scoop on how books are created from Annie Burrows author of the Ivy and Bean series. 

Here is a blog post: "Eat the Butt Lies That Can Posion our Writing Career." This one might make you smile and think. 

The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.

Current Scratch: Awards, Revolution, Craft

Howdy, folks! I hope you have made your new year's resolutions!  Maybe working on marketing was one of them.  We meet on  Jan. 25,  2012 at the College Station Barnes and Noble at 9:30  for critique (bring copies) and 10 AM for the Schmooze.  Molly Blaisdell will be speaking: Do You Need an Agent? How Do You Snag One?

Also locally:

The Children's Literature Book Club meets on the last Thursday, January 26th, at 4:30 pm in the Arts Council board room. Our book to read this month is Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson.

Awards:

Bank Street

The Bankstreet College of Education 2012 Irma Black Award semifinalists have been announced. This award is given by children for the best picture book of the year. 
http://www.bnkst.edu/irmablack/semifinalists-2012/

Mark you calendars for this one: The American Library Association's Youth Media Awards, including ALSC's Newbery and Caldecott awards, will be announced at a press conference on Monday, January 23, 2012, beginning at 7:45 a.m. Central time, in Dallas.

The Revolution

An interesting article from Kathleen Duey on her blog writerwriterwriter about the revolution in publishing.

Here is an article about e-publishing about the new self-publishing platform for the iBook.   

Here is an article leaked from the Hachette Book Group that explains the relevancy of publishers.This is found in Digital Book World.

Traditional publishers are diving into self-publishing in various ways. Self-publishing fee-based services are popping up all over. Here are two:  The first is  Book Country. Here is the scoop from Agent Savant's blog: "Book Country, the free online writing community launched by Penguin last Spring, is now offering a Kindle-like self-pub option for DIY authors." Another version of traditional publishing partnering with self-publishing is WestBow Press, a self-publishing division of Thomas Nelson. 

Wondering about eBook readers? Here is an article in PW of the Nook tablet vs the Kindle Fire. 

Craft

A great article from Darcy Pattison about 12 ways to start your novel by categorizing famous first lines. Good stuff.

Twenty-five things you should really know about voice. Check out this blog post on TerribleMinds.

A list to help you on your revision journey.  Add what your story lacks.  Check out this blog post at The Editor's Blog.

The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.

Current Scratch: 2011 News, KathiVision, Encouragement, Hero's Journey, Accolades, Sales

Howdy folks, I hope you have made your new year's resolutions!  Maybe working on marketing was on of them.  We meet on  Jan. 25  2012 at the College Station Barnes and Noble at 9:30  for critique (bring copies) and 10 AM for the Schmooze.  Molly Blaisdell will be speaking: Do You Need an Agent? How Do You Snag One?

Also locally:

The Children's Literature Book Club meets on the last Thursday, January 26th, at 4:30 pm in the Arts Council board room. Our book to read this month is Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson.

2011 News

Check out Sherry Garland's new blog post on Into the Woods We Go:  Where Do Ideas Come From? , December 31, 2011. 

Molly Blaisdell's book REMBRANDT AND THE BOY WHO DREW DOGS was featured back in the summer in the NGAKids 2011 Summer Scoop.

KathiVision (I so dub it!)

Check out Kathi Appelt's Youtube Channel for some fun video clips. Love Eric Rohmann and BONE DOG.

Encouragement

From Hilary Wagner, an encouraging blog post to keep you going in the face of rejections.   

Hero's Journey

Here, from The Writer's Journey,  the Hero's Journey with charts.

Accolades

A new national ambassador of Children's Literature is named: Walter Dean Myers. Read about in the NY Times.

NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature....Do you know what this is?  This award is intended to enhance the quality of children's literature by promoting writing that contributes to the quality of their lives. 

Each NSK Neustadt jury narrows to areas of children's and young-adult literature principally through the author nominations it brings forward. All nominations  come from the jury members. What do you win?  A check for $25,000, a silver medallion, and a certificate is presented to the laureate at a public ceremony at The University of Oklahoma every other year in odd-numbered years. The 2011 winner is Virginia  Euwer Wolff. Read about it here.

Sales

A blog post on the importance of pre-sales. Something to know.

The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.