Current Scratch: Interest, Business Buzz, For the Illustrator, & Just For Fun

Howdy folks! As our summer comes to an end, it's time to fall head first into our writing and illustrating projects. Jump on the productive bus! Need some inspiration? See the Join Us section below. :)

JOIN US

For our next Schmooze: On Wednesday, August 28  for "Picture Book Potpourri"--a panel discussion of the best current books, best resources, acquiring agents, picture book development, U Tales etc. We meet at 10 a.m. in the College Station Barnes & Noble, 711 Texas Ave.

Gentle critique begins at 9:30 a.m. Bring 5 copies of 5 double-spaced pages to share. Feel free to join us for lunch afterwards.

Piney Woods Retreat Nov. 15-17, 2013 for writers and illustrators

Join SCBWI Brazos Valley for a working retreat in the pines of East Texas at Lakeview Methodist Conference Center near Palestine, TX. This event is for working writers and illustrators who need time, space and encouragement to move forward with their works in progress.

Additional information is available here. 
Online registration is available at Eventbrite.

To register by mail, please indicate whether you are an author or illustrator, make your check payable to SCBWI Brazos Valley and send it to: SCBWI Brazos Valley P.O. Box 9622 College Station, TX 77842

INTEREST

Looking for helpful information about small business deductions?

Read Highlights Fiction Contest guidelines here.

BUSINESS BUZZ

Here's a WOW story for you: Penguin signs a 13-year-old author!

A success story about a picture book, a girl named Sophie, and a butternut squash, emerging from the slush pile. Too cute!

FOR THE ILLUSTRATOR

 Self-Promo Tips

JUST FOR FUN

Love poetry? Neil Gaiman? Watch this!

Neil Gaiman - Crazy Hair

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

Current Scratch: CANCELLED Critiquenic!, Statewide, Middle Grade, Recaps.

Howdy, folks! School is around the corner. Gearing up for a new school year inspires me. Hope your pencils are sharpened and you are ready to do great work!



JOIN US

 Need a break? SCBWI-BV Schmooze with us August 28, 2013. Picture Book Potpourri is the topic!
Stay for lunch if you have the time. Gentle critique begins at 9:30 a.m. Bring 5 copies of 5 double-spaced pages of a work in progress to share.

KEEP THE DATE

CANCELLED --August 17th SCBWI Critiquenic  CANCELLED!!!! 

We recommend that you consider attending the BRAZOS WRITERS' MINI-Workshop: Crime 101.
Date: August 17, 2013
Time: 9 to 11:30 a.m.
Place:Ringer Library in College Station

Should be very interesting for writers in all genres: stories from the front lines of law enforcement here at Texas A&M, followed by award-winning mystery writer Reavis Z. Wortham, who will share his journey to writing success. He will have copies of his Red River mystery series for sale as well.

Cost is just $20 and there is no preregistration--just show up!

Piney Woods Retreat

November 15-17, 2013 @ Lakeview Methodist Conference Center, Palestine, TX. Join us for a working retreat in the pines of East Texas. Registration fee covers two nights and six meals:
SCBWI Members--$295 per person for single room; $245 per person for double occupancy
Non-members--$315 per person for single room; $265 per person for double occupancy
Stay tuned for more details.

STATEWIDE

We have SCBWI events statewide. Here are a couple of upcoming events that might fit you.

 

SCBWI  SouthWest Texas -- San Antonio ...Richard Jesse Watson for a full-day picture book workshop on October 19, 2013. Register here: EventBrite registration page.

 

SCBWI North Texas -- Dallas...SCBWI North Texas 2013 Regional Conference, Creating Kids Books That Soar. September 21, 2013. For more details follow this link.

SCBWI Austin -- St. Edward University Austin. Graphic Novel Workshop 2013, October 5, 2013. Follow this link for more details: http://www.austinscbwi.com/graphic-novel-workshop-2013/ .

 

 

MIDDLE GRADE

 

Here is some middle grade writing advice from Peter Lerangis, author of 160 books for kids. Check it out at Galley Cat.

 

Ever wanted to see how a relationship works between a writer and editor. Check out this article from Stephen Roxburgh at PW. Gobsmacked! is an eye-opening experience.

 

Here is a Letter of Note from E.B. White.  On Charlotte's Web, a book is a sneeze. You will love this. It will make you happy.  

 

Current NY Times middle grade best sellers.

 

RECAP

 

SCBWI Summer conference was a couple of weeks ago. Here is the official recap. Another.

Another.

 

WRITE-ON-CON was just the other day. Here is the link to the content. Check it out. :)

 

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

Current Scratch: Schmooze, Keep the Date, Publishing, Interest, & Just For Fun

Howdy folks! What're you doing to beat the heat? Hopefully y'all have pens to paper, fingers to keyboards, and / or brushes to canvas. It's the only way to go when the temperature's a risin'!

JOIN US

SCBWI: Need a break? Schmooze with us July 31

Taking the right kind of break from one’s work can make a difference in keeping creativity cranking. “Spend & Restore: Create & Rejuvenate” is Candy Fite’s topic for the Schmooze, Wednesday, July 31, at 10 a.m. in the College Station Barnes & Noble. Come join the discussion about balancing work and restorative activity and rest. Stay for lunch if you have the time.

Gentle critique begins at 9:30 a.m. Bring 5 copies of 5 double-spaced pages of a work in progress to share.

KEEP THE DATE

August 17th SCBWI Critiquenic in the Bryan / College Station area. At the event, we will break into groups by audience/genre with the aim of four in each group. Groups may stay at the cafe or choose to move to another venue nearby. Groups will critique from 10 to 12 and reconvene for lunch at the cafe. Candilynn shares: I attended a Critiquenic in Austin in June; it was highly effective & fun! Details for venue are in the works. Stay tuned!

Piney Woods Retreat

November 15-17, 2013 @ Lakeview Methodist Conference Center, Palestine, TX.  Join us for a working retreat in the pines of East Texas. Registration fee covers two nights and six meals:
SCBWI Members--$295 per person for single room; $245 per person for double occupancy
Non-members--$315 per person for single room; $265 per person for double occupancy
Stay tuned for more details.

PUBLISHING
Find out what books will bloom in spring 2014! Go here to get a sneak peek.

INTEREST
Baffled by snazzy literary terms? Think the term "Kill fee" is a secret advance in pay for mystery writers? Stay on top of literary talk here.

When it comes to he said / she said, do you get confused? Darcy Pattison shares the how-to on dialogue here.

JUST FOR FUN
Scholastic has a cool, literary tasty treat for us!

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

Current Scratch: Schmooze, Agents, Self Published, Best Sellers, Fun

Hi, folks: During the summer, managing a writing a routine can be difficult. Schedules aren't as tight and the heat begs for lazy days. Yes, you might be procrastinating. After you try to fry an egg on the sidewalk and bake some brownies in your car, I hope create fab work!

JOIN US

Our next Schmooze at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 31, 2013 at the Barnes & Noble, 711 Texas Ave, College Station, TX. Our program will be led by Candilynn Fite. Check out her blog for details about our program. :)

Gentle peer critique begins at 9:30 a.m. Bring 5 copies of up to 5 double-spaced pages.


Summer read? The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt is out. Getting tons of **** ratings...

AGENTS

Overwhelmed by Twitter but want to know what tweeting agents are looking for,  check out this tumblr created to highlight #MSWL -- the literary agent manuscript wish list. Here is the link. 

SELF PUBLISHED.

Read the story of succesful indie author Tommy Cohorst. This might give you a little insight.

BEST SELLERS

Wondering what took off last year in children's publishing. Check out this PW article.

FUN

Here is an encouraging little note from Libby Bray. It will cheer you up if you have writing muligrubs. Grab a juice box and head over.

Here is a fun link: Sock puppets tell the hero's journey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yZxs_jGN7Pg#at=71

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

Current Scratch: Schmooze, Publishing News, Interest, & Just For Fun

Howdy folks! Summer is officially here. Hope your works in progress are sizzling!

JOIN US

Our next Schmooze:

"What's Your Favorite Color? and Other Questions to Ask Your
Characters" is the topic for our Schmooze at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June
26, in the Barnes & Noble, 711 Texas Ave, College Station, TX.

Gentle peer critique begins at 9:30 a.m. Bring 5 copies of up to 5
double-spaced pages.

PUBLISHING NEWS

Good news, this report shows young readers still love the printed word.

21st Century Children's Nonfiction Con. Recap HERE.

New opportunities for writers bloom over at Bloomsbury Children's Books.

INTEREST

Wattpad, a way to build an audience.

Do you want to write a novel in 30 days or less? Join Camp NaNoWriMo by July 1st.

How would you like to be the author of a new novel set in Jim Henson's world of The Dark Crystal? Find out more HERE.

JUST FOR FUN (Since June's Schmooze is about getting to know your characters)

Character Worksheet
Another Character Worksheet

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

Current Scratch: Publishing News, Social Media, and Book Events.

Howdy folks,  summer is ramping up and it is HOT! I hope that your works are on fire too.  This is a good time to hunker down in the air conditioning and move forward with your master works.

Our next Schmooze June 26, 2013

Our next Wednesday’s Schmooze is at 10 a.m. in the College Station Barnes & Noble. Our panel topic is: What's Your Favorite Color? and Other Questions to Ask Your Characters"  Before the meeting, a brief critique time begins at 9:30 a.m. Writers may bring up to 5 double-spaced pages of their work-in-progress to share.

 

The Ringer Library in College Station has two events for writers this Saturday June 15, 2012 if you have time.:

 

Brazos Writers offers Plotting Your Story with Mark Troy from 9:30 to 12:00.

 

Author Diane Kelly is offers a Horror Workshop from 2:00-4:00 a.m. . 

 

Check out more about these at this link.

 

PUBLISHING NEWS
 

Strong season ahead for children's publishers. Check out this article in PW.

 

New Children's Imprint Sci Fi and Fantasy by publisher Rebellion launched. Read about it here.

 

Follow the link for a new opportunity, Victoria Wells Arms leaves Bloomsbury to start a children's literary agency.  

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Check out these 10 mistakes you might be making on Twitter.

Fun Tweet turns up lots tons of responses. Check out Sherman's Alexie's grammar cop rant.

 

 

 BOOK EVENTS

 

Do you have a recently published book?   The SCBWI Book Launch Award is now open. It provides $2000 to help market your book: http://www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/Book-Launch-Award.

 

Swag.  This is the free stuff you offer with book at signings and events -- bookmarks, pins, buttons, magnets, cupcakes, cookies, posters, tattoos, seed packets...authors are creative folk. Here is a new idea: Digital Swag. Check out this article at GalleyCat.

  

 

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

 

 

Current Scratch: Publishing News, Interest, Just For Fun, & Something Meaningful

Howdy folks! Phew. *fans self* If you're anything like me (melts in the sun), this is the time of the year when I spend the hot hours of the afternoon indoors, writing to my heart's content. So dig out those writing and/or illustrating projects and get busy!

JOIN US

Our next Schmooze May 29, 2013

Our next Wednesday’s Schmooze is at 10 a.m. in the College Station Barnes & Noble. Our panel topic is: Schmooze: Promise and Fulfillment—novel beginnings & endings. Before the meeting, a brief critique time begins at 9:30 a.m. Writers may bring up to 5 double-spaced pages of their work-in-progress to share.

Also Mark Your Calendars:

June:

Schmooze 6/26--"What's Your Favorite Color? and Other Questions to Ask Your Characters"  

 

***

Children's Literature Book Club
Date: May 30th
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Place: The Arts Center

Book to be discussed: The Moves Make the Man by Bruce Brooks

To find out more about the book club follow this link:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChildLitbookclub/

PUBLISHING NEWS

Check out the 2013 Children's Choice Book Awards.

Who's acquiring what? Publishers Weekly's Rights Report for the week of May 20th.

Read an interesting story about Barefoot Book's Brave Breakup with Amazon HERE. (Try to say that 5x quickly!)

INTEREST

2013 Cheerios' Spoonfuls of Stories Contest (For unpublished writers only)

This one's for the illustrators! Ever dream of submitting your fabulous artwork to the SCBWI Bulletin? Visit here to find out how.

Here's a cool call for submissions you don't see everyday, and it pays!

JUST FOR FUN

You must read this delightful story of Lost & Bound. It's a publishing success story you'll never forget.

Does your writing get bogged down with boring clichés? If so, check out this nifty tool.

SOMETHING MEANINGFUL

Writers Reaching Out To Others In Need


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