Register NOW for Ilustrator's Retreat!

Weekend in the Woods!

October 1–4, 2015 at the Silvers Falls Conference Center, OR.

SCBWI OR/WWA Joint Illustrator Retreat
Registration opens July 1

Don’t miss out on this amazing event with our friends from Oregon, featuring
award-winning illustrators LeUyen Pham and Eric Rohmann. 

Click here for full details and to register on July 1. 

Only 24 spaces are available to each region, so don’t delay!

SCBWI Spanish-language meeting in LA

Hi everyone, and particularly those who are planning to attend the summer conference in LA. Read on for an exciting event:

 

From Judy Goldman, SCBWI-Mexico Regional Advisor:

 

Malena Alzú, RA of Spain, and I, RA of Mexico, are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a meeting in Spanish for all those interested in publishing in that language as well as finding out what is going on in Spain and Latin America. We will also talk about LA COMETA, SCBWI's Spanish-language e-bulletin. This will take place on Saturday, August 1 from 8–8:30AM in the Bel Air Room during the 2015 Summer Conference.

       

Next year's winners?

Thanks, Tina Hoggatt, for pointing this out:

A sneak peak at some early favorites to win those BIG kidlit awards next year!
For your preview, click here.


And, at the very least, a great place to start your summer reading lists. Enjoy!

JULY / AUGUST events

KEY:
YA = young adult
MG = middle grade

ER = easy reader
PB = picture book
NF = nonfiction



LINKS:
University Book Store
Third Place Books
Elliott Bay Book Company
Secret Garden Books
Seattle Central Library 

July 16, 7PM

Northwest Authors Panel: Featuring Fabio Bueno, Wicked Sense (YA) Martina Dalton, The Third Eye of Jenny Crumb (YA) David A. Davies, Billie Grable, The Weeping Willow Sings (YA) and Maren Higgle.

University Bookstore, U-District

July 16, NOON

Ernest Cline, Armada (YA)

University Bookstore, U-District

July 16, 7PM

Chris Colfer, The Land of Stories Beyond the Kingdom (MG)

Elliott Bay Book Company

July 23, 7PM

Sara Nickerson, The Secrets of Blueberries, Brothers, Moose, and Me (MG)

Third Place Books, Ravenna

July 27, 7PM

Molly Gloss, Falling From Horses (YA)

Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park

Aug 7, 7PM

Shannon Grogan, From Where I Watch You (YA)

University Bookstore, U-District

Aug 8, 3PM

Sharon Huss Roat, Between The Notes, Hilary T. Smith Wild Awake, Stephanie Oakes, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly (YA)

University Bookstore, U-District

Aug 8, 3PM

YA Authors: Kris Dennison, You and Me and Him; Amy Reed, Invincible; Lisa Schroeder, My Secret Guide to Paris; Kristin Halbrook, Every Last Promise

University Bookstore, U-District

Jessixa's book launch

Please join in congratulating Jessixa Bagley for her new picture book, BOATS FOR PAPA, which will launch at Secret Garden Books next week!

WHEN: TUESDAY, June 30 at 7pm

Pay for pages

Important information from Lois V. Harris:


Sharing the beginning of a message from The Authors Guild...not good for children's authors...stay tuned for more on this from The Authors Guild.

Starting July 1, Amazon will pay royalties to its indie authors based on the number of pages users actually read, rather than the number of times the book is “borrowed.” In its announcement, Amazon touted its unilateral amendment to its terms for self-published e-books enrolled in its Kindle Unlimited (KU) and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) e-lending services. The change, Amazon said, is a response to authors’ complaints about the unfairness of its current single rate for all books, regardless of length. Writers of longer works will stand to benefit, provided those books are read in full, but it could slash the earnings of entire classes of authors, such as poets and children’s book writers, whose works tend to have fewer pages. The new regime leaves intact Amazon’s unfortunate practice of paying indie authors out of an opaque royalty pool, which pits self-published authors against one another in a zero-sum scramble for readers. With a finite amount of money to go around each month, one author’s gain is another’s loss.

Agent for a cause

Dear SCBWI-ers,

 

Here is an amazing opportunity to both receive personal feedback from a literary agent AND do some good in the world at the same time. Please read this letter from NJ-based agent Anna Olswanger:

 

As I do every summer, I've donated a manuscript consultation as a literary agent to The Born Free Foundation online auction. Born Free is an international wildlife charity that works throughout the world to stop individual wild animal suffering. 

Here's my page on the auction site:

You'll see that people can submit up to 10 pages of a manuscript for a 20-minute phone consultation. It's a great chance to get feedback from an agent.

My clients have won the Newbery Honor, Asian Pacific American Award for Literature Honor, Flora Stieglitz Strauss Award for Nonfiction, Orbis Pictus Honor, PEN/Steven Kroll Award for Picture Book Writing, Parents Choice Gold Award, Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book, Sibert Award Honor, Ezra Jack Keats Book Award Honor, and been on The New York Times Bestseller list. 

I’ve sold to all the major publishers, including Bloomsbury, Chronicle, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Macmillan, Penguin, Random House, and Simon & Schuster.

You can view my full client list on Pinterest:

For information about the auction and bidding on my services, please click here for all the details. NOTE:  The auction closes on Monday, June 29th, at 5:00 p.m. EST.

We all fall in love with animal characters in books. Now it's time to help them in real life.

Thanks for your help. 

Best,

Anna

Summer reads from SCBWI-WWA!

Hey, now! Looks whose books are touted in the Seattle Times as some of THE most enticing summer reads for 2015?


Check them out, in all of their beautiful genres - click here.


Hats off to all! Let's get reading!

League of mentors wanted!

The League of Exceptional Writers is a free mentoring program sponsored by the Oregon SCBWI and Powells. Our goal is to help avid young writers and illustrators find their fellow book people and learn about the craft and business of making books. Our past mentors have included authors, illustrators, poets, comic book and graphic novel artists, editors and literary agents. They’ve presented League meetings on everything from how book cover art is chosen to how to write a hilarious scene or a drop dead scary one. 

As the Oregon’s Youth Outreach Coordinator, Rosanne Parry is looking for next year's League Mentors. Every participating mentor will appear on a flyer sent out to schools and libraries all over the region. They will be put on Powells on line calendar and Powells will order in copies of your book to feature during the presentation. For this reason mentors need to have a book in print in a format that Powells is able to sell. The exception would be editors, agents and art directors who would speak to the book-making profession. The Oregon SCBWI offers a modest honorarium for each mentor. Our league members especially love it when 2 writers present together so you are very welcome to propose a team presentation. Please email me with a proposed session topic and information about you and your books. 

WHEN: Second Saturdays from October to May from 2-3pm

WHERE: The Cedar Hills Crossing Powells (3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR)

WHO: Avid writers between the ages of 8 and 18 are invited. (Most of them are between the ages of 10 and 16.)

The calendar for the 2015-16 school year will be:

Oct 10    

Nov 14     

Dec 12    

Jan 9 

Feb 13

Mar 12

April 9   

May 14

Read to kids in need

Stacey Lane, administrator of Page Ahead, the largest children's literacy program in Washington State, is seeking volunteers to read with kids for this coming school year, 2015–16.  

They are looking for volunteers in Western and Eastern Washington to read with preschool and kindergarten classes for the upcoming 2015–16 school year.  Please help spread the word, via your colleagues, or sign up for yourself.

Story Time volunteers read books, and create simple crafts with children in need. Volunteers must be available to go to the classroom at least once a month and must commit for the full school year. Story Times occur during school hours and last approximately 45 minutes. Volunteers remain in the same classroom(s) throughout the school year. 

NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY! Volunteers should be comfortable in the spotlight and enjoy interacting with children. Each volunteer must complete a three-hour training and pass a background check. 

Contact Stacey Lane at 206-461-0123 or info@pageahead.org. Volunteer applications are also available online, and must be submitted by August 28, 2015.

Erik's good news

Straight from the files of Erik Brooks:

 

"Just a quick word of good news to say that Tino the Tortoise: Adventures in the Grand Canyon— my latest illustration project and my first book with Portland’s Graphic Arts Books––published on June 9!" The book was written by Carolyn Ahern. Erik did a quick little blog blurb in its honor. Congratulations, Erik! Way to go!

Pitch your picture book!

Have you attended a Twitter pitch party yet?

Well, on June 24 one is coming especially for you Picture Book folks!

On June 24, from 8am–8pm EST (that's 5am to 5pm for us), agents and editors will be trolling their Twitter feeds for pitches that make them want to "Favorite" your 140-character pitch. If your pitch gets a "Favorite," then you follow that agent/editor's submission guidelines and it will jump to the head of their line.

Here's the scoop: click HERE!

It's a fun and easy way for your work to find its way into the hands of agents and editors, if you're lucky, and great experience going through the process in a whole new way.


Have fun, and Tweet your way into an agency or press!

Submit to New Visions Award

TU Books, the YA and MG imprint of Lee & Low Books, has announced its third annual New Visions Award.

Seeking young-adult or middle-grade manuscripts that are by writers of color, Tu Books awards its winner with a $1,000 cash prize AND a publishing contract, as well as $500 prize for an Honor Award winner.

Submissions will be accepted from May 1, 2015 through September 30, 2015. For eligibility and submissions guidelines, please click here.

Good luck to all!

La Belle Poulet d'Elizabeth!

C'est magnifique!

Elizabeth Rose Stanton sent some tres, tres bon news this morning:


"I'm thrilled to announce that HENNY is a finalist for the Prix des Libraires du Québec!"

For more information on this fantastique honor, please click (and bawk!) here. 

Mockingbird staff changes

In the June newsletter from Mockingbird Books, there are some personnel changes that seem appropriate to pass along to all of you with local book events and launches in the future:

Because our local independent bookstores are so important to getting books into the hands of kids, it's great to know who you're dealing with! So, head out there and introduce yourselves to all of our local bookstores and -sellers, and your intrepid work will pay off––in future newsletters and emails, word-of-mouth chats with customers, and, fingers crossed, in SALES! It goes without saying that the fine folks who talk up and sell your books are pretty great people and avid readers. So you'll be among friends. Therefore: Go forth, and connect.

You're welcome!

Summer reading lists wanted!

Welcome to (almost) summer. All the libraries are gearing up for their reading programs, and with each passing day some media outlet or other features a summer reading list. Here's one I came across the other day---from the Washington Post. It's specifically kidlit in nature.

I hereby open the floodgates to offer those of you who peruse multiple publications to send any and all children's book summer reading lists/recommendations for sharing. This isn't YOUR personal list, to be clear. No showing of favorites, local or otherwise, here at the equal-opportunity blog that is our dear Chinook!

I'll get y'all started. If you happen upon a goodie, please paste the link into the comments for everyone to enjoy!

Fifty Great Books For Kids To Read This Summer (Washington Post, sourced from Scholastic Instructor)

Cheers,

Emily
Your Friendly Neighborhood Chinook Updater

Calling all foodies!

Got a food-related book? Let us know!



We're working on some collaboration initiatives with Readers to Eaters, and one thing we'd like to do is curate a list of our members' recent (last 5 years or so) PAL titles that have food as a theme. They don't have to be about food, necessarily, but anything where food plays a significant part in the story, whether that be as part of the plot, character, setting, culture, etc. If you're a current PAL member and you think your book might qualify, would you please send an email with your name and the publication info to our PAL Member Liaison,  Laurie Ann Thompson, at laurie(at)lauriethompson(dot)com?


Thanks!

Outta sight! It's SCBWI's INSIGHT!

Just in case you've been feeling digitally disconnected from the mother ship and can't make it to the LA summer conference, SCBWI has launched, as of June 1, their new online monthly publication, SCBWI INSIGHT.

Check your inbox if you haven't seen it––it's an exclusive benefit meant for all current SCBWI members. Check your membership status if it doesn't seem to be in your Junk folder. Check it out immediately! Simply soak in all that SCBWI goodness, from author interviews to relevant issues all kidlit folks need to know about. All the hot topics, children's book news flashes, advice, helpful links, and contests! No SPF required!

Contest:

This month's fun feature is WRITE THIS!, a monthly writing prompt and contest. The July 2015 Write This! prompt is:  Write a description of a children's book character using no more than fifty words.  The prompt word  is WART. DEADLINE: June 20!

Guidelines:

• You must be a current SCBWI member to submit to Write This!
• Entries must be inspired by the prompt word in some way.
• Please no italics or bold fonts. 12 point text size.
• E-mail subject line must be titled as follows: Prompt word_First name_Last name (Orange_Lin_Oliver)
• Each member may only submit one entry per prompt word.
• E-mail your entry IN THE BODY OF THE E-MAIL, please no attachments to: scbwiwritethis@scbwi.org.

**Failure to follow these guidelines will result in exclusion from the online gallery. For questions, write to scbwiwritethis@scbwi.org.


And...off we go!

Good things come....

...to those who wait! Or, in the case of debut author Sonja Anderson, they come after 15 whole years of patience and dedicated work. Which is reason to celebrate the release of Sonja's debut middle-grade novel, Sophie's Quest (Sunpenny Publishing Group, UK). The book will launch on Saturday, June 13 at the Burien Library from 3-4 pm. (Page 2 Books is hosting a sale and signing.)

 

 

 

Sonja writes, "This has been in progress for 15 years!"

 

 

Well done, Sonja! Congratulations!

 

 

 

The kids are all right!

As in, they chose right! 

After posting that Dana Sullivan, Bonny Becker, and Dori Butler all received mention in the International Literacy Association's Children's Choices Reading List for 2015, well, they're ALSO in this year's Children's Choice Reading List!

BAM! 2 for 2!

Wonderful news, and wonderful books, all. Congratulations!


To see the full list, click here.