Scholarship Opportunity

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Western Washington, is thrilled to announce that it will award two inclusion scholarships, one for writers, one for illustrators, as part of this year’s spring conference. The award covers the cost to attend programming on April 8, 2017, at the Marriott Redmond Town Center.
 
Eligible applicants should be age 18 or older, write or illustrate for children, meet one of the criteria for diversity defined by We Need Diverse Books, and have financial need such that attending this conference would not otherwise be possible. Applicants do not need to be current members of SCBWI, nor do they need to live in the Western Washington region, although travel and accommodations will not be included in the award.
 
What is meant by “diverse”?
Writers and illustrators must identify as one or more of the following. The main character of the story must also identify as one or more of the following:
•       Person of color
•       Native American
•       LGBTQIA
•       Person with a disability
•       Marginalized religious or cultural minority in the United States.
Please note:
•       If the work does not include a main character, the subject matter must pertain substantially to diverse experiences and content.
•       Socio-economic status and class do not qualify as diverse for the purposes of this award.
 
Any submission received that does not meet these requirements will not be read.
 
To enter, applicants should provide the following information via email to wwa@scbwi.org, subject line Scholarship Application, by midnight on February 28, 2017:
Both writers and illustrators must provide a cover page that includes:

o   Full name

o   Address

o   E-mail address

o   Phone number

o   Diversity with which the applicant identifies

o   Whether the applicant is an author or illustrator

•       A one-page statement of work describing how attending the conference will help your career objectives and what your current project is about.
•       In addition, writers must also provide the first 500 words of your manuscript (or full picture book manuscript of less than 500 words).
•       In addition, illustrators must provide one to three illustrations from the work in progress (no more than 5MB in size).
 
Applicants will be chosen based on how well their work promotes and contributes to diversity in children’s literature.
 
Click here to download a printable flyer for the event.

Sign up now for "Romancing the Store" Think Tank

Romancing the Store: How to Make Booksellers and Librarians Love You

Woo the people who can hand-sell and book-talk your book! Gain insights from our panel of eligible bachlorettes (all local and highly available, in this context), then spend time swapping notes and advice with your peers in an informal think tank. (Any topic whatsoever, including other launch, promotion, publishing, and career management issues, are fine in the informal portion of our event. Bring your current dilemmas.)

When? From 10 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 4.

Who? You! And panelists who will include Suzanne Perry from Secret Garden, Mary Harris from BookTree, Erin Ostrander from the King County Library System, and Deborah Sandler from the Seattle Public Library.

Where? Seattle Pacific University, Cremona Hall 102, in Seattle.

This brown-bag event is open to anyone, with PAL and Full SCBWI members receiving registration priority. Others welcome as space permits, but registration is limited based on room capacity, so don’t delay. The cost is $20 for SCBWI members or $25 for non-members.

Bring your own sack lunch or snacks if you like. We’ll provide drinks.

Interested? Sign up now using this two-part process:

1.     Enter the requested information in the form here: https://goo.gl/forms/kL3tjJzjDc74gLpc2https://goo.gl/forms/kL3tjJzjDc74gLpc2

Note that required information includes your SCBWI membership status as of March 1. (This will be confirmed, so if you need to check your renewal date or renew, do it now. Go to SCBWI.org, click Member Login, and review your profile under “About Me.” Act accordingly.)

2.     Then use snail mail to mail a check for $20 or $25 (depending on your membership status), made out to SCBWI Western WA, to Joni at 58402 114^th Street East, Enumclaw, WA 98022-7954. Alternately, you can send Joni the amount via PayPal to sensel (at) earthlink (one of those dots) net. Choose the “send to family/friends” option. (Hey, we’re friends, aren’t we?)

Registrations will be accepted based on the date of receipt of your payment. Your place will be confirmed in mid-February, and registration will close when our seating limit is reached or March 1, whichever comes first. Checks won’t be cashed until your seat is confirmed.

Questions or troubles? Email PAL coordinator Joni Sensel at the email above. And get your questions for booksellers and librarians ready!

We Want You!

Call for Workshop Presenters

SCBWI Western Washington is seeking workshop presenters for our 2017-2018 year. Our chapter holds monthly meetings from October through May, and hosts an annual conference each spring. We welcome fresh and compelling workshop ideas for any of these events!

Workshops may address topics relevant to potential attendees that include (but aren’t limited to) the craft of writing and illustrating for children, book marketing, or the latest industry trends. As a presenter, you’re expected to share information and experience, but may not use our events as a platform for commercial sales, self-promotion, political discussions, or to criticize competitors or public figures.

Workshop Categories

•         Mini-Sessions for our meetings should be approximately 30 minutes long, which includes 5- 10 minutes for questions and answers.

•         Main Programs for our meetings should be approximately 60 minutes long, which includes 10-15 minutes for questions and answers.

•         Breakout Sessions for our annual conference should be approximately 50 minutes long, which includes 5-10 minutes for questions and answers.

Presenter Benefits

•         Complimentary access to other workshops on the day of your presentation

•         Your books sold through our on-site bookstore and autographing time

•         Enhanced reputation as a knowledgeable industry resource

•         Improved profile for your organization

•         The knowledge that you’ve helped writers negotiate obstacles you had to overcome to get where you are

•         Significant discount on full conference registration (for conference presenters only)

•         Honorarium:

–   For main program presenters: $150, plus the following year of regional meeting programming. $75 if shared by two or $60 if shared by three panelists.

–   For mini-session presenters: $75, plus the following year of regional meeting programming.

$40 if shared by two or $35 if shared by three panelists.

–   For a split session of two 45 minute presentations: $100, plus the following year of regional meeting programming.

Deadline: May 22, 2017

To be considered as a workshop presenter, please complete the following application and return it to the address indicated by May 22, 2017. Your application will be reviewed by our Advisory Committee during our annual planning meeting in June. We’ll take into account your presenting history, the workshop’s relevance to the majority of our members and subscribers, and originality. We strive to balance our programs between craft, marketing, and topics of interest to the Kid Lit community, and we look for variety in speakers and topics from one year to the next.

If you are selected as a workshop presenter, we will notify you. We will only contact you if we are interested in your workshop (please don’t e-mail to inquire). Occasionally we roll over applications that have appeal but don’t work out for the current year, in which case you would hear from us during a different year to find out if you’re still interested in presenting the workshop.

Presenters of successful submissions will be required to confirm their participation within 30 days of being notified and must adhere to SCBWI Western Washington speaking policies.

Download our form in .pdf or .docx.

Best of luck!

Kathleen