Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/09/2018 - 11/10/2018
8:00 am - 4:45 pm
Location
Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport
1111 Airport Boulevard PO Box 12420 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15231
Category(ies)
Friday, November 9, 2018
6:00-10:00 pm: Writer’s and Illustrator’s Intensives
Saturday, November 10, 2018
8:00 am-4:45 pm: Workshop sessions and panel discussion
Saturday only conference (limited to 200):
Member registration September 6-November 2, 2018: $150
Non-member registration October 1-November 2, 2018: $190
Friday evening intensives (limited to 32 participants, available for Saturday conference attendees only): $35
Member registration September 6-November 2, 2018 (must register for Saturday conference)
Non-member registration October 1-November 2, 2018 (must register for Saturday conference)
Friday evening consultations (limited to 20 participants, available for Saturday conference attendees only): $40
Member registration September 6-November 2, 2018 (must register for Saturday conference)
Non-member registration October 1-November 2, 2018 (must register for Saturday conference)
Manuscript critique or portfolio review: $60
Critiques are post-conference and written-only
Critiques from PAL members will also be available
Critiques are available exclusively for Saturday conference attendees
Space is limited
Friday evening intensives
Intensive attendees will have the opportunity to network with faculty and other attendees during the Friday evening Mixer, pitch their project in a fun, live Twitter pitch session, and talk with faculty about the subject of their choice.
Pitch Party
All attendees will get to pitch their project to the attendees and faculty either using 140 characters or showing a promotional postcard. Modeled after the Twitter #PBPitch, but not limited to just picture books. Faculty will give a quick yes-or-no response to each pitch, simulating a “Like” on Twitter. To read more about #PBPitch events, please see http://www.pbpitch.com.
Round Tables
Workshop attendees will be divided into tables of eight participants and one faculty member and will have one session of eight minutes to discuss with the agent or editor anything they want. During your eight minutes, other participants at the table will not be commenting, but are welcome to take notes. Your eight minutes can include your reading part of a work-in-progress, a query or a pitch. If you’re an illustrator you can discuss a promo piece, a dummy, a work-in-progress or a portfolio. You can spend your eight minutes just asking the faculty questions. But you’re not limited to these suggestions. Just remember you need to leave enough time for the faculty member to give feedback or answer your questions!
Friday evening consultations
(Best suited for PAL members)
Conference attendees who register for a consultation will have the opportunity to network with faculty and other attendees during the Friday evening Mixer and will receive a personalized, 18-minute, one-on-one social media and/or marketing consultation with one of our SCBWI PAL (Published and Listed) members. Your time slot will be assigned to you prior to the conference. You may choose to attend the intensive and also receive a consultation, but you will be required to leave the intensive for 20 minutes to attend your consultation session.
Information sessions
SCBWI volunteers will conduct four information sessions between 11:00 and 11:45 on Saturday. Session locations will be in your conference folder.
| PAL Members | Stephanie Keyes and Carrie DiRisio |
| New Members | Michelle Vattula |
| Writing Groups and Critiquing | Doug Rosensteel |
| Bookstore Events | Stefanie Hohl and Penguin Bookshop |
Schedule
Friday, |
November 9 |
| 6:00-7:00 pm | Mixer and registration |
| 6:40-10:00 pm | Consultations |
| 7:15-8:30 pm | Pitch Party |
| 8:45-10:00 pm | Round Tables |
|
|
|
Saturday, |
November 10 |
| 8:00-8:30 am | Registration |
| 8:30-10:45 am | Session 1 |
| 11:00-11:45 am | Information session Faculty portfolio review |
| 12:00-1:30 am | Lunch and Q&A |
| 1:45-4:00 pm | Session 2 |
| 4:15-4:45 pm | Critique sign-up |
Faculty bios and workshop descriptions
Stephanie Fretwell-Hill
Agent: Red Fox Literary
Stephanie Fretwell-Hill is a literary agent with a sales and editorial background. After starting her career in foreign rights at Walker Books in the UK, Stephanie moved home to the US as an acquiring editor at Peachtree Publishers. In 2016, she joined Red Fox Literary where she represents authors and illustrators of fiction and nonfiction picture books, middle grade, and YA. Some of her clients include Christina Soontornvat, Beth Anderson, Michael Belanger, Brad Sneed, and Anne Lambelet. Stephanie lives in North Carolina with her English husband, two very small daughters, and a rescued border collie.
Twitter: @SFretwellHill
Morning breakout: Complex characters for complex readers: crafting memorable characters in MG and YA fiction (for middle-grade and YA writers)
Why do some characters stay with readers long after the book has closed? In this session, we will look at techniques for creating and writing character details to help your MG or YA story come to life. Some of the topics we will cover include your characters’ wants, needs, and flaws; how to use setting, POV, dialogue, and plot to create richer characters; and techniques for revealing character effectively. There will be ample time for questions during this two hour session.
Afternoon breakout: Small people are complex too!: crafting memorable characters in picture books (for picture book writers and illustrators)
Why do some characters stay with readers long after the book has closed? In this session, we will look at techniques for creating and writing character details to help your picture book come to life. Some of the topics we will cover include finding inspiration; how to use voice, dialogue, and plot to create richer characters; and techniques for revealing character effectively (including through artwork). There will be ample time for questions during this two hour session.
Samantha Gentry
Assistant Editor: Crown Books for Young Readers/Random House Children’s Books
Samantha Gentry, Assistant Editor, Crown Books for Young Readers, Random House Children’s Books, PRH. During her time at Crown, Samantha has worked closely with Emily Easton and many of her authors, including Morris Award winner Jeff Zentner, New York Times bestselling authors Danica McKellar, Megan Miranda, and Raymond Arroyo, as well as Jazz Jennings and Scott Kelly. While open to books for all ages, she is particularly interested in high concept commercial YA fiction with a strong and distinctive narrative voice, diverse perspectives, and a touch of romance-particularly, edgy contemporary stories that tackle tough issue teens face in an authentic way, and OWN voices projects across all genres. Voice-driven middle grade fiction with unforgettable characters, a friendship story at its core, interesting family dynamics, and a touch of magical realism.
Twitter: @Sam_Gentry24
Morning and Afternoon breakouts: The Art of Building Your Author Platform (for both PB and MG/YA)
Learn the ins and outs of how to build your author platform and author brand—whether you’re looking to be represented by an agent or looking to be published. Having a platform and making connections in the industry is incredibly important to editors when they are reviewing your work. Show them that you are poised and ready to be an incredible self-promoter! The workshop will offer helpful tips, real life examples from rock star self-promoter authors, and a Q&A.
Susan Graham
Associate Agent: Einstein Literary Management
Susan Graham grew up in Texas, attended graduate school in Boston, and then moved to NYC to make her way in publishing. As an agent, she represents children’s and young adult in all genres, adult SFF, and graphic novels across all age categories. She’s particularly interested in building a robust list of illustrators.
Twitter: @grahamophones
Morning breakout: The Sign Is the Clown (for picture book writers and illustrators)
What makes something funny? How does your audience know? Looking at different ways to make jokes within the limitations of formats. (Geared toward picture books and graphic novels.)
Afternoon breakout: The Sign Is the Clown (for middle-grade and YA writers)
What makes something funny? How does your audience know? Looking at different ways to make jokes within the limitations of formats. (Geared toward MG and YA.)
Charlotte Wenger
Associate Children’s Editor: Page Street Publishing
Charlotte Wenger is an associate editor at Page Street Kids. She grew up in Pennsylvania and Virginia, and studied theatre and English in undergrad at Eastern Mennonite University. After college, she worked for a Philadelphia-based publishing services company until moving to Boston, where she earned her MA in Children’s Literature from Simmons College. Prior to joining Page Street, she worked as an editorial intern with literary agent Rubin Pfeffer. When she’s not editing or reading, you can find her enjoying local restaurants and concerts, exploring New England outside the city, and randomly breaking into song.
Twitter: @WilbursBF_Char
Morning breakout: Giving Characters Life and Voice (for picture book writers and illustrators)
What makes a story character-driven? How can you get your characters to jump off the page? What elements create a successful character with a distinct voice? Utilizing techniques and examples from both theatre acting and children’s literature, we’ll explore these questions and unpack tools to build rich characters with standout voices and unique personalities.
Afternoon breakout: Giving Characters Life and Voice (for middle-grade and YA writers)
What makes a story character-driven? How can you get your characters to jump off the page? What elements create a successful character with a distinct voice? Utilizing techniques and examples from both theatre acting and children’s literature, we’ll explore these questions and unpack tools to build rich characters with standout voices and unique personalities.
Linda Camacho
Agent: Gallt & Zacker Literary
Linda graduated from Cornell with a B.S. in Communication and has held various positions at Penguin Random House, Dorchester, Simon and Schuster, and Writers House literary agency until she ventured into agenting at Prospect. She’s done everything from foreign rights to editorial to marketing to operations. Linda received her MFA in creative writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Now at Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency, Linda continues to work in both the children’s and adult categories.
Twitter: @lindarandom
Linda will be giving post-conference critiques only.
Carrie DiRisio
Author
Carrie DiRisio is a #pitchwars mentee, a social media sensation with 50,000 followers on Twitter, and the traditionally published author of Brooding YA Hero: Becoming a Main Character (Almost) as Awesome as Me. She has a master’s degree in digital marketing from the University of Pittsburgh, and has previously worked in marketing for multiple publishers.
Twitter: @Writer_Carrie
Social Media
A session with Carrie will provide you with a social media audit of your “homes” online, a personalized checklist of areas to work on to meet your goal (sales, connections, etc), and a Q&A session for you. Please provide up to five social media places such as your twitter, your blog, or your website for Carrie to study prior to the session. Session can be specifically tailored to questions about online pitch contests if interested.
Stephanie Keyes
Author
Stephanie Keyes is a 2018 International Book Awards finalist who writes ya fantasy. Her Star Child series [Inkspell Publishing] has topped the Amazon bestseller lists several times. She’s an international speaker, teacher, freelance instructional and graphic designer, and also an adjunct faculty member at the Community College of Allegheny County. She also writes adult romance as Gemma McKay.
Twitter: @StephanieKeyes
Marketing
Need to do something about marketing yourself, but don’t know what? Have your books already been published and you don’t know where to begin building a brand? Is the whole “marketing” area gray and murky? Pre-requisite for this consultation: you must either be previously traditionally published or have begun to build some presence as an author (i.e. already have a webpage or are on at least one social media platform).
There are a limited number of room reservations at the Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport available at these event rates:
• Single $122.00
• Double $122.00
• Triple $147.00
• Quad $172.00
UPDATE: Rates are per night and are now available through October 31, 2018. Please follow this link to reserve your room: Hyatt Pittsburgh reservations
Parking will be available at the airport for the conference rate of $5. You’ll get a voucher at the conference.
All illustrators attending the conference are invited to share their portfolio with faculty and fellow attendees. Please follow the “Portfolio Displays” link below for more information.
Please read the information included in the following links prior to registering:
IMPORTANT WORKSHOP INFORMATION!!! PLEASE READ: Conference information
Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport Floor Plan
DOs and DON’Ts of Conference Etiquette
You must select the “Saturday Conference” option under “Ticket information”
for your registration to work.
DO NOT CLICK THE “CONTINUE” BUTTON UNTIL
YOU’VE MADE ALL WORKSHOP SELECTIONS.
If you encounter problems during registration,
DO NOT CONTINUE UNTIL THE PROBLEM IS CORRECTED.
Email Nora at wpa-ic@scbwi.org.
DO NOT EMAIL ELIZABETH OR MARCY ABOUT
REGISTRATION PROBLEMS!!!
YOUR RESPONSE WILL BE DELAYED
AS THEY CANNOT FIX REGISTRATION ISSUES.
You will receive an automated message confirming your registration. DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE.
If you need more information, please use these emails:
• For registration problems: wpa-ic@scbwi.org (Nora)
• For general conference questions: wpa@scbwi.org (Marcy) or wpa-ara@scbwi.org (Elizabeth)
As an SCBWI member, you can check that your registration is correct:
Log in to the SCBWI page
Click on the “My Home” button on the top right
Click on the “Event History” link on the left
Click the “View Registration Confirmation” link beside the fall conference listing
Bookings
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