FingerPrints

Member Book Signing: Marilyne Cizmich

Join Marilyne as she signs her new book, Sonia, the Church Cat (Tate Publishing, Mustang, OK).

Date: Sunday, October 5, 2008

Time: 2 - 4 p.m.

Location: Borders, 11745 IH-10W (Huebner Oaks), San Antonio, TX

For more information about this book or event, please email Marilyne (mcizmich [at] stx [dot] rr [dot] com).

Hope to see you there!

Meeting Summary: September 20, 2008

Saturday's meeting of SCBWI-SWTX was filled with information for chapter members and visitors alike, who, despite challenging closures on Loop 410, arrived ready to participate. Topics included creative tools for picture book writers and illustrators, our chapter's new B.I.C. Club and volunteer positions available in our chapter.

Through the Looking Glass

Illustrator Heather Powers (also our Regional Advisor) walked us through the process and purpose of creating a "dummy" picture book, a mock-up used to give an editor an idea of a picture book's pacing, visual flow, and text placement. Heather also presented storyboarding as an invaluable planning tool for picture book writers and illustrators.

Articles referenced:

Words, Wisdom, Art & Heart: Making a Picture-Book Cookie by Cheryl Klein, Senior Editor, Arthur A Levine Books

Dummies for Smarties by Sarah S. Brannen

An Illustrator's Guide to Creating a Picture Book by Meghan McCarthy

Successful Storyboards and Dynamic Dummies by Karen Lee

Storyboard templates from Elizabeth Dulemba:

Blank Storyboard Template

Sample Storyboard: Paco and the Giant Chile Plant

 

 The B.I.C. Club

If you're new to the term, B.I.C. stands for Butt In Chair, a no-nonsense, no-excuses, let's-get-down-to-business approach to writing. After all, very few of us are equipped to write our books standing up (or doing laundry or vacuuming or checking last night's game scores)!

Beginning in October, SCBWI-SWTX will meet monthly as the B.I.C. Club. Meetings will be centered around critique groups (see call for group leaders below), through which members can gain the constructive feedback necessary to polish their work for submission. 

Our next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, October 18, 2008, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Beginning with this meeting, our chapter will meet at the University of the Incarnate Word, 4301 Broadway in San Antonio.

Critique Group Leaders

These folks will lead monthly critique sessions during our B.I.C Club meetings for small groups of 4-5 participants. Critique group topics may include Illustration, Picture Books, Easy/Beginning Readers, Middle Grade, and Young Adult.

 

Email Heather Powers (humblearts at sbcglobal dot net) if you'd like to be a critique group leader.

March Meeting

March 15, 2008 - SCBWI Southwest Texas Book Fair at Barnes & Nobles*
Join us for a fundraising event all day on Saturday, March 15th.  Use the special SCBWI vouchers and a percentage of each sale goes to our SCBWI chapter!

10:00 am -12:00 am     Special guest speaker Madeline Smoot, editorial director from Blooming Tree Press will present "Working with the Small Press."

Madeline Smoot loves to read -- she routinely reads up to 3 books a day -- so she decided to pursue a career that allows her to read as much as possible. As the Editorial Director of the Children's Division at Blooming Tree Press and the Publisher at Children's Brains are Yummy Books, Madeline pursues all types of children's books and genres. You can visit her musings at http://cbaybooks.blogspot.com

1:00 pm-3:00 pm     12 Steps to Publication with Peggy Caravantes (RSVP required)
Are you new to writing, have a thousand questions to ask, wondering how and where to get your book published? This is the session for you. Peggy will cover all the "Nuts and Bolts" basics on writing for children with tips on cover letters, professional submissions, manuscript format, query letters, etc. www.peggycaravantes.com

*Both events are free and open to the public.  But please RSVP for the 12 Steps to Publication for your handouts.  Email Heather at humblearts@sbcglobal.net to reserve your packet.

Barnes & Noble

321 Northwest Loop 410 (across from Northstar mall)

Upcoming Events - April

Poetry Workshop this weekend with author Ellen Hopkins.  The workshop runs from 10 - 12pm at Borders bookstore in the Quarry Shopping Center.  This event is free and open to the public.  Ellen will sign books after the workshop.

TLA Conference is in San Antonio this week at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, downtown.  The exhibit hall is worth checking out.  You can purchase an exhibit hall only pass for $20 for the weekend.  Hours are 10-5 today and Saturday.  Publishers from all the country have booths there, see what's in print now, purchase books and you might even meet an author or two.  The Texas SCBWI chapters have two booths at the event!

The Book Fairy at the SCBWI booth in the Exhibit Hall.

Inspiration Monday 11/13

For those of you who attended the conference, I'm sure you are already bubbling over with inspiration.  For everyone else who needs a little push in the right direction here are some useful links and great upcoming events.

Cynthea Liu's Crash Course for Children's Writers.

Janee Trasler's questions to ask an art rep.

Upcoming Events:

11/16 - Rick Riordan will be signing books this Thursday at 7pm at the Barnes & Nobles on San Pedro.

11/16 - Illustrators Critique Group will meet at the Barnes & Nobles on DeZavala at 7 pm.  They will meet in the coffee shop. 

11/18 - Brazos Valley has a few spots left in their picture book workshop with Dianna Aston.

Inspiration Monday 11/06

Don't not wait for your muse, make time to create or write each day.  Success is in perspiration, not inspiration!

The SCBWI Illinois Chapter's newsletter is filled with great articles and tips.

For Illustrators - check out the Comic Strip Artist's Kit on Drawn!

Annual Winter Conference in New York, registration is now open.

Our Fall Conference is this weekend!  Space is now limited, if you want to register I recommend registering online to guarantee your spot. 

Inspiration Monday 10/30

I hope you start your week with your creative goals in mind.  What do you want to accomplish this week?  Break your goal down into smaller steps to complete the tasks that have been on your to-do list for way to long!  Set aside time everyday to write or create.  Even sketching or journaling for 15 minutes a day will get you moving in the right direction. 

Helpful Links:

Here is a collection of articles On writing nonfiction for kids.

Want to write for kid's magazines? Articles, interviews with editors and art directors and an index of magazine submission guidelines can be found here.

Articles from artist's rep Chris Tugeau offers advice for illustrators building their portfolios.

Our conference is quickly approaching, sign up today. 

Inspiration Monday 10/23

It's Inspiration Monday, here is your weekly dose of articles, books and links:

Polish up those picture books:

http://www.underdown.org/mf-editors-picture-books.htm

Inspiration for writers:

http://www.underdown.org/mf-inspiration.htm

Basic guidelines for illustrating greeting cards:

http://www.greetingcard.org/pdf/GCA_Artist_Guidelines.pdf

This weekend at the Austin SCBWI Conference Bruce Coville recommended The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler.  Coville spoke on how he uses classical story structure as the basis of his fantasy writing.  To read a review of the conference visit Cynthia Leitich Smith's blog.

Inspiration Monday

Here are a few links to keep you moving in the right direction:

A treasure trove of articles and transcripts from the Institute of Children's Literature, in a topical index.

Illustrators - want a fun challenge?  Try the Black & Orange Contest.

Good books:

"What's Your Story?" by Marion Dane Bauer is written for young adult writers, but is very informative for new writers of any age.  I read it this weekend and felt like I took a crash course in the basics of writing for children. 

(Marion is one of our keynote speakers for our upcoming conference.  Don't miss it!)

"Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print" by Renni Browne.  Has come highly recommend by several authors/instructors.

Find time to create this week, your soul will thank you!

September/October Issue of Fingerprints

Welcome to the September/October issue of Fingerprints, the bi-monthly newsletter for the Southwest Texas Chapter of the SCBWI.

Special thanks to our newsletter editor Lynnette Gonzales and artwork from Heather Powers.

Finding your way around

You can simply scroll down and read the entire newsletter or you can follow these links to find just what you are looking for:

Regional Advisor's Letter

Featured Member: Lupe Ruiz-Flores

Member News

Updates

Critique Groups

Illustrator's Corner

Upcoming Events

Contests and Grants