Monday, September 27, 2010

Midsouth SCBWI Conference 2010


Over 120 children's book writers and illustrators plus editors, agents, an art director, contests, an art display, hot fudge... what a fabulous Midsouth SCBWI conference this weekend!

My dancing penguins in their old-fashioned attire above won Honorable Mention in the illustration contest, and my manuscript won Honorable Mention in the picture book contest. Yay!

Some of my favorite notes from the conference:

As an example of using voice in manuscripts, Ruta Rimas (Balzer & Bray) rewrote Mo Willem's DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS without voice. Basically something like, "Once there was a pigeon with big googly eyes. A mean man wouldn't let him drive a bus but the pigeon really wanted to..." Then Ruta read the actual text of the book with the pigeon pleading and yelling at us. Wow. So much more effective and playful.

"Put every word on trial for its life," from the book READING LIKE A WRITER by Francine Prose.

Is your picture book manuscript strong enough to carry an $18 price tag? - Diane Muldrow (Random House).

From the first pages session by Agents Kelly Sonnack and Linda Pratt:
Text and illustrations are a comic duo - the text is the setup man for the illustrations.
Books don't need to teach imagination to kids. They already have it!
Too much description in an action scene slows down the pacing. Keep the action building with forward momentum.
Make your reader feel smart. They shouldn't have to reread to get it.

From an art session by Patti Ann Harris (Senior Art Director, Little, Brown) and Diane Muldrow (Editorial Director, Random House):
Your character needs to be strong, winning, and loveable but not necessarily likeable.
Patti Ann will go to illustrators' websites, pull some jpgs, and print them on a sheet with the illustrator's name for her files, so you need a portfolio website.
Be yourself on your website. Don't overdo it with Flash and things that take awhile to load and are distracting.
Emotional resonance is key in illustrations.
It's all about the character. Everyone can draw a car, but not everyone can draw a character with strong personality/humor/emotion.
Mailers need to have focus, kind of like a book cover. It should grab you from across the room, and shouldn't be too busy.
Study online PDFs of catalogs from different publishers to understand the "look" of each publisher.

The only sad part of the weekend was my continued cupcake tragedy. The conference is held across the street from Gigi's Cupcakes. Last year I was pregnant and I waited until after dinner to try to satisfy my huge cupcake craving. It was too late - the cupcake shop was closed! This year I vowed to get my hands on those cupcakes before dinner, but the shop closed even earlier this year and so I didn't get them again! Next year, you cupcakes will be MINE!

12 comments:

nello said...

great illo - i think only penguins go to grand balls these days! thanks for sharing wisdom, too!

Lucy Boden Illustration said...

Your penguins are so cute and full of character! Lovely illo! :o)

Linda Hensley said...

Congrats on the honorable mention! I love the colors.

Nina Seven N7 said...

great characters and love the perspective. i can see why you got an award!

Vanessa Brantley Newton said...

Congrats, Congrats, CONGRATS!!! You are on a serious roll young Lady!! I mean first a beautiful baby and then a silver sticker and now this. God is good to YOU! he he he he he!! How fantastic is this news. Oh honey, You deserve it all and more. You do the hard work. I'm not at all surprised about you winning any award you are indeed the ROCK STAR!!!! The illustration is beautiful and has such fabulous movement and color and the subject is so imaginative indeed. Enjoy what God is doing in and through you. It's wonderful to watch.
Blessings and much happiness to you.
V

rmsmi said...

Wow! You sure can work those colors. Nice work!

psychopooch said...

Love ur penguins! Another nice illo :)

Michelle Henninger said...

Congratulations of the honorable mention wins! That's fantastic! And too bad about the cupcakes. What a bummer. Next year, you'll have to make sure you stop their first before you do anything else! (Fingers crossed that they don't go out of business before then! :) )

Great penguins!

k.h.whitaker said...

love this one, great movement

IVYALLOVER said...

oh my I love this! what great movement and perspective ♥

Tracy said...

I'm glad you had a great time at the conference! Wish I would get my butt in gear and head down ... maybe next year! Sounds like the conference was a good one. Like your penguins :)

kathy hare said...

Such a beautiful illustration..