Writing and Illustrating for Kids '07
16th Annual Fall Conference
October 20, 2007
Birmingham, AL

Spain Park High School

Conference Schedule

(CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2007
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Dessert Party FREE at Drury Inn. All invited - faculty, too!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2007
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. - Registration / Morning Mingle / Bookstore

8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Welcome / Announce 2007 Writing & Illustrating Contests Winners! See all illustration entries throughout the day in the cafeteria.

9:00 - 9:35 a.m. - LARRY ROSLER Keynote Address - Writing is Believing / Announcements

10-MINUTE BREAK

9:45 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. SESSION 1
1a) DIANNE HAMILTON - A Professional Beginning - Learn how to give your writing a professional look even if you are just beginning your writing career. Briefly explains query and synopsis. For beginning writers.
1b) MARK McVEIGH - From Submission to Acquisition - Learn to stand out and escape the slush by shaping your submission to meet a house's needs. Discuss protocol, things to avoid, basic timeline, and more with an Editorial Director.
1c) EDWARD NECARSULMER IV - Writing a Great Query Letter - A query letter about you and your manuscript must say it all and say it well. Learn from a top agent how to craft a query that catches a contract.
1d) ELIZABETH PARISI - Book Design Trials and Tribulations - Go behind-the-scenes with an Art Director to discuss the mutations that some high-profile YA novels and picture books went through before completion - sketches, thought processes, kill fees, and more.
1e) LIONEL BENDER - Who's Hiring? Book Packagers! - Learn about international book packaging, a great source of work for nonfiction writers and illustrators, and why many nonfiction books in the US are produced by UK companies like BRW.
1f) MARY ANN RODMAN - That Telling Detail - They say that genius is in the details, but how does a writer choose which details to include? Improve your novels through creative and careful use of description.
1g) ROBERT KITTINGER - Creating a Web Presence - Use the latest free web 2.O applications to expand your presence on the web beyond your website. Harness the power of wikis, blogs, and social networking sites.
15-MINUTE BREAK

10:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. SESSION 2
2a) LARRY ROSLER - Picture This - Discover how picture books are created at Boyds Mills Press, from how manuscripts are selected as to style, structure, and content through the acquisition process and beyond.
2b) MARK McVEIGH - Working with a Big Publisher: Navigating the Tricky Process - Discover the do's and don'ts for working with an editor, especially with a large publisher, in submitting manuscripts and during the revision process. Be ready when an editor says "yes."
2c) EDWARD NECARSULMER IV - A Book From Start to Finish - Hear how an agent and client work together step by step to guide a book from manuscript to publication. What can you do to make the process go smoothly?
2d) ELIZABETH PARISI - Portfolios that Pop - Learn how to make the best possible impression with your portfolio from an Executive Art Director, who has seen a lot of portfolios in almost 20 years in publishing.
2e) LIONEL BENDER - BRW's Creative Team - Bender Richardson White creates about 70 illustrated nonfiction titles yearly through teamwork. Open your eyes to a different method of working, and learn how it might help you get more work.
2f) MARY ANN RODMAN - So Where Do You Get Your Ideas? - Keep your fountain of creativity flowing and your idea file full. Learn to operate your Writer Radar and utilize the Crockpot Method of story creation so everything becomes source material.
2g) SHELLI JOHANNES-WELLS - Remarkable Marketing - Dazzling marketing materials are crucial for writers and illustrators. Learn secrets of marketing tips, what works and what doesn't, and inexpensive ways to create brochures, newsletters, and web sites.
2h) LYNN CULLEN - Learning It the Hard Way - Using the rejections as well as the acceptances gathered in 15 years of publication, Lynn Cullen shares her insights about increasing the chances of success for a historical fiction manuscript.

11:30 a.m. - 12:15 noon - Lunch/Bookstore/Announcements
12:15 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. - Autograph Party & Portfolio Showcase - Authors and illustrators participating must fill out Book Sales Form and return it with registration. Forms DUE Sept. 15, 2007.

15-MINUTE BREAK

1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. SESSION 3
3a) LARRY ROSLER - Imagination Workshop - A writer's imagination is a well of creativity that must be drawn from continually. Learn to develop the imagination to its fullest, and be more sensitive to story and character.
3b) MARK McVEIGH - (Repeat of 1b) - Submission to Acquisition
3c) EDWARD NECARSULMER IV - (Repeat of 1c) - Writing a Great Query Letter
3d) ELIZABETH PARISI - The All-Important Cover - Part 1 (Participants Must Register for Parts 1 & 2) Cover art should attract the reader and represent the content successfully, a challenging task even for established artists. Choose one assignment - in any media, create a picture book cover for Happy School Year! OR middle-grade cover art for 10 Ways to Make My Sister Disappear - and bring it to this two-part workshop to discuss with an Art Director what distinguishes a good cover from a great cover. (Manuscripts will be emailed to those who preregister for this workshop.)
3e) LIONEL BENDER - (Repeat of 1e) - Who's Hiring? Book Packagers!
3f) MARY ANN RODMAN - Picture Books 101 - Learn the "rules" of picture book writing, and how to successfully break them, from the 2006 winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding picture book text. Especially for beginning writers.
3g) MARY ANN TAYLOR - Mystery Writing with a Historical Twist - Learn what sets a mystery apart from other fictional stories, especially stories set in the past, and coin a plot from just one word using Mary Ann's Mystery Wheel.
15-MINUTE BREAK

2:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. SESSION 4
4a) LARRY ROSLER - Picture Books: The Do's and Don'ts - Examine the common errors that writers make in picture book manuscripts, and learn how to avoid them, with the Editorial Director of Boyds Mills Press.
4b) MARK McVEIGH - (Repeat of 2b) - Working with a Big Publisher: Navigating the Tricky Process
4c) EDWARD NECARSULMER IV - (Repeat of 2c) - A Book From Start to Finish
4d) ELIZABETH PARISI - (Part 2 of 3d) The All-Important Cover
4e) LIONEL BENDER - (Repeat of 2e) - BRW's Creative Team
4f) MARY ANN RODMAN - School Visits Without Fear - School visits can be fun, or frightful. Learn the basics of school visits - how to get them, how to plan them, and how to connect with your biggest fans...kids!
4g) SUSAN ROSSON SPAIN - Real Characters, Real Voices - Editors and agents say the one thing they want most in a manuscript is voice. Learn what it takes to make your character's voice engaging, real, and unique.
15-MINUTE BREAK

3:00 p.m. - 3:35 p.m. MARK MCVEIGH & EDWARD NECARSULMER IV - The Art of Negotiation - Be a "fly on the wall" as an editor and agent engage in the mock negotiation of a contract, from presentation of the manuscript to signing on the dotted line.

3:35 p.m. - 3:50 p.m. - Door Prizes / Farewell

10-MINUTE BREAK

4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. - Manuscript & Portfolio Critiques - Formal (classrooms) & Informal (cafeteria)
Formal Marketing Package Critiques also available. (Click for explaination and see below)
Preregistation required for all Formal Critiques.

5:30 p.m. - Conference Ends

Back to main 2007 Fall Conference page

To request a marketing package review, check the appropriate box on your registration; include the $40 fee; and send any business card, brochure, biography, etc. that you use, together with print-outs of your web pages, to arrive no later than September 15, to:

Southern Breeze - PO Box 26282 - Birmingham AL 35260