When I think about the past few months of SCBWI activity, the cliché whirling dervish comes to mind. There was the writers’ workshop with the wonderful Donna Jo Napoli in December and the recently concluded annual conference (report/photos below), with the weeks of preparation and the publicity activities that event entails. In addition, we’ve planned a free member meeting on Saturday, April 28, that features a Skype visit with a very special author—see below for details—and a book signing event on Saturday, May 12, during National Children’s Book Week.

Is that all, you ask? No, not by a long shot! We’ve already booked two stars of the children’s book world for next year’s conference. And, based on suggestions from attendees, we’re planning a few tweaks to the event to make it even better. And as you read this newsletter you’ll note some changes, including articles on writing and illustrating that will be ongoing features.

In addition, we are saying aloha and mahalo to both Sue Cowing and to Cynthia Surrisi, as Sue steps down from her position as Regional Advisor and transitions into Regional Advisor Emeritus (see below) and Cynthia becomes Assistant Regional Advisor.

As always, we appreciate your suggestions for how we can better help you pursue your children’s book dreams.

Lynne Wikoff, Regional Advisor

Goodbye and Hello

By Sue Cowing, RAE

Has it really been ten years since Lynne and I agreed to become co-Regional Advisors for SCBWI, setting off into the jungle without a compass? The calendar says so, and now I’m taking a moment to look back as I step down and leave the region in the capable hands of Lynne and our new Assistant Regional Advisor, Cynthia Surrisi.

Despite a number of perks, Regional Advisor is a volunteer position, and one that requires maintaining your balance. You’re there because you want to help, but you can easily spend so much time organizing and administering and emailing that you neglect your own work. A major reason I’m stepping down as co-RA now is that a third activity, promotion of my debut novel, is requiring far more time and creative energy than I imagined, and I am finding very little time to write. I know some Regional Advisors around the country manage to do their jobs and turn out acclaimed novels almost every year, maybe even teach a little on the side, but I am not one of them.

Here comes the hello part. I’ve just morphed into something called Regional Advisor Emeritus. I will continue to lend support and advice (when asked) to Lynne and Cynthia and continue to take part in every regional event. I urge all Hawaii members to do the same. I can honestly say that almost every good thing that has happened for my writing in the last ten years has been a direct or indirect result of being active in SCBWI. I think Lynne will agree with me that we ourselves have learned and benefitted greatly from the same opportunities we have organized for you. Truly, the more active you become, the more you grow and benefit.

Lynne and I didn’t know what the heck we were doing years ago, or how to go about it, but we did have a clear vision from the beginning of how best to serve the children’s writers and illustrators in this relatively isolated region. We needed to emphasize craft, since the nearest instruction in writing or illustration for children is more than two thousand miles away. We needed to inform ourselves and our members about the publishing business, since regional and mainland practices and demands vary so greatly. And we needed to encourage a friendly, supportive community of children’s book creators, both published and yet-to-be-published.

Those goals are still very much in place. If you take advantage of your SCBWI membership by participating as fully as you can in your region, I believe you won’t regret it.

Hello 2 – Introducing Cynthia Surrisi

Our new Assistant Regional Advisor is Cynthia Surrisi. Cynthia brings to her role an abundance of enthusiasm, ideas, and energy, and she’ll make a great contribution to our region.

By way of introduction, Cynthia writes, “I started my writing life with a BFA with a concentration in theatre (including study in children’s theatre and playwriting). I then took a dizzying 28-year detour into the practice of law. Beginning about six years ago, the call to return to fine arts became so strong that I became active in SCBWI-HI, went to many conferences, worked with some wonderful freelance editors and writing teachers, retired from practicing law and applied to the Vermont College of Fine Arts, where I am currently enrolled in the MFA Program for Writing for Children and Young Adults. I have a poem scheduled for publication later in 2012 in Stories for Children Magazine.”

Welcome, Cynthia!

2012 Conference Report

Forty-six people attended this year’s annual conference held on February 25, including four people from neighbor islands and four from out of state. Editor Kendra Levin from Viking Children’s Books spoke on the current state of children’s books and about Viking, led a breakout session on character development (which included writing exercises), and critiqued several manuscripts and portfolios. Author-illustrator Peter Brown presented a terrific session for the full group on nurturing creativity, led a breakout for illustrators, and did several critiques. Both Kendra and Peter participated in a first pages/first look session, as did last-minute addition to our program John Ritter, the “baseball novelist” who was a featured speaker at last year’s conference.  (We had twice as many critiques as we’d expected—one of those fabled “good” problems—and John graciously agreed to take on several of them and fly over from Kauai, where he lives, to do the critiques in person.) John also spoke during lunch, encouraging people to keep growing in their skills.

The Friday pre-conference picture book workshop with Peter was a big hit with the 14 writers and illustrators who attended. Scott Goto’s article below gives the details.

See some of the action in these wonderful photos taken by member Ilima Loomis.

Viking Children's Books editor Kendra Levin chats with a conference-goer during a break.

Novelist John Ritter speaks on perseverance during lunch... A selection of books by conference presenters was available for purchase from Barnes & Noble.

Cynthia Surrisi, Sue Cowing and Lynne Wikoff celebrate another successful conference. …and conference-goers gain inspiration from John’s talk. Conference-goers got a chance to make new connections and catch up with old friends.

When Is a Manuscript Ready to Submit?

By Cynthia Surrisi

The 2012 SCBWI-HI conference is history. As usual, our guest editor, Kendra Levin, invited attendees to submit a manuscript to her. As isn’t usual, she stipulated that we wait four months before submitting. Yes, four months. As Kendra explained, she wanted us to “take that time to review your work based on what you’ve learned at the conference.”

Words to the wise… The most frequent reason a manuscript is rejected is that it isn’t “done”—meaning it’s not the writer’s very best effort. So, how do you know when a manuscript is ready to submit?

Consider that Hemingway made 39 full manuscript revisions to Farewell to Arms. If Papa Hemingway reworked his story that much before he deemed it “ready,” shouldn’t we make sure our own work is as polished as it can be before we submit it? We may not be Hemingway, but regardless of where we are in our writing career, our work can benefit by review for the following issues:

*Identify when narrative can be converted to action—the “show don’t tell” improvement.

*Do a character inventory. Read the manuscript with only one character in mind at a time to be sure that each character and his/her arc is carefully crafted, that he/she is fully developed, and that there is neither too little nor too much backstory.

*Check point of view for consistency and appropriate language and tense.

*Check for proportion—appropriate balance among the story elements.

*Check dialogue mechanics. Are you using “said” as an attribution most of the time (generally preferred) or have you peppered the manuscript with no-no’s such as“Sit by me,” she smiled/grinned/shrugged. (Note that you cannot smile, grin or shrug words.)

*Count your beats per scene. (A beat is an action and a reaction.) A good goal is a minimum of two beats per scene.

*Check the amount of white space. Are your paragraphs too long or too dense? Do you vary between exposition and dialogue? The current trend is for plenty of white space per page.

*Be sure your time line makes sense—no eight-day weeks or six-week months, for example. (Allowing of course, that science fiction has the liberty to violate the time–space continuum.)

When you’ve done all that, read the whole thing out loud to someone, or have someone read it to you—sometimes you can hear an error you can’t see because you are too close to it.

These are only a few of many helpful revision techniques found in craft books. Find one that speaks to you and helps you see your work in a fresh way so you can give yourself the very best chance for publication. Be aware that following these recommendations can seem difficult at first, or even overwhelming, but stick with it—you’ll be glad you did

Taking the Challenge By Scott Goto Doing something challenging is one of the best ways to develop your skills, and at the recent SCBWI-Hawaii conference, I had an opportunity to do just that. Participants in illustrator/author Peter Brown’s workshop the day before the conference were asked to create a wordless picture book. Doesn’t sound too difficult since one of the basic rules of picture book illustration is that the art should be able to tell a story without the words. However, we were assigned to create a story only 8 pages long. 8 pages? Now this would be challenging for me. How do you create something with impact and meaning in only 8 pages? David Weisner’s award-winning wordless picture book Flotsam is 40 pages long! I won’t even go into how difficult it was writing the story in my head, but it was a struggle and took a very, very long time. I was hoping that once the story was finished, the illustration portion would go a lot faster. Unfortunately, no. It was just as difficult trying to create something meaningful visually within the restriction of 8 pages as it was to write it. And I was determined to stick to 8 pages. Cheating in a workout doesn’t make you stronger!

Ilima Loomis's profile photo Ilima Loomis Author/illustrator Peter Brown leads a picture book intensive workshop on Feb. 24, 2012, in Honolulu. Photo by Ilima Loomis.

While I have always stressed the importance of composition in my work, I was put to the test with this exercise, finding that it was vital to keep the story moving forward. I was also forced to rethink the expressions and body language of my figures, to see how they could both convey emotion and influence the reader to turn the page. Again, these are basic principles of picture book illustration, but their importance was hammered home with the 8-page restriction. If you ever feel like you’re in a rut or if you just want to try something different, I’d highly recommend doing Peter’s 8-page exercise—whether you’re an illustrator or a writer. It’s a great opportunity to reevaluate all you know and strengthen and further develop your skills.

The following people have joined SCBWI since the beginning of the year.  Welcome aboard!

Oahu: Cyrus Camp, Natasha Fisher, Jim Hildenbrand, Nikki Lund, Wendy Miyake, Cindy Shyne, Eileen Wacker

Big Island: Gale Bates, Sandy Cameli

April 28

Free member meeting  — 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Come and mingle with “your people”; enjoy a Skype visit with Linda Sue Park, renowned author of both novels and picture books; and participate in critique groups.  (For critiques, bring four copies of no more than five pages of your work; if you’re an illustrator, bring samples.) We have a number of new members, and if there’s enough interest we’ll also provide a session on “The ABCs of Writing for Kids.”  Join us at Sue Cowing’s house in Niu; bring your lunch and we’ll supply drinks and dessert. To sign up, email Sue at niuiki@hawaiiantel.net, and also let her know whether you’re interested in “the ABCs of Writing for Kids,” and what kind of work you’ll be bringing for the critique groups—picture book, novel, illustrations. Directions provided to those who sign up.

May 5-6

Hawaii Book and Music Festival – 10 a.m.-5 p.m. each day on the Civic Center grounds; free parking.  For more information see www.hawaiibookandmusicfestival.com

May 12

Activities and Book Signings with SCBWI Authors in Celebration of National Children’s Book Week.  11 a.m-12 noon at Barnes & Noble Kahala Mall

June 21-23

Children’s Literature Hawaii 16^th Biennial Conference:  “Where Pictures Speak and Stories Paint”

Hawaii’s own James Rumford has been chosen as featured illustrator, the conference’s first Hawaii-based headliner. He will give keynote talks, lead professional sessions, and conduct a workshop for teen artists; an exhibit of his work is also being planned. Jim joins the ranks of past distinguished guests, including Jerry Pinckney, Barry Moser, Brian Selznick, José Aruego, Tomie dePaola, and Trina Shart Hyman. The conference’s featured author is Pam Munoz Ryan, winner of multiple awards, who will also give keynotes and professional sessions and will conduct a workshop for teen writers.

This year’s Honolulu event will be held at Chaminade University because of construction at its usual site, the UH Campus Center. As always, it’s free and open to the public. Several people with SCBWI–Hawaii connections will also present sessions: Tammy Yee will tackle the important question “But Is It A Picture Book?”; Scott Goto will put on an illustrator’s “reality show”; and Sue Cowing will talk about humor in middle-grade fiction.

A mini-version of the conference will be presented on Maui on June 20.

For more information, http://childrensliteraturehawaii.org (conference program will be posted soon) or email CLH@hawaii.edu.

August 3-6

Annual SCBWI International Conference, Los Angeles: an all-star line-up with a multitude of award-winning authors and illustrators—including Jon Klassen, Bryan Collier, Karen Cushman, Tony DiTerlizzi,, Dan Gutman, Deborah Halverson, Patricia MacLachlan, Gary Schmidt, Sara Shepard, Ruta Sepetys, Deborah Underwood and Eugene Yelchin—as well as numerous editors and agents. Early registration fee is $440, workshops and manuscript/portfolio consultations available at additional cost. Online registration opens on April 18.

Sue Cowing’s novel You Will Call Me Drog has been included in the 2012 edition of “Best Books to Read Aloud with Children of All Ages,” selected by the Children’s Book Committee-Bank Street College of Education. The guide is available in Kindle and Nook formats and is expected to be on googlebooks soon. And there’s more: a paperback edition of the book, with the shortened title Call Me Drog, will be published by Usborne UK on April 1.
John H. Ritter’s new novel, Fenway Fever, will be published by Philomel on April 12. It’s no coincidence that this novel appears in the year 2012, the hundredth anniversary of Fenway Park and the year of the predicted “new Big Inning.”
Gail Howell’s book, Starseeds in Hawaii, is available on Amazon.

• Regional Advisor’s Message
• Tweet Tweet—Who’s There?
• SCBWI-Hawaii’s Annual Conference Set for February 25
• Members-only Critique Group Meetings
• Welcome New Members
• SCBWI’s 40^th Anniversary Summer Conference
• My Experience at the SCBWI Annual Summer Conference
• Kudos

RA Message: “Paying Attention, then Drawing Attention”

By Sue Cowing

What do children’s book artists and book writers have in common?

“Art is seeing,” they say. I began to realize what that meant when I followed the left-brain-fooling exercises in a “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” workshop years ago and made light-years of improvement drawing faces in just a day and a half. The key was to get interested in details and trust what I actually saw rather than what I expected to see. Writing is seeing, too—getting past the clichés and easy summaries to bring out the true, particular details of a natural or manmade setting, of people’s actions and gestures, of objects. We have to “see” with all our senses, though, not just sight, or the picture or language will be flat, and the story will be told, not felt.

Maybe it’s better to say that both artists and writers belong to the tribe that notices things. Art and writing are acts of attention. That is no small matter in an age of constant distraction that often keeps us too off-balance to notice anything but a blur in the moment.

Try this exercise. Poet Linda Gregg tells her students to notice six things a day and jot them into a notebook (for artists it could be a few quick lines in a sketchbook or even shots with a camera).   Should be easy, right? Until you try to do it more than two days in a row. How often I find a day is suddenly gone and I have only three or two entries in my notebook. Or none. Too often I notice something all right, when I am busy being somewhere else, and promise myself I’ll write it down just as soon as. . . but when that time comes, I can’t remember what it was. Some of the best glimpses, feelings, ideas, and images whisper and then retreat.

What we do with the things we notice matters a lot. Through our stories and poems and pictures, we enlarge the tribe when we draw our readers’ attention to something and hold that attention for a moment, giving them the deep pleasure of experiencing something real within the blur. We stop the world. I believe in those moments we plant seeds of wonder and imagination in others. We provide re-creation. That, I think, is our common calling.

Tweet Tweet—Who’s There?

No, it’s not a little bird, it’s SCBWI-Hawaii on Twitter. Follow us at SCBWIHI – and we promise to keep our tweets to truly relevant information, like our upcoming conference and member book signings.

Speaking of Twitter, you might also want to follow SCBWI (the umbrella organization).  Check out these recent re-tweets:

* “I know all scbwi members know this but just in case… @MarthaMihalick Don’t send submissions via facebook. Please. Just don’t.”

* From Kate McKean: “Just like ‘Hey, can I have a job’ is not a cover letter, ‘Hey, can you publish this?’ is not a query.”

Neither is exactly revolutionary, new info (and certainly none of us would ever do those things!), but the smiles they generate feel good anyway.

SCBWI-Hawaii’s Annual Conference Set for February 25

We’ve been hard at work planning for next year’s conference and are delighted to share the details of what we think is an excellent program.

Kendra Levin

Peter Brown

*Our featured speakers are:

Kendra Levin, editor at Viking Children’s books.  Kendra will do a general session on Viking and the kinds of books they publish, and what she specifically is looking for, and she’ll also talk about current trends in children’s publishing. She’ll also lead a breakout session called “Meet Your Character: How Motivation Drives Story.”

Peter Brown, award-winning author/illustrator of The Curious Garden and Children Make Terrible Pets. Peter will do a general session on leading a creative life and a breakout session called “Illustration at Work.”

In addition, Kendra and Peter will lead a First Pages/First Look general session.

*Local author Sue Cowing and local author/illustrator Tammy Yee will lead a general session called “Book Promotion—a Do-It-Yourself Project.”

*As usual, we’re offering optional manuscript and portfolio critiques.

The conference will be held at the Ala Moana Hotel from 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost is $95 for SCBWI members and $125 for nonmembers.  For details and registration see www.scbwihawaii.org. or download conference and registration information at http/scbwihawaii.org/attachments/info_and_registraton.pdf.

Members-only Critique Group Meetings—your thoughts, please

By Sue Cowing

In 2011, we’ve had three members-only critique meetings instead of our usual one or two, and we’ve taken them “on the road.” The first was in Honolulu in April, the second in Mililani in July, and the third in Kahuku in September.

Why the increase?  a) because members are always seeking feedback on their work; b) because members seem to like getting together to talk children’s books more often than once or twice a year; and c) because we want to offer free events to balance our necessarily expensive conferences and workshops. Why the three different locations? We wanted to bring the meetings closer to where our members live.

I wonder whether we should continue doing this. The attendance was good for the Honolulu meeting, smallish for the Mililani, and down to five people for the Kahuku meeting—and four of those also came to the Mililani gathering. Despite the small size, we had delightful and productive sessions, and now I’m asking myself questions about how we can share the pleasure with more of our members. Please help answer them.

–Would people actually prefer all three sessions to be in Honolulu, with members living elsewhere on the island happy to come in for them?

–Or should we have two sessions a year in Honolulu and one elsewhere?

–Would people prefer evening meetings instead of Saturday mornings?

–Would a Windward session draw more people if it were in Kailua or Kaneohe? If you think so, do you know a place where we can meet for free—your home? a school? (The Kailua and Kaneohe libraries no longer have public meeting rooms.)

–Could it simply be that the timing of sessions was bad? (Each meeting had some cancelations.)

–Is three sessions a year actually too many? If so, would you prefer one session or two?

–Other possibilities I haven’t considered?

Please send your thoughts to me at niuiki@hawaiiantel.net and help us take the guesswork out of our planning for next year.

Note to neighbor island members:  We’ve tried several times over the years to help get critique meetings going for you, but those efforts didn’t lead to ongoing meetings, as we’d hoped.  What’s probably needed is someone on the ground willing to organize and persevere. If that person is you, please let me know, and we can send you contact information for all members on your island. We’ll also help with guidelines and in any other way we can.

Welcome to New Members

We welcome the following new members who joined SCBWI since our last newsletter:

Oahu: Courtnie Chang of Kaneohe
Big Island: Kathleen West-Hurd of Naalehu

Maui: Elena  Kamai of Wailuku

SCBWI’s 40^th Anniversary Summer Conference

By Lynne Wikoff

First-time Summer Conference attendee Cynthia Surrisi does a great job conveying her overall feelings about the gathering (below), and I’d like to add to that some of the craft information I gleaned from the various presentations I attended.

*Bruce Coville’s first piece of advice in his talk “13 Ways to Make It as a Writer” was this gem: “Marry rich.” After we all stopped laughing (and wishing…), he went on to encourage us to take our work—but not ourselves—seriously and to work every day, put our hearts on the page, make up our own rules (each person, and each book, is different, he reminded us), take an occasional “vacation” from our work, and take acting or storytelling lessons to learn how to get into characters’ minds.

*Donna Jo Napoli’s breakout session was called “Building Tension—Turning the Screws.” She showed us, with audience participation, how to look at plot, character, setting and timing and make each of those elements more dramatic. For example, in a story where two boys like the same girl, what if the boys are twins instead of two random boys—isn’t that worse/more dramatic? Or say the main character’s friend arrives at his house with a keg of beer—isn’t that made worse if his parents are due home in an hour? And on and on… She concluded by saying that books are an emotional ride and it’s up to us to make that ride terrifying.

*Judy Blume said to start a book the day something changes or something different happens. For her, that sometimes means she writes many pages that she ends up throwing away.  She considers a draft to be a like a jigsaw puzzle—first you find the edge pieces, then you make piles of matching pieces, then you piece everything together.

*Editor Krista Marino talked about the elements that add up to “voice”: diction, or the character’s vocabulary choices; perspective, or how the character views the world; characterization, or the process of converging information about the character; and dialog, or how the characters express themselves. In a capsule, voice is what shines through when everything that happens is filtered through who your character is.

For some of the details from the perspective of a first-timer:

My Experience at the SCBWI Annual Summer Conference

by Cynthia M. Surrisi

The current economic hard times have forced most of us to be discriminating about where we spend our money and commit our time, and going to the SCBWI Summer Conference takes a hefty chunk of both. That said, this year’s conference was worth every penny and every minute. I don’t think my impressions of it will completely coalesce for some time, but right now they are as follows:

Star Studded. SCBWI’s 40^th Anniversary Summer Conference drew an impressive cast of authors I never expected to meet personally, but did: Judy Blume, Richard Peck, Donna Jo Napoli, Libba Bray, Ellen Hopkins, Gary Paulson, Jon Scieszka, Bruce Coville, David Small, and Norton Juster, to name a few. All were happy to chat for a few seconds, sign books, accept compliments, bask in adoration, etc. A significant number of prominent agents and editors were also there, participating in breakout sessions, panel discussions and critiques.

Core Principles. Most presentations were dedicated to craft. If you read craft books you are aware of the basics—plot, character, dialogue, scene, structure, and so on—but hearing about dialogue, for example, from someone who has anywhere from three to thirty-three published, award-winning books is quite another education. Some breakouts were structured as lectures, others bordered on stand-up comedy and yet others were biographical. The “How I Got My Newbery” soliloquies were my least favorite, but I confess that painful as it was to listen to Gary Paulsen tell his life story, I’ve retold it numerous times, and I’m glad I heard it.

Delightful Ambiguity. There is no better way to debunk a golden rule than to hear respected professionals give wildly inconsistent opinions about it. And thank goodness for that. We heard, for example: write what you know, write what you don’t know; don’t’ write to trend, here are the trends so pay attention—name a rule, we heard the pros and cons of it.

One Loud and Clear Voice. All speakers agreed on that we should write the book that’s burning in us, write it well, make sure it’s submission ready, and then send it to an agent or editor who accepts that type of work. Manuscripts that are not ready or are sent blindly, without researching the agent’s/editor’s interests, or don’t follow guidelines, waste everyone’s time.

Provocative. Donna Jo Napoli gave the most politically charged keynote address, propounding a reason to write about difficult subject matter: to reach the “unprotected” child. She argued compellingly for books that offer the solace of common experience to “disenfranchised” kids—and in the process completely changed my feeling about Out of the Dust, which I had previously wanted to unread because it left such a painfully searing impression on me.

Motivating. I attended breakout sessions presented by Donna Jo Napoli, Bruce Coville, Libba Bray, Ellen Hopkins, Bonnie Bader (editor of leveled readers) Jennie Abramowitz (editor of chapter books), and a few others. Each had useful advice, and they all made me want to run back to my room and write.

Memorable. If you enjoy the Hawaii region’s conferences, workshops and critique sessions, I guarantee that you will be blown away by the annual summer conference. It’s a boost to the writing spirit and a wonderful reminder that, we—all of us (both published and unpublished)—belong to a community of delightful, charming and sometimes curmudgeonly characters who are perpetuating the love of books we had as children.

Kudos

Cynthia Surrisi has been accepted for the MFA program in children’s writing at Vermont College.

Tasiʻs Gift, A Tale of Samoa written by Tamara Montgomery was recently published by Calabash Books. The story has also been adapted by Aito and Jamie Simpson-Steele for this year’s Hawaii Theater for Youth holiday show. The play, at Tenney Theater, opens to the public November 27 at 7:30 p.m., with performances also at 4:30 p.m. on November 25 and December 3, 10, and 17.

On Vacation with Tutu, written by Lynne Wikoff and illustrated by Tammy Yee, was recently released by Mutual Publishing.

• Regional Advisor’s Message
• Kimi Takazawa Does Singapore
  
• Getting Around to Those Member Critique Meetings
  
• Coming Events
  
• Looking Way Ahead
  
• Useful News
  
• Kudos
• New Members
  

RA Message: “The Voice You Hear…”

By Lynne Wikoff

I was recently reminded of an incident in a college class called History of Jazz. Although I took the class only because it met a requirement, it turned out to open up a whole new world to me, so the recollection was a happy one. This excursion into my past was prompted by an interview of a jazz singer I heard on NPR’s “All Things Considered” who was asked why she sounds so different on each of her songs. Her reply: “I use the voice that best tells the story of the song.”  Enter stage right—History of Jazz. The professor, who was also a professional jazz musician, played a recording of a well-known jazz song performed as opera. The result was as awful, and as hilarious, as you’d imagine—and illustrated perfectly that jazz is a certain sound. You might not be able to describe that sound in words, but you sure know it when you hear it, and it sure doesn’t sound like opera. “Voice” is critical.

Aha! I thought. It’s the same with style in writing, which writers also call “voice.” A good story requires the voice that best does the job of telling that particular story. That’s what hooks readers and keeps them turning pages. And I’d guess this is the same for illustrations as well—illustrators need to decide on the artistic style that will best tell the story.

That’s not to say that finding the right voice to tell (or show) your story is easy. Case in point: John Ritter gave attendees at his writing workshop, held the day prior to our February conference, a handout titled “The Craft-Specific Reasons for the First Ten Drafts of Your Novel.” “Improve the narrative voice” is a task he doesn’t tackle until the fifth draft of his novels.

A slow approach to voice allows writers to “live with” their story long enough to get to know the characters well enough to really nail their voices, whether the story is told in first person, or in third person with narrative passages. This holds true for picture book texts as well as novels.

So once you’ve lived with your story for a while, ask yourself whether the narrative voice matches the story you’re telling and the characters you’ve developed. Ask yourself whether the kids sound like kids their age and not like middle-aged authors. Ask yourself whether you can tell which characters are speaking by the way they talk. Ask yourself whether the details described by your main character or in the narrative match what your particular, unique characters would notice.

Listen—can you hear the unique voice of your story?

Kimi Takazawa Does Singapore

Here’s Kimi in good shaka form (2nd row) with friends at the SCBWI dinner in Singapore. The two guys in the front row are Stephen Mooser, Co-founder and President of SCBWI, and Christopher Cheng, Co-Regional Advisor for Australia and New Zealand. Next to Chris from left to right are Kathleen Ahrens, Regional Advisor of Taiwan, Holly Thompson, Regional Advisor of Japan, and Linda Tan Lingard, Regional Advisor of Malaysia.

In May, I attended the Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore. It was a three-day long conference focusing on bringing Asian-themed content to publishers. From an American perspective, it was quite interesting viewing the world through East-facing glasses.

Attendees arrived from Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Canada, Australia and the U.S., notably Stephen Mooser, president of SCBWI and keynote speaker. It was wonderful meeting Asian writers and publishers and especially wonderful meeting SCBWI legend Mr. Mooser and the heads of SCBWI international regions such as Kathleen Ahrens, SCBWI International Advisor, Kenneth Quek , Singapore Regional Advisor, Chris Cheng, SCBWI Co-regional Advisor, Australia & New Zealand, Holly Thompson, SCBWI Tokyo Chapter, and Linda Lingard, SCBWI Malaysia. They all knew our regional directors Sue and Lynne well from other conferences and sent their alohas back with me.

Asia’s nascent children’s book publishing industry is building in quality and content and on the verge of an international explosion. We in America can either wait and see or jump right in!

K.T.

Getting Around to Those Member Critique Meetings

Members deep in conversation at our last member meeting: Shan Correa, Leilani Porter, Alina Niemi, Tammy Montgomery, Marie Iding, Rebecca Carlson, and Mary Kiang.

We’re aiming to hold more free members-only critique meetings, like the one at Sue’s house in April, and spread them around the island. We’ll try for three a year–one in Honolulu, one in central or west Oahu, and one in windward Oahu.

Paula Parslow has volunteered to host the next one at her house in Mililani on Saturday July 30, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. If you’d like to come, please contact Paula at parslow1@netzero.net. Give her your name, contact number(s), and indicate whether you are an illustrator or a writer. If a writer, also indicate whether your main interest is in picture books, fiction, or nonfiction. Please plan to bring 5 copies of up to five pages of a manuscript (if a writer) or up to five illustrations (if an artist) and a bag lunch. SCBWI will provide drinks and dessert. It’s a good opportunity to meet other members and get feedback on your work.

Coming Events

• August 5-8: SCBWI Summer Conference

  
  Want to get together with your people? About a thousand of them? The 40^th annual SCBWI Summer Conference will be happening at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Go to www.scbwi.org and read more about the stellar lineup of authors, illustrators, editors and agents who will be presenting, and the many activities and opportunities there for both published and unpublished writers and illustrators.

• Friday and Saturday, December 9 and 10: Fiction Workshop

  Author Donna Jo Napoli

  Donna Jo Napoli, multi-award-winning author of dozens of middle grade and YA novels and picture books (and a university professor of linguistics) will be back by popular demand for another great fiction-writing workshop. (See her website at www.donnajonapoli.com) The workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, December 9 and 10; Friday’s location is Paki Hale (adjacent to Kapiolani Park) and Saturday’s location is the Aina Haina Library meeting room. Cost is $200 for members, $225 to nonmembers. Enrollment is limited, and the workshop is almost full. Preference to members. To sign up and/or for more information, please email Lynne at lwikoff@lava.net.

Looking Way Ahead

• Saturday, February 25, 2012: SCBWI-Hawaii Annual Conference

  Peter Brown	Kendra Levin

  Our annual conference will take place at the Ala Moana Hotel and will feature author/illustrator Peter Brown (Children Make Terrible Pets, The Curious Garden) and Viking Children’s editor Kendra Levin. As usual there will be additional breakout sessions, including one on promoting your book on the mainland.

• Friday, February 24, 2012: Optional Picture Book Workshop

  We are tentatively planning a small-group picture-book workshop with the delightful Peter Brown for the day before the conference, provided enough people are interested. (See his website at www.peterbrownstudio.com)  Peter has been both an illustrator trying to write and a writer trying to illustrate, so he is an ideal person to lead a combined workshop for picture book writers, illustrators, and writer/illustrators.  There will probably be some advance preparation for this workshop. Enrollment will be limited to 15, with preference and early notice given to members.We will be sending an e-mail query soon to take a count of those definitely planning to attend—we’ll need to know early if enough people will attend to cover workshop expenses (which will be subsidized by the main SCBWI office) because the answer affects Peter Brown’s travel plans. Based on enrollment of 15 people, we anticipate that the cost would be $87.50 for members and $100 for nonmembers, not including lunch. Please keep in mind that the workshop will be open only to those who are registered for the conference and that the fee is in addition to the conference registration fee. If you already know you would like to take part, please email Sue at niuiki@hawaiiantel.net.

Useful News

• Attention writers: Rebecca J. Carlson has established a Young Writer’s Club for teen girls on the North Shore. They meet on Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. at a home in Laie. Rebecca says, “We’d love to have more young writers join us, and we’re also looking for experienced writers to visit as guests and share a short writing lesson.” E-mail Rebecca if you’re interested at beckbj@gmail.com.

• Do you spend hours on the Internet researching editors who might be interested in your kind of book? Do you wish someone would save you some time for writing by making up a long list of editors and what they’re looking for?  Author/blogger Ellen Jackson has done just that, and here is the  long list in four sections, each in reverse alphabetical order.
  C to A: http://www.ellenjackson.net/editors_a_to_c_89771.htm
  K to D: http://www.ellenjackson.net/editors_d_to_k_91212.htm
  S to O: http://www.ellenjackson.net/editors_o_to_s_94576.htm
  Z to T: http://www.ellenjackson.net/editors_t_to_z_97119.htm
  Be sure to google editors and publishers before submitting, because editors may have moved and submission policies may have changed.

• Speaking of submitting, for a long time now editors have done most of their manuscript reading not in their offices but at home or in transit, and more and more are reading on portable devices. Here’s agent Vickie Motter’s blog post about how to format your manuscript so that it reads like a book on Kindle:  http://navigatingtheslushpile.blogspot.com/2011/04/formatting-your-ms.html

Kudos

• Sue Cowing’s debut middle-grade novel, You Will Call Me Drog, will be published in September by Carolrhoda Books, with a book launch party at Barnes & Noble, Kahala Mall, on Saturday, September 3.  Usborne UK has recently acquired rights for a paperback edition of the novel to be published in the fall of 2012.

• Feng Feng Hutchins’ picture book Plenty Saimin, illustrated by Adriano Abatayo III, won a Palapala Po‘okela Excellence in Children’s Literature award and an Honorable Mention in Excellence in Children’s Illustrative & Photographic Books for the 2011.  Feng appeared with her publisher, Kerry Germain, at the Hawaii Publishers Association tent at the Hawaii Book & Music Festival in May.

• Roaring Brook Press will publish Jim Rumford’s picture book about Johannes Gutenberg, From the Good Mountain, in 2012. Pictured here is an inside page spread from the book.

• Kimi Takazawa’s manuscript, “Backyard Banzai Chicken Warriors” was shortlisted for the Scholastic Asia Book Award in May.

• Jennifer Welliver’s picture book, That’s NOT What Grandmas Are For, illustrated by Stacy Comer, is just out from Pacific Raven Press.

New members

Welcome to ten new members who have joined SCBWI-Hawaii since February!

From Kauai: Mika Ashley-Hollinger of Kilauea  and Kathleen Dahill of Kapa‘a
From Maui: Ilima Loomis
From Oahu: Alki Nea and Jerusha Tabori of Kailua; Michael Furuya, Katherine Orr, and Stacy Paris of Kaneohe; Gail Howell of Waialua; and John Davis II of Waianae.

• Regional Advisor’s Message
• SCBWI-Hawaii Member Meeting
• SCBWI Hawaii Conference 2011
• Looking for a Critique Group?
• Are Kids’ Books a Dying Breed???
  
• SCBWI Celebrates 40th Anniversary at Summer Conference in L.A.
  
• Aloha to New Members
• Kudos

RA Message

By Sue Cowing

Surprise!

Glancing through the pack of sample illustrator postcards Reka Simonsen passed around at our February conference—all impressive and earnestly professional, elegantly designed—I turned up this one by Frank Dormer and laughed out loud before I could think. So did several people around me. It stood out from the many fine images in the pile because of its direct hit to the funny bone. What editor receiving this in the mail could resist tacking it up on the bulletin board, even if he or she were desperately seeking dinosaurs or vampires or meerkats for a current project?

What makes the card funny and memorable is Dormer’s fresh twist on something familiar, plus his inspired light take on the serious business of getting noticed and getting hired. This card should be an inspiration for what we need to do to create standout stories and pictures at a time when there are many very good ones.  “Fresh” doesn’t necessarily mean something we’ve never seen before.  It’s often something we’ve never seen this way before, in this light, in this startling new connection.

John H. Ritter talked about surprise, too, in his pre-conference fiction workshop, about how the endings of stories not only need to be satisfying, but to have a surprise in them that the reader might have been able to see coming (the clues were there, skillfully buried) but didn’t.  That kind of surprise is in itself deeply satisfying and refreshing. We love it when someone sneaks up on our blind side and presents us with something that makes us makes us say Oh!

Of course the most truly wonderful surprises happen when a writer, poet, or artist surprises him- or herself in the process of creating. That’s not something you can make happen, as Ritter says. You have to let it happen, take time to listen to your voices and let go, become a “crazy dreamer.”  I’ve never met Frank Dormer, but I’m betting he’s one of those.

Come One, Come All to the Annual-ish SCBWI-Hawaii Member Meeting on Saturday, April 9

It’s time for our irregular, more-or-less annual member “critique-nic” meeting, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday, April 9, followed by a BYO lunch—we’ll supply drinks and dessert.  (Note that this is a date change from the date announced at the conference.)

We’ll gather at the Niu home of co-RA Sue Cowing, 19 Niuiki Circle. (See below for directions.) You’ll have a chance to mingle with other members and talk books, and we’ll break into small groups for critique with an experienced critique leader, so bring along a manuscript or illustrations.

Please let us know by April 5 if you plan to come, and what you’ll be bringing for critique—picture book, middle grade or YA novel, or illustrations.  Contact Sue at niuiki@hawaiiantel.net.

Directions:

From town—drive east on Kalanianaole Hwy. from Kahala. We’re about a mile after the Aina Haina Shopping Center and just across from the Niu Valley Shopping Center—the sign NIUIKI CIRCLE is out over the highway. (If you pass Kentucky Fried Chicken and the shopping center, you’ve gone too far—in that case, see directions for coming from Hawaii Kai!) Turn right on Niuiki Circle, toward the ocean. As soon as you turn into the circle (you’ll also see a monument saying “Niu Peninsula”), we’re the first house on your left that is not on the highway. Because the circle is actually a lopsided lollipop, we’re on the corner, “the stick.”

From Waimanalo/Hawaii Kai—drive west on Kalanianaole Hwy. Just at the far side of Niu Valley Shopping Center, Niuiki Circle turns left toward the ocean—you don’t, however, because it’s not legal. Go a little further on, then make a U-turn and come back to the Circle. Turn right toward the ocean, and we’re the first house on your left that is not on the highway.

If you have any problems, call us at 373-9522.

February Conference and Workshop

SCBWI Hawaii Conference 2011

By Kimi Takazawa

Action, drama, suspense and humor – all the components of an award-winning children’s book rolled into one fabulous weekend. That’s right, the SCBWI 2011 Hawaii annual conference was all that and more. As a brand new member and first-time conference attendee, I did not know who and what to expect at a writer’s conference. But, despite being late to the Friday workshop, Lynne Wikoff put me at ease right away.

John Ritter at Friday’s writing workshop.

The featured speaker, esteemed writer John Ritter was a joy! He was wonderful to listen to and included humor and personal anecdotes in his presentation. My essential take-aways of that day were Mr. Ritter’s 4Ps and QS, his amazing insight on the life of a real, working, published writer and, of course, my one-on-one manuscript review. After sitting through his workshop where he pounded into our malleable writer’s heads that a manuscript is not ready for outside review until it has been through eight drafts, I was pretty mortified that this acclaimed writer would be looking at my stuff! But John accepted my rudimentary attempt at a story with his natural grace and gave invaluable, thoughtful advice. Thank you for your kindness, John!

Michael Furuya showed off one his puppets at his breakout for illustrators.

Saturday’s conference was just as eye opening. Reka Simonsen, executive editor at Harcourt Children’s Book was given the podium, and it was inspiring to meet and listen to the panel of Hawaii authors and illustrators such as Tammy Yee, Michael Furuya, Sue Wyshynski and Elizabeth Oh talk about their websites. I took the opportunity to sit in on incredible homegrown artist Michael Furuya’s break-out session. His work spans book illustration (which I know and love), genius and ingenious costume design, popular graphic design and fine art! For me this was inspirational because I hope to one day translate my book ideas onto stage.

The SCBWI Hawaii Conference 2011 was an incredible learning platform and I met some new buddies and now have my first writing group! Thank you to Lynne Wikoff and Sue Cowing for collecting such an impressive and qualified group of speakers, crafting cogent and timely session topics and giving out cool prizes. This was my First Peek at the SCBWI and I know it won’t be my last!

A too-full house meant a last-minute room change to accommodate all who wanted to participate.

Looking for a Critique Group? Have Group with Room for More?

If you’re looking for a critique group, take advantage of this rare opportunity—rare in that this is a one-time offer: we’ll collect information, then send it to everyone who’s interested and let you make your own arrangements.  If you already have a group and have room for more people, please let us know that too. Send the following information to Lynne at lwikoff@lava.net no later than April 18. Once the information is compiled, we’ll send out the results to all who responded.

For those who want to form/join a group:

• Name
• Email/phone contact
• Area where you live/can meet
• Preferred meeting date/time
• What you write (picture books, novels, etc.), or if you’re an illustrator

For those who have a group with openings:

• Name/contact info
• When/where you meet
• What kinds of work your group is open to

Are Kids’ Books a Dying Breed???

By Lynne Wikoff

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of the book are an exaggeration, especially when it comes to books for children and teens. I’d already planned to include an article on the subject—excerpted below, from the Publishers Weekly free email children’s books newsletter—before my two-and-half-year-old grandson, Theo, (and his parents), who live in New York, came for a visit. Now, after that visit, I can personally validate what the article says. Theo loves his books as much as he loves Elmo and dessert. He carries books around. A trip to the bookstore is an adventure. He’s pretty much memorized dozens of stories and, like most preschoolers, won’t let adults skip a page. How lucky we (supposed) grown-ups are to be part of this world.

With that, here’s the authority Publishers Weekly brought to the subject.

Winter Institute: Children’s Books in a Digital Age
By Judith Rosen, Publisher’s Weekly, Jan 21, 2011

Children’s books are a secure category in the marketplace and bookstores will continue to play a key role as a driver of sales were among the chief findings of a joint study undertaken by Bowker/PubTrack and the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC), which was unveiled yesterday at Winter Institute. Sponsored by Random House, Little, Brown, Macmillan, Penguin, and Scholastic, the survey examined consumer attitudes toward purchasing children’s books in three categories: adults buying for children ages 0-6, adults buying for children ages 7-12, and teen consumers ages 13-17.

While some of the statistics announced by former ABC executive director Kristen McLean and Kelly Gallagher, v-p of publishers services at Bowker/PubTrack, came as no surprise—women buy nearly 70% of kids’ books and most purchasers fit solidly in the middle class in terms of income and education—others were more startling, including the fact that books ranked number one over all other media for the youngest kids. And this was in households inclined to use technology more than other book buyers: to play online games, visit social networks, blog, listen to digital music, and download TV programs.

Parents and those close to children are more influential than ever, McLean noted. For children under seven, friends and family are the number one determinant of which books to buy, followed by browsing at bookstores. Even for teens, the choice of what book to read was most heavily influenced by parents, teachers, and close friends, in that order…

The old paradigm of screen versus books no longer applies, added McLean, who called kids “omnivorous consumers of media.” Teens are heavy texters and Facebookers, but they still rate reading books for fun as their third favorite activity. That’s print books, not electronic ones; over 80% of teens in the study don’t read e-books.

SCBWI Celebrates 40th Anniversary at Summer Conference in L.A. with an All-Star Lineup of Speakers

(This information appeared in the latest issue of the SCBWI Bulletin, but in case you missed it, we’re including it here. Attending the conference is most definitely a major expense, but if you’ve thought about going “someday,” you’ll want to consider making it this year.)

SCBWI plans to celebrate its 40th anniversary with a spectacular summer conference on August 5, 6, 7 and 8. Keynote speakers include many of the great children’s book authors and illustrators of our time, such as Mary Pope Osborne, Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, Donna Jo Napoli, Jerry Pinckney, Jon Scieszka, David Small, Gary Paulson, Norton Juster and Bruce Coville, plus more than 20 editors and agents. Registration begins April 15.

This year, the conference will take on a slightly altered format from previous years. The main sessions, comprised of keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and optional manuscript and portfolio critiques will take place over three days, August 5-7. The final day of the conference, August 8, is an optional intensive day for a limited number of authors and illustrators. The Writer Intensive will feature three-hour, hands-on workshops on various topics, in addition to a round-table critique of your work led by an editor or agent. The Illustrator Intensive will feature up-close craft demonstrations by seven of our leading illustrators. If you wish to participate in the intensive day, plan to enroll promptly as enrollment will be limited to ensure small class size and individual participation. [Note: in this case, “promptly” means the moment online registration opens on April 15, which is typically at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.]

Aloha to New Members

The following people have joined SCBWI since the beginning of the year.  Welcome aboard!

Oahu: John Davis II (Waianae), Stacy Paris (Kaneohe), Lauren Roth and Carl Silva (Honolulu)

Maui: Jenniffer Welliver (Kihei)

Big Island: Steve Grossman (Holualoa)

Kudos

Shan Correa (Honolulu) submitted her poem “Editoring,” which she describes as “a humorous piece dedicated to Vicky Holyfield, the remarkable editor of [my] middle-grade novel, Gaff,” to the SCBWI Bulletin. SCBWI president Stephen Mooser, who is also the Bulletin editor, replied with a note accepting the poem for publication in a future Bulletin issue, along with a small check.

Elizabeth Oh (Honolulu) is completing illustrations for Mouse and Mongoose Find a Rainbow, which will be released from BeachHouse/Mutual Publishing in the Fall.

Maureen Quemada (Pahoa) had her article “Paradise pest, a mixed blessing,” published in the March/April issue of “Skipping Stones” magazine. (Skipping Stones is a small magazine for ages 8-16 that “celebrate[s] ecological and cultural diversity [and] facilitates a meaningful exchange of ideas and experiences.”)

• Regional Advisor’s Message
• 2011 SCBWI-Hawaii Conference Preview
  
• How to Get the Most Out of a Conference
  
• Kudos
• Welcome to New Regional Members
  
• A Gentle Reminder
  

RA Message

By Lynne Wikoff

As I was preparing Thanksgiving dinner I was struck by the similarities between doing that and writing a book. (And illustrating, too, I expect.)  In planning my menu (book), I focused first on what would please the tastes of my guests (readers) and how to present the meal (story) to show it off to its best advantage. I shopped for the best, freshest ingredients (do research), sparing no effort even if it entailed trips to many stores (resources). Then I set aside ample time for cooking (writing), making sure I wouldn’t be distracted by other “musts.”

As for the cooking (I’ll leave the remaining comparisons to your imagination), I prepared by chopping, sautéing, parboiling, etc., ahead of time so when it came time to put the meal together, I was ready. I seasoned carefully to achieve just the taste I wanted. I let dishes cook long enough so they were just done but not so long that they became dry and tasteless.

The end result was a delicious feast, enjoyed by all.

It’s easy to accomplish this when cooking a meal, not so easy when writing or illustrating a book—especially for me because I have to stifle my inclination to plunge right in without doing the needed prep work. And knowing how much seasoning to add, when the concoction is done? Also difficult.

Where this comparison doesn’t hold is that anyone with a recipe book can cook a meal, whereas to be a professional writer or illustrator is more like being a true chef—an art that must be learned, practiced, honed, then learned, practiced and honed over and over again. Like all worthy efforts this takes time, but when it finally comes together, it’s delicious.

2011 SCBWI-Hawaii Conference Preview

Reka Simonsen, executive editor at Houghton Children’s Books

Author John Ritter

Illustrator Michael Furuya

Our 2011 conference is set for Saturday, February 19, at the Ala Moana Hotel, Ilima Room, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Featured guests will be Reka Simonsen, executive editor at Houghton Children’s Books, author John Ritter, and illustrator Michael Furuya. Plan to come and “be with your people” at this inspiring annual event!

In addition, John Ritter will lead an optional fiction workshop, “How to Give your Stories Depth, Interest and Intrigue,” for conference attendees the day before the conference, Friday, February 18, at Paki Hale from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by lunch and schmooze until 2:30 p.m.

We have emailed complete information recently, and it is also available at the link below, but here are some of the highlights.

For all:

• “A Primer on Queries and Synopses and Postcards” with Reka Simonsen.
• “How to Make Your Website Work for You (even if you don’t have one yet)” panel discussion with John Ritter, Tammy Yee, Sue Wyshynski and Elizabeth Oh.
• first-pages/first look session with Reka Simonsen, John Ritter and Michael Furuya.
• optional manuscript and portfolio critiques.

Especially for writers:

• session with acclaimed novelist John Ritter (www.johnhritter.com ) “Is Your Issue Showing?: how to explore cultural or political themes in our books without sacrificing story”
• optional fiction workshop with John Ritter (for novelists and picture book writers)

Especially for illustrators:

• “From page to Stage and Beyond,” session with children’s book illustrator and ‘Ohi‘a Productions co-founder Michael Furuya.

Costs and Deadlines:

The cost of the February 19th conference (including lunch) is $90 for members, or $120 for nonmembers, with additional fees for optional manuscript, dummy, or portfolio critiques.

The cost of the optional February 18th fiction workshop with John Ritter is $60 for members and $85 for nonmembers (space available); optional lunch is an additional $15.  Please note: you must be registered for the conference to attend the workshop.

Postmark deadline to register for the conference with manuscript critique is January 18, 2011. You must send your manuscript(s) in with your registration and fee(s).

Deadline to register for the conference and fiction workshop is February 11, 2011.

Deadline to register for the conference alone or with portfolio critique is February11, 2011.

See you there!

2011 SCBWI-Hawaii Conference Information and Registration

How to Get the Most Out of a Conference

1. Find out everything you can in advance about the guest speakers—look up their websites and go to the library or bookstore to look through or read the books they have written, illustrated or published.
2. Come to learn, not to be “discovered,” and you won’t be disappointed. Though there’s a public perception that it’s easy to create a children’s book in your spare time, in fact it is quite difficult even working full-time, the learning curve is long, and the market is tough. At an SCBWI conference, professionals share valuable information about craft and the publishing industry that they would not have time to communicate in the submissions process or in personal correspondence. Take notes.
3. If you can, take advantage of some conference extras like first pages or first look, manuscript critique, and portfolio critique, some of which require advance preparation and early registration. Again, these are chances to get more individual feedback than is normally available from swamped professionals.
4. Do get to know the conference guests. The key here is courtesy and balance.  Don’t shy away from approaching the guest editor, agent, art director, author, or illustrator between sessions to chat and mention what you’re doing; they expect to have that kind of contact. But don’t monopolize their attention and do not, do not hand them a manuscript or portfolio to look over. This is not the time. You will receive an information sheet that tells how you may send your work to them post-conference.
5. Get to know your fellow attendees. Writing and illustrating are mostly solitary occupations, so this is a good chance to share experiences and pick up tips from others in a group who do what you do. Who knows? You may find friends to contact, exchange with, and learn from throughout the year. A great conversation starter? Ask someone what they’re working on!
6. During discussions, ask questions that will be useful to others, too, and that don’t apply only to your own work.
7. Relax and have fun, and be sure to bring a sweater.  Though the conference atmosphere is warm, the room is often freezing!

Kudos

On November 4th, Shan Correa spoke about her middle-grade novel, Gaff, and about cockfighting, at the quarterly meeting of the staff and volunteers of the Hawaii Humane Society. HHS is using copies of Gaff as prizes for the winners of the society’s young people’s writing competitions, and is excited about the book’s ability to make children think seriously about animal cruelty.

Feng Hutchins’ picture book, Plenty Saimin, illustrated by Adriano F. Abatayo III, was released by Island Paradise Publishing in September 2010.

Plenty Saimin, by Feng Hutchins

Maureen Quemada’s picture book, Merrie, the Little Hula Dancer, will appear from Mutual Publishing in March 2011.

On Vacation with Tutu by Lynne Wikoff (author) and Tammy Yee (illustrator) will be published by Mutual Publishing in 2011.

Welcome to New Regional Members

Twenty-five new members joined our regional roster in 2010.

From Hawaii island: Hayley Blondin and Cindylee Giammona of Kamuela, Joel Garber and Abby Grundman-Guthrie of Pahoa, Michelle Obregon of Keauhou, Maureen Quemada of Pahoa, and Allessandro Vene of Hilo

From Kauai: Dorianne Winkler of Kilauea, and Neriza-May Rogers of Waimea

From Maui: William Noles of Lahaina, and Jennifer Lynn of Makawao

From Oahu: Leah Davis, June Kaneshiro,Tom Morelli, Paula Morelli, Alina Niemi, Kimi Takazawa, and Marisa Torigoe of Honolulu, Elaine Monteleone of Kaneohe, Paula Parslow, Pat Hurley, and Leilani Porter of Mililani, Danielle Pisors of Kapolei, Laura Yamashiroya of Aiea, and Sharon Naole of Waianae

Welcome all!

A Gentle Reminder

Whenever your contact information changes, especially your email address, please go to www.scbwi.org and make the change on your profile right away so that you will continue to get newsletters and bulletins from the SCBWI main office and from your region. Your regional newsletter editor and Co-Advisors use the current regional roster sent to us from the L.A. office for all mailings. We cannot make changes for you.

Another important change to make on your profile is to enter your latest children’s publication. If this is your first book from a published and listed (PAL) house, you will qualify as a PAL member of SCBWI, and this has a number of advantages locally and nationally.

• Regional Advisor’s Message
• Tidbits from the L.A. Conference
  
• Plan Ahead for SCBWI-Hawaii’s 2011 Conference
  
• Panel Presentation with Local Publishers
  
• Children’s Writing Class at UH Outreach
• SCBWI Illustrators Showcased in First-Ever Art Show
• New Website for Authors/Illustrators Who Do School Visits
  
• Kudos

Regional Advisor’s Message

by Sue Cowing

Like a lot of other people, I’ve recently been re-reading Harper Lee’s TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, now celebrating its fiftieth anniversary with new editions. Not once in those fifty years has the book gone out of print. It has become an American classic that continues to engage young readers and not just the parents, teachers, and librarians who select books for them.  Why is this?

It certainly got off to a good start. Imagine publishing a book in 1960 in which a Depression-era Southern lawyer defends a black man accused of rape in his hometown. The issues of prejudice, discrimination, and us-and-them are still with us fifty years later. But despite this compelling theme, TKAM is first and foremost a moving human story with unforgettable characters–Scout, Jem, and Atticus–trying to work out (for themselves and us) the best way to think and live. The questions of fairness they wrestle with include race but go even beyond it and become universal.

I believe this novel was undeniable and would have risen on its own power, but the fact that it was published at just the moment that the charged public conscience was ripe to receive it meant that reviewers were awed and said so and that sales, prizes, and accolades poured in.

We all can think of at least one book that deserves to be called great but somehow didn’t catch that right draft of air to climb the lists and fill the shelves. My current nomination for should-be-classic-work-of-genius is Guus Kuijer’s brief novel THE BOOK OF EVERTHING (Arthur Levine Books, 2006). I think there are several ways we can do our stubborn best to help a beloved book like this get read and not be forgotten:

1. Buy the book, even if you first read it as a library book. When books sell, writers and publishers get to publish more books like that, so our purchase is like a vote in support of good writing.
2. Give it to friends. I’ve given THE BOOK OF EVERYTHING to a least a dozen people. If you need a reason, do it for their next birthday or Christmas. You’d probably spend that much on them anyway, so why not for an unforgettable book you can share with them?
3. Give it to someone you don’t know. Donate it to the library or a book sale or a literacy organization and imagine it becoming someone else’s favorite and being passed on.
4. Read it on your (pardon my French) Kindle. I’m a book-hugger who doesn’t believe Kindle and e-books will ever replace physical books, but even if they do, they can’t replace stories, because without good stories they are empty tools. “Vote” for great stories.
5. Review it. Chime in on the review section of Amazon under your book’s title or praise it on children’s book blogs and say why.
6. To support good books in general, think about subscribing to a review magazine like HORN BOOK, which does an admirable job of appraising the quality of writing and the art of book creation. By subscribing, you help those standards become more widely understood, and the books that rise to those standards become better known among librarians, booksellers, and thirsty readers.
7. To support a good book in particular, read THE BOOK OF EVERYTHING. If you can find it. When’s your birthday?

Tidbits from the L.A. Conference

By Lynne Wikoff

I’ve been to so many SCBWI summer conferences that they’d started to feel “old hat.” But this year’s event seemed special. Not only was it the biggest (nearly 1,000 full-time attendees, plus Regional Advisors, faculty and a few part-time attendees for a grand total of nearly 1,200), it was also the best organized and the most information packed. Here are a few tidbits I picked up.

• From Marion Dane Bauer (ON MY HONOR, a Newbery Honor Book, and more than 70 others): when writing a novel, ask yourself “what emotion is driving this scene?” then be sure the descriptions, dialog, etc,, reflect that emotion. If the scene isn’t driven by an emotion, then it probably doesn’t need to be in the book.
• From Gail Carson Levine (ELLA ENCHANTED, and nearly 20 other books): Have one character ask another something—and have a disaster result. Reflect characters in their speech mannerisms—for example, if a character wants to be trusted, use words such as “Honestly…,” “The truth is…,” or “Really…” in his/her dialog. Don’t overload readers with a circus of exotic characteristics. To practice revising, rewrite a scene from a book you don’t like.
• What’s happening in the publishing world: picture books are down about 40 percent, attributed to the effects of No Child Left Behind because teachers, who are normally big buyers of picture books, no longer have time to read to their students; middle grade is stable; and YA is where the action is.
• M.T. Anderson (FEED, THE ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING, and many more for both children and adults), is known by his middle name, Tobin. (His first name is Matthew.)
• Newbery Medalist Paul Fleishman (JOYFUL NOISE: POEMS FOR TWO VOICES) said that when he wrote a book based in San Francisco (which he wasn’t in), he used Google maps ‘street view’ to see the street he had his character walk down.

Want to know more? The SCBWI conference blog is chock-full of useful information. Check it out at http://scbwiconference.blogspot.com/

From Elizabeth Oh:

The SCBWI Summer Conference in L.A. offered artists and writers a tantalizing menu of workshops and courses. A number of specialized workshops focused on particular subjects for one session on each day of the conference, with sign-up in advance and an additional fee.
One of these, offered for the first time, was “Writing and Illustrating Children’s Graphic Novels,” and I was lucky enough to get into it. Taught by artist Mac McCool, (see his work and impressive resume at www.macmccool.com), this class was definitely the highlight of the conference for me—absolutely phenomenal.

I had no idea that the graphic novel embodied all of the elements of drawing that I love, especially composition. In fact, this is an extremely technical and precise medium for combining storytelling and illustration. I’ll go a step further and add ‘scientific’ to the line-up as well. Homework was assigned to be completed before the workshop, and we reviewed an enormous amount of material on page layout; how size, number, and layout of panels can create mood, tension and timing; dialogue, text and being economical with your words. And while considering all this, (and a few more things that are going on), you must remember your audience. Then when everything is sketched out, it’s time for the inking process, so the tools and materials you’ll need have to be considered. So many steps to cover and decisions to make!

The daily critiques on our homework assignments was our opportunity to see what everyone’s level of ability was, and what we needed to work on. The writers struggled with stick people, and of course the illustrators didn’t have any problems. Well, that’s not quite true. Some of those simple seeming assignments were quite challenging. There was a lot of talent in that room of twenty, and most of the artists were working in their chosen fields.

I also attended a breakout session on graphic novels led by Nick Eliopulos, an editor at Scholastic. Did you know there are growing opportunities for doing graphic novels for children? In fact, because this field is still so new there are no guidelines for submitting your graphic novel idea. Nick suggested that we send in 5 to 20 pages of our graphic novel along with the full manuscript.

For me, a new door was opened to the world of children’s literature and illustration.

From Elaine Monteleone:

With over 1,100 people attending the conference, my first SCBWI LA conference was a lot more interesting and a lot less intimidating than I expected. I enjoyed meeting and talking with other writers, some who have been published and some who like me, are still in the struggling infancy of my writing career. Snippets from some keynote speakers:

• Gennifer Choldenko: Write everyday so your “muse” knows where to find you. Give yourself the space to take risks.
• Jon Scieszka: Read everything: picture books, young adults, kid lit blog, terrible books, children’s trade publications.
• E.B. Lewis: Discover your passion; love the process; fill it up and give it all back.

One of the breakouts I attended was “Creating Characters That Come to Life” with young adult author Carolyn Mackler. She mentioned four ways to distinguish your characters.

• Details/Quirks: Think of details or quirks that make your character a full person, who they are. Take the time to people-watch to notice quirks such as facial nervousness, nail biting, whether they wear retainers, the way they laugh, their appearance/body posture.
• Language: lisp, slang, verbal quirks. Reading your story out loud will help with noticing language and editing.
• Research: talk to the types of people you want to write about.
• Ask your character questions: If you want to know your character’s inner thinking process, go for a walk and ask your character questions. For example, what does your she/he keep hidden in her/his underwear drawer? Who would your character contact/text/email if something good happens and what is that good thing? What does your character do when she/he is anxious? (Tells how they cope.) What musical instrument does she/he play? What is her/his relationship with food? What books are next to her/his bed?She added that if you introduce something in your story, make sure you follow-up on it and make sure it is relevant.

Rachel Vail, another young adult author, gave a keynote speech as well as two breakout sessions. Sherrie Petersen blogged about one of her presentations at http://solvangsherrie.blogspot.com/2010/08/notes-from-rachel-vail.html

The mix of interesting keynote speakers and breakout sessions as well as the opportunity to meet wonderful people has given me the spark I needed to continue to write and create.

And speaking of conferences…

Plan Ahead for SCBWI-Hawaii’s 2011 Conference

As soon as the one year’s conference is over, we put on our planning hats and focus on the next year’s event, and we’re happy to say “save this date”: Saturday, February 19, 2011. In fact, save two dates: February 18 and 19.

Our featured speakers include:

• Reka Simonsen, who recently joined Houghton Children’s Books at executive editor after 17 years at Holt. Reka graduated from college with a dual degree in English and art so she’s well able to address both writers and illustrators.
• John Ritter (the author, not the deceased actor), See his website at www.johnhritter.com. In addition to his breakout session for writers on conference day, John will lead a half-day workshop on Friday, February 18.
• Margaret South, story arc maven. Margaret is back by popular demand to help us whip our plots into line.
• We have additional presentations planned on brand-spanking-new topics sure to be useful. Stay tuned for details.

Panel Presentation with Local Publishers

By Leslie Hayashi

On Saturday, June 12, a group of about a dozen members gathered at Barnes & Noble Kahala for an informal presentation by local publishers Jane Gillespie from Mutual Publishing/BeachHouse and Buddy Bess from Bess Press; the representative from Island Heritage was unable to come at the last minute, but provided written information. Here’s a summary of what they said.

• Submissions to these regional presses must have a Hawai`i connection. Submissions to Bess Press and Mutual (as well as BeachHouse Press, Jane’s imprint) can be done electronically. Island Heritage requests manuscripts to be mailed. Responses can take a while; at least a couple of months. Best to submit in the fall for Mutual. Island Heritage accepts submissions all year round.
• Know your market. What similar books have been written, and how is yours different? Who is your target audience and why do you think the book will sell locally?
• What will you do to promote the book?

Other pearls of wisdom:

• Buddy Bess recommended reading Publishers Weekly to keep up with what’s happening in the publishing industry. [Note: you can sign up for a free weekly email children’s publishing newsletter on their website.]
• Illustrators: Jane is always looking for good illustrators. (She notes, however, that good illustration is different from good art.) Buddy finds it is a struggle to match the illustrations to the writing. Island Heritage welcomes sample art from illustrators.
• Two major pitfalls were mentioned by both Jane and Buddy. One: picture book submissions are overwritten (i.e., too long). Words have to be pared down; think of the story as being more like a poem. Two: avoid writing about your pet. Although you love your pet, the more important thing is to concentrate on is the story. Content, concept and cuteness sells.

Children’s Writing Class at UH Outreach

Michael Elsohn Ross, a science educator and an award-winning author of more than 40 books for children on nature, science, and art will be teaching a two-session noncredit evening course UH called ‘Writing Your Children’s Book’ (Event ID: P11028). The class will meet on November 4 (Thursday) and 9 (Tuesday) from 6 to 9 p.m. in Kuykendall 303, and the course fee is $65. Michael describes the class as follows: “Discover the wide variety of styles and formats of current books, and pick up some useful writing and publishing tools from an author with extensive experience in the field. Participants will have a chance to write and edit short pieces, as well as get an overview of the publishing process.”

Michael, who works as a naturalist in Yosemite, presents at schools and conferences throughout the U.S. and internationally and teaches writing workshops. See his website at www.bugauthor.com. (While we don’t know Michael personally, he’s an SCBWI member, and the Regional Advisor where he lives recommends him highly.) Register online at www.outreach.hawaii.edu/noncredit/registration.asp, or call 956-8400.

SCBWI Illustrators Showcased in First-Ever Art Show

SCBWI-Hawaii sponsored a first-ever exhibit of our artist-members’ work at the Kapiolani Community College Library in a show that celebrated National Children’s Book Week. The show opened on May 5 with a well-attended reception and ran through June 16. It was curated by Koa Gallery director David Behlke and featured work by Yuko Green, Scott Goto, Ruth Moen, Jeff Langcaon, Jim Rumford, Esther Szegedy and Tammy Yee.

Along with finished art pieces, several of the artists displayed some of their preliminary work, such as dummies and sketches, so viewers could see the process of creating a finished book.

In another first, the artists from the Kapiolani show participated in the Biennial Conference on Literature and Hawaii’s Children at UH Manoa–including neighbor islanders Yuko Green and Esther Szegedy, who flew in for the event. In their session on June 19, they displayed their art and discussed it with teachers, librarians, and children’s book lovers attending the conference.

Bravo all!

Yuko Green

Scott Goto

Ruth Moen

James Rumford

New Website for Authors/Illustrators Who Do School Visits

Author Alexis O’Neill (THE RECESS QUEEN. LOUD EMILY) has been writing a regular feature in the SCBWI Bulletin about writer/illustrator school visits, and now she’s shared her expertise on the topic on a new website, http://schoolvisitexperts.com. (Alexis is also the long-time regional advisor for SCBWI California’s Ventura/Santa Barbara region.)

In addition to loads of useful information, the site also includes links to many other resources for school-visitors. Whether you have already published and are doing school visits related to your books, or hope to be published and do them in the future, you’ll find tools you can use here.

Kudos

Elizabeth Oh was one of three people from across the nation selected for an all-expense paid scholarship to the SCBWI L.A. conference. Nominations for the scholarships were made by Regional Advisors, with each region invited to nominate two members. Congratulations to Elizabeth!

Tammy Yee’s 28th book (and her first book illustrated in a digital format), WHALES’ TAILS AND TURTLE TRAILS,  has been released by Island Heritage.

[Your Name] Do you have good news about your work as a writer or illustrator to share? Please send it to Sue Cowing at niuiki@hawaiiantel.net for inclusion in our next newsletter.

CONTENTS

• Regional Advisor’s Message
• SCBWI-Hawaii Conference
• Upcoming Events
• Judging a Cover By its Book?
• Calendar of Annual Writing Competitions
• Kudos

Regional Advisor’s Message

By Lynne Wikoff

We all like to give lip service to the notion that being flexible is a good thing. This year’s conference gave us an opportunity to see how flexible we could be after tsunami warning sirens went off at 6 a.m. on the morning of the conference. We could have cancelled but we chose to be flexible instead. After making arrangements to move the conference to Sunday (provided enough people could attend), Sue and I, with the able assistance of Elizabeth Oh, called all the presenters (a flexible lot) and the participants (another flexible group) and rescheduled the conference for Sunday.

In this instance, flexibility paid off. It doesn’t always, of course—but who knows what we’d miss without it? On a more personal level, a critiquer at the conference suggested that my picture book manuscript would work better if I expanded it to be an easy reader. Easy reader? But I don’t write easy readers! Can I be flexible enough to step out of my comfort zone? Or try something to see where it takes me? Yes, I can. Even if it doesn’t work, or if I decide that category isn’t for me, I will have learned something. So that’s today’s word—flexibility.

SCBWI-Hawaii Conference: February 26, no wait! February 27, 2010

Nancy Alpert Mower’s Report: an Author’s Perspective

I always learn from these SCBWI conferences. Each conference seems better than the one before it, and this one was the best yet.

Nancy Siscoe, Associate Publishing Director and Executive Editor with Knopf & Crown Books for Young Readers, started off with a talk entitled “Character Matters.” She looks for a character who is multi-faceted, has an unusual perspective, has had a difficult past and faces a difficult future, and doesn’t give up easily. Nancy suggested lots of writing exercises to create your character. Interview and ask everything you want to know. The last question is, “What haven’t you told me?” Find out what’s hidden in the back of closets, deep in pockets. How would your character handle problems such as a rainy day, lost luggage, or tangled Christmas lights or, heaven forbid, a real tsunami!? The reader will only see 10 percent of this background, but the writer must know all of it. What not to do? “No one wants to listen to a whiner.”

During the first breakout session, Margaret South, a writing teacher and consultant, spoke on the “Secrets of a Compelling Story.” She suggested certain “heroic traits”: caring about others; being persistent–never giving up; making mistakes; and being capable of change.  Characters are defined by their actions. She then drew a story arc on the board, showing how to divide a story into four equal parts: starting with an inciting incident, moving past obstacles, facing the darkest hour, and then reaching an epiphany. Two audience members provided brief descriptions of their stories and in three minutes, Margaret suggested how to turn their good story into a profound one.

In the second breakout session, “First Page Critiques,” Sue and Lynne read anonymous first pages. Nancy Siscoe, Kathi Appelt, and Margaret South provided feedback.  It’s always fascinating to hear reactions and suggestions and to see how we can fine tune and perfect our first page, which we all know is critical!

During the last breakout session, “Endowed Objects—what’s in your character’s magic box?” Kathi Appelt, award winning author of children’s books, stressed the importance of giving your character a special object or two. In two five-minute writing exercises Kathi asked us to list what we would put in our magic box and asked what we would take with us if we had to leave suddenly. As I listened and wrote, I realized that the characters in my manuscripts needed some endowed objects. I went home eager to get back to my own manuscripts.

Esther Szegedy’s Report: an Illustrator’s Perspective

I attended Tammy Yee’s “Marriage of Illustration and Technology.” She provided the addresses to several websites where illustrators can show their work for free; websites where illustrators can pay a fee and hopefully art directors will look; and a website that provides instruction on how to create your own website.

I also attended Jim Rumford’s session “Now That’s Another Story—the Art of the Picture Book.” Jim showed samples of successful books and explained what made them work. He shared many of his own sketch books and dummies showing varying stages to the finished product. Jim also shared stories of working with editors and art directors. We also reviewed an unpublished manuscript and made suggestions on re-designing the dummy, encouraging us to look at possibilities we might not have considered.

After my manuscript critique, I came to the conclusion that every editor/art director has his or her own preferences as to art and story content. The “secret” to getting published is to send your work to the right person—the one most likely to like your style, choice of color, and subject matter. Ultimately that requires research. After that, it’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

Scott Goto shares his expertise during his breakout session for illustrators, "Working from References and Other Tricks of the Trade."

Terry Wade’s Report: Kathi Appelt Workshop

In an effort to keep costs low, we combined a writer’s workshop with this year’s conference. Our featured presenter, Kathi Appelt, has published numerous picture books and young adult novels. Throughout the day, we did various writing exercises. We selected fifth grade and then suggested words for that age. Kathi gave us five minutes to chose three words from the list and write a scene. Kathi continued with another exercise in which we chose someone in real life, a friend or enemy, or a character we were writing about. She then had us identify a variety of characteristics—annoying traits, endearing traits. The purpose was to get past our inner critic. Both times the results were amazing. All of us had the beginnings of intriguing stories that could be developed into novels.

'Ilima Stern closed the conference with a ceremonial chant.

Upcoming Events

First-Ever SCBWI-Hawaii Illustrators’ Exhibit: The Art of Picture Books

May 6 to June 16, 2010 (weekdays)
Opening Reception: May 6, 2010, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Library Gallery of Kapi`olani Community College, Lama Building
FREE

In celebration of National Children’s Book Week, SCBWI-Hawaii will host its first-ever picture book art exhibit featuring Hawai‘i SCBWI illustrators Scott Goto, Yuko Green, Jeff Langcaon, Ruth Moen, James Rumford, Esther Szegedy and Tammy Yee. In addition to their final art illustrations, the exhibitors will also show the process for completing their work—sketches, dummies, etc. The exhibit will be curated by David Behlke of Koa Gallery. For specific hours on weekdays, see http://library.kcc.hawaii.edu.

The opening reception will be on May 6 from 4 to 6 p.m. in front of the library. Please join us as we honor our fellow members. For more information, contact elizabethpaints@yahoo.com or niuiki@hawaiiantel.net. Pupu donations are welcome.Also, two people are needed to help organize the reception. Please email Lynne at lwikoff@lava.net to volunteer or for more information.

National League of American Pen Women Conference

Friday, April 9, 7:30- 9:30 p.m., and Saturday, April 10, 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Punahou School
Fee: $100 (lunch included); student discounts available

The Honolulu NLAPW branch will hold its biennial conference “Write Where You Are.”  Featured speakers include YA novelist Lisa Yee (Millicent Min: Girl Genius), Margaret South, Frank South, Shan Correa, Lee Cataluna and Joe Tsujimoto.  Details at www.nlapwhonolulu.org.

Celebrate Reading: Book Club & Literature Festival

Saturday, April 17, 2010, 8:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
University of Hawai`i at Manoa, Art Auditorium
Free

Come hear celebrated authors read from their work and talk about the art of writing. Authors include Nora Okja Keller, slam poet Kealoha, and many others. For more information contact Lorna Hershinow at 239-9726 or e-mail hershinow@gmail.com.

Hawai`i Book & Music Festival

May 14-16, 2010
On the grounds of Honolulu Hale
FREE

Join in the fun as local authors and illustrators present their works and autograph their books. For more information, visit hawaiibookandmusicfestival.org.

Biennial Conference on Literature and Hawaii’s Children

June 17-19, 2010
(Thursday evening; Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m., and Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.)
University of Hawai`i at Manoa, Campus Center
FREE but registration required

“Inventing Worlds, Imaginary and Real” is sponsored by Children’s Literature Hawai‘i.  Featured guests include YA novelist Linda Sue Park, winner of the Newbery Medal for A Single Shard, and author/illustrator Brian Selznick, winner of the Caldecott medal for The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Thursday evening, June 17, is the family night opening. Park and Selznick will present their works along with dance, drama and film related to their work. Conference registration and sessions will take place on Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Both days will feature keynotes by the guests and sessions on discussing, using, and creating children’s literature. Linda Sue Park and Brian Selznick will also conduct workshops for teen writers and artists. Our six author/illustrators from the KCC exhibit will show and discuss their work at a Saturday session, and Shan Correa will discuss her just-released debut novel, Gaff.

Complete conference programs will be mailed to CLH’s e- and snail mail lists on April 26 and will be posted on the CLH web site, www.childrensliteraturehawaii.org. For more information, please leave a message at the CLH office, 956-7559 or CLH@hawaii.edu, or contact steering committee member Sue Cowing at niuiki@hawaiiantel.net or Elizabeth Oh at elizabethpaints@yahoo.com.

Judging a Cover By its Book?

Gaff, by Shan Correa

Shan Correa sent a very interesting blog entry from her publisher’s web site that follows the evolution of the design for the cover of her novel Gaff, and discusses the general considerations that go into the choice of book design. Something for illustrators and novelists–to-be to think about. Here’s the link:

http://peachtreepub.blogspot.com/2010/03/judging-book-by-its-cover.html

Calendar of Annual Writing Competitions

• Lorin Tarr Gill Writing Competition (Hawaii)
  Genres: fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Cash awards. Deadline: March of each year. Information at www.nlapwhonolulu.org.

• Delacorte First Young Adult Novel (national)
  Entries must be submitted between October 1 and December 31 2010. (If anyone sent a ms. before October it would be
  recycled.)
  Prize: contract and advance. For details, see www.randomhouse.com/kids/writingcontest.

• Delacorte First Middle Grade Novel (national)
  Entries must be submitted between April 1 and June 30, 2010. For details, see www.randomhouse.com/kids/writingcontest

• Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition (national)
  Genres: varied, including children’s/young adult fictionGrand prize: $3,000 cash and a trip to New York City to meet with editors or agents.
  Deadline:  May 14, 2010
  Entry fee(s), which increase on submissions entered after May 14. Information at www.writersdigest.com.

If you know of additional competitions, please e-mail Leslie Hayashi at vanhashli@hawaii.rr.com.

Kudos

• Ohia Productions will produce two performances of TiQri, The Little Snow Fox, A Tale of the North Pacific by Jodi Belknap and Tamara Montgomery at the historic Hawaii Theatre this fall. The play will also tour in various schools.  Visit www.calabashbooks.com to learn when digital versions of TiQri, Kraken-Ka, the Komodo Dragon, A Tale of Indonesia and When the Cassowary Pooped, A Tale of New Guinea, will be available.
• Gaff, Shan Correa’s debut middle-grade novel, was published by Peachtree Publishers this month. Paul is 12 years old and his father makes a living raising fighting cocks. After Paul is forced to watch a cock fight, he is horrified. He wants to find another way for his father to make a living, but can he do it?
• Sue Cowing’s story “Skyler and Skyman” will appear in the May/June issue of CRICKET Magazine.
• Adventures in Alaska, illustrated by Yuko Green, has been published by Island Heritage for Arctic Circle Enterprises, Inc.
• Sue Wyshynski’s debut novel, Poser, will be published by Walker & Co. in June 2. Tallulah says she can surf but she can’t. When her lie is discovered, she is branded a ‘poser’ by the high school “in” crowd. Desperate to salvage her reputation, she learns to surf from an “uncool” student. Will Tallulah prove she’s no fake, or will she risk her new-found friendship?
• The Wishing Spiral by Zariah Art was one of 20 finalists in Blooming Tree Press’s first annual Bloom Award for 2009. The award was established to honor the Texas-based publisher’s founder, Mildred Bloom, following her death in 2007; the award winner received a book contract. For more information, see www.bloomingtreepress.com/bloomaward.html or www.ZariahArt.com.
• Finding Our `Ohana, Jerilyn Ito’s first picture book, was published by Sleepytown Press in February 2010. (Sleepytown Press is a print-on-demand publisher.)

• RA MESSAGE: It’s Not in Our Stars
• SCBWI-Hawaii Annual Conference Preview, February 27, 2010
• Those &*+$!  Rejection Letters
• Does Your Manuscript Look Professional?
• HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN Magazine Lists Their Current Needs
• New Website: Picture Book Party
• Kudos

RA Message:  It’s Not in Our Stars

By Sue Cowing

Forgetting for a moment the surprises the universe reserves for teachers who take themselves too seriously, I once set up an experiment with a class of ninth graders I thought were far too taken in by sky signs and horoscopes. For the next seven days, I proposed, half the class would clip the star-chart column in the morning paper and keep a log of what actually happened to them each day. I and the other half of the class would also keep the log, but promise not to look at the column. Then we’d compare notes.

Ahem. As I expected, those who read the charts all week showed a closer correspondence with their days’ events than those who didn’t. The only perfect bulls-eye in either group, though, was my own. For the black Friday of that week when I lost my paycheck, had three flat tires on two different cars, and got an audit notice from the IRS, my horoscope read: “Stay home if possible, but if not, travel by foot, and be especially careful with money.” I had to join in the howls of laughter at my expense.

Here is a horoscope for us children’s writers and illustrators that I’ve made up without consulting a single star, using quotations and proverbs as messages. The assignment to months is purely arbitrary (I even drew my own month’s message from a jar so that I could take part, too), but try pretending that the one appearing in your birth month just happens to be the very metaphor, semaphore, or what-for you need to keep on submitting and reworking, to figure out how to fill that plot hole or blank space, to make something difficult easy or fun, to free yourself from the fear of failure (or success), or to take a wild leap in a new direction. Then see what happens.

• January: “It is wise to enjoy yourself, but it is a virtue to create enjoyment.” Persian proverb

• February: “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” Pablo Picasso

• March: “A bird doesn’t sing because it has the answer; it sings because it has a song.” Maya Angelou

• April: “I’ve got the brain of a four-year-old. I bet he was glad to be rid of it.” Groucho Marx

• May: “The day you decide to do it is your lucky day.” Japanese proverb

• June: “When danger approaches, sing to it.” Arabic proverb

• July: “When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.” Henry J. Kaiser

• August: “For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.” Lily Tomlin

• September: “Trust all Joy.” Theodore Roethke

• October: “Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” Amelia Earhart

• November: “There must be more to life than having everything.” Maurice Sendak

• December: “I stopped believing in Santa Claus at age six when my mother took me to see him in a store and he asked for my autograph.” Shirley Temple Black

2010 SCBWI-Hawaii Conference Preview

Our 2010 all day conference is set for Saturday, February 27, at the Ala Moana Hotel, plus there will be an optional all-day fiction workshop with Kathi Appelt the day before. Plans are being finalized as this newsletter is in process, and it’s looking good! We’ll send out the complete information and registration form soon, but here’s a preview of what you can look forward to:

*For all:

• general session with Nancy Siscoe, executive editor at Knopf on character development in both text and illustration.

• after-lunch panel with representatives from Mutual Publishing, Island Heritage, and Bess Press who will talk about what kinds of manuscripts they are looking for and how to submit to them.

• optional manuscript and portfolio critiques.

*For writers:

• hands-on session with Newbury honoree Kathi Appelt on “Endowed Objects—What’s in your Character’s ‘Magic Box?’”

• first-pages session

• session on “The Art of Story” with Margaret South, who wowed us all at last year’s conference.

*For illustrators:

• hands-on session with James Rumford, “Now That’s Another Story: the Art of the Picture Book”

• presentation with Tammy Yee on “The (Happy) Marriage of Illustration and Technology”

• presentation with Scott Goto “Working from References and Other Tricks of the Trade”

Click here for Conference Information and Registration Packet

Those &*+$!  Rejection Letters

By Lynne Wikoff

Two ancient, yellowed Peanuts comic strips wink to me from my bulletin board. One shows Snoopy on top of his dog house, typing a letter to a publisher who rejected him: “Gentlemen,” he writes, “Regarding the recent rejection slip you sent me. I think there might have been a misunderstanding. What I really meant was for you to publish my story and sent me fifty thousand dollars. Didn’t you realize that?”  The second shows Lucy “consoling” Snoopy after this rejection: “…No one is ever going to pay you for those dumb stories you write. And crying won’t help…Publishers very seldom pay authors just to keep them from crying.” (Too bad, yeah?)

My file folder of rejection letters should be labeled “Facts of Life” because, sadly, rejection comes with the I-want-to-be-published territory. Most of those rejections are garden variety form letters, but a few contain words of encouragement that I treasure. (There are also a few “holes” in my file, spots that should have been filled by a response to a submission, except the editor never replied at all.)

Given that writing and rejection skip along the path to publication hand in hand, coping with rejection is a skill we all need to cultivate. (This also applies to receiving no reply at all—some publishers’ websites say that if they don’t respond to a submission after a set length of time, that means they aren’t interested.)

Here are some suggestions to guide you when one of those inevitable rejections comes your way.

• Think unprintable thoughts about the stupidity of the offending editor.

• Take some time to cool down. Read some good books. Read some more.

• Accept reality [insert trumpet blare here]: rejection is not personal. It’s a business decision. There’s a time to be creative and emotional (say, when you’re writing a first draft), and there’s a time to be business-like. This is the time to be business-like, so…

• Re-read your manuscript with the expectation that it can be improved.

• Revise your manuscript. Let it simmer for a week or, preferably, more and then re-revise.

• Send it out again.

• Repeat as necessary.

Does Your Manuscript Look Professional?

Does the overall look of your submission convey that you are a professional writer—or does it scream AMATEUR!  Admittedly, a properly formatted manuscript doesn’t guarantee a sale, but an incorrectly formatted one doesn’t just mark you as an amateur. It may also keep your work from being read—and who wants to take that chance?

Here’s how to look like a pro.

• Typeface and type size. Use an easy-to-read serif font, such as Times New Roman. (Serifs are the teeny lines that finish off the main strokes of letters, and serif typefaces are considered easier to read than those without serifs—called sans serif.) Use 12-point type.

• Spacing. Double space all manuscripts, including picture book manuscripts. (Picture book manuscripts are straight type, with no demarcations for page breaks.) Do not double-double space between paragraphs, except for a change of scene in a novel. Use only one space after a period or colon—that’s the standard for work that is to be printed. (For personal correspondence, two spaces after a period or colon is still the standard.)

• Margins. The default settings in Microsoft Word are acceptable. If you use another word processing program, set your margins at one inch on each side of the paper.

• First page.

At the top left corner of the page, single space as follows:
Your street address
Your city/state/zip code
Your phone number
Your email address

Double space twice, then center your title all in caps. Double space and center By [your name]. Double double space again, then begin your story.

• Either right or left justified at the top of each page (except the title page), put your name, your story title (shortened if it is long), and the page number.

• Use only 8 ½ x 11-inch white paper and black ink.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN Magazine Lists Their Current Needs

The venerable magazine HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN has issued the following listing of the kinds of submissions they are currently seeking. For specific requirements for submissions in the categories below see www.highights.com/current-needs.

Fiction submissions: send to Joelle Dujardin, Associate Editor.

• For beginning readers, ages 4-8, up to 500 words: humorous stories; folktales; holiday stories, sports stories.

• For independent readers, age 8-12, up to 800 words: holiday stories, humorous stories, adventure stories, historical fiction, sports stories.

Nonfiction submissions: must contain an expert review and a bibliography with more than just Internet sources.

• What a Pro Knows, up to 800 words. Submit to Debra Hess, Senior Editor.

• Gallant Kids, up to 400 words. Submit to Debra Hess, Senior Editor.

• Science: 800-word and 400 word features and 50-word activities. Submit to Andy Boyles, Science Editor.

• History/World Cultures: up to 800 words. Submit to Carolyn Yoder.

• One-Page Activities and Short Puzzles, up to 275 words, and Short Games, Recipes, and Activities. Submit to Linda Rose, Assistant Editor.

New Website: Picture Book Party

The website Picture Book Party at  www.picturebookparty.com was created by Andrea Zimmerman as “a place to celebrate creating picture books. She says the site is meant to “give inspiration, information and fun to people involved in writing and illustrating picture books.” The site is a blog that rotates among five topics: picture books past, illustration, writing, real kids, and book business. You can click on any one of the topics and see all the past posts—great info in an easy-to digest format, and with links to other sites of interest.

Kudos

Sue Cowing’s middle grade puppet-and-boy story, FALL GUY, was sold to CarolRhoda Books in August and is scheduled for publication in 2011.

BeachHouse Publishing recently released two books by Vera Arita. CAN YOU CATCH A COQUI FROG? includes various Hawaiian animals and their habitats in a story sung to the tune of “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” ANIMALS SING ALOHA is a phonics book that teaches the sounds of the alphabet and is sung to Vera’s original tune.

Monika Mira has released an “earth friendly” edition, printed on recycled paper, of THE COMPLETE HAWAIIAN REEF COLORING BOOK, which includes more than 200 colorable illustrations and provides information on anatomical features, coloration, body designs, feeding habits and reproductive strategies.

MAX AND THE DUMB FLOWER PICTURE, by the late Martha Alexander with James Rumford, was featured in The New York Times book review section on October 11. The enthusiastic review ended with a lovely tribute to Jim: “Martha Alexander left notes and sketches for this story about the possibilities of ‘a blank sheet of paper,’ and James Rumford ably completed it.”

• RA MESSAGE: WRITE–WHAT?–Lynne Wikoff
• SAVE THESE DATES:
  Martha Alexander book-signing: August 8, 2009
  SCBWI-Hawaii Annual Conference: Saturday, February 27, 2010
  Kathi Appelt Fiction Workshop: Friday, February 26, 2010
• ELLEN HOPKINS’ CHARACTER WORKSHOP
• WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
• Kudos

RA MESSAGE: WRITE–WHAT?
by Lynne Wikoff

An editor who spoke at the SCWBI New York conference this past winter urged writers to “play dumb”–to write what they don’t know. Write because you want to find out, she said, write because you want to discover something new. That something is bound to give your writing freshness and excitement, she said.Isn’t it an axiom of writing: Write what you know? I’d bet that all writers have heard this advice, which seems to have been chiseled on a stone tablet. Before this, I’d accepted it at face value–even as I worked on a historical novel that included lots of things, both about my characters and my plot, that fell far outside the category of what I knew. Hmmm.

When I got home I looked through notes I’d saved from past conferences, and found this from Richard Peck: Write what you don’t know. In fact, writing your own life violates one of his ten commandments of writing: thou shalt not commit autobiography. Stories must be more interesting than real life, he explained, most especially because stories thrive on conflict and conflict is something most of us strive to avoid in real life.

As for what I know–my own story–it’s mostly pretty banal and would surely bore other people. Sticking to it would make for dreadfully boring stories. Hence my passion for the historical novel. This “permission” to write what I don’t know made me feel better about all I’d had to learn to do write this story-about being a young man, being African-American in the South in the early twentieth century and living under the watchful eye of Jim Crow, and about African-American church services, the lumber business, and maintaining a 1918-model car.

This is not to say that we must totally ignore our own lives. We can use what we know as a jumping off point for our fiction, a door-opener to true storytelling. By stretching our writer “wings” and writing what we don’t know but are passionate about (and do the research on), we can surely fashion much more interesting stories-maybe even publishable stories.

• Martha Alexander book-signing: August 8, 2009
  Come celebrate the publication of Martha Alexander’s last book Max and the Dumb Flower Picture, at Barnes & Noble Kahala Mall on Saturday, August 8 at 12:00 noon. Martha, who lived in Honolulu, was an award-winning and internationally recognized author and illustrator of over forty children’s books. When she passed away in 2006 at the age of 86, she left behind an unfinished manuscript about a kindergartener named Max who refuses to color in the flower picture his teacher gives him. At the urging of Martha’s sisters, James Rumford worked with her drawings and, with the help of the computer and Martha’s editor at Charlesbridge, was able to turn her words and her tissue paper sketches into a book.James Rumford will be at the book event with paper and crayons for those who would like to make their own flower picture and add it to the many already drawn in celebration of the life and career of a remarkable woman.
• SCBWI-Hawaii Annual Conference: Saturday, February 27, 2010
  Our annual SCBWI-Hawaii Conference will be held at the Ala Moana Hotel. Featured guests are National Book Award finalist Kathi Appelt, Knopf & Crown Executive Editor Nancy Siscoe, picture book writer/illustrator James Rumford, and writing coach Margaret South. Start polishing up your pictures and pages, because manuscript and portfolio reviews will once again be part of the conference.

  Kathi Appelt

  Nancy Siscoe

  James Rumford

  Margaret South

• Kathi Appelt Fiction Workshop: Friday, February 26, 2010
  On the day before the annual conference, author and teacher Kathi Appelt (THE UNDERNEATH) will lead an all-day, limited-attendance fiction workshop at a location to be determined.

On Saturday morning, June 20, best-selling young adult novelist Ellen Hopkins conducted a workshop on character motivation for our fiction writers. Here’s what workshop participant Gloria Staackmann had to say about the experience:

“Ellen Hopkins is a very accessible novelist, who put our writers’ group at ease immediately with her friendly attitude. Her books deal with some heavy topics, so it was rather surprising that she has such a sunny personality.“I was intrigued by the topic of ‘character building’ as a crucial factor in structuring the shape of a story, as opposed to plot-driven works. In order to clarify the personalities, Ellen handed out charts that took each of us through a step-by-step buildup of major characters and the inner forces that would create the necessary conflicts. By referring to the handouts, it was easy for me to create the characters, conflicts and resolutions that in my mind form the bones of a plot rather than fitting those same people into a preconceived plot.

“When I read my short story aloud, Ellen felt that it would make a good middle school novel because it showed the maturing of the main character within an interesting plot. It is now in my short stack of future projects.”

The following people have joined SCBWI-Hawaii in the last few months:Molly Brown of Kaneohe; Joseph Dodd, Marie Iding, Lavonne Leong, Mary Matsuda, Gloria Staackmann, Shamar White and Susan Wyshynski of Honolulu; Candice Hamilton of Wahiawa; Elena Kamai of Kahului; Sunny Seal of Pepeeko; Monika Mira of Eleele; and Sheri Tamamoto of Aiea.

Kudos

(Don’t forget to send TRADEWINDS your good news about publications and honors. Your fellow SCBWI-Hawaii members want to hear and cheer.)

• Sue Cowing’s article, “Insects in the World of Art,” will appear in the September issue of CRICKET magazine. Illustrations for the article include the diamond butterfly pin with moveable wings that then Princess Lili’uokalani bought in London to wear in her hair for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
• Leslie Hayashi’s book, CELEBRATING HOLIDAYS IN HAWAI’I, illustrated by Kathleen Wong Bishop, will be published by Mutual Publishing this fall. It features short stories, recipes, songs, and craft activities in connection with ethnic and mainstream holidays celebrated here.

Please send items for the next newsletter to Sue Cowing (niuiki@hawaiiantel.net) or Lynne Wikoff (lwikoff @lava.net).

RA Message: Let’s Make Books Like Chocolate
by Sue Cowing

I used to wonder how my family could have started a small-town flower shop in the middle of the Depression and made a go of it. Flowers, when everyone’s adding water to the soup?Apparently people who had even a little money to spare in those days spent it on small luxuries like roses or chocolate to console themselves and lift their spirits. Snickers, the best-selling candy bar in history, got its start in the 1930s, as did Tootsie Rolls, and fine candy shops selling boxes of chocolates or candies by the piece could be found in even the smallest towns.

The movies thrived, too, as people lined up at the box office to buy a few hours of escape. And what an exciting escape it was, with the industry poised for breathtaking innovations: rolling sound cameras, the first color, and the development of true feature-length films in a great variety of genres-gangster movies, musicals, buddy comedy, horror and monster movies, westerns, mysteries. Most of these films were momentary and forgettable, but classics like The Invisible Man, Good-by Mr. Chips, Wizard of Oz, and Of Mice and Men also emerged.

Maybe we could learn something from flowers and candy and movies in the current economic downturn.

Think books for children went by the wayside during the Depression? The 1930′s gave us Bartholomew Cubbins, Madeleine, Babar, Nancy Drew, Ferdinand the Bull, The Hobbit, The Yearling, Caddie Woodlawn, and The Sword in the Stone, to name just a few. Children’s books will still be bought and published this year and next. Publishers may be downsizing their staffs and lists. Schools, libraries, parents, and grandparents may be trimming their book budgets. But kids need us. So do editors–you know, the ones with the shaky smiles waiting at their desks for the axe to fall and praying that somewhere in the teetering pile of new submissions is one brilliant jewel that can save the day.

Maybe this is the time to go for broke (so to speak), to push ourselves to produce our most original and entertaining books yet by taking risks and being true to whatever seriously entertains the child in us, forgetting about “the market.” Let’s send in something that grabs the kid-reader in every good children’s book editor, that makes them cry, “Yes! This is it, an irresistible book, a winner.” Something delicious and chocolaty with Technicolor at its center or rolling sound, or glamour, or mystery, or madcap comedy, or just a deep story perfectly told.

Like chocolate or roses, stories in pictures and words become even more luxurious and satisfying in uncertain times, and even more necessary.

On March 7, 41 SCBWI members and nine nonmembers gathered at the Ala Moana Hotel for our annual conference. We heard Martha Mihalick, associate editor at Greenwillow Books, talk about creating a believable fictional world and about voice, and she shared her reactions to participants’ anonymous first pages. Vicki Jamieson, recently a designer at Greenwillow and now pursuing her own illustration career, showed the dummies from her forthcoming book and the many revisions she went through, and did breakouts with illustrators on different looks for different kinds of books and offered her critiques of promotional postcards. And local writing teacher Margaret South did a session on story arc, showing us how a well-crafted story is constructed. See comments from Adria Estribou about Margaret’s session below, followed by general comments about the conference from Robin Racoma.

(l to r) Adria Estribou, Nancy Mower, and Pat Godfrey check out the contents of the conference packets.

From Adria Estribou, writer
Story is Like, Life

Margaret South said something in her conference general session called “Secrets of a Good Story” that piqued my interest. Regular life never goes well, she said. It is never what we expect. So don’t make life pleasant for your main character, she advised. I decided to try an experiment and pay close attention to everyday obstacles and struggles as I left the conference.My next stop was a vocal workshop, so I pulled out my digital recorder. I had a few hours of recorded warm-ups and song accompaniments, and I wanted to play some warm-ups on the drive over. One of the recorded tracks was a mistake, so I pushed erase. “Erase all?” it asked. “No” I selected. “Erasing all,” it answered. “Noooooo!” one. Hours of recording irretrievably erased in an instant.

It started to rain. Should I bring my umbrella? So far it was only raining lightly, and if I brought the umbrella I’d have to deal with it inside But if I didn’t bring it and it started to pour, I’d get soaked.

I pulled into the parking garage. It had one of those electronic pay stations. Parking cost $2, so I inserted a $5 bill and waited for change. A parking receipt came out, but no change. I bent down to look at the machine more closely. “Exact change only.” I wasn’t getting my $3 back.

All that in only the first ten minutes after I left the conference! Hmm, maybe I’ve been too easy on my main character…

Sue Cowing offers her comments and suggestions to Zipporah Fischer during the post-conference critique session.

From Robin Racoma, illustrator

As an illustrator, I’m always interested to learn as much as possible about my craft and found Victoria Jamieson to be engaging and informative. The postcard “first look” critique and the portfolio review afforded me a wonderful opportunity to receive feedback directly from a publishing professional. I was greatly encouraged and inspired to continue my pursuit as an illustrator in the world of children’s books.In addition, the perspectives that Martha Mihalick and Margaret South both shared on the mechanics of good story-telling was helpful information that shed light on the author’s difficult task. The conference also provided me a glimpse of the work others are doing and a chance to network within our local author and illustrator community. I’m so impressed with all the talents that were shared.

I’m very glad to have attended SCBWI Hawai’i's 2009 conference and would like to thank all those who devoted their time and efforts to ensure its success.

Martha Mihalick (l), associate editor at Greenwillow Books, and Vicki Jamieson, designer and picture book illustrator, field questions at the close of the conference.

It was a busy, information-packed, and inspiring day that also included plenty of time for schmoozing and getting to know each other. If you weren’t there, we missed you! And we’ll do it all again next year, with another crew of great speakers. Mark your calendar now for Saturday, February 27, 2010.

Ellen Hopkins will be our guest for a morning program at Sue Cowing’s house on Saturday, June 20. Ellen is the author of five New York Times bestselling young adult novels-in-verse: Crank, Glass, Burned, Impulse, and Identical. She has also had published 20 nonfiction children’s books. Space will be limited, so be sure to sign up as soon as we send out the registration/cost announcement. See more about Ellen (and check out her writing tips) at www.ellenhopkins.com.

In response to requests at the conference, we’re offering to match up people who are looking for critique groups. (Actually, we provide the platform and you do the matching up.) If you are interested in finding critique partners, please send the following information to Lynne Wikoff at lwikoff@lava.net by May 15.

Name

Your critique interest: writing, illustration, or both; if you are a writer, the genre you want to critique (picture book, middle grade fiction, YA fiction, nonfiction)

A very brief indication of your experience writing and/or illustrating for kids

Where you live (island/town), and your phone number and email

An indication of your exchange preference:
-in person-include whether you prefer daytime or evening meetings
-via email

After the deadline, we’ll compile all the responses and email the entire list to everyone who expressed interest. Then you’ll be able to follow up with your own inquiries and arrangements.

(Don’t forget to send TRADEWINDS your good news about publications and honors. Your fellow SCBWI-Hawaii members want to hear and cheer.)

James Rumford’s book SILENT MUSIC received the 2009 Zolotow Honor Award and was named a 2009 ALA Notable Book. Congratulations (again!), Jim.

Please send items for the next newsletter to Sue Cowing (niuiki@hawaiiantel.net) or Lynne Wikoff (lwikoff @lava.net).

Our means of staying in touch with you is the roster we receive from SCBWI’s main office. If you change your email address or move, we won’t know unless you update your information with that office-which you can do with a few keystrokes online. Haven’t used the website before? No problem! Your user ID is your email (your old one, if yours has changed since you joined), and if you don’t have a password, you’ll be prompted to select one. Once you are logged in, click on “For Our Members,” then on “Update Your Info,” which is third on the listing on the left side of the screen.And while you’re logged on, check out all the terrific resources at your disposal.

Authors and publishers filed a class action lawsuit claiming Google violated the copyrights of authors, publishers and other copyright holders (“Rightsholders”) by scanning in-copyright books and displaying excerpts, without permission; Google denies the claims. The parties agreed to a settlement, summarized below. See www.googlebooksettlement.com for complete information, including the full Notice. Or you may call 888-356-0248, or write to Google Book Search Settlement Administrator, c/o Rust Consulting, P.O. Box 9364, Minneapolis, MN 55440-9364Settlement Provisions. The settlement, if Court-approved, authorizes Google to scan in-copyright books and inserts in the U. S., and maintain an electronic database of books. For out-of-print books and, if permitted by Rightsholders of in-print books, Google will be able to sell access to individual books and institutional subscriptions to the database, place advertisements on any page dedicated to a book, and make other commercial uses of books. At any time, Rightsholders can change instructions to Google regarding any of those uses. Through a Book Rights Registry (“Registry”) established by the settlement, Google will pay Rightsholders 63% of all revenues from these uses.

Google also will pay $34.5 million to establish and fund the initial operations of the Registry and for notice and settlement administration costs, and at least $45 million for cash payments to Rightsholders of books and inserts that Google scans prior to the deadline for opting out of the settlement.

People Included in the Settlement. The settlement class includes all persons worldwide who own a U.S. copyright interest in any Book or Insert. The meaning of “U.S. copyright interest” is broad. Read the full Notice to determine whether you are included in the settlement. There are two Sub-Classes: the “Author Sub-Class” (authors of Books and other writings, and their heirs, successors and assigns), and the “Publisher Sub-Class” (publishers of Books and periodicals, and their successors and assigns).

Material the Settlement Covers. “Books” include in-copyright written works, such as novels, textbooks, dissertations, and other writings, that were published or distributed in hard copy format on or before January 5, 2009. U.S. works must be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office to be included in the settlement. Not included: periodicals, personal papers, sheet music, and public domain or government works.

“Inserts” include any text and other material, such as forewords, essays, poems, quotations, letters, song lyrics, children’s Book illustrations, sheet music, charts, and graphs, if independently protected by U.S. copyright, contained in a Book, a government work or a public domain book published on or before January 5, 2009, and, if U.S. works, registered (alone or as part of another work) with the U.S. Copyright Office. Not included: pictorial content (except for children’s Book illustrations), or any public domain or government works.

What Should You Do? Your options include:

• Remain in the settlement. If you do, you will be bound by the Court’s rulings, including a release of your claims against Google.
• Object to or comment on the settlement, which must be done in writing by May 5, 2009.
• Opt out of the settlement and keep your right to sue Google individually, which must be done in writing by May 5, 2009.
• File a claim for a cash payment (if you are eligible to do so), which must be done by January 5, 2010.

The Court has appointed Class Counsel to represent the two Sub-Classes. If the settlement is approved, Class Counsel for the Author Sub-Class will request attorneys’ fees and expenses that Google has agreed to pay. You can also hire your own attorney at your own cost.The Court will determine whether to approve the settlement at a Fairness Hearing on June 11, 2009, at 1:00 p.m.

The full Notice, which contains a more detailed information about the settlement, is available at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com.