Regional virtual events

November 23, 2024: Let Debbie Vilardi, PAL Member, Published Poet, Executive Editor of the Kid LIt News (SCBWI LI newsletter) and the "Editor's Editor" help your works in verse shine! Why using meter and rhyme correctly will help your work. Also, learn why so many agents and editors reject rhyming/verse stories and poems. Sign up before and after the event and have the recording up to two months! First four poems or stories submitted will get a critique during the event. Don't miss this exciting opportunity!

December 2, 2024: Join us as author-illustrator Vikram Madan goes behind the scenes of his Geisel-Honor-winning beginner-comic/early-reader series Owl & Penguin to share his creative process and insights about writing & illustrating early readers.

December 5, 2024 (registration closes December 2): THE PIECE BY PIECE OF REVISION. We writers sometimes cringe at the ‘R’ word. Rejection? No. The other ‘R’ word: REVISION. With over a dozen traditionally published picture books, author Stephanie Shaw is well-acquainted with the revision process. And it starts with being sure the manuscript is Revision-Ready. Join Stephanie as she talks through all the steps leading to revising a PB manuscript. This Level Up is for brave beginners and intrepid intermediates and anyone who has been tied up in knots about revision.

December 5, 2024 (registration closes December 4): Our popular Meet & Pitch series is back! Join Adria Goetz, Agent at KT Literary to learn about their manuscript wish list, ask questions and receive live feedback on your pitch. Adria is currently closed to queries but participants will receive special submission instructions.

December 7, 2024 (registration ends December 5): What do industry professionals look for when they view illustrators’ portfolios, postcards, websites, and social media posts? Amelia Mack, art director at Union Square & Co, will offer live feedback on anonymous submissions. Whether you choose to submit a file or just watch, you'll gain insights on how to improve your art. Amelia is open to receiving digital/snail mail postcards from attendees after the event.

December 7, 2024 (registration closes November 9): It's back! Indiana SCBWI’s Agent/Editor Spectacular is returning for a second year. We are so excited to present an impressive faculty and expanded options for illustrators, too! Join us online on December 7th for a live pitching session or sign up for written critiques from top agents and editors. Opportunities to get feedback from industry professionals and pitch one-on-one are hard to come by, so you will not want to miss this chance. 16 industry professionals are attending this year: 7 Editors, 1 Art Director, 8 Agents! Simon & Schuster, Charlesbridge Publishing, Scholastic, Harper Collins, Flamingo Books, Red Fox Literary, The CAT Agency, East West Literary, Creative Media Agency, Thompson Literary and Galt & Zacker Literary Agency. Please note: This is a pitching and critique event only. No webinar is included, and no conference fee will be charged.

December 10, 2024: Do you have ideas for a graphic novel story? Do you wonder how to pitch your dream project to an agent or a publisher? In this online workshop, author-illustrator Maple Lam will teach you how to put together a great pitch for your next graphic novel.

December 14, 2024 (registration closes December 13): Lessons Learned on the Road to Publication with Debut Authors and Illustrators features Zohreh Ghahremani, Author, The Memory Garden, illustrated by Susie Ghahremani, Godwin Books; K. Marcus, Author, Frankenstein's Matzah, illustrated by Sam Loman, published by Intergalactic Afikoman and distributed by Lerner Books; Nessa Bellido Schwarz, Author, George the Flybot and the Lost Camera on Mount Everest, and George The Flybot and the Golden Owl of France, published by Sunbird Kid Books imprint of PIP Kids; Pam Vaughan, Author, Missy Wants a Mammoth, illustrated by Ariel Landy, Pixel+Ink/Holiday House; and Stan Yan, Author/Illustrator, The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang, Atheneum.

January 11, 2025 (registration closes January 10): As an in-house children’s book editor for over ten years, an author of several children’s books, and Co-Founder of Red Fox Literary, LLC with Karen Grencik in 2011, Agent Abigail Samoun will present her unique perspective in navigating the ins and outs of a writing career and offer an insider’s professional advice and tips in writing your book and getting it noticed by agents and publishers. As an agent, Abigail represents authors and illustrators working in a range of genres, from board books to young adult novels. In addition to agenting, Abigail is the author of several children’s books, including Sterling Publishing’s Little Traveler board book series illustrated by Red Fox’s own Sarah Watts and What’s In Your Purse? (Chronicle).

January 13, 2025 (registration closes January 12): Join literary agent and former editor Elise Howard as she discusses the process of working with your agent on readying your work for submission. Topics to be covered will include: · What’s an editorial agent? · Submitting to an editorial agent · Finding the right editorial agent for you · Revising for submission · Ready for submission? · What exactly is “room for the editor”? · The agent’s role after the book is sold. After laying the groundwork for the subject, we will make the session as interactive as possible, in order to answer participants’ most pressing questions about the agent/author relationship and to help make your search for an agent, editorial or otherwise, as productive as possible. SUBMISSION SHINE 2025: ONLINE CRITIQUE INTENSIVE PARTICIPANTS ARE AUTOMATICALLY REGISTERED FOR THIS EVENT

March 8, 2025 (registration closes March 7): With a wealth of high-octane experience in Hollywood & Nickelodeon - combined with a genuine support for writers and their best interests - Eddie Gamarra will share insider tips on how and where to pitch ideas that could get your book a fighting chance. Former college professor and now media right consultant, Eddie Gamarra was most recently VP, Literary Affairs where he scouted, acquired, and developed books & other IP for Paramount's Nickelodeon & Awesomeness brands. His client roster included NYT best-selling authors & illustrators as well as Oscar, Emmy, Annie, Caldecott, Newbery, and Geisel winners/nominees. He has a BA from Vassar, a Masters from NYU, and a PhD from Emory.

April 5, 2025 (registration closes April 4): Just like first impressions, first pages can matter a lot. They help set up reader expectations, as well as reader anticipation. But how do you polish your first page to where it needs to be to get a reader hooked? During this meeting, we'll be looking at examples of strong first pages and discussing what makes them work, as well as chatting about what might NOT work on a first page. Presented by Foyinsi Adegbonmire, an Editor at Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. She acquires Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction, and is open to contemporary, mystery, romance, and fantasy, while enjoying lighthearted stories with conversational narrative voices. She was named a PW Star Watch Honoree and her acquisitions include New York Times-bestseller Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and Indie Bestseller Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao. When not reading or thinking about her very large TBR pile, she can be found watching Black sitcoms from the 90s/early 2000s, obsessing over crafting, or being sucked into Twitter and TikTok (@Foyinsi_Pub).