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And a huge THANK YOU to Kathy, who hosted the SCBWI Wisconsin KIDLIT Book Buzz and BEYOND for the last year and a half.
She will co-host the Book Buzz with the new chair to help Laura BIrd buzz about books for a couple of months.
SCBWI.org
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A Warm WELCOME
SCBWI Wisconsin's
new Co-Regional Advisor
Kathy Groth is a retired educator and award-winning children’s book author. She’s the author of Sunken, Shipwrecks of Lake Superior, which won a Northeastern Minnesota Book Award (NEMBA), Sunken, Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan, The Shell Box, Ocean Party, and The ABC’s of Hayward.
Kathy writes to teach kids about our Earth and get kids excited about books, which cover topics like ecology, invasive species, mollusk identification, and history. She is SCBWI Wisconsin’s Co-Regional Advisor, a member of Lake Superior Writers and a member of the Wisconsin Writers Association. https://kathygroth.com
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The Artistry of Craft Conference
SEPTEMBER 27, 2025
Picture book writers, add to your craft with The Art of the Art Notes with PB author, Katie Venit. Writers of all kinds, take your manuscript to the next level with writer Shannon Schuren. Novelists, add to your emotional arcs with Ann Angel. Laugh right out loud and get wild with creativity with Silvia Acevedo. Now, that's a day of artistry! Susan Johnston Taylor will wrap things up for the day.
Seats are going slowly but surely.
We hope to see you in the Dells.
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ART
with Anna Aronson, Wisconsin Illustrator Coordinator
Dairyland Illustration Critique
(Zoom)
7PM Central
click the date to register
August 12
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Join the team!
SCBWI Wisconsin is looking for
SE and NW Wisconsin Area Reps
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Before the pandemic, SCBWI Wisconsin had volunteers who served various areas in Wisconsin. In a nutshell, the Area Reps support members in the NW, NE, SE, and SW sections of Wisconsin.
One such activity could be to arrange free informal meet-ups at area libraries and other venues that do not charge to hold a small meeting. The meetings are networking opportunities or meet-ups for critiquing projects.
The Area Reps work together and with the Wisconsin Co-Regional Advisors.
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Any questions?
Contact Cindy Schumerth
schumerthc@gmail.com
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August meet-up in the NE WI-SCBWI Area
Cindy Schumerth, NE Area Representative
The NE WI-SCBWI Area will be having an in-person meet-up on August 23, 2025 10AM-Noon, at the Kress Family Library, 330 N. Broadway, De Pere, WI.
The group will be critiquing 1st pages. Anyone wanting to participate is asked to bring the first page of a manuscript, as it would be sent on a submission.
If you don't want to bring a first page, that's OK.
You'll still be able to participate and learn from what is
discussed on other member's first page critiques.
You'll also get to mingle, and make connections with fellow children's authors and illustrators.
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Greetings SCBWI-WI
South West Region Members!
My name is Samantha Cora Christian Haas (I often go by Sam and use she/her/hers pronouns). Joyce Uglow encouraged me to take on the new SW Wisconsin Area Representative position, and I look forward to getting to know this role and all of you in the months ahead!
We have a large group of 90 people who reside in the southwest part of the state with zip codes starting with 546, 539, 538, 537, 535, and the majority live in and around the Madison area. Wow!
Please help us get to know one another and plan our first meet-up by completing the following survey by Friday, August 15th. My goal is to use this information to schedule a 1-2 hour meet-up in October so that it's after the September 27th conference (unfortunately I'm unable to attend) and before the holiday season.
For those of you who live/work near Madison, I also co-founded a monthly children's book writers and illustrators coffee shop meet-up last year. We typically meet at 9 a.m. the fourth Friday of the month (so, tomorrow, July 25, and then Aug. 22). If you'd like to be added to the listserv for that group, please email me, and I can share more details.
Thank you for your time. I hope you have a safe and enjoyable summer!
Samantha Cora
samanthacoraphoto@gmail.com
Click to take the Google survey here.
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Do you have a link to your newsletter or blog you'd like to share? Add your info to this Google Form.
Good news to share? Add it to Good News Tuesday on the Listserv.
Want your news to be shared via the SCBWI Wisconsin Social Media? Contact Liza Wiemer.
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How did you spend your summer?
Did you do something this summer you would like to share? Perhaps you spoke at a conference? Held a library program? Attended an interesting workshop or took a writing class? Perhaps you took a research trip for a new project? Or maybe you unplugged for a bit and would like to share how the summer replenished your writing life.
Send your summer writing adventures to us. We will include them in the September-October newsletter.
Fall is a great time to look back on what we've accomplished during the warm summer months.
"Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes...
even you." Anne Lamont
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SCBWI Wisconsin KIDLIT Book Buzz
August 21
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Moved from July to August 21 Book Buzz and BEYOND
BEST BUDS
Author: Becky Scharnhorst
Illustrator: Jayden Reed
Format: PB
Illustrator: Jiarui Jiang
Format: PB
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781665960939
When Spencer moves to a new town, his mom is worried he may have a hard time making friends. While the adults in Spencer’s life question whether he might want friends he doesn’t have to water, Spencer knows that friendship can blossom in the most unexpected places.
Purchase Link
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Haunted States of America
paperback JULY 15, 2025
Check it out! Silvia Acevedo has a scary Wisconsin story!
Every state has an urban legend that evokes fear and curiosity in equal parts, and we've chronicled all of these logic-defying horrors here in the Haunted States of America anthology.
Paperback purchase link
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MAIL ORDER MONSTERS CRASH COURSE
Author: Silvia Acevedo
Illustrator: Jeff Miracola
Format: MG
Publisher: Three Points Publishing
Release date: August 26, 2025
ISBN: 978-1950150021
Ten-year-old Marco Torres needs a new bestie. Or a few. He’s on the outs with his EX-best friend and needs someone to talk to, confide in. So he takes a chance on an ad in the back of an old comic book promising something big: MAIL-ORDER MONSTERS. Marco hopes they’ll make amazing new besties and scare off his bully, who in a mean twist of fate happens to be the twin of his crush. But through it all, Marco begins to wonder who should really be fighting his battles? And what exactly is he fighting for?
Purchase Link
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PHANTOM ACADEMY
Author: Christine Virnig
Format: MG
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Aladdin
Release date: August 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781665980357
Filled with humor, heart, and mystery, PHANTOM ACADEMY follows 12-year-old Finn—the newest student at a boarding school for underaged ghosts—as he and his homesick friends plot to break out of the Spirit Realm and return to their families.
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THE DAY SWEETIE PIE DIED
Author: Laurie Sharp
Illustrator: Emily Hurst Pritchett
Format: PB
Publisher: Belle Isle Books
Release Date: August 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781962416757
Maggie loves attending school, where she and her friends get to play, collect nature treasures, and ride trikes together. Best of all, Maggie looks forward to hearing the class guinea pig, Sweetie Pie’s, daily greeting of “Whee, Whee, Whee, Whee, Whee, Wheat!” But today, Ms. Lamms has sad news for the class: Sweetie Pie has died, and they won’t be able to see her anymore. Alongside their grief and worries, Maggie and her classmates devise a plan to show their love for the best guinea pig ever!
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STAY FOR THE BEYOND!
presented by
SCBWI Wisconsin Illustrator Coordinator
Anna Aronson
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MYSTERY DRIVER
Author: Elizabeth Tracy
Illustrator: Anna Aronson
Format: PB
Publisher: MIT Kids Press
Release date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9781536231571
Alice is determined to build the fastest car in the boys-only soap box derby in this empowering true tale of ingenuity, engineering, and the joy of creating your dreams.
Junior Library Guild 2025 Selection
Purchase Link
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50 STATES OF LOVE
illustrator: Anna Aronson
Format: PB
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Release date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 1836006071
How do you show someone you love just how much they mean to you? How else than by taking inspiration from the landmarks, monuments, and traditions that make up each spectacular state?! Climb the majestic purple mountains of Colorado, dance through amber waves of grain in Kansas, and splash among Hawaii's sparkling waves . . . From north to south and coast to coast, readers will learn how the love across America is bigger, bolder, and brighter than they could ever have imagined.
Purchase Link
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During the transition to a new Chair of Wisconsin's Publications Promotions
please email your book release information to Kathy Groth at wisconsin-ra2@scbwi.org
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Please copy and paste the outline given below then email the details to Kathy.
Laura Bird, the new chair of Publications Promotions will take over in September.
We REALLLLLY appreciate (pretty please) a 6-week lead time to coordinate the Book Buzz events and to promote your book in the monthly SCBWI Wisconsin NEWS FOR YOU. Cancellations and additions to the line up make for a lot of work for the volunteers.
TITLE (your title in all caps)
Author
Illustrator
Format: (choose PB, CB, GN, MG, YA)
Publisher
Release date
Include a purchase link
ISBN
Brief description:
Cover image: (attach your cover image in png or jpg with in your email)
Your email address:
Phone number:
___ I would like to participate in the Wisconsin KIDLIT Book Buzz and BEYOND on Zoom. PLEASE NAME THE DESIRED MONTH.
___ I would like to donate a book for the book give-away at the Book Buzz.
___ I will donate a book for the SCBWI Wisconsin booth display.
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SCBWI Wisconsin KIDLIT
Book Buzz and BEYOND
September 18
7PM
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ONE CAN BE
Author: Pat Zietlow Miller
Illustrator: Annie Cron
Format: PB
Publisher: Beaming Books
Release date: September 2, 2025
ISBN: 978-1506499932
What can one person do all alone? Quite a lot, actually. Even so, there are times it helps to work with others. With spare, lyrical text, this book celebrates the power of being alone -- and of coming together --centered on the love of reading and creating community around books. Perfect for introverts, quiet leaders, and anyone who loves books and little libraries.
STAY FOR THE BEYOND!
The Craft of Writing
presented by New York Times Best Selling Author
Pat Zietlow Miller
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Moved from July to October 16 Book Buzz
LIFE IN THE PASSENGER SEAT
Author: Amanda Zieba
Format: YA
Beaver's Pond Press
Release date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 978-1-64343-490-2
A foster care coming-of-age story where one determined gymnast must fight for her future—both in the gym and in her heart.
Purchase Link
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