August Announcements from SCBWI SF/South
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In This Issue
(Scroll down for details!)

  • A note from Regional Advisor Danielle Sunshine
  • Register now for Illustrator Day in October: Early bird discount ends August 15th
  • August webinar: Finish That Novel: The Flexible Fiction Framework
  • Critique Groups: Meet Lynne Ann Biscay, our new Critique Coordinator
  • Volunteer Opportunities: Seeking volunteers to join our team. 6 roles available!
  • Asilomar Sneak Peek: Announcing our theme for 2020... scroll down!!
A note from Danielle Sunshine, Regional Advisor
Hello Regional members,
We had a wonderful month of July. While many members were out of town enjoying vacations and extended writing/illustrating time, we still managed to organize two SF/South events.

Our first Artist's Date took place on July 27th at the Mitchell Park Library in Palo Alto. We had over 15 writers and illustrators join for work and lunch. Many were new members, grateful to have the chance to meet others in the region. We will be planning more Artist's Dates for the near future.

Less than a week later, on July 30th, we held an event for our traditionally published authors at the Reading Bug in San Carlos. At this event, these authors and illustrators met with bookstore representatives (all members of the Northern California Independent Bookstore Association), to mingle and share details about their upcoming and currently published books. Over 50 people attended.

We also had over 20 new writers and illustrators join our region. We are so excited to have them join us!

In the next few months, there will be a number of exciting events. This weekend at the SCBWI Los Angeles Conference, over 55 of our members will gather to learn, grow, and commune. We also have our Webinar series starting this month, and an upcoming Illustrator Day in October which is sure to be a success. See below for more details on how to register.

As always, if you have questions or ideas, or want to get involved, please contact me or another member of the regional team. We are always happy to chat and get to know our regional members.

Until next time,
Danielle

Illustrator Day - October 12, 2019
Registration is OPEN! Early bird discount ends August 15.

Date: Saturday, October 12, 2019 from 8am - 4pm

Location: Fort Mason Fire House in San Francisco

Join superstars in the children's book world for a full day of ideas and learning about industry and craft. You won't want to miss it! We have planned great talks that will benefit all stages of your career, whether you are just starting out, or a seasoned professional. 

Our Keynote Speakers, author/Illustrator  Alexandra Boiger  and Art Director  Ellice Lee  will be joined by   an all-star faculty, including: 

Author/illustrator Susan Gal
Author/illustrator Charlotte Cheng
Author/illustrator/educator Julie Downing
Agent Minju Chang
Art director  Melissa Greenberg

In addition to their individual Keynote presentations, Alexandra and Ellice will speak about their collaboration process on the #1 New York Times bestseller picture book series  She Persisted . And, as always, we'll have presentations, critiques, a portfolio showcase, and plenty of opportunities to connect with faculty and peers.

Minju Chang will share with you tips and tricks to catch an Agent's eye.

Julie Downing, Susan Gal, and Charlotte Cheng will discuss the value and importance of a critique group and share their personal experiences on how it has improved their craft and help develop their stories.

Click through to our registration page for more details on the full faculty, agenda, and exciting extras.

We hope to see you there!

August Webinar: Tips for Plotting your Story
Finish That Novel: The Flexible Fiction Framework
August 23, 2019, 12:00 PST
by Lisa Papademetriou, writer, teacher, and app developer.

"The End" is near! Lisa Papademetriou uses her signature humor to reveal a flexible, functional workflow for going from idea to revised draft. Based on the concepts that underlie her new digital product (bookflow.pub), this workshop explores how writers can start with plot, character, or theme, and how those things interweave in the writer's process.

Lisa is the author of A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic (a South Asia Book Award Highly Commended Title), the New York Times-bestselling novel Middle School: My Brother is a Big, Fat Liar and Homeroom Diaries (both with James Patterson), the Confectionately Yours series (over 800,000 books in print), and many other novels for middle grade and young adult readers. Her books have appeared on many prestigious lists, including Bank Street Best Books of the Year, the NYPL Books for the Teen Age, and the Texas Lone Star Reading List and have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Portuguese, and Japanese. She is the founder of the cloud-based writing tool,  Bookflow.pub  and teaches workshops across the United States on the subjects of writing and creative courage. 

Looking ahead: We have a rich lineup of upcoming webinars:

In September, the Regional Team will answer questions for New Members.

In October, Agent DongWon Song, with Morhaim Literary, will present, "How to Pitch."

In November, Kathi Appelt, Mina Witteman, Marilyn Hilton, Erin Dealey, and Christy Hale will talk about their experiences mentoring members of our region.

In January, local writer and teacher Anne-Marie Strohman will present, "Reading for Craft."

In February, local writer and ukulele player Tim McCanna will present, "Rhyming in Picture Books: Dos and Don'ts."

FREE for SF/South Members!
Critique Groups
If you've been looking for a critique partner or critique group, you'll be excited to know that we have a new Critique Co-ordinator. Please welcome Lynne Ann Biscay, a longtime member and seasoned critique group leader. Lynne Ann is currently streamlining our process for facilitating critique groups so please stay tuned for updates. In the meantime, if you have specific questions about critique groups, please direct them to Lynne Ann at [email protected]
We're Seeking Volunteers
Want to help build your SF South community?
Check out our volunteer opportunities!

Our region is built by volunteers. Every one of our events is planned by someone who cares about building our community of writers and illustrators.

We are currently looking for people to fill the following positions:

Regional Coordinator- responsible for helping plan events in your region. We are looking for Coordinators in the following locations:

San Francisco
Mid-Peninsula
South Bay
Monterey Bay

Retreat Coordinator - responsible for helping plan our annual writer's retreat
PAL Network Liaison - responsible for outreach and programming for our published author members

If you are interested in any of these opportunities: please contact Danielle Sunshine at [email protected]
Golden Gate Conference 2020 at Asilomar
Drum Roll Please...

Announcing our conference theme for 2020!

YOUR WEEKEND MFA

Nearly everyone who responded to our feedback survey said that they wanted more craft content at the conference. We heard you! This feedback guided our choice of theme for 2020: Your Weekend MFA.

We are planning content that goes deeper into craft, balancing the needs of beginning and more advanced writers and illustrators.

Mark your calendars: March 13-15, 2020

Registration is expected to go live in October. Stay tuned to this monthly newsletter for more details.

We're looking for your ideas for how we can make this newsletter more fun and more useful. Send us your suggestions! Contact Laurel at [email protected].