NovemberNovember 2024

Join us in celebrating our members' news!

Book

Release!

Another Award!

Picture Book Debut coming soon!

Alicia Salazar's first bilingual picture book will be released on May 31, 2025! Cascarones: An Easter Surprise is being published by Arte Publico and is about a young girl introducing her younger brother to the excitement of confetti eggs. You can pre-order the book now.

Follow Alicia on Instagram @albricias123

Freddie the Flyer Wins Another Award!

Freddie the Flyer (Tundra Books, 2023), won the First Nations Communities Read Award (valued at $5,000). The award went to Houston chapter member's Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail's co-author, Fred Carmichael, the first Indigenous commercial pilot in the Arctic, with special mention to illustrator, Audrea Loreen-Wulf, who is Inuvialuit. FNCR will donate a copy of the book to every First Nations library in Ontario, Canada.

Follow Danielle on Instagram

Great place for book-loving volunteers!

A note from member Katie Wray Schon: Texas Children’s Hospital has patient / family libraries in both the Main and Woodlands locations. I’ve been volunteering at the Woodlands location, and we need more volunteers! It’s a super job - you get to hang out and help any visitors to the library, and push around a book cart to hand out books to patients. We all know how awesome books are and how much brighter they can make your day - what better way to give a little joy to some kids who need it!

Info shared by Katie Wray Schon @katiewrayschon (Instagram)

I’ve found TCH a really great organization to volunteer for, too. They request three hours a week for consistency, but are very understanding about needing to miss for sick kids, travel, etc.

If you’re interested in volunteering, you can start here and find your way to the right volunteer application. Or if you have any questions for me about my experience there, feel free to reach out!

Have News? Share It With Us!

Submit author & illustrator news for the next newsletter by the 25th of each month via this form. Event submissions for member book launches and signings can be added to our regional calendar! Please be sure to include the date, time, and location.

Author Spotlight

Article Heading

Jennifer Barrera writes early readers. Her first children's book Adalyn's Little Purse of Love & Kindness shows ideas of love and kindness from experiences in her life.

She hopes you have fun and enjoy following along with Adalyn as she spreads love and kindness to everyone around her.

Read more about her on the SCBWI website, or find her on her website!

Spotlights

Are you a published author? Are you an illustrator working hard on your craft? Would you like to be featured in one of our monthly newsletters and website? Get your bio & cutest headshot ready and complete the short application.

Authors, c lick here.

Illustrators, click here.

Applications are now open! Got more questions? Email Kaye!

DrawThis Prompt!

The November prompt is: NERD

Every month we develop a long list of potential #scbwiDrawThis prompts to choose one word or phrase that will challenge our illustrator members to dig deep and draw. Our goal is to find words rooted in a unique action, mood, point of view, or character theme. We also hope this practice will help you develop new art for your growing portfolios. Share your work with us! We want to see what you create!

#scbwiDrawThis

Illustrator Gallery

Adding your illustrations to your SCBWI profile is a great way to showcase your talents, build a portfolio, and connect with industry professionals.

Visit: https://www.scbwi.org/galleries to view the SCBWI illustrator gallery.

Regional events that look too good to miss

You can scroll through all virtual SCBWI events by clicking here

Price with membership: $20

Meet and Pitch: Adria Goetz

December 5th 6:30 - 8:00 pm

(You can check the time in your time zone here)

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.

⭐Adria will be open to submissions from participants for a three-month window.

⭐FEE: $20

⭐Pitch instructions below

Check it out here

Price with membership: $15

WHERE'S THE BEEF? A query critique workshop for creators who undershare

November 12 7pm-8:15pm EST

Have you ever wondered how to turn a 500-word story into a 100-200 word pitch without giving away too much? One of the most common mistakes board book and picture book creators make is underselling their story by undersharing the details. In this webinar, Jes will help authors and illustrators improve their queries by "beefing up" their pitches using practical tips for drawing out the plot and character details agents need to chew on to make a decision. This event will be recorded, and a replay will be available for 30 days after the live event.

In this webinar, agent Jes Trudel will help authors and illustrators improve their queries by "beefing up" their pitches using practical tips for drawing out the plot and character details agents need to chew on to make a decision.

Check it out here

Stay on top of the latest SCBWI News!

Join the conversation at Groups.io! Sign up here!

Newsletter Tip: Be aware of message clipping! To make sure you're getting the full newsletter, by looking for this message at the bottom of the email:

"[Message clipped] View entire message"

If you're not already, please follow us on social media!

Suggestion Box

Have an idea on how to improve Houston SCBWI?

Leave a suggestion in our Suggestion Box!

Chapter Logo and Header Design by Marissa Valdez

News and other information may be passed on without attribution; original artwork and writing are the property of their creators and may be reproduced only with written permission.

newsletter.scbwihou@gmail.com.