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The Artistry of Craft Conference
SEPTEMBER 27, 2025
It’s time to gather, learn, network, laugh, and add artistry of craft enhancements. Come for the thought-provoking message in Jacqui Davison’s UNLESS… keynote. We know layers add to the quality of our art. So, sit up for added inspiration and motivation and encouragement in Susan Johnston Taylor's keynote. Take time to shop for books, admire artwork, and get faculty members’ books signed. Chat with old friends and make new connections. Enjoy a bite to eat, compare stories. Take copious notes during ingenious workshops by fabulous SCBWI creatives.
IN PERSON
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 limited to 40 registrants.
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A small - but mighty artful- conference
right here in Wisconsin!
We are going to gather in Wisconsin Dells, but there’s a place you may know called Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, WA. Pike Place happily operates via its "Fish Philosophy". That is to say that they act intentionally via the notions of: Play, Make Their Day, Choose Your Attitude, and Be There. We KIDLIT writers and illustrators craft our art in much the same way. We know that making a difference in the lives of kids flows through our high quality books and art.
We are all about being there for others.
We play with words and images.
We choose to create and be there for kids.
We inspire. We motivate. We encourage. We create.
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ART
with Anna Aronson, Wisconsin Illustrator Coordinator
Dairyland Illustration Critique
(Zoom)
7PM Central
click the date to register
July 15
August 12
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Join the team!
SCBWI Wisconsin Volunteer Positions
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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 Regional Advisor.
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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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SCBWI Wisconsin KIDLIT Book Buzz
July 17, 2025
| | FREE events! Come and support your fellow creatives! | | |
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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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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SCBWI Wisconsin KIDLIT Book Buzz
August 21
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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
Illustrator
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: April 29, 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
Author/illustrator: Anna Aronson
Format:
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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Please copy and paste the outline given below then email the details to Kathy. We appreciate a 6-week lead time to coordinate the Book Buzz events and to promote your book in the monthly SCBWI Wisconsin NEWS.
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
September 18
Registration link coming soon
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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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News on the 2027 Marvelous Midwest Conference
Planning for the MMW conference has been completely stopped due to rules set by SCBWI.org with regard to venue requirements.
The SCBWI Wisconsin Volunteer Team will begin planning for a Fall 2026 conference in Wisconsin. Stay tuned. We hope to see you at the September 27, 2025 in-person conference in Wisconsin Dells.
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