Upcoming NESCBWI Events

Check out the events page at New England

Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators

on Facebook.

September 14Encore for Writers in Hartford, CT, where the best writer workshops from the past

conference will return.

September 28ENCORE! North for Illustrators

All the best Illustration workshops from the past two conference will be reprised. Our full day includes continental break-

fast, lunch, five illustration presentations, a book sale and signing, and CRITIQUES!

Fifth Annual New England SCBWI Agent/Editor Day

Saturday, Nov. 2, 8:30 a.m.—3:30 p.m. Authors and Illustrators: Join eighteen of the region’s premier children’s literature

industry professionals for networking and personal feedback on your work.

Open to novelists & writers and illustra-tors of picture books!

Registration opens Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 2 p.m.

Devens Common Center, Devens, MA

May 1-3, 2020The NESCBWI

Annual Spring Conference“Finding Joy in the Journey”

Stay tuned!

ews the society of children’s book writers illustrators&New England

September - October 2019

Top: Kimber St. Lawrence, Sarah Hetu-Radn, and Kalee Gwarjanski.

Center: RA Stacy Mozer, Lisa Stringfellow, Melissa Stewart.

Bottom: NESCBWI Co-RAs on the big screen. Stacy Mozer & Denise Ortakales

Photos courtesy of Stacy Mozer.

See a related story inside.

NESCBWI at the 2019 Summer Conference

What’s Inside!

The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators New England Who’s Who page 2 Meet & Greets! page 3 The Diversity Committee page 5The RA Desk page 6Member News page 7Market Report page 10Agent/Editor Day page 17

The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators New England Your Regional Team

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/nescbwi

The NEWS is available to all SCBWI members through www.newengland.scbwi.orgTheNew England Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators is a chapter of the international Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, 8271 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90048. See www.scbwi.org for more information. Articles and events listed in the NEWS are for your information only and, except for SCBWI sponsored events, should not be considered an endorsement.

The New England region is an all-volunteer organization. To volunteer, please email your Regional Advisor.

Original artwork, photos, and articles are property of their creators and may be reproduced only with their written permission.

Regional AdvisorsDenise Ortakales northernnera@nescbwi.orgKristine Asselin centralNERA@nescbwi.orgStacy Mozer southernnera@nescbwi.org

Assistant Regional AdvisorsShawn Anderson northARA@nescbwi.orgPam Vaughan centralARA@nescbwi.orgChristy Yaros southARA@nescbwi.org

Illustrator CoordinatorsMilanka Reardon centralIC@nescbwi.orgRuss Cox northIC@nescbwi.orgJeanette Bradley southIC@nescbwi.org

Critique Group Coordinatorsnecritiquegroups@gmail.comSouthern - Cindy Rodriguez Northern - Sally WilkinsCentral - Rajani Larocca

Conference DirectorsNESCBWI19@gmail.comLorettajo Kapinos 2018-19Casey Watts Robinson 2019-20Kristine Asselin RAJulia Spink Mills 2020-21

Email List Administrator Sally Riley RAE writes4kids@cox.net

NEWS StaffEditor-in-ChiefMargo Lemieux RAE news@nescbwi.org

Market News EditorJ. L. Bell JnoLBell@earthlink.net

Member News EditorCarol Munroe membernews@nescbwi.org

What’s Going On

Please check out the NESCBWI Facebook Events Page. You will find an up-to-date listing of events

there. https://www.facebook.com/nescbwi/events?key=events

5 tips for making the most of every autumn SCBWI Meet & GreetShawn Thomas Anderson

As we transition from summer to autumn, you’ll notice the Meet & Greet schedule will ramp up. Schedules shift, the children go back to school, and Meet & Greets that were on July/August hiatus come back. You’ll also find some new gatherings popping up across New England.

So, as we trade ice cream and tall, frosty glasses of lemonade for hot cocoa and pumpkin-spice latte, here are some things to keep in mind as you head out to the next Meet & Greet in your area:

1 | Bring a writing or illustrating friend. You don’t have to be a member to attend a New England SCBWI Meet & Greet, so grab a friend and introduce them to our growing community. These gatherings are a wonderful way for people to learn about our organizations and all its offerings.

Below: The Middletown, CT, Meet & Greet2 | Celebrate your successes and current projects.Meet & Greets are great places to practices pitches, get advice, and share your progress and accomplishments. Feel free to bring your book(s), business cards, bookmarkers, and other forms of swag. This will help people remember you and keep you connected with new writing and illustrating friends after the gathering.

3 | Keep a small notebook handy.As you are heading out the door pack a small notebook and pen. You never know where the conversation will take you. People recommend great books, workshops, websites, resources, contacts, and other vital information. Things you swear you will remember can often escape you by the time get back to your car. For me, the Notes feature on my phone has become my best friend.

4 | Relax, kick back, and have a good time.

Remember, these are casual social events designed to give you a place to talk shop with your peers and fellow SCBWI members. You are among friends, so take the time to get to know the other writers and illustrators that attend in your area. Beautiful friendships and critique partnerships form at these gatherings.

5 | Build memories and take some photos. Clicking a few pictures is not only a great way to connect a name with a face, it also documents the Meet & Greet for us to share it in this newsletter and on social media. This is a great way to share the good times with the whole region, so jot down who’s in the photos and send them to Shawn at northara@nescbwi.org.

Check the New England SCBWI Facebook page for the latest listing of Meet & Greets. If you have any questions or would like to start a Meet & Greet in your area, please contact Shawn at northara@nescbwi.org.

Photos: above June meeting at Unlikely Story in Plainville, MA. Right - The Vermont Meet & Greet group. Below - Maine.

From the NESCBWI Diversity CommitteeMia Wenjen

I recently joined a new diversity committee for New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (NESCBWI). The other members of the committee are: Jeanette Bradley, Lisa Stringfellow, Janet Costa Bates, Amitha Knight, Autumn Allen, and Valerie Bolling. One of the first tasks our committee accomplished was create a mission statement:

The mission of the NESCBWI Equity and Inclusion Committee is to create and enact initiatives that support increased equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout our region. By increasing access and support for writers and illustrators from groups historically marginalized and underrepresented in children’s literature, promoting education for members around issues of diversity and inclusion as it relates to publishing, and planning events and gatherings to support a diverse community, the committee hopes to increase the depth and quality of books that will meet the needs of all children.

With the lens wide, we set goals:

• Increase support for current members from historically underrepresented and marginalized groups

• Increase membership among creators from historically underrepresented and marginalized groups in our region

• Promote education for general membership around issues of diversity and inclusion

And then we created concrete ways to make this happen.

Windows & Mirrors Scholarships

NESCBWI believes that all children deserve to have books that serve as both mirrors and windows into the diverse human experience. With the goal of broadening access to our conferences and supporting diverse voices, we are excited to announce six scholarships for writers and illustrators from groups historically marginalized and underrepresented in children’s literature.

In 2020, NESCBWI will be offering scholarships to attend the NESCBWI 2020 conference in Springfield, MA. Two of the scholarships are for current SCBWI members and two are reserved for new members. In addition, there will be two runner-up scholarships that will provide registration to one of our Agent/Editor/Art Director days in Spring or Fall 2020.

Look for the scholarship announcement in November for more details on how to apply.

Annual Conference

We are working with our 2020 New England SCBWI conference organizers to increase POC keynoters and workshop presenters at our annual conference. We have a goal of no all-white panels. We are also hoping

to set up an equity and inclusion affinity group meetup on Friday night of the conference. In addition, the conference planners are working on new and improved pronoun stickers, and will continue to provide gender neutral bathrooms. We also plan to remind all speakers at the conference to use microphones so that people with hearing challenges can hear.

Our future agenda items:

• Defining success• Measuring success of our efforts• Creating new events and initiatives that our membership would like to attend.

Mia blogs on parenting, children’s books, and education at PragmaticMom.com and is the co-creator of Multicultural Children’s Book Day, a non-profit celebrating diversity in children’s books. She is also the co-founder of Aquent, a creative staffing agency specializing in digital and marketing talent with 37 offices around the world. Her books include picture book Sumo Joe; Best #OwnVoices Children’s Books: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Aged 1-12, a compendium of book reviews to find diversity books; and How To Coach Girls, which won a Silver IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award™. She lives in Boston with her husband, three kids, and Golden Retriever. She can be found online @PragmaticMom on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, and as Mia Wenjen on LinkedIn and YouTube.

The RA DeskBy Stacy Barnett Mozer

Co-Regional Advisor, New England South

I am often asked by members to describe the difference between the SCBWI international conferences. The international winter conference, held in February in NYC is a short, more focused conference, where you get to attend three two and a half hour intensives. In addition to the intensives there are keynotes and the Golden Kite Awards.

This summer I traveled with Southern New England’s ARA, Christy Yaros, to LA for the SCBWI International Summer Conference. Unlike the winter conference, LA is the opposite of short. There are three full days of workshops, panels, and keynotes and another full day of additional author and illustrator intensives. I would love to mention every keynote and panel, but there are too many to list. I enjoyed hearing from New England resident M.T. Anderson, who shared pictures of his haunted VT house to get the audience thinking about observing our setting and looking closely at our surroundings. Another highlight was keynote speaker Renee Watson who encouraged us to think about our own motivation for writing our stories and finding joy. A new addition to this conference is the lunch time conversation

with well known authors. This year’s author was Mem Fox, a personal favorite.

By far my favorite thing to do at the conference is to meet New England authors and illustrators while we are far from home. This year we started a new tradition and hosted a pizza party for New England members. It was wonderful to see so many new and old faces. While I did forget to take a group photo, I hope you will enjoy the ones I took when I found those members again around the conference.

Overall, LA is a wonderful conference if you want to take a trip and try something new.

Photo: Cristy Yaros at the bookstore.

Member NewsCarol Munroe

Tell us what you’ve been up to in your writing life. Jot this down — membernews@nescbwi.org — and send me your news whenever you have it (or by October 21 for the next issue). This is a place for us to get to know each other. This is your piece of the newsletter. So please, use it when you’ve got some news. Thanks! — Carol Munro

Kelly Carey’s fiction story “One Dog Too Many” was featured on the cover of the May 2019 issue of Clubhouse Jr. Magazine. This is Kelly’s thirteenth story for the magazine and the fifth one featured on the cover. On making the cover, Kelly says, “It’s always a wonderful surprise when the magazine comes out and my story is on the cover! I always joke that I’m a cover girl who can eat cake!” Kelly encourages

fellow writers to check out the theme lists released by magazines. “Tailoring your writing to the needs of the magazine editors can improve your chance of getting your stories published.”www.kcareywrites.com

Mary Morton Cowan sometimes appears as Cyrus Field at author events featuring her biography, CYRUS FIELD’S BIG DREAM: THE DARING EFFORT TO LAY THE FIRST TRANSATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE. She also displays a telegraph key and a Morse Code chart. Kids love clicking out their names in code, as if the messages were transmitting through the ocean cable. Other characters in the book sometimes show up too—President Lincoln, Samuel Morse, Queen Victoria, a Newfoundland dog, and even a ghost! This picture was taken at the Books in Boothbay event in July.www.marymortoncowan.com

Brian U. Garrison secured his first kidlit publishing credit. The poem “Brain Juice” will appear in the Fall 2019 issue of The Caterpillar, a children’s magazine based in Ireland (www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com). This piece is part of a nonfiction poetry collection, WELL-VERSED IN NEUROSCIENCE: POEMS FOR YOUR BRAIN, for which Brian is actively seeking representation.

About getting it done, Brian says: “I have been cruising the SCBWI blue boards now and then (http://scbwi.org/boards), which holds a bounty of information and the welcoming community that is inherent in all things SCBWI. It’s a helpful place to lurk, ask questions, or offer answers to others. This was where I heard about Evelyn B. Christensen’s online list of children’s magazines (http://evelynchristensen.com/mags.html) and The Caterpillar.

“I did hesitate before submitting. Payment from The Caterpillar comes in the form of a free copy of the issue with my poem. While it would be lovely to have my work land in one of Cricket Media’s magazines and earn a small amount of cash, they are swamped with submissions. All I have received from them so far is a pile of friendly rejections. I will keep reading and submitting to Cricket Media in hopes of landing my work within their lovely magazines. In the meantime, The Caterpillar is helping me connect to readers.”www.bugthewriter.com

Elicia Frederes, who publishes as E. O. Worth, credits the New England chapter with helping her reach her publishing goals. She says, “I had been a member of NESCBWI in 2014-2015 and attended the 2015 conference. There I met Kwame Alexander, who taught a workshop on going to schools to promote your work. This chapter actually helped push me out of my own way and kept me motivated to keep going.”

GAIA SCHOOL OF AWAKENING, BOOK ONE: THE SECRET REALM is an independently published work available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The YA novel is the story of three teens who find themselves transported to Earth’s twin realm, Alpha, where humans are a myth. To get back home their dharma is to help both realms of Earth restore the pollution problems humans have created, while pretending they’re not human.

About getting it done, Elicia says: “Writing my three-book series has taken me over 10 years. Turns out I knew nothing about writing for a reader. Undeterred, I found a way to share my passion for the Earth while

engaging future generations. Gleaning childhood memories from my urban neighborhood, an adventure story with mythical elements poured out of me.”www.eoworth.com

Book BirthdaysSeptember 10THE WORLD SERIES KIDS, BALLPARK MYSTERIESby David A. Kelly (Random House Books for Young Readers)

THE WORLD SERIES KIDS takes place at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA, where strange things are happening to the Cooperstown, NY, baseball team. Mike and Kate need to figure out what’s happening before they lose the critical game! This is the 19th Ballpark Mysteries book and the fourth of the Super Special editions.

About getting it done, David says: “With 19 books in the series (so far) one of things I think about is making sure I don’t repeat myself with the mystery or plots in the book. To do that, I take a research trip to each team I’m writing about, looking for unique things about the team, the stadium, or city to build a mystery around them. I don’t know if that will work for all 30 baseball teams, but I’m hoping it will!”www.davidakellybooks.com

Book DealsIllustrator Priscilla Alpaugh has a new picture book coming out on March 1, 2020, from Albert Whitman. It’s called SPACE MICE by Lori Haskins Houran. Two hungry mice are on a mission to take a bite out of that big ball of Swiss in the sky.

About getting it done, Priscilla says: “This book contract came about due to my working on all new art for my portfolio for the 2018 NESCBWI conference’s Portfolio Showcase and having a portfolio review with (my now) agent Christy Ewers of the CAT Agency. It’s been a fun project, and I look forward to my next one!”www.PriscillaAlpaugh.com

Market NewsJ. L. Bell

There’s no question that literary agents have become more vital in children’s publishing than twenty years ago. Many large and some medium-sized publishers won’t even look at projects mailed in by authors. A trusted agent vouching for a book can give an editor a little more confidence in it. And knowledgeable agents have always been able to negotiate more advantageous publishing contracts than first-time authors.

For many new authors, that reality makes them feel pressured to accept any agent’s offer of representation on any terms. Experienced children’s book professionals, including some agents, warn against being hasty.

Good literary agents are career partners, arranging what’s best for their clients over the long term. In today’s publishing business, with editors moving, subsidiary rights to sell, and changing markets for different types of books, authors often have longer and closer relationships with their agents than with any single editor or house. Your agent will often be the first person you’ll share your new ideas and manuscripts with. Your agent should be a person you can turn to when there’s trouble. Choosing one is a big decision.

Novelist Justine Larbalestier tweeted about this in May. When an agent expresses interest in your manuscript, she wrote, “Ping everyone you queried, Tell them you got an offer.” Ask any other agents to get back to you in a reasonable time.

Laura Bradford of the Bradford Literary Agency (bradfordlit.com/submission-guidelines/) shared similar advice: “We expect that you have [your manuscript] out with other agents and need time to run down responses. One week is pretty standard, though I have been seeing two weeks pretty often in Kidlit lately.”

Of course you’ve already done basic research on all the agents you submitted to, but retrace those steps. Check any interested agent’s website to see what clients they represent. Make sure the person you’re talking to has experience in selling the type of book you’re writing, not in an adjacent field. Maybe the person is a junior agent, just starting out; ask about the support that mentors in the firm will offer.

Have an in-depth conversation with any agent who makes an offer of representation to ensure that you’ll make a good fit. “Find out why they want to rep you, how they want to shape your career,” said Larbalestier. You want to feel comfortable imagining a long-term business relationship with this person.

Of course, if you’re just starting out, you may not know what sort of support and skills you’ll value most. Among the questions Larbalestier suggested:• What genres does the agent represent? Do those match all the genres you eventually hope to write? • How does this agency handle subsidiary rights, such translations and adaptations? In Larbalestier’s opinion, “Any agent who routinely gives your publisher world rights is not a good agent.”• What are the agency’s values, and how are those reflected in the way it treats both clients and employees?

Another big question is how much does an agent get involved in shaping a manuscript with clients. You probably got a sense of that in the submission process. If the agent led you through one or two rounds of revision, you know what to expect for future projects. Did you find that process improved your manuscript, or were you just going through it to please that agent?

Then comes the legal relationship. Kelly Peterson at the Rees Agency (www.litagentkelly.com/submissions.html) recently tweeted a series of clauses she’s seen in agency contracts that should be red flags. These included: • Charging authors a reading fee, a fine for not responding promptly, or up-front expenses involved in selling a book. Authors should not pay agents. Instead, agents receive money from publishers at the same time as their clients. “We as agents shouldn’t be getting paid unless you’re getting paid,” wrote Peterson. • Letting the agency keep a specified sum from the publisher’s first payment, to be repaid later. Again, good agents work on commission so their income is in direct proportion to their authors’ income. • Lack of a termination clause. Negotiate the terms of how you’ll separate before any big problem arises. It’s only fair that an agency remains part of a deal they’ve

done the work of negotiating, so there may be a period before an author can sell a project that an agent has been representing. But the representation contract should clearly specify those terms. • Not requiring your consent as author on any deal, particularly if you’ve moved on to new representation.

Peterson wrote, “Some things you can negotiate, some things you can’t. But if you don’t feel comfortable after asking questions and doing research, then remember that you have the power to walk away and not sign that contract.”

Authors should not have to tread delicately with their agents after establishing a relationship. Some authors worry about upsetting and losing their agents. Larbalestier described a friend who was having disagreements with her publisher but didn’t want to bother her agent with the news. It’s an agent’s job to deal with roadblocks and disagreements, Larbalestier pointed out.

Likewise, don’t be afraid to share concrete ideas about which presses and editors seem right for your book. If you admire a particular publisher or have heard nice things about an editor, talk about that with your agent. That’s not telling him that he doesn’t know how to do his job—it’s working together to sets goals and strategy.

If an author and agent aren’t working well as partners, it may be necessary to make the painful decision to find a new representative. That situation could be especially difficult if you have come to like your agent as a person, but the results aren’t working out. “You are in a business relationship,” said Larbalestier. “It’s nice when your agent is your friend and a sympathetic ear, but if that’s all they’re doing for you? Get a new agent!”

On reflection, author and agent Patrice Caldwell (www.morhaimliterary.com/submissions) said that seeking a second agent was more productive than her first quest. “I stopped thinking of it as one shot,” she wrote, and started treating the search “as a strategic business decision” for what her career needed. “It could be,” Larbalestier mused, “that we’re not equipped to ask the right questions of a prospective agent until we’ve

Ask the experts at Whispering Pines II, April 2019. Padma Venkatraman, Jenna Pocius, Stephanie Pitts, Elizabeth Bennett,

Megan Abbate

been through several different editors and houses and seen what publishing can throw at us.”

Of course, no one wants to go through that. We’d all love to find the best agent for each of us at the start. But that doesn’t mean signing up with the first agent who offers representation.

AGENTS

Andrea Brown Literary Agency: In response to a question about her rate of success for clients, Senior Editor Jennifer Laughran wrote: “I’ve sold for almost all of my clients (95%…)—but I certainly haven’t sold everything that all of those clients write. . . . I’d venture to say that my most successful clients now may also be the ones with the most ‘failures’ under their belts over the years. They are the ones that are putting themselves out there the most and constantly evolving and trying new stuff.” For more of Laughran’s answers on her “Ask the Agent” site, see: literaticat.tumblr.com/. Her agency’s submissions page: www.andreabrownlit.com/how-to-submit1.html.

Martin Literary Management: Britt Siess, an Associate Literary Manager, is seeking middle-grade and teen novels “that fall under the Fantasy or Science Fiction umbrella,” saying, “Fantasy that’s rooted in the real world or children stumbling upon a magical world is a plus. Contemporary stories that take on tougher issues are also welcome!” On Twitter she particularly asked for “YA horror.” Siess is also interested in representing author-illustrators creating middle-grade and YA graphic novels in any genre. Siess invites artists with ideas for graphic novels to send her pitches by email. For more: www.martinlit.com/about-mlm/.

Rees Literary Agency: Kelly Peterson is an agent who worked formerly at the Corvisiero Literary Agency. “In Middle Grade, she loves fantasy, sci-fi, and contemporary that touches on tough issues for young readers. Her Young Adult preferences vary from contemporary to high fantasy, sci-fi (not the space kind) to paranormal (all the ghost stories, please!), and historical all the way back to rom-coms.” She tweets as @LitAgentKelly. The most detailed source for Peterson’s submission guidelines is not the agency website (reesagency.com) but her own site: www.litagentkelly.com/submissions.html.

Triada USA: Brent Taylor is an Agent representing all kinds of children’s books, from nonfiction picture books to teen novels. He started interning for a literary agent as a high school sophomore and currently handles subsidiary rights for Triada as well as his own clients. He describes his taste as “upmarket: stories that are extremely well-written, robust with emotion, and appeal to a wide, commercial audience.” Taylor told KidLit411, “I’m really sad whenever I find a query with a terrific voice but no stakes. I always tell writers they should answer the following questions in their query letter: Who is your character? What do they want? What is standing in their way? What’s going to happen if they don’t get it?” Last year he told From the Mixed-Up Files that his wish list included a middle-grade novel in verse that’s contemporary rather than historical, or any stories told “in fresh and exciting formats.” Track Taylor’s Manuscript Wish List here: www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/brent-taylor-2/. Agency website: www.triadaus.com/.

Writers House: Publishers Weekly interviewed agent Steven Malk, who grew up in children’s bookselling. He mentioned, “I’d love to find a great mystery, especially a mystery with real emotional stakes and a setting we haven’t seen before. I’ve always been a big fan of flawed or unreliable narrators as protagonists. I love music, history, and sports, so I’m always receptive to books that touch on those subjects as well.” See: www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/80805-q-a-with-children-s-book-agent-steven-malk.html. Agency guidelines page: www.writershouse.com/submissions/.

Greenburger Associates: Wendi Gu joined the firm as an Agent. She was an Associate Agent at Janklow &

Nesbit. Her Manuscript Wish List page says: “Wendi likes puns, quirky humor, girl power, and cute animals in picture books, middle grade, and young adult fiction. She’s also looking for literary middle grade, young adult, or adult fiction on the first-generation American experience. Wendi loves a middle grade with that classic vibe and any book that makes you want to hug someone.” Overall, she “leans towards contemporary fiction.” In an interview with Kirkus Reviews earlier this year, Gu said: “I like books with characters who are masters at a craft or sport or hobby, where they are so skilled at something that engaging in it or thinking about it requires almost its own language register.” As of this writing, the agency website has not been updated with the latest agents to join, but here’s the submissions page: www.greenburger.com/submissions/.

MAGAZINES AND ANTHOLOGIES

Fun for Kidz: Each issue of this bimonthly for kids aged 6 to 13 has a theme, and the upcoming themes are Cartooning/Drawing, Cats, Native Americans, and Astronomy. Although the magazine publishes poetry, puzzles, games, and activities, it most needs “nonfiction articles with excellent photo support.” For guidelines on length and other details, see: funforkidzmagazines.com/ffk_guidelines/ and funforkidzmagazines.com/writers/. (ICL)

Guide: This Seventh-Day Adventist magazine for readers aged 10 to 14 pays for narrative nonfiction with “a clear spiritual element.” Word count ranges from 450 to 1,200 words, mostly on the upper end of that range. For samples and more detail, see: www.guidemagazine.org/writersguidelines/. (ICL)

Keys for Kids: This small Christian media outfit publishes two sets of daily devotionals, Keys for Kids for ages 6 to 12 and Unlocked for teens. All the fiction and nonfiction it publishes is short (350 words maximum) and keyed to Biblical verses and spiritual lessons. The organization buys all rights in order to disseminate the material in multiple media. Guidelines for Keys for Kids: www.keysforkids.org/WritersGuidelines/. For Unlocked: unlocked.org/teen-devotional-guidelines/.

Young Rider: Each year this equestrian magazine publishes a handful of short stories 800-1,000 words long. The editors look for humor, conflicts, and plot resolutions that will appeal to 13-year-olds. The stories must be realistic and narrated in the third person. Of course, they must involve horses, but writers should avoid overused situations like earning money to buy a horse or winning at a horse show. For the magazine’s latest guidelines, see: www.horseillustrated.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/YR-Writer-Guidelines.pdf. (ICL)

BOOK PUBLISHERS

Arcadia Publishing: This company, known for its Images of America series, has formed a new division to apply the same “hyper-local” approach to children’s publishing. Nancy Ellwood is the new division’s Publishing Director, working out of New York. She was formerly Editorial Director of DK. (PW) Arcadia publishes most of its books in series: www.arcadiapublishing.com/Search?searchText=&seriesfacet=Arcadia+Kids/.

Britannica Books: This series is a venture of the Britannica Group and the US arm of What on Earth Publishing, founded in the UK. It will be a “reference imprint for young readers” launching in 2020, with plans to publish 5-10 titles for children aged 3 to 14 each year. Nancy Feresten, based in Washington, DC, is the imprint’s Publisher. Natalie Bellos will join as Executive Editor in October, coming from Bloomsbury. This may become an opportunity in writing work-for-fire nonfiction for young readers. (PW)

Dog Ear Publishing: This firm is actually a self-publishing company, selling hopeful authors packages of services priced from $1,500 up and promising to handle sales. The Indianapolis Star newspaper and multiple

websites report that authors are complaining that they’re no longer receiving the royalties the company owes them.

Gibbs Smith Publisher: Publishers Weekly profiled this Utah-based publisher as it turned fifty years old: www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/80631-gibbs-smith-publisher-at-50.html. For young readers it publishes “activity books, board books, and picture books.” Guidelines for queries: www.gibbs-smith.com/submissions/.

HarperCollins: The company launched a new imprint for graphic novels called HarperAlley. Andrew Arnold heads the imprint as Editorial Director, having been an Art Director and Acquiring Editor at Macmillan’s First Second division. Plans call for about ten new books a season, or thirty a year. (PW)

Haymarket Books: This political press usually publishes books for “progressive and radical political activists,” but it also has a small but growing children’s list. Managing Editor Julie Fain told Publishers Weekly that “parents are demanding feminist and antiracist books for their children.” (PW) Check out the catalogue and guidelines: www.haymarketbooks.org/pg/submissions/.

Levine Querido: In July, Arthur A. Levine’s new venture with the Dutch publisher Querido opened for submissions. Its website says, “Our company has a focus on publishing the writing and artwork of authors and creators from underrepresented backgrounds, including people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, Latinx creators, indigenous artists and writers, creators with disabilities, members of minority religions, and more.” The firm is open to submissions for picture books (query letter and full text), novels

(query letter, first two chapters, and synopsis), and illustrations (three sample illustrations and/or links to online portfolios). There is a limit on submissions the firm will consider each month, so some queries may have to be resubmitted at the start of the next month. For more advice and the firm’s Submittable link, visit: www.levinequerido.com/submissions/.

Little, Brown: Andrea Colvin joined the firm as Editorial Director of Graphic Publishing, a sign that it is seeking more children’s books in comics form. She was formerly Vice President and Editor-in-Chief at the comics publisher Lion Forge. (PW)

Nomad Press: This educational publisher based in White River Junction, Vermont, welcomes queries from prospective authors and illustrators. First, check out the nomadpress.net website to be sure your skills match the books they publish. The company’s list includes “biographies, project-based narratives, nonfiction picture books, and historical mysteries.” Submission guidelines for queries and illustration samples: nomadpress.net/about-us/.

Rebel Girls: This media franchise signed a distribution deal with Simon & Schuster and plans to publish more books. It is first expanding its Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series with chapter-book biographies of notable women from the fields

Victoria Warneck & Sylvia Liu at Whispering Pines II. Photos courtesy of Pam Vaughan.

of “STEM, entrepreneurship, creativity, athleticism, and activism.” The Rebel Girls imprint will also “encompass nonfiction and especially fiction written by female-identifying and non-binary authors, all focusing on strong and diverse female characters and often tackling tough subjects in an age-appropriate manner.” Possible formats include everything from board books to YA, including graphic novels. Elena Favilli, CEO of parent company Timbuktu Labs, told Publishers Weekly, “Our goal has always been to use Rebel Girls as a platform to give voice to female writers and illustrators and allow them to offer unique and new perspectives.” (PW) While the company is putting staff in place to handle outside submissions, there are no guidelines yet. Keep a watch at: www.rebelgirls.co.

Square Enix: This major Japanese videogame and manga company opened a branch in New York to publish its own books in the US instead of licensing them. The books will be distributed by Penguin Random House. In an unusual arrangement, Tania Biswas joined Penguin Random House to be the Senior Editor of that line, though not working directly for Square Enix. Biswas was formerly a Senior Editor at Yen Press, having started at that comics publisher twelve years ago as an Editorial Assistant. (PW, Newsarama, LinkedIn)

WEBSITES AND ARTICLES

Celebrate Science: Melissa Stewart’s blog has recently featured essays by several other authors of nonfiction for kids, speaking about their careers, research methods, and analyses of the market. See: celebratescience.blogspot.com/.

Jane Friedman: The publishing consultant updated her guide to the key book publishing paths, from the Big Five multinational media corporations to sharing your stories through websites and social media. See: www.janefriedman.com/key-book-publishing-path/.

GROG: For this writing support website, Julie Phend interviewed Kara Laughlin in detail on the joys and challenges of writing for work-for-hire educational publishers. Laughlin says: “It’s thrilling when I find the perfect way to explain a difficult concept in five one-syllable words. It can lead to moments of poetry. That’s what this writing reminds me of most—formal poetry. You have all these constraints, but they force you to find creative solutions.” See: groggorg.blogspot.com/2019/05/work-for-hire-joys-and-challenges-from.html. (ICL)

J. L. Bell is a freelance editor, author, and historian (boston1775.net). His books range from Soap Science: A Science Book Bubbling with 36 Experiments (Kids Can Press, 1994) to The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War (Westholme, 2015). His story “Relief: A Tale of the Jitney” appears in the latest volume of The Young Explorers’ Adventure Guide (Dreaming Robot Press).

Avon, CT, Meet & Greet. Photo courtesy of Shawn Anderson

Fifth Annual New England SCBWI Agent/Editor/Art Director Day Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019 9:00 a.m.—3:30 p.m. Devens Common Center, Devens, MA

Authors and Illustrators: Join seventeen of the East Coast’s premier children’s literature industry professionals for networking and personal feedback on your work. Open to writers and illustrators of picture books AND novelists!

For authors of middle grade or young adult fiction, as well as authors and illustrators of picture books, there is nothing better than getting feedback on your manuscript, book dummy, or portfolio. Sometimes it’s all you need to move forward with your work. When you can get it from an industry professional, so much the better! Join some of the East Coast’s industry pros for a day of networking and feedback. Come prepared to share.

Amy Berniker—art director, Candlewick—Portfolios Julie Bliven—editor, Charlesbridge—Picture Books/Dummies Rob Broder—publisher, Ripple Grove Press—Picture Books/Dummies Karen Boss—editor, Charlesbridge—Picture Books/Dummies Connor Eck—agent, Lucinda Literary—MG/YA novels Linda Epstein—agent, Emerald City Literary—MG/YA novels Ashley Hearn—editor, Page Street Press—MG/YA novels Julia Maguire—editor, formerly of Penguin/Random House—Picture Books/Dummies Miriam Newman—editor, Candlewick Press—MG/YA novels Kristin Nobles—publisher, Page Street Press—Picture Books/Dummies Monica Odom—agent, Odom Media Management—MG/YA novels Rachel Orr—agent, Prospect Agency—Picture Books/Dummies Rebecca Podos—agent, Rees Literary—MG/YA novels Yolanda Scott—editor, Charlesbridge—Picture Books/Dummies Tracy Shaw—art director, Jimmy Patterson—Portfolios Sarah Taylor—designer—Charlesbridge—Portfolios Leslie Zampetti—agent, Dunham Literary—MG/YA novels

The day will be informal, with four networking opportunities.8:45 a.m.—Networking and breakfast in the Devens Commons Center. Bring book swag and business cards to swap and share.9:00 a.m.—mini Keynote w/ Julia Maguire, formerly of Penguin/Random House9:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m.—First break out session. Author or illustrator will be assigned to a table with 7 other authors or illustrators and either an agent, an editor or an art director. It is recommended that each author bring eight copies of the first few pages of their MS or one copy of their book dummy/MS/portfolio to share with the group. Each author or illus-trator will have five minutes to present as much of their work as they like and ten minutes to get feedback from the group.11:20 a.m.-12:00 p.m.—Lunch and networking in the Devens Commons Center.12:05—Mini Keynote w/ Monica Odom, of Odom Media Management12:20 p.m.—1:20 p.m. Panel discussion w/ faculty on what they are acquiring lately.1:30 p.m.—3:30 p.m. Second break out session. Author or illustrator will be assigned to a table with 7 other authors or illustrators and either an agent, an editor or an art director. It is recommended that each author bring eight copies of the first few pages of their MS or one copy of their book dummy/MS/portfolio to share with the group. Each author or illus-trator will have five minutes to present as much of their work as they like and ten minutes to get feedback from the group.3:30 p.m.—farewell and evaluations

All faculty have agreed to accept queries from all participants for two months following the workshop.

Registration opens Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 2 p.m.—Register here: https://newengland.scbwi.org/events/agent-editor-day-3/SCBWI Members $125.00 Non-Members $150.00

After you complete the registration process, participants will get an email with a link to a SignUpGenius where you’ll be able to indicate your preference for your faculty mentor. Contact Kristine Asselin, New England SCBWI Co-Regional Adviser, with questions or for more information. Let us know if you are in need of special accommodations. CentralNERA@nescbwi.org

For more information about the location, please visit the website for the Devens Common Center: http://www.devenscommoncenter.com/. We have reserved a block of rooms for Friday night, November 1, so if you plan on staying over, mention NESCBWI when you book.

Scenes fro NESCBWI19 courtesy of Pam VaughanStay tuned for upcoming excitement about NESCBWI20

Photos courtesy of Pam Vaughan. Upper left - Regioal Advisor Emerita Marilyn Salerno receives an award from current RA Kris Asselin. Left - Conference Chair (2019-20)

Casey Robinson and Rob broder. Above - Sarah Corson and Christina Uss. All at NESCBWI19