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This is the last day to register for the New Jersey SCBWI June Conference. Over the last few months, I have posted information about many of the editors, agents, authors, and illustrators who are on the faculty. I didn’t get to all of them, so I am briefly going to mention some additional people. There are still pitch spots, one-on-one critiques with the editors/agents, one-on-one critiques with authors, and portfolio reviews for the illustrators available.

For the illustrators and author/illustrators:

Portfolio reviews are conducted one-on-one with an available editor, agent or art director (see list for choices) who is happy to offer feedback about your work.

It does not guarantee you will be published. BONUS! Kelly Light will be reviewing portfolios and offering feedback on character development, and Peter Brown will also be reviewing portfolios this year.

Have to share Kelly Light’s special box that was delivered to her today.

You can still get a portfolio Review from:

Agent Christina Tugeau,

Illustrator Peter Brown

Illustrator Kelly Light: Here is a little about Kelly.

Kelly Light has had a career that began in animation that led to a decade of drawing many of the most famous cartoon characters in the world of cartoon licensing. She has illustrated two middle grade chapter books out this Spring, The Quirks from Bloomsbury and Elvis and the Underdogs from Balzer and Bray. Her picture book debut as author/illustrator, Louise loves Art comes out Fall 2014 followed by another picture book series, Lola Knows A Lot! all with Balzer and Bray. www.kellylight.com

She is also doing a workshop during the conference about drawing characters. Here is a little bit from Kelly:
To be able to draw a well known character over and over again you have to focus on the construction, the shapes that make up that character and exactly where the details and features will go. Then that character has to be drawn doing all sorts of things. That character has to show emotions, action and inhabit the world created for it. Doesn’t that sound just like what we need to do with our characters in our books?

The workshop that I am giving will go thru gesture, construction, turn around, expression, acting and give attendees a chance to ask about their own character design questions. It’s all about drawing and having fun, so I hope you all come ready with pencils and paper and a smile. I will also be giving critiques that weekend. My portfolio critiques will have the same focus – character design. You can even bring some sketches and I will help you break the construction down right there for you.

Every year I always had published authors do critiques and attendees could get more than one editor or agent critique if their second critique was with an author and this year is the same. Why did I do that? Because I know how much work and effort authors put into giving a writer a great critique to help you get closer to your goal of getting published. Authors are going to dig down deep and share all of their knowledge. Don’t get me wrong. I always want an agent or editor critique, but authors bring a different set of skills to a critique. It is something you will find very valuable.

Here are the authors you can sign up for:

Sudipta Bardhan 

Laurie Calkhoven 

Tami Charles (nonfiction only) 

Ame Dyckman (picture book only)

Kit Grindstaff 

Suzy Ismail 

Tara Lazar 

Anita Nolan (mg/ya only) 

Kathy Temean 

Tim Young

If you have already registered and have a critique with an editor or agent, you can add an author critique, and then jump on a second editor/agent critique.

Hope I’ll see you there. www.regonline.com/njscbwi2013conference

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Jessica Regel has been with JVNLA since 2002. She maintains her own list of talented writers while also handling Film, Audio, and UK rights for the agency. Originally from Iowa, she was working at her local library when she was offered an internship at JVNLA and she promptly moved to New York City. After receiving her B.A. in English Literature from Hunter College, she became a full agent at JVNLA, representing both children’s and adult writers. With energy and persistence, Jessica works closely with her writers to develop and sell their work to publishing houses.

She is seeking: strong commercial fiction, literary fiction, edgy/hip fiction, young adult, and middle grade novels, children’s non-fiction, and narrative nonfiction. She doesn’t handle practical nonfiction, inspirational/religion, genre science fiction or fantasy, or political thrillers.

Jessica says, “I want to be fully immersed in the story from page one. If it’s funny, I want to laugh. If it’s dramatic, I want to feel connected to the characters. It’s a similar feeling any reader has when they go to the bookstore and read the first few pages of a new book. What makes you buy that book? The line, ‘But it really gets going in chapter 10′ is lost on me. No agent, editor or consumer will get to chapter 10 if they’re not interested in chapters 1-9.”

Jessica is part of the faculty at the New Jersey SCBWI June Conference and she is looking to build her list of clients. Deadline to register is April 30th.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy Temean

I’d like to introduce you to JANINE HAUBER, Agent, Sheldon Fogelman Agency. She has agreed to be Guest Critiquer for March. She will read and critique 4 first pages and will be part of the faculty at the New Jersey SCBWI Conference in June.

This is a great way to do your homework and get a feel for Janine. Check out the other faculty who have been Guest Critiquers:

Jenne Abramowitz Senior Editor, Scholastic

Heather Alexander Associate Editor at Dial BFYR

John Cusick, Agent, Greenhouse Literary

Liza Fleissig, Agent, Liza Royce Agency

Rachel Orr, Agent, Prospect Agency

Janine has been with the Sheldon Fogelman Agency since 2010, where she has worked with award-winning clients such as Jerry Pinkney, Peggy Rathmann, Karen Beaumont, Mo Willems, Diane Stanley, and T. A. Barron. As foreign rights manager, Janine has licensed translation rights in more than 20 languages and represented the agency and its clients at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

She’s actively building her own list and is open to representing picture books, middle grade books, young adult books – all types of children’s books of all genres.

WRITERS Sending in a First Page: Please attach your double spaced, 12 point font, 23 line first page to an e-mail and send it to kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com. Also cut and paste it into the body of the e-mail. Put “March First Page Critique” or “March First Page Picture Prompt Critique” in the subject line. Make sure you have your name on the submission, a title, and indicate the genre. Also let me know which steps you took, so I will know how many times to put your name in the basket. If you end up doing more things to get additional entries, then e-mail me by March 23rd. The four chosen and their critiques will be posted on March 1st.

The above is the First Page Picture Prompt for March. Illustrated by Jen Betton. Jen was featured on illustrator Saturday if you would like to see more of her work. http://wp.me/pss2W-6bk You can also visit her website: www.jenbetton.com or her blog: www.jenbetton.blogspot.com

AUTHORS: If you have a new book coming out and want to be considered for a post, please e-mail me at: Kathy.temean (at) gmail.com

Call for illustrations for March: You can send anything, but I am especially looking for illustrations that reflect the month of March. Last month I did not get many of your illustrations. I hope you will send something in. You do not have to wait, I will post the illustrations as they come in. Please make sure the illustration is at least 500 pixels wide and include a blurb about yourself and a link to see more of your work. Please send it to kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com and put “March Illustration” in the subject box.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

TEN DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR NEW JERSEY SCBWI JUNE 8th to 10th CONFERENCE

REGISTRATION DEADLINE:  May 31st

CRITIQUE SIGN-UP DEADLINE:May 26th

Don’t Wait!  Even though we usually allow a few registrations at the door, do not wait.  The cost is $50 more than registering online and only cash is excepted.  Also, you will have to accept what is available for the workshops.

If there are any critique spots left over at the time of the conference, we will offer the spots on a first come first serve basis on the day of the conference.  The price will be the same, but the pages will be 5 pages, since time will not allow for more to be read.  Hope to see you there!

May Illustration was submitted by Louise Bergeron. Check back on May 26th, Louise is this Saturday’s featured artist.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

April 30th was the last day that you could switch things around on your conference registration. If you want to add anything to your registration, you will need to email Donna Taylor [email protected] and she will manually add it to your schedule. 

April 30th was also, the deadline to email in your manuscript submissions for the one-on-one critiques and consultations. If you signed up for a critique and haven’t sent it to the email address for the editor/agent/author you picked, you are late, so please email it – ASAP!

For those who have not registered or for those who want to add another critique. Here is an update on who is still available.

Editor Critiques

Rebecca Frazer – Two 15 minutes critique spots
Lionel Bender -Two 15 minute critique spots
Eileen Robinson – One 15 minute critique spots
Harold Underdown – Six 15 minute critiques spots

Agent Critiques

Liza Fleissig – Three 15 minute critique spots
Ginger Harris – Seven 15 minute critique spots
Marcy Posner – Two 15 minute critique spots
Melissa Sarver – Three 15 minute critique spots

Consultations

Eileen Robinson – Two 30 minute consultations
Lionel Bender – Five 30 minute consultations
Tamson Weston – Three 30 minute consultations

Intensive Workshops

If you are registered for the conference you can go back to your confirmation and add an Intensive. You will be charged the standard cost.

If you didn’t register for the conference because you could not attend the conference on Saturday and Sunday, you can now sign up to attend one of the Intensives for the prices below. Note: Prices include box lunch with instructor.

Tamson Weston - One Spot for Crucial Steps To Revising Your Novel - (Friday Only) $175 – Attendees submit first 15 pages of their manuscript prior to Intensive. Conference attendees get first choice for this one spot. If you are not attending and are interested, please e-mail me about taking the spot.

Scott Treimel - Eight Spots for Power of Pose - (Friday Only) $175 – Attendees submit 2 pages prior to Intensive.

Daniel Nayeri - Eight Spots for Picture Books: Idea/Market/Skills & Revising – (Friday Only) $175

Lionel Bender - Three Spots for Working in Children’s Nonfiction - (Friday Only) $175 – Attendees submit a query letter, a 1-page proposal, a writing sample, and any questions about children’s non-fiction prior to Intensive.

Eileen Robinson - Three Spots for Pacing Your First Page - (Friday Only) $175 – Attendees submit the first 3 pages prior to Intensive.

Mimi Cross - Three Spots for Yoga Inspired Writing - (Friday Only) $125

Anita Nolan - Three Spots for Writing Children’s Books (Friday Only) $140

For those “Friday Only” attendees you can sign up for the Mix and Mingle, but you will have to pay the non-staying overnight price.  If you are a non-member, you might want to consider becoming a member.  Dues are only $70 for the year and the surcharge for non-members is $20 for both the Intensive and the Mix and Mingle.

Please Note:  There is a registra