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Since registration for the New Jersey SCBWI June Conference is closing April 30th (Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/ch7sean) I thought I would announce the Guest Critiquer for May.

MELISSA FAULNER, Editorial Assistant, ABRAMS Books for Young Readers and Amulet has agreed to share her expertise with us. I am looking forward to meeting her at the conference and I will be sharing more information about her during May.

Just a heads-up: May’s submission deadline will be May 22nd, due to the Memorial Day.

Here is Melissa’s bio:

Melissa received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in Literature and Visual Arts. She worked in Consumer Products and Licensing for Penguin Young Readers Group before coming to ABRAMS, and now works on a variety of children’s books including both fiction and nonfiction picture books and middle grade and YA fiction. She’s the editor for an upcoming Cinderella picture book in Fall 2013, and has worked as part of the editorial team for the upcoming picture books The Twelve Days of New York by award-winning author Tonya Bolden and illustrator Gilbert Ford, the sequel to the award-winning early middle-grade novel Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg, and the adult graphic fairy tale Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger.

This is the first time the New Jersey SCBWI Chapter has been able to get anyone from Abrams to come out to one of our conferences, so this presents a big opportunity for the attendees.

MEREDITH MUNDY, Executive Editor, Sterling Children’s Books has agreed to being April’s Guest Critiquer. If you haven’t met Meredith, you can meet her at the New Jersey SCBWI Conference in Princeton, NJ this June. She is a wonderful editor and a lovely person. She knows her stuff.

Meredith Mundy has been with Sterling Children’s Books for 8 years, following 11 years at Dutton Children’s Books. She is nuts about character-centered picture books (recent projects include The Big Bad Wolf Goes on Vacation by Delphine Perret, A Pirate’s Twelve Days of Christmas by Philip Yates, and Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman), but she is also seeking everything from funny, original board books to unforgettable middle grade novels to YA fiction. (No vampires, angels, mermaids, or werewolves, please, and she doesn’t usually acquire historical fiction.) While she enjoys editing nonfiction, she wouldn’t be the right editor for poetry collections or a project geared primarily toward the school and library market.

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 “April First Page Critique” or “April 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 if you were able to post of facebook or Tweet. That will get your name in the basket an additional time, when I am choosing the four pages. If you don’t have either of these, just leave a comment and let me know. If you end up doing more things to get additional entries, then e-mail me a note by April 20th. The four chosen and their critiques will be posted on April 26th.

This first page picture prompt was done by Susan Detwiler. Susan was feature on March 9th. You can use this link http://wp.me/pss2W-6jt to view her artwork.

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 April: You can send anything, but I am especially looking for illustrations that reflect the month. I hope you will send something in. Last month, I did not receive very many. This is a good way to get your work seen. Don’t 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 “April Illustration” in the subject box.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy