The New SCBWI-MI Members For Members Scholarship Fund: Now Accepting Applications

This January we marked our one-year anniversary of KAST (Kalamazoo Area Shop Talk). In this position I’ve had wonderful conversations with college students from diverse backgrounds who expressed interest in joining our organization, but said they could not afford the membership fee. One, a young mother, hoped she could join once she graduated and found a job. Writing for children was her dream. Like many of you, I’ve been there and I’ve been fortunate to have received help from SCBWI-MI. I did not get here on my own and I’m grateful for all the support and guidance that has come my way. If you feel the same way and want to "give back," here's a great opportunity.

After conversations with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and our Regional Advisors we established the Members for Members Scholarship Fund to support new and continuing memberships. The guidelines for submitting an application are included in this post.  We invite all in our community to consider making a contribution to this worthwhile project. You can be creative and contribute as a group!

Give a little love and help change the world!

Isabel O'Hagin
DEI Committee Chair
KAST Co-Coordinator

Members for Members Scholarship Fund

This scholarship will be awarded to writers and/or illustrators who are Michigan residents and who wish to become members of SCBWI, or to current SCBWI-Michigan members who fit the scholarship guidelines.

Awardees will have an interest in and are actively working toward creating children's books that resonate with diverse readers. The scholarship will offset the cost of an annual membership in SCBWI (which includes membership in SCBWI-Michigan) and is currently $80.00 for full membership and $65.00 for student membership.

This grant is sponsored by donations from current SCBWI-Michigan members. The number of awards will be determined by donations to this scholarship fund.
___________________________________________________________________________

Deadline: Applications are accepted February 14 through March 14, 2020. The winner(s) of the scholarships will be announced on or about April 1 annually.

Award: Scholarship winners will receive a year’s membership to SCBWI beginning April 1 if the winner is a new member. If the winner is a current member, his/her membership will be extended for a year.

SCBWI and SCBWI-Michigan membership benefits include but are not limited to reduced conference registration rates for members, access to members-only opportunities and awards offered by SCBWI and SCBWI-Michigan, access to our quarterly publication, The SCBWI Bulletin, and ongoing free access to local Shop Talks in Michigan, etc. In addition, winners will receive a follow-up phone conversation with a current member.

Guidelines:

This award is open to persons who live in Michigan.

Please collect the following information for the body of an email:

1.)  Full name and contact information: mailing address, email address, social media handles, and phone number. Indicate if you are a current SCBWI member.

2.)  Provide a brief description about works-in-progress or projects in the planning stages. Name some recent educational experiences that have supported your interests in writing/illustrating for children.

3.)  Include a statement about why you want to become a member of SCBWI. What in kidlit captures your motivation and commitment? Indicate your school or college and program if applying as a student member.

4.) Include a brief statement of financial need. Please do not provide any personal income information.

• Address the email to our SCBWI-MI Regional Advisors: Carrie Pearson (michigan-ra2@scbwi.org) and Jodi McKay (michigan-ra@scbwi.org). 
• Fill in the subject line with: Members for Members Scholarship Application. 
• Provide the requested information in the body of the email letter and send.

Questions?
Please email Isabel O'Hagen at ohaginib@gmail.com 
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee Chair

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Interested in making a donation to support our Members For Members Scholarship Fund?

You can send your donation via PayPay or by check.

By PayPal: donations made through our SCBWI MI PayPal account should read, “M4M Scholarship” email address is michigan-ra@scbwi.org

By check: make your check payable to SCBWI-MI with a note to read, "M4M Scholarship." Checks should be sent to Carrie Pearson, 3204 Island Beach Road, Marquette, MI 49855 c/o SCBWI-MI

Book Birthday Blog with Buffy Silverman

Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog! 

Where we celebrate new books by Michigan's children's book authors and illustrators

Congratulations to Buffy Silverman on the release of her new book,  On a Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring!

Congratulations on the release of your new book, On a Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring! What inspired this story about the changing seasons?

The idea for Snow-Melting Day began as a response to a StoryStorm blog post in January, 2018, written by Heidi Stemple. Heidi encouraged writers to pay attention to what’s around them. It must have been a warm winter day, because I wrote this sentence in my notebook:

It was a drip droppy

                slip sloppy 

                snow melting day

And then I jotted down a few images: Mist rises in the air, boots sink in the slush, puddles grow on the lake, followed by some questions to myself: Is there a story here? Or just a poem? And then more notes: dog wet from snout to tail (it really must have been a slushy day!) and writing on the snow (dog/deer tracks) turn to slippery sloppery.

Not only do you write picture books, but you write poetry as well! Can you tell us a little bit about your path to becoming an author and poet? 

My writing focus has wandered over the years, from narrative nonfiction for magazines, to writing nonfiction for educational publishers, to poetry. I think I first caught the poetry bug when I enrolled in an online children’s poetry class with Laura Purdie Salas, about 10 years ago. As I delved into children’s poetry, I discovered that this is the writing I am most drawn to and is what I want to do when I grow up!


In addition to nonfiction books on nature, you’ve also written about a wide variety of other nonfiction topics, from Titanic to the mars missions and even about how race cars work! Do you have any tried and true research methods or resources?

Many of my nonfiction books were written for series developed by editors. Some of these featured subjects about which I knew little to nothing. Mars? Pokemon? The Titanic? Cutting-edge Brain Science?? I’ve found that the more I learn about a subject, the more interesting it becomes. And once I’ve discovered the wow-factor, I know I can write about a subject for a young audience. Unfortunately, I’m not organized enough to say that I have any tried and true research methods—I usually spend a lot of time wandering around the internet, gathering more and more sources. Sometimes I’ll look at references cited on a Wikipedia page because those often lead to primary sources.


You are incredibly prolific, with over 90 books written and poetry featured in an impressive array of publications, like The Poetry of US, from National Geographic, and magazines like Cricket and Spider! What do you do to “fill your bucket” and keep the inspiration flowing?

I think my greatest source for inspiration is accountability. That can take many forms—a deadline from an editor, a critique group meeting that I’ll be embarrassed to attend without a manuscript, or a submission opportunity from a conference.

What advice would you give to someone who’s looking to write and publish not only picture books, but also poetry?

Go to the library and read lots and lots of books, especially recently published titles. Many children’s poets who bring nature to life inspire me—Barbara Juster Esbensen, Valerie Worth, Joyce Sidman, Leslie Bulion, Douglas Florian, Deborah Ruddell, and Irene Latham have written books that I’ve read over and over again. I think poetry books are really the best mentors for anyone wanting to write poetry!

What’s next for you, do you have any events or readings coming up? Where can people learn more about you and your work?

What’s next on my agenda is a walk in the snow with my dog! But you might have been asking about writerly things? I’m speaking about using lyrical language for KAST at the end of February. I’m also heading to the SCBWI-MI nonfiction conference in March, and I hope to see lots of SCBWI folks there. To learn more about my writing, please visit my website: www.buffysilverman.com.

A little bit about the book:

Snowmen droop / Cardinals swoop, Rabbits bounce / Foxes pounce

In the early days of spring when the snow begins to melt, plants and animals stir to life. High-impact photos and simple, rhyming text make for an engaging read-aloud while back matter offers more detail about each of the creatures featured in this celebration of spring's arrival.

A little bit about the Author:

Buffy Silverman is the author of over 90 nonfiction books for children, featuring topics from Angel Sharks to Alligators, and Mars to Monster Trucks. Her newest book, On a Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring, received a star from Kirkus Reviews. Buffy spent many years as a naturalist and environmental educator, and taught biology to college students. Now she enjoys speaking to students about nonfiction, poetry, and writing. Her home is near a swampy lake in Michigan where she spends outdoor time with her dog, watches and photographs nature, and writes about the creatures she observes. Visit her at http://www.buffysilverman.com.

The Reviewer's Job by Ed Spicer

Most of us may be aware of one or more of the following children’s book reviewing sources: Horn Book, Kirkus, School Library Journal, Booklist… Many of my author and illustrator friends slip into depression or rage or denial upon the release of a review. Note that I did not add an adjective to “review.” Book creators have a myriad of reasons for releasing a maelstrom of anxiety-ridden emotion to suck them into wishing they had become shepherds instead of exposing their work to a cadre of leering reviewers. And sometimes these reasons are as capricious as the wind. “They didn’t like this enough.” “They liked the wrong thing.” The actual reasons are not as important as the point that book creators should be more concerned about the next book than this book, with all its perfections and mistakes. And most of my book creating friends do not spend a second thinking about matters of representation justice.

Reviewers typically come from the American Library Association world. Usually they are librarians, but if, like me, they are not, they come with a whole host of reviewing experience. This experience can be from serving on Notable Children’s Books or other committees that select a list of books, such as the old, Best Books for Young Adults (that is now the Best Fiction for Young Adults). Many reviewers have served on single book selection committees, such as the Caldecott or Newbery. And most reviewers are white and most are women, to say nothing of other intersections.

My own experience includes establishing the young adult book review column (that may not still exist) for the Michigan Reading Journal. I have also reviewed for local newspapers, Horn Book, and others. I have served on the Printz Award, the Caldecott Award, the Schneider Family Book Awards (one year as the Chair), and many others. I even served as a poetry reviewer for the Lee Bennett Hopkins Children’s Poetry Awards.

At this point readers may be thinking that reviewers are a well-vetted group of very knowledgeable readers—and we are. However, we are also victims of a systemic and dangerous singular view of what constitutes excellent literature for children, which helps explain why book creators should be more concerned with creating their next book. We are victims of our upbringing with all of its implied support of a patriarchal, misogynistic, racist, homophobic, ableist… viewpoint. Quick! Name five series for middle school students that feature Black women. Name five books that portray a student with a wheelchair on the cover. Name ten books for each of the five hundred plus separate nations that exist within our U.S. borders.

Do ALL of our children have a chance to see themselves regularly among the artwork and words on our covers and pages? If not, how should reviewers deal with this fact? I remember reading about Toni Morrison’s conversation with a tall, white, male reporter. At one point she says to him that if the only reason he knows how to be tall is because he makes everyone kneel down to him, then he has a gigantic problem. She then tells him something close to, “Racism is a gigantic problem in this country. What are YOU going to do about it? Leave me out of it.”

Until we are able to see that our world is shaped by children’s literature—the world we see AND the world we don’t see—fear will reign. Would a young George Zimmerman living in a world steeped with images of young Black teens wearing hoodies have grown up with the same prejudices? Would he have seen the person in the hoodie? I firmly believe that it is the job of the reviewer to seek out books featuring the unrepresented and to shine a “BUY THIS BOOK NOW” light on those that feature children from Indigenous Nations, LGBTQ students, POC children, etc. The good news is that one can promote plenty of high quality books that address this!

It is also the job of the reviewer to listen to these same people and be willing to learn, be willing to apologize for screwing up, be willing to persist when so many would ask us to give up. Toni Morrison also said that optimism is a political weapon that should be used every single day. Rarely has she been wiser!

In addition to reviewing, Ed still works with publishers, librarians, teachers, and other book lovers on selecting authors, illustrators, and titles to use with children. He has completed over 70 curriculum guides for several publishers and has used his Reading Specialist knowledge to review both finished texts and manuscripts. As stated in the article Ed has been on many local, state, and national book selection committees. And even though Ed is clearly enjoying his Crack of Noon Club, he hopes there is at least one more book committee with his name on it. Contact Ed via email (edspicer@mac.com), call or send a text to 269-615-3620, or follow him on Facebook. His Twitter handle is @spicyreads and his website/blog is www.spicyreads.org.

Coming up on the Mitten Blog:

Diversity Members for Members Scholarship Fund, publishing with a small press, Nonfiction Mentorship Competition and Conference, Book Birthdays, a Writer's Spotlight, and much more!

Do you have an idea for a blog post? We are actively seeking posts from our SCBWI-MI members. Do you have writing or illustrating tips to share? Marketing or school author visit tips to share? Do you have a book on craft to recommend or have you taken a helpful class or webinar? Do you have a success story to share? Would you like to interview your favorite indie bookstore staff or your local school or public librarian? Please query editor Kristin Lenz HERE.

Do you have an upcoming book release? We want to celebrate with you! Please contact Lauren Nyquist HERE to be featured on our Book Birthday Blog.

Registration is now open for the SCBWI-Michigan Nonfiction One Day Event. 

Don't delay - Early Bird pricing ends tonight! Space is limited to 100 attendees and critique slots are filling up.

More information and registration link here:

https://michigan.scbwi.org/2020/01/07/building-your-nonfiction-toolbox-michigan-scbwi-spring-one-day-event/

Self-Publishing Success

We asked two indie authors from SCBWI-MI to share their success stories. Thanks to Melanie Hooyenga for sharing her experience with contests and to David Stricklen for his experience with professional reviews. Read on for their hard-earned perspectives.

Enter At Your Own Risk
by Melanie Hooyenga

I’ve been writing novels for twelve years, am currently writing my tenth, and have self-published six since 2012—and I’ve learned a lot over the years. One of the hardest things writers face, aside from actually writing the book, is marketing. You could spend every waking hour learning everything there is to know about how to market your book, and before you got to the end of the list, everything will change.

One option that I don’t feel gets enough attention is contests. Like most anything else in the world, not all contests are created equal, and you have to a) do your research, and b) know what you hope to get out of entering.

My first novel, Flicker, had been out for over a year when I heard about the Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards. A writer friend encouraged me to enter, so I submitted my book, paid my $99 entry fee, and promptly put it out of my mind—as you do with anything in the publishing industry because it’s soooo slooooowwww.

Imagine my surprise when I learned I’d won the YA/MG category! Winning came with a mention in Writer’s Digest, a review that I could blurb, $100 in writing-craft books, and a $1000 cash prize. All of this was more than I ever expected, and the one part that I felt helped me the most was the blurb. Having Writer’s Digest say that I was good enough boosted my confidence in the decisions I’d made with my writing career.

My marketing efforts for my first series were lackadaisical at best, so when I published the first book in my second series, The Slope Rules, I decided to follow a marketing plan. Aside from boosted posts, blog hops, and creating an ARC group, I researched contests.

I started with contests my friends had won, and came up with six. My criterion:

• They allowed self-published books 
• The covers of past winners were well-done and didn’t scream “self-published”
• The entry fee was under $100
• All books received a review, regardless if they won

Let me repeat that last one, because that’s the most important thing for me: all books received a review, regardless if they won. There are a lot of services that provide reviews for a fee, but I decided to spend my money on contests that came with a review.

That first year, I won or placed in three of the six contests I entered (hooray!!) so with my next book, I only entered the contests where the previous book had been successful. And I won or placed in those as well! With The Edge Rules, the last book in the series, I only won/placed in two of those three, but I entered several new contests and have won a couple of those. AND, for the first time, I was a finalist in the BookLife Prize, which is the self-publishing arm of Publishers Weekly! I won the YA/MG category and best-selling author Amanda Hocking read and blurbed my book.

When researching contests, it’s important to determine what’s in it for you. Some have awards ceremonies, some give trophies or certificates, others award money or an equivalent, and some feature winners in their publications. Ultimately it comes down to what you want out of the process. Since my number one goal has always been an industry review, that’s what I’ve focused on.

Contests in which I’ve won or placed:

• Indie Reader http://indiereader.com/
• Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards http://www.moonbeamawards.com/
• Readers Favorite Book Awards https://readersfavorite.com/annual-book-award-contest.htm
• Children’s Literary Classics http://www.clcawards.org/
• Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards https://www.writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions/self-published-book-awards
• BookLife Prize https://booklife.com/about-us/the-booklife-prize.html
• Orange County RWA Book Buyers Best Awards http://occrwa.org/contests/book-buyers-best/

Contests I considered, but passed on mainly because of price:

• Indie Excellence http://www.indieexcellence.com/
• IBPA Ben Franklin Awards http://ibpabenjaminfranklinawards.com/
• International Book Awards http://www.internationalbookawards.com/
• Next Generation Indie Book Awards https://indiebookawards.com/enter/entryform
• Independent Publisher Book Awards (Ippy) http://www.ippyawards.com/

This article has a good breakdown of contests for self-published, traditionally published, debut, genre-specific, and more: https://insights.bookbub.com/book-awards/.

If you belong to writing organizations, look into their contests—including regional chapters, even if you aren’t a member of those specific groups. I heard about the Orange County RWA contest through the national newsletter. The Slope Rules won a cover contest in Alaska that I entered that because they said all entries would be displayed at their annual convention—which meant the $15 entry fee placed my book in front of hundreds of people who might never have heard of my book. (And I took a chance that readers in Alaska would like a book with snow on the cover.)

I’ve had success entering contests where past books have been well-received, but that hasn’t worked every time. Like everything else in publishing, tastes are subjective and winning is never a guarantee.

Multi-award winning young adult author Melanie Hooyenga writes books about strong girls who learn to navigate life despite its challenges. She first started writing as a teenager and finds she still relates best to that age group. When not at her day job as Communications Director at a local nonprofit, you can find her wrangling her Miniature Schnauzer Owen and playing every sport imaginable with her husband Jeremy.

You can see the full list of her books and awards here: https://www.melaniehoo.com/media/awards/.

Editor's note: SCBWI provides numerous competitions/awards/grants for members (learn more here) and has not endorsed the contests listed above. Melanie has shared many pros and cons based on her own experience, but as she noted, it's important for every author to do their own research to make the best decisions for their own work. Want to learn more? Here's another post about book awards for self-published authors: https://www.thebookdesigner.com/book-awards/


Melanie discussed the importance of book reviews in her experience with contests. Now, here's David Stricklen, SCBWI-MI's Indie Publishing Coordinator, to share his experience with reviews for his popular self-published books.

REVIEWS FROM AN INDIE PERSPECTIVE
by David Stricklen 

It is all about validation. If you are an indie published author, it will generally be assumed that you are second best until you prove otherwise. I submitted my newest book, Ripley Robinson and the Worm Charmer, to Kirkus Review at a cost of $425.00. Remember, you are paying for an honest review, you are not paying for a good review. What you get is what you get. You will receive a one page review from a respected professional who will read the entire work. You can only hope there is a positive sentence in there somewhere that can be used in promoting your work in a brochure or slide presentation with the Kirkus name on it.

In this case, I lucked out. Kirkus liked it. I received a personal phone call from them and was told that it was a recommended review. My work had also been chosen (at no additional charge) as one of the reviews to go into the October 2019 issue of Kirkus Review magazine. I received a free copy of the magazine and on page 137 was the entire review with a picture of the cover. Let the book orders flow, right? Wrong, there are hundreds of reviews in the magazine and I didn’t see a jump in my website book sales.

What is the benefit then? Again, as stated above, it is for validation. I am able to mention during school visits and seminar presentations that Ripley is a Kirkus recommended book. In this way, I am validated by a respected industry professional and yes, this does help sell books. I routinely outsell the traditional titles at school visits.

Below are a few to try: Midwest Book Review and PW Booklife are free but they may not do a review for you because of the high demand. PW Booklife does have the option to pay for a guaranteed review. I hope this helps.

David Stricklen is the SCBWI-MI Indie Coordinator, Grand Rapids Shop Talk Coordinator and the overall MI Shop Talk Coordinator. Learn more about his middle-grade novels at www.blackwaterpond.com.

Learn more about reviews for self-published books at:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/indie-reviews/

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/

https://booklife.com/about-us/publishers-weekly-reviews-and-booklife-reviews.html

Registration opens today at 6pm for the SCBWI-MI Spring Conference: Building Your Nonfiction Toolbox.

Don't delay, registration is limited to 100 participants!

A variety of critiques are available, and they will sell out quickly. Go here to find the registration link and everything you need to know: https://michigan.scbwi.org/2020/01/07/building-your-nonfiction-toolbox-michigan-scbwi-spring-one-day-event/

Ask the Editor with Katherine Gibson

Welcome to our quarterly Ask the Editor feature! Katherine Gibson is an editor at Zonderkidz and was previously at Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. She's collecting questions from SCBWI-MI members and sharing her answers with our community. Did you miss her other Q&As? See the links at the end of this post.

Here's Katherine:

Hi everyone! As always, a big thanks to everyone who sent me their questions! I hope all of you, whether you sent in a question or not, find this post helpful and informative.

As with my previous Ask the Editor posts, I humbly ask that you take my comments in the spirit in which they’re intended. The advice here is meant to be friendly and helpful; I sincerely hope no one finishes this post feeling vulnerable or discouraged.

Also, a general disclaimer that my thoughts are my own; I do not speak on behalf of all publishing. I would not be surprised at all to learn that you’ve heard an editor or agent say something that directly conflicts with my perspective. Everyone in publishing has their own views and preferences, and I can only be honest about my own.

Finally, if you have any questions about writing or publishing that aren’t addressed here, please feel free to email me. I’m always happy to gather questions for my next post!

Thanks so much, and happy reading!

What time of the year is best to submit to either an editor or agent? Does the genre or subject make a difference? When is the worst time to try to get a hold of editors or agents? 

Submissions are always ongoing, so I don’t know that there’s necessarily a “best” time to submit. But I do think there are some days/time periods when your submission could get missed or set aside for a bit. Of course, I can only speak as an editor, not an agent, but in my experience, manuscripts that come in on a Friday are liable to be temporarily set aside in favor of more urgent tasks that have to get done before the end of the week. This can be especially true in the summer, when some publishing companies keep summer hours (meaning they work a half-day on Fridays).

Submitting in December and January can also result in a delay in response, as most people in publishing take time off for the holidays and then spend the first couple weeks of January getting caught up. It’s also worth researching whether there’s a big book conference going on around the time you want to submit, as editors and agents could be attending those and thus not checking their inboxes regularly.

My current work-in-progress is a middle grade novel written in third person. My previous works have been in first person, and I'm struggling with how to be "outside" the main character while still showing what's going on "inside." Can you recommend a few third person middle grade novels you feel would be good examples for me to study?

If you’re writing in third person but still showing the internal thoughts/feelings of the main character, then it sounds like a third person limited point of view. Personally, I think Kate DiCamillo is a master at writing in third person limited. I’d especially recommend Raymie Nightingale and Beverly, Right Here; both of them are third person limited, and you feel deeply connected to the main character despite the third person POV.

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan is also a great one to read. It’s third person limited, but the story is told in parts, and the perspective shifts to a different character in each section. Which, come to think of it, probably makes the book as a whole third person omniscient. But you’re only treated to one character’s inner thoughts at a time, so I’m saying it counts.

What are your tips on trying to publish a local/regional picture book? Is self-publishing a better route or would you hold on for a local publisher?

If you’re interested in pursuing traditional publishing for a local/regional book, then it’s certainly worth looking into local publishers. I don’t think the publisher necessarily has to be in the same state, but I wouldn’t look much past the particular region; a small southern publisher probably wouldn’t take something that’s specific to the Midwest. But I also think self-publishing could be a great way to go with this kind of project, especially if you can schedule author events in the particular area!

Is it appropriate to query an editor with an idea for a picture book, rather than a completed manuscript? If so, does it make more sense for nonfiction versus fiction? Would it perhaps only be appropriate from a published author? From an author the editor had worked with before?

Great questions! I’ve definitely seen authors pitch picture book ideas without having a complete manuscript before. Though I will say, I think you have to be a published author before you can do this, as an editor will want to be able to see examples of your writing. And, of course, if it’s an editor you’ve worked with before, they’re probably already quite familiar with you and your style and happy to chat with you about new ideas. I think you could do it with an editor you haven’t worked with before, but it would probably be a bit trickier. I know if I received a queried idea from an author I hadn’t worked with, I’d ask to at least see a few sample pages of the book before taking it further.

As far as fiction/nonfiction, I do think it makes more sense if the proposal is for a nonfiction picture book. There’s quite a bit of research involved for nonfiction picture books, so I understand an author wanting to make sure there’s interest in the idea before diving into the research. I think the only time I’ve personally seen a fiction picture book proposal was for a wordless picture book where the author wasn’t an artist. Otherwise, a picture book is short enough that the author usually just drafts the whole manuscript.

What two or three books did you truly enjoy from 2019 that are doing well in the market? What did you like about them?

Oh dear, just three? I’ll do a picture book, a middle grade, and a young adult novel then.

A Stone Sat Still by Brenden Wenzel is definitely on my list of favorites from 2019; it’s playful and poetic and powerful, and there are so many things to take away from it. I didn’t think I’d like anything as well as his last book, Hello Hello, but here we are.

For middle grade, I keep thinking about Hazel’s Theory of Evolution by Lisa Jenn Bigelow. It tackles a lot of tough topics in such an honest, heartfelt way. I fell so in love with the whole cast of characters that I was upset when the book was over, because I wanted more.

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys is unlike anything I have ever read. The book has an epic, sweeping feel to it — all these different threads are so intricately interwoven. And I’d never read a YA book about Francoist Spain before! I was fascinated by the whole story, and I found myself doing my own research on the time period. Which, in my mind, is a pretty darn good indicator of quality historical fiction.

I recently had a sit-down with an editor at a workshop, and we went over a manuscript together. This was a manuscript critique I'd paid for. The editor was positive about the project and shared their ideas, but they didn’t invite me to resubmit the manuscript. If I rework the manuscript based on the editor’s feedback, can I resubmit to the same house? Or does the editor invite this?

If the editor had good things to say about the project, and if you’ve worked on the areas they critiqued, I think it’d be fine to submit the revised manuscript to them. Especially given the context — it sounds like perhaps the editor was viewing the manuscript as more of something to workshop than a formal submission, in which case it makes sense that they didn’t say “revise and resubmit.” I’d mention in your query letter that you worked with the editor on an early draft of this and finessed it based on their comments, and that you think it’d be a good fit for their house because of XYZ. Good luck! :) 

Katherine Gibson is an editor for Zonderkidz, having previously worked for Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. She graduated from the University of Denver Publishing Institute in 2013 and has spent the last five years editing and publishing award-winning children’s books, including Sibert Medal and Caldecott Honor book The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus and Plume, which was a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book.

Thank you, Katherine!

To submit a publishing question, email Mitten blog editor Kristin Lenz with "Ask the Editor" in the subject line, and she'll forward your question to Katherine. Or, stay tuned on the SCBWI-MI MichKids listserv – Katherine will ask for questions a few weeks before her next post.

To read Katherine's previous Ask the Editor posts, click on these links:

https://scbwimithemitten.blogspot.com/2019/09/ask-editor-with-katherine-gibson.html

https://scbwimithemitten.blogspot.com/2019/05/ask-editor-with-katherine-gibson.html

https://scbwimithemitten.blogspot.com/2019/02/ask-editor-with-katherine-gibson.html

Save the date! 

The SCBWI-MI spring conference is March 7th, 2020 in Livonia, MI. Registration opens on January 31st. 

Learn more at https://michigan.scbwi.org/2020/01/07/building-your-nonfiction-toolbox-michigan-scbwi-spring-one-day-event/

Diversity Dialogue: How to Pen Diverse Narratives That Work

The Diversity Dialogue is a monthly feature on the SCBWI-MI Chapter Blog. Learn more and meet the committee members HERE. Read the previous posts HERE.

Artwork by Rebecca Howe

We welcome Rachel Werner, our guest blogger, to this month’s Diversity Dialogue blog post. 

How to Pen Diverse Narratives That Work

By Rachel Werner

‘Diverse’ and ‘Authentic’ are mutually exclusive. To create narratives which will resonate with the intended audience, a firm grasp of this premise is crucial. Many authors, playwrights and filmmakers, although making an increased effort to more be inclusive, are actually having an inverse affect—by widening the disparities a lack of #OwnVoices representation in the arts has produced. Novice and seasoned writers alike can struggle to accurately construct a lens into the societal nuances, subtle hierarchies and enduring traditions within a marginalized community.

Whether writing from lived experience or attempting to generate a genuine depiction of another culture, use these objectives to ensure diversity comes through as substance rather a than a soapbox.

• Stay in your wheelhouse—and make it a mansion. If the evolution of your protagonist is starting to stagnate, take a step back and reassess the setting. Fallacy could be seeping in from the foundations, if say, you set the story in a city or country you’ve never been to (and have done less than a week’s worth of research on). Characters can’t properly evolve in spaces they don’t organically exist in. Thus, take time to reflect if you are adequately informed about a historical era and/or geographical locations the streams of consciousnesses you are creating are unfolding within. (Even sci fi or fantasy realms should incorporate some variances across regions.)

• Describe the small pieces of a BIG connection. Story structure is about how people are; Not about how stories are. Remember: Your readers are experiencing the tale through the main POV you’re crafting. Editor and Popsugar book reviewer Andrea J. Johnson cautions writers to avoid subconsciously weaving racial bias into the text. “Sure, you can include a LGBTQIA or Latinx best friend. But when you do so, give those characters their own goals, conflicts, and desires. Don’t saddle them with motivations hitched exclusively to the main (or a Caucasian) character’s whims,” she advises. And “precisely determining a person’s ethnicity upon sight is not only laughable, it’s unrealistic. Omniscient viewpoints aside, don’t make gross assumptions until the characters do or say something to verify it.”

• Find stories. . . but also let stories find you. In other words, take the truth that shows up. Part of the craft of storytelling is the writer giving themselves permission to notice what you notice. . .  then noticing more. The writing should also prompt the reader to do so as well. You can cultivate this skill further via creative writing prompts such as generating a one-page description of how your character moves through the day. A neighborhood? A social group? Then ask yourself: Does the scene “fit?” And how will his/her/their perception of this environment (plus other characters) change as the plot progresses? These sorts of sensory cues can be used to portray growth—or limitations.

• Need mentor texts suggestions for additional guidance? What I most appreciate about the following books are the complexity of their characters. Yes, several of the authors are blatantly addressing contemporary themes and issues, but their fictional casts transcend stereotypes—with a handful also having to confront a few of their own before the conclusion of these tales:

Picture Books:

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña; illustrated by Christian Robinson

A Different Pond by Bao Phi; illustrated by Thi Bui

Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love

Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel; illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

Middle Grade: 

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Young Adult:

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

The Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon









Penning diverse narratives is certainly challenging, but it does not have to be solitary or isolating work. Find a critique group, writing course and/or book club focused on exploring such themes in a specific genre. And we all have much to gain from a more inclusive publishing industry—endless opportunities to discover fragments of others (and ourselves) we never knew existed.

Rachel Werner is the Content Marketing Specialist at Taliesin Preservation; guest faculty at The Highlights Foundation; Hugo House, a We Need Diverse Books program volunteer, and former digital editor at BRAVA (a Wisconsin-based publication
created by women for women). In 2019, she also presented at the UW-Madison Writers Institute, Write to Publish at Portland State University; and The Loft Literary Center's Wordsmith conference in Minneapolis on digital marketing and social media strategy for writers. Follow her adventures around the country on Instagram
@therealscript.

Build Your Non-Fiction Toolbox and #TagYourTools

Building Your Nonfiction Toolbox, Michigan SCBWI Spring One-Day Event 

What? 

A one-day nonfiction writing conference

Where?

VistaTech Center at Schoolcraft College, 18600 Haggerty Rd. Livonia, Mi. (Maximum of 100 participants)

When?

March 7, 2020, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Cost?

Early bird SCBWI Members: $150
Early bird Not-Yet Members: $180 (become a member today and enjoy reduced pricing on all SCBWI events!)
Fee includes a pre-conference nonfiction webinar
* Seating is limited to 100 people *

Have you tinkered with the idea of writing or illustrating nonfiction, but don’t know where to begin? Do you have a nonfiction WIP that needs a tune up? Do you long to write narrative nonfiction that reads like fiction? Are you eager to learn more about the current “buzz” in nonfiction book creation? Join SCBWI Michigan for a day of tool gathering, project planning and practice building. Bring your laptops, nonfiction works-in-progress, nonfiction ideas, and leave with a toolbox full of things you need to craft compelling nonfiction that sells in today’s competitive marketplace.

Our featured speakers are: 

Carol Hinz is the Editorial Director of Lerner Books and was one of Publisher’s Weekly’s 2018 Star Watch Honorees. Carol joined Lerner in 2003 as editor and was promoted to Editorial Director of its Millbrook Press imprint in 2007. Ten years later, she took on overseeing picture books and nonfiction at its Carolrhoda Books imprint as well. Carol’s list includes National Book Award Longlist selection Sachiko, Sibert Honoree Sea Otter Heroes, and Orbis Pictus Honoree Dazzle Ships. Carol will guide attendees to find the nonfiction nugget that becomes the heart of their stories in her presentation, “Finding Your Nonfiction Nugget: Uncovering the Heart of Your Story.”

Heather L. Montgomery writes for kids who are wild about animals. Her subjects range from snake lungs to snail tongues. Heather will be filling attendees’ toolboxes with ideas on how to make nonfiction exciting in her presentation, “Don’t Do Boring: Turning a Nugget Into a Story That Sells!”

Some of Heather’s nonfiction books include:
Bugs Don’t Hug: Six-Legged Parents and Their Kids (Charlesbridge)
Little Monsters of the Ocean: Metamorphosis Under the Waves (Millbrook)
Something Rotten: A Fresh Look at Roadkill (Bloomsbury), an NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and a VOYA Nonfiction Honor Award Winner.
Learn more at www.HeatherLMontgomery.com

Lindsay Moore is an artist and writer with roots in Northern Michigan. She studied Marine Biology and Fine Art at Southampton College on Long Island and figure drawing at the Art Students League in New York City. Lindsay earned her Master of Science in Medical and Scientific Illustration from Medical College of Georgia (now Augusta University) and has received recognition for her work from both the Association of Medical Illustrators and the Australian Institute of Medical and Biological Illustration. Sea Bear, published by Greenwillow Books, is her picture book debut. Sea Bear received starred reviews from Kirkus, School Library Journal and Shelf Awareness!

Lindsay will give us a glimpse into how she uses notebooks to build nonfiction stories in her presentation, “The Illustrator's Notebook: From Epiphany to a Story in Pictures,” including how to draw from wonder and life and do research that informs illustrations and bring out a found story. And something just for illustrators, Lindsay will share, “The Artist’s Notebook: Drawing from Life, Research and (Yes) Imagination. This will be a practical talk about chasing good ideas, gathering information and creating interesting nonfiction art to tell a story.

Other highlights of the day include: 

• Morning and afternoon workshop time focused on finding your nonfiction nugget, writing backmatter, building a bibliography, using dialogue and primary vs. secondary sources.

• An afternoon conversation/panel discussion, “The Importance of Authenticity in Nonfiction Writing,” which will help answer the question, “Can I write my nonfiction idea?” 

• For those who’d like a nonfiction refresher or are new to nonfiction, we’ll have a free pre-conference webinar so we all come to the building site on common ground. 

• Detroit’s Pages Bookshop will be on hand with books on craft mentioned in the presentations, some mentor texts, as well as titles from our guests and Michigan writers and illustrators available for purchase throughout the day.

• Opportunities for in-person paid critiques for authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators. 

No matter where you are on your creative journey, “Building Your Nonfiction Toolbox” will help you create compelling and beautiful nonfiction for children.

Registration opens on January 31. 

Mark your calendars and join us for this amazing day!
Link to register will be available on January 31.

Until then, join us on social media for #TAGYOURTOOLS. 

The fun has already started. Writers and illustrators are sharing pictures or lists of their favorite writing tools on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram #tagyourtools! Hope you'll all play along!

Here's my #TagYour Tools:
A room with a view and hot tea, no matter the season.

Your turn! Please join us on our SCBWI-MI social media pages:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Instagram Illustrators

And...
Non-fiction mentorship competitions are coming later this spring!

Full details here:
https://michigan.scbwi.org/2019/10/23/non-fiction-mentorship-2020/

(Thanks for the reminder from mentorship coordinator Ann Finkelstein!)

Coming up on the Mitten Blog:

Please come back on Wednesday this week for a special Diversity Dialogue interview. No post this Friday because my long-delayed move to a new house is finally happening. I will miss the pretty view from my office window in the picture above (and the birds!), but my new office has a window too (with a ledge for plants!). 

Happy New Year!

Kristin Lenz