And that’s a wrap!

On Saturday November 12 SCBWI Vic enjoyed a fabulous end of year meeting and wrap party to close what has been a busy, enjoyable and creative SCBWI year.

We began with our usual Show and Tell session celebrating six member successes and new publications. This session is always so inspiring as it often reveals the backgrounds of new publications and the serendipitous and innovative ways some creators bring their work to attention of publishers, the industry etc.

Our first speaker, the lovely and talented Marjory Gardner, revealed how Flexibility (and saying ‘Yes,’) is Key to this industry and to a number of her successes and experiences, such as flying around the Pilbara and judging competitions. ‘Often when you say yes to one thing it serendipitously leads on to other things.’

Marjory shared her journey over thirty years from her beginning illustrating educational readers to trade publications, using her love of pattern and colour and filling up the page. The same principles she uses in her gorgeous, colourful illustrations today.

Ann James, beloved narrative artist of over 60 books including Little Humpty, Lucy Goosey and The Way I Love You, showed us how Illustration is a Catalyst to Story. For Ann collecting and DIY is very important. She was encouraged as a child to play, build and make. Poor eyesight as a child led her to really look at things. Ann seeks inspiration in other illustrator’s work too, rendering beautiful images that really show colours, textures and shapes. Ann shared some of her process and the wonderful, varied experiences that art has brought to her life and work. Her tactile way of working generates ideas, including through illustrating and creating clay characters.

Of course next, we indulged in our usual delicious afternoon tea and all important tete-a-tete, networking chat time, catching-up with friends and meeting some new ones among our constantly growing membership.

We were then privileged to hear from charming and entertaining artist, Leigh Hobbs, our current Australian Children’s Laureate, who revealed ‘everything to do with my work is to do with character.’ He also shared the secret to Old Tom’s origins, not the version he tells kids. An ex-secondary school teacher, Leigh said that teaching has provided him with a lifetime of ideas. He doesn’t write for kids but for himself. He believes in kid’s logic.

Leigh kept us laughing with his humorous anecdotes, his delightful, self-effacing, manner and sincere honesty regarding his process and love of combining art with literature. I loved his closing sentence, ‘In your heart, those special kids/moments are what keep you going.’

We rounded off a fantastic afternoon and year by adjourning to Father’s Office Speakeasy Bar & Restaurant for Christmas drinks and more network chat and socialising. (Plus some yummy finger food. Thanks, Caz Goodwin.)

After our SCBWI Vic planning meeting today, we have a really exciting program emerging for 2017. Lots of great industry and member speakers and a really great program. Stay tuned, dates and more info will be revealed in the New Year.

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Story Sparks!

A first kiss in a park, so many years ago…

Memories are infinite and some we don’t share. Others may be transient or we think gone. Until a prompt restores them and they return vividly – kindly, harshly, surprisingly, horrifyingly, romantically. Not necessarily for real or true – after all they were so long ago.

Creativity of thought can come spasmodically or constantly to creatives. Often a whiff, a sniff, a song, a colour, a hint of weather and we’re off – into imagination. Other times we fear the launchpad of those smells, sounds, vivid recalls will never return.

Unless… inspired by a gathering of like minds at SCBWI Vic’s Creativity Workshop and author/facilitator Simmone Howell. Simmone opened a floodgate of memories for me. Particularly in our final session on childhood memory. Not an illustrator, by any stretch, I created a visual map of my childhood – the Saturday afternoon Mr Whippy treats, the make-believe of two sisters creating older personas and the long forgotten Jenny Bigger. An epic James Bond drive-in fest accompanying a dad who had no son as yet to share such masculine movies. (Loved them!) An illicit ciggie in the park, playing truant from Sunday Mass. Sandy sandwiches and a back sticking to the sweaty seat of a station wagon, counting the colours of cars on the way to Chelsea beach. There seemed more colours back then.

Most importantly I found a way into an upcoming scene and tricky turning point in my new YA novel, as well as an enjoyable and inspiring gathering of like-minds and creators in SCBWI. Who said writing/illustrating is a solitary occupation? It can be positively inspirational in a room crowded with like-minds and scintillating story sparks.

Inside Story – Melbourne

What a joy it is to be a part of the children’s writing community and attend such wonderful events as the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Inside Story!

Saturday (1^st Nov) saw eleven authors and author/illustrators gather at Readings Bookshop – Hawthorn to share insights into the creation and genesis behind their books and book app. It proved a fascinating afternoon where I learnt many things, not least from author/illustrator Renée Treml who explained how (common) wombats have square poo. Why? So it won’t roll away, of course.

Speakers shared how stories came about serendipitously, through a 2-year-old asking the not so simple question “How far is up?”, through lived personal experiences, a sibling suggesting “Frankie Dupont would make a great name for a detective” and an adolescent obsession for Choose your own adventure stories that sparked a series, giving the author “an excuse to relive his childhood”.

I was delighted to be asked to assist in drawing the door prize, especially hearing the very excited squeal of the owner of ticket A37 who won the fantastic SodaStream prize.

 

 

 

Special thanks to the Inside Story committee Jo Burnell, Victoria Thieberger and Laura Wilson for hosting and organising such a wonderful event. Thank you also to all the very talented authors and illustrators of Inside Story – Melbourne 2014 for sharing, presenting and for their generous donations to the book door prize (in order of appearance) Kim Fleming, Renée Treml, Betty Sargeant, Jackie Hosking, Corinne Fenton, Victoria Thieberger, Alison Reynolds, Kayleen West, Julie Grasso, George Ivanoff, Pauline Luke and Goldie Alexander.

SCBWI Australia NZ Conference 2014

What a crazy, busy few weeks, but I can’t let them pass without mention of attending the fantastic SCBWI Australia NZ Conference in Sydney July 13-15^th.

Some of the wonderful crew from SCBWI Vic (Photograph courtesy Dimity Powell)

 What an amazing gathering of creators, publishers and industry professionals all communing and exchanging ideas, knowledge and inspiration. All brought together by our amazing SCBWI Regional Advisor and leader Susanne Gervay and her incredible team over three days at the gorgeous Hughenden Hotel in a packed program of publisher info sessions, pitches, book launches and insights into the international market.

Despite Jetstar’s best efforts to keep me (and a couple of colleagues) from the opening day and changing my return flight (again!), insisting I leave before the close, I enjoyed a wonderful couple of days and came home recharged and inspired. Who could not be seeing the wonderful, diverse works being produced out there in the kid lit world and wanting to be part of it?

Here’s a few reflections I shared on Twitter @chrisbellwrites on gems gathered.

• Louise Park Publisher Paddlepop Press “Don’t orphan your product – it needs you.”
• Lisa Berryman Assoc Publisher @HarperCollinsAU “Poignancy can make a book a classic.”
• @Zoe_Walton Publisher Children’s &YA Random House sub advice “no marketing manifesto, we have a team to do that.”
• Bruce Whatley deletes all illust notes “illlustrator needs to find their own visual narrative.”
•  Louise Park Publisher Paddlepop Press “If you’ve got a top product – leverage – write three more.”
•  @Zoe_Walton Children’s & YA Publisher Random House “Never underestimate the value of food in kid’s books.”
• “Historical fiction with a genre twist can sell.”
• @MissConnieH Connie Hsu Commissioning Editor Roaring Brook Press “Character driven picture books still reign supreme.”
• Karen Tayleur Five Mile Press poss rej reason “nothing special to lift it to top of pile”.

Lisa Berryman Children’s Publisher Harper Collins introducing the amazing Bruce Whatley

 

 

 

 

It takes a village…

The thing I love about being part of SCBWI (Vic) is the support of fellow creationists who share and care and encourage each other. So standing up to speak in front of a large group of them last Saturday to share my Varuna Fellowship experience was a real pleasure, actually fun, and not at all fearful. Though I do recall that six years ago, as a relative newcomer, I was knock-knee terrified when I stood up in front of a similar group of SCBWI fellows to share my writing journey to that date.

I’m sure that becoming more confident in my writing, and more a part of the SCBWI community over the years since, (including more recently as assistant to SCBWI Vic ARA, Caz Goodwin) helped any likely nerves immensely, not to mention seeing so many familiar faces, and lots of new ones too, in the audience.

Having such a wonderful subject as Varuna meant I had plenty of fuel to speak of, but I always think the best industry talks are those where the audience come away with some little insight or new aspect to explore for themselves beyond the speaker’s experience.

I was fortunate at Varuna to have a chance to chat with CEO Jansis O’Hanlon, who generously shared her insights into the application process and criteria and, from some of the keen scribbling during my talk, I was happy to see that some of Saturday’s meeting attendees seemed to find her nuggets the same gold I did.

My fellow speakers made the day too: Prolific, award winning author Sherryl Clark speaking about her hybrid/self publishing experience producing an Australian version of her (U.S. published) YA novel Dying to tell me, a fast-paced mystery now on my TO READ pile. And the very delightful Susannah Chambers, Commissioning Editor for Children’s Books, from Allen and Unwin sharing her insights into the U.S. YA publishing scene, research gleaned through her recent Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship.

A great afternoon in every way, organised by our lovely ARA Caz Goodwin, topped off by wonderful social chit chat time, aka afternoon tea, and the chance to catch up with both some old and new faces.

Maybe it takes a village to raise a writer too!

 

 

 

Grateful appreciation to Jansis O’Hanlon, Varuna CEO, for generously sharing her time, insights and advice for SCBWI Vic Varuna applicants. 

 

To pitch, or not to pitch…

To pitch, or not to pitch?

That is the question I asked myself before the SCBWI International Conference in Sydney last weekend.

Of course there’d be positives, maybe even joys, such as:

• Feedback on my idea/WIP
• Practice at presenting in public
• Self-promotion benefits in getting my name and face in front of publishers and peers.

But there’d also be terrors:

• What if I bombed in front of all those people?
• What if no one liked my concept?
• What if I knocked three publishers out of the equation in one fell pitch?

I can hardly believe that I not only answered yes to the question of pitching, but got up the courage to put my name in the hat (or vase in this case), and ended up being the first name called.

I suspect it helped having no time to get nervous in the days prior. With my 82 year-old Dad in hospital, looking at bypass surgery, pitching was the last thing on my mind. For a couple of days, attending the conference (that I’d so looked forward to for months) began to seem doubtful.

Besides, I’d thought that we’d had to put in to pitch months before while I was away overseas, and was surprised to read on the website a week prior that we could nominate to pitch up until the Saturday of the conference. And then I saw the words, “Make sure your pitch is entertaining.” “Do not tell the plot.” “Focus on the concept.” OMG!

Entertain? Who me?

Hilarious – I’m not, nor particularly quirky either. How on earth do you make a concept entertaining? I wondered, as I lay in bed on the Monday morning, musing over what I would do if I was brave and had any acting talent. The only way I could think of was to go into the voice of my character. All the while, another little voice nagged, you can’t do the accent. (The accent that comes whenever I’m writing the story. The accent I’ve been asked not to do by my adult children when I read aloud in their hearing.) But what would I do, if I were brave..?

I wrote out a few paragraphs that Maire, my protagonist, might say if she was talking to someone about her new life, all the while telling myself it was fine to do the exercise, because I’d never get up in front of room full of people, let alone publishers, to recite it.

Then my week turned spare, and I gave up all thoughts of preparing a pitch. That is until we got the all clear on Thursday evening, and I raced home to pack and type up Maire’s words onto labels, stuck them on my business cards, and wrote out my concept. I ran through it several times, subjecting hubby to two of the readings, and ran over it in my head before going to sleep, as soon as I woke up, in the shower next morning, and the same again in Sydney the night and morning prior.

I have to say a big part of my confidence to pitch came thanks to the encouragement of good writing friends. First, Claire Saxby at the airport, encouraging me not to miss such a great opportunity. Adding her hints to my arguments about nerves, “Breathe, go slow. Go as slow as you can. You can never go too slowly.” (Words that incidentally came back to me as I presented.) And it’s amazing how when you go slow, the words come to you and you don’t skip over or forget half.

Dee White and Alison Reynolds gave up their morning tea break to play publishers so I could practice on them, and they reminded me to locate the year first, because my novel is historical, and to state my word count among other valuable tips. Most important was their encouragement, once again, to go for it.

Chris Bell SCBWI pitch session. Photograph courtesy: Claire Saxby

I’m pleased to say my pitch went very well, despite my stomach churning and my left hand beginning to shake so badly halfway through, I thought I’d drop my cue cards. I was thrilled to bits with the very positive response of the publishers, especially with all of them wanting to read more when it’s finished.

When I thanked one of them later, she suggested I must have practiced a lot. I mumbled that I hadn’t really, thinking guiltily about my horror week and how the pitch had come together. It was only later that I realised I had actually been preparing unknowingly for weeks. (Two years if you add the writing time spent on the novel.) But the concept aspect I’d been working on at uni through the RMIT Masters program, so I’d had the chance to boil down the essence of my novel to a sentence, and think of it as a concept and not just the story. So the basis was there, just waiting to come out. My character gave me the voice to do so. And the pitch session the opportunity.

I’m so glad I got brave. (Thanks to plenty of encouragement and positive feedback.)

I learned a lot about myself through the pitching experience and even more about my character.

My three best tips for a winning pitch:

• Be brave enough to be creative
• Know your project (let your passion show)
• Practice (running it through in your head counts as practice).

PLUS: My very best advice for writers and illustrators who want to pitch to publishers:

GO FOR IT!