Around the world with scbwi

Have you ever wondered what SCBWI members are up to across the world? Each month we will be globe-trotting to take a look. This is a perfect chance for us to keep in touch with our SCBWI neighbours. Second stop: Nevada





How many members do you have and how often do you meet?

Our region is a bit unique since we have a huge gap (geographically) between our northern side (Reno/Tahoe), and southern side (Las Vegas). Luckily, Cynthia Mun runs our southern side while I (Naomi Canale) run the northern side, but we still stay in sync with each other to keep things running smoothly across our Nevada board. It's just a very large state.

In total we have about a hundred members, and meet often. Between the weekly critique groups we offer, hands on workshops that are usually offered monthly, and our meet-ups offered weekly, we're a pretty active bunch.  

Tell us about your latest event

Most recently we held a one day workshop that covered queries. During the workshop we encompassed the best strategies for writing a successful query. Axie Oh led our workshop. She's a former intern who read hundreds of queries and manuscripts while working for Writers House and Folio Literary.


Nevada Mentees
Nevada Mentor Programme

Another recent event, that we'll soon be accepting submissions for (April 2015), is our Nevada SCBWI Mentor Program. It's the first of its kind among SCBWI. We arrange for well-published professional children's book creators to work with participants chosen during a blind application process. During each program, each mentor works with a small group of 2 or 3 people.

We are headed into our eighth year, and our highly knowledgeable past and current mentors have included National Book Award Finalists, New York Times bestselling authors, Caldecott Medal–winning illustrators, Coretta Scott King Award winners, Charlotte Zolotow Award winners, million-selling series authors, art directors, editors, publishers, and agents. We hand-pick mentors who are gifted both at creating children's books and at teaching. Many Nevada Mentor Program alumnae have gone on to win awards, land agents, and sign book deals. 

Have there been any author successes in your area recently?

Since our Mentor Program has been such a huge success, our author successes come from all over the world after people have participated in the program. But our most recent success story is Heather Petty. She's been leading our Nevada SCBWI critique group for years now and just landed a six-figure book deal from Scholastic, for her debut, Lock and Mori—her release date is set for September 15, 2015.   

How would a visiting SCBWI member get in touch with your network?

Cynthia Mun and I (Naomi Canale) are always happy to answer any questions, meet up with members visiting Nevada, and help guide anyone trying to get in touch with Nevada SCBWI. You can reach us at naomicanale@yahoo.com or cynthiamun@gmail.com 



Brilliant! Thank you, Nevada.







Sarah Broadley joined SCBWI BI in July 2013 and has taken on the role of picture book Eyes and Ears for British Isles South East Scotland.
Sarah mainly writes children's rhyming stories but you may find her from time to time dipping her literary toes into the waters of other genres while sipping coffee and eating chocolate. You can read more about Sarah here: www.greatbigjar.com 





3 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading this. Looking forward to seeing where you go next :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm really enjoying this series. Where will you take us next I wonder?

    ReplyDelete

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