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Children's book creators are also children's book fans, and readers!* The happy room Scenes from the fun: Pat Cummings signs Linda Sue Park signs (with Paul O. Zelinsky catching the camera's eye) Carolyn Crimi signs Peter Brown signs Dan Santat signs Eric Velasquez signs (a completely staged 'candid' shot) Lin Oliver signs (and mugs for the camera!) *Teen books, too, of course!

Molly O'Neill is an agent with Root Literary (founded last year by veteran agent Holly Root). She's been in the publishing industry for the past fifteen years in various roles like marketing and editing. She represents authors and illustrators from picture book to YA. The Root agency is very future focused as a new agency and excited to build longterm careers for their clients. Lin asks the panel, "How's business?' Are they noticing any changes or do they want the audience to be aware of anything? For Molly, business is booming. She's got a lot of debut clients and is at the early point of their careers. YA is a bit tricky, it may be going into a new incarnation, what's the next Hunger Games, that isn't the Hunger games at all but something groundbreaking and new. Molly's assistant Captain von Smooch There's probably a lot less trilogies happening as deals right now, publishers are being more cautious across the business. Middle grade is a trem...

Marietta Zacker is the owner of Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency. She is a literary agent who has worked with books, authors, and illustrators throughout her career – studying, creating, editing, marketing, teaching, and selling. She supports independent bookselling, believes in libraries, and takes pride in her work as a Latina in the world of publishing. She is always on the lookout for visual and narrative stories that reflect the world we live in, not the bubbles in which we put ourselves. She loves books that make readers feel and shies away from those that set out to teach the reader a lesson. Whether she is reading a young adult novel, a middle grade novel, or a picture book, Marietta looks for a book in which young readers can identify with the actions and reactions of the characters, not the perspectives of the author or illustrator. She aims to shine the spotlight on soulful, insightful, well-crafted, literary or commercial projects aimed at any age group. Some of the books...

Kirsten Hall is the one and only agent at Catbird Agency , Kirsten grew up in publishing and feels like she was born to do this. Catbird mostly focuses on artists and picture books. Kirsten is also an author herself. Kirsten see trends in picture books being a better representation for marginalized voices as well as picture book biographies. In regards to the way picture books are going on to effect other genres, picture books readers are growing up to read middle grade and enjoying illustrations with those books, too. Kirsten sees Catbird reaching into that realm. A lot of books that come out of Catbird are reactionary about what's going on in the world today, but they're also balanced by books that are pure entertainment. Technology and social media impact Kirsten's work in a a lot of ways. She spends a great deal of time there. There are a lot of ideas and inspirations to be found on social media. It's also important to stay aware of the conversations happening there...

Erin Murphy is the founder of the legendary Erin Murphy Literary Association . She started her career as an editor at a small publishing house, where she learned to navigate contracts, and in eighteen years, she’s risen to one of the top agents in the business. The agency represents authors, illustrators, and author/illustrators.  The agency has four agents, including Erin, Ammi Joan Paquette, Tricia Lawrence, and Tara Gonzalez. The agency is currently closed to submissions unless you are a conference attendee. There is no end date to this; Erin wants you to query when you’re ready. Agency clients include Mike Jung, Kevan Atteberry, K.A. Holt, Janet Fox, and many, many more beloved creators. Erin talked about what’s happening in the market these days. Children’s books are a bright spot in publishing and have been for several years—which has put us in a position of respect in publishing (even if grudging). “I feel like it’s generally robust,” she said. That said, the last year has b...

Lin Oliver (far left, at podium) moderates the agent panel, with (from left to right): Erin Murphy, Molly O'Neill, Kirsten Hall, Brooks Sherman, and Marietta Zacker.

Each year the SCBWI gives scholarships, for the NY and LA conferences, to both student writers and illustrators. This year's awards went to: For undergraduate writing:  Aisha Rupasingha For graduate writing:  Renee McCormick And for illustration: Yihui Yuen Katie McLoughlin CONGRATULATIONS!

Jane gives us "a peppy talk" about revising and re-visioning our creative lives as writers and illustrators. "Every year, create something new. Don't settle in your art. Even if the selling slows down (and we all have those times) try something new. You are a creator. So create. Re-create. Try something new." She offers us some tips she uses, including how reading "everything" inspired three new book ideas for her, and how at least once a year, she goes back through her files; "Nothing an author or illustrator does is never lost. ...A creative person's garbage can does not take in garbage - it's a compost heap." With brilliance and heart, Jane Yolen mentors every one of us in the audience. Her final gift to us are these words: "Make wings. And fly somewhere new."

Honors: Brooke Smart ,  Lizzy O’Donnell,   and Dave Szalay Winner of the 2018 Winter Portfolio Showcase  Robin Rosenthal !!!

Chris Cheng RA from Australia presents the winner out of (400+!) entries Honors: Toshiki Nakamura from Canada West Felia Hanakata from Indonesia AND Winner is..... Alex Rowe from Arkansas

The winner of full tuition to the conference and their work on display for the 2018 Conference (the contest was to do a three-panel mystery in honor of the Sherlock Holmes 100th anniversary) is DOW PHUMIRUK ! See the full gallery and application instructions here and remember to try for it next year!

Tiffany Liao is an editor at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. "What I love most as an editor is discovering stories that I would have loved as a kid and stories I wish I would have had." In terms of acquisitions, Tiffany has a "subway test." If she's on the subway and misses her stop, or if she's waiting for her train and misses it, it's a book she has to try to acquire. When reading manuscripts, Tiffany is looking for a transformative experience. She reads to escape. Sometimes it's a great voice that creates that escape. Tiffany has a term for it: a velcro voice, because it sticks to you. If a manuscript is close but not ready, Tiffany will often ask for a "revise and resubmit." It doesn't happen often. It requires a leap of faith from both sides. There's no guarantee that the agent/writer won't take the manuscript elsewhere, or that the writer will receive an offer. Even though editors say no, it doesn't mean a book is ...

Caitlyn Dlouhy is the VP/Editorial Director of Caitlyn Dlouhy Books at Atheneum/Simon and Schuster. Some of the books she’s edited or acquired include: ASHES , THIS BEAUTIFUL DAY, OLIVIA THE SPY , BULLDOZER HELPSOUT, PABLO AND BIRDY , LONG WAY DOWN . Forthcoming titles include THE PLACEBETWEEN BREATHS , CLICK CLACK MOO I LOVE YOU , I AM LOVED , CHECKED , and SUNNY . She’s been at S and S long enough (15 years) that they know when she’s going to implode if she doesn’t get a YES on a project right away. The other side of the coin is getting every department in on the ground floor of the project from Day One, so everyone has seen it prior to the acquisition meeting. Sometimes this can mean 10 to 15 comments that evolve into a variety of talks (maybe arguments!) about the manuscript. Caitlyn never thinks of it as acquiring by committee, but more as lots of great discussion meant to make a project better and more unique. That said, if the comments aren’t positive, Caitlyn won’t let go of ...

Daniel on the big screen Daniel Nayeri is the publisher of a new imprint at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group. Previously, he was publisher at Workman Publishing Company, where he oversaw a team of designers, editors, and inventors in the pursuit of creating “art objects for great and terrible children.” Before that, he was digital editorial director at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, editor at Clarion Books, and before that, a professional pastry chef. Daniel was born in Iran and spent a couple of years as a refugee before immigrating to Oklahoma at age eight with his family. He is the author of several books for young readers, including The Most Dangerous Book ; Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow: Four Novellas ; and How to Tell a Story . Daniel starts by explaining how his still-to-be-named imprint as Macmillan Children's Publishing Group is a design-first group. They're focused on nonfiction with an interactive element or gift package. Four-color, substantive, and l...

Jill Santopolo is the editorial director of Philomel Books, where she has published such titles as A Tangle of Knots  by Lisa Graff, The Secret Sky  by Aria Abawi, and It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going by Chelsea Clinton. She loves to help writers share their stories and open young readers’ minds to possibilities “they might not know are out there.”  She spoke on a panel called “How I Get to Yes,” explaining what inspires an agent to acquire a book for publication.  The Philomel acquisition process doesn’t go by committee. If an editor is interested in a project, they send it to Jill. If reads is and thinks it belongs on their list, she brings it with the acquiring editor to the publisher, Michael Green. Then they do a projected profit-and-loss statement based on production costs, return rates, and other factors. They figure out financials, take it to their head of finance and the head of the children’s division. If everyone signs off, it re...

Moderated by Emma Dryden (at podium), from left to right the editors are: Caitlyn Dloughy, Jill Santopolo, Tiffany Liao, and Daniel Nayeri.

Hosted by Kathleen Ahrens, SCBWI's International Regional Advisor Chairperson, (standing, on the right) and Angela Cerrito, SCBWI's Assistant International Advisor (standing,  on the left) during Saturday's lunch, the gathering convened into smaller groups, focused on Spanish, Translators, Nonfiction, Picture Books, and Novels. Their discussion prompts: What are you working on? What is your current stumbling block? What is a possible solution? Finding tribes within the SCBWI community... that's such a big part of the SCBWI Winter conference!

Dan Santat is an award-winning New York Times best selling author/illustrator who has published over seventy books for kids. His titles include the 2015 Randolph Caldecott Medal winning book, The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend , the New York Times best-selling titles, Are We There Yet? and After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again . He is also the recipient of the Silver Medal for outstanding illustration from the Society of Illustrators for Oh No! Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World . He has collaborated with many authors including Mo Willems, Dav Pilkey, Mac Barnett, Aaron Reynolds, Michael Buckley, Tom Angleberger, and Gennifer Choldenko. Dan is also the creator of the hit Disney animated series, The Replacements . Dan starts out joking about how he has 45 minutes to change all our lives - that's the challenge of a keynote. So instead, he tells us a story about that has the room riveted, and laughing... a story that leads right into his real ...

Kwame Alexander starts us off with an exciting personal anecdote from his childhood about visiting the Schomberg every year the day after Thanksgiving to help his father sell books, not realizing then, fully, the amazingness of Schomberg until he read Carole Boston Weatherford's sparkling prose in SCHOMBURG: THE MAN WHO BUILT A LIBRARY. Carole Boston Weatherford is a New York Times best-selling author and poet. Her numerous books for children include the Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor Book BECOMING BILLIE HOLIDAY, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, and the Caldecott Honor Books MOSES: WHEN HARRIET TUBMAN LEAD HER PEOPLE TO FREEDOM, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, and VOICE OF FREEDOM: FANNIE LOU HAMER, illustrated by Ekua Holmes. Carole Boston Weatherford lives in Fayetteville, North Carolina. From her CBC Diversity interview Carole says: My mission as an author is to mine the past for family stories, fading traditions and forgotten struggles. Add to that u...