Ah! Spring! My favorite time of year! And not only because I get to hang out with a lovely bunch of children’s literature people for an entire weekend, but also expand my brain at the same time. Our 2017 SCBWI Oklahoma Spring conference has so many excellent speakers attending, I can’t wait to hear them!
The event begins Friday evening, March 24th, and continues through Saturday, March 25th.
As always manuscript critiques, and portfolio critiques will be available in limited numbers, but this year there are also new additions, including Friday night sessions, paid face time with a professional, off-site critiques, and an autograph party. Sounds fun!
Let’s meet our speakers:
Ally Carter – Young Adult Author
Ally Carter writes books about spies, thieves, and teenagers. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the EMBASSY ROW, HEIST SOCIETY, and GALLAGHER GIRLS series, which together have sold more than two-million copies and have been published in more than twenty countries. She lives in Oklahoma, where her life is either very ordinary or the best deep-cover legend ever. She’d tell you more, but…well…you know…
She will give the Keynote address entitled, “Dear Ally: A Letter for Baby Author Me”.
Follow Ally on Twitter here. Follow Ally on Instagram here.
Kristen Nelson – President and Founding Literary Agent at Nelson Literary Agency
Kristen established the Nelson Literary Agency in 2002 and over the last decade+ of her career has represented over thirty-five New York Times bestselling titles and many USA Today bestsellers. Clients include Ally Carter, Marie Lu, Scott Reintgen, Gail Carriger, Stacey Lee, Marcia Wells, and Simone Elkeles. When she is not busy selling books, Kristin attempts to play golf & tennis. She also enjoys playing Bridge (where she is the youngest person in her club), and can be found hiking in the mountains with her husband and their dog Chutney.
To view what she’s currently seeking and submission guidelines, visit her agency website.
***Get to know Kristen before the conference! She will be a Special Guest during our Twitter chat on February 28th, from 7-8pm CST. We use the hashtag #okscbwichat.
Missed the chat? You can view the Storify version of the conversation with Kristen here.
Follow Kristen on Twitter here.
Jill Santopolo – Editorial Director with Philomel Books
Jill received a BA in English literature from Columbia University, an MFA in writing for children from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a certificate in intellectual property law from NYU. As the editorial director of Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers group, she has edited many New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors including Atia Abawi, Terry Border, Chelsea Clinton, Andrea Cremer, Lisa Graff, and Alex London. She’s the author of the Sparkle Spa series, the Alec Flint mysteries, the Follow Your Heart books, and the upcoming adult novel The Light We Lost. An adjunct professor in The New School’s MFA program, Jill travels the world to speak about writing and storytelling. She lives in New York City.
***Get to know Jill before the conference! She will be a Special Guest during our Twitter chat on March 7th, from 7-8pm CST. We use the hashtag #okscbwichat.
Missed the chat? You can view the Storify version of the conversation with Jill here.
Follow Jill on Twitter here.
Linda Camacho – Literary Agent with Prospect Agency
Linda joined Prospect Agency in 2015 after a decade in publishing. After graduating from Cornell University, Linda interned at Simon & Schuster and Writers House literary agency, and worked at Penguin and Random House before making the leap to agenting. She has an MFA in creative writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
To view what she’s currently seeking and submission guidelines, visit her agency website.
***Get to know Linda before the conference! She will be a Special Guest during our Twitter chat on March 14th, from 7-8pm CST. We use the hashtag #okscbwichat.
Missed the chat? You can view the Storify version of the conversation with Linda here.
Follow Linda on Twitter here.
Katrina Damkoehler – Senior Designer with Random House Children’s Publishing
Katrina is currently a Senior Designer for the trade imprints of Random House Children’s Publishing, where she designs and art directs approximately 35 middle grade and picture book titles per year. She was previously Art Director at Amazon Children’s Publishing. Recent projects she art directed include the 2015 Geisel Award-winner “You Are Not Small” (Anna Kang/Christopher Weyant), “Grover Cleveland, Again” (Ken Burns/Gerald Kelley), and “This is My Book” (Mark Pett).
***Get to know Katrina before the conference! She will be a Special Guest during our Twitter chat on March 20th, from 7-8pm CST. We use the hashtag #okscbwichat.
Missed the chat? You can view the Storify version of the conversation with Katrina here.
Follow Katrina on Twitter here.
Matt Ringler – Senior Editor with Scholastic
Matt is a senior editor at Scholastic specializing in chapter book, middle grade, and YA fiction. He is the editor of the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine, the Game Changers series by Mike Lupica, the STAT series by Amar’e Stoudemire, and the Little Rhino series by Ryan Howard. His YA list includes the New York Times Bestseller Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky and It’s Not Me, It’s You by Stephanie Kate Strohm.
Follow Matt on Twitter here.
This year, Tulsa is the host city for the conference. Mark your calendars for March 24-25th. You won’t want to miss it!
For more information about our conference and to register for this event, CLICK HERE.
I hope to see you there!
valerie r lawson 