I’m happy to be a part of the Blog Parade promoting our 2018 SCBWI Oklahoma Spring Conference this year.
We’re really changing things up!
The event begins this week on Friday evening, April 6th, and continues through Saturday, April 7th.
As always manuscript critiques, and portfolio critiques will be available in limited numbers. This year there are some fun new additions, too! They include: Friday night sessions, Mingle with the Speakers events, paid face time with industry professionals, off-site critiques, and an autograph party.
Sounds fun!
New to our conference? There’s an orientation first thing Saturday morning, just for you! You also might enjoy reading my post, Tips for Attending a Writing Conference.
For a full conference schedule, and to register for our event, visit the website.
Still, at its core, are the stellar guest speakers we have lined up, so let me give you an introduction to each of them:
Chad W. Beckerman – Creative Director for Amulet Books, Abrams Books for Young Readers, and ComicArts.
Chad is an award-winning designer and
creative director at Abrams, where he oversees the design of picture books, novels and graphic novels under the Abrams Appleseed, Abrams Books for Young Readers, Amulet Books, and Abrams ComicArts imprints.
He is the designer behind such successful children series as Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Origami Yoda, NERDS Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales,
Frank Einstein and The Terrible Two.
Chad joined us for a Twitter Chat before the conference. View the conversation here: http://bit.ly/2KZzhAb
Follow Chad on Twitter here. Follow Chad on Facebook here. Follow Chad on Instagram here.
Andrea Hall – Associate Editor with Albert Whitman & Company
Andrea Hall is an Associate Editor at Albert Whitman & Company where she works on picture books through young adult. She is particularly drawn to stories that have layers of meaning and diversity. Andrea started her publishing career at Pearson Education and is a former ARA of the Central and Southern Ohio Chapter of SCBWI.
Andrea answered questions for us in an interview before the conference. View the post here.
Follow Andrea on Twitter here.
Hannah Mann – Junior Agent with Writers House Literary Agency
Hannah started as an intern in the New York office before becoming Steven Malk’s assistant. She’s had the privilege of working closely with a variety of talented bestselling and award-winning authors and illustrators of works ranging from very young picture books to middle grade to young adult.
Now as a Junior Agent, she’s seeking clients from those genres. To learn more about Hannah’s preferences, visit her agency website here.
Hannah joined us for a Twitter Chat before the conference. View the conversation here: http://bit.ly/2wIFQUG
Follow Hannah on Twitter here.
Daniel Nayeri – Publisher at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.
Daniel worked as Director of Children’s Publishing at the independent publishing house Workman Publishing before being promoted to Publisher there prior to his move to Macmillan in October of 2017. He is now in the process of developing his own imprint at Macmillian.
He is also an author of a few children’s books himself, including his latest book, STRAW HOUSE, WOOD HOUSE, BRICK HOUSE, BLOW. Daniel and his family immigrated to the United States when he was eight years old and arrived in Oklahoma.
Daniel joined us for a Twitter Chat before the conference. View the conversation here: http://bit.ly/2KVsjMK
Follow Daniel on Twitter here. Learn about Daniel’s writing here.
Allison Remcheck – Associate Agent with Stimola Literary Studio
To Allison, being an agent is a bit like a treasure hunt to find the books that speak to her most easily. Allison is drawn to voices that speak for themselves, stories that only the author can tell, and books that reflect the lives of every child – especially the ones told least often.
Allison joined us for a Twitter Chat before the conference. View the conversation here: http://bit.ly/2wz6Shr
Follow Allison on Twitter here.
Jerry Bennett – SCBWI Oklahoma Illustrator Coordinator and Professional Illustrator
Jerry is a full time illustrator who illustrates comics, storyboards and children’s books whose clients include Stan Lee, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Mattel and Dreamworks. He art directed and led cinematography for the animated short film, Even in Death, which won several film festival awards, and since gone to create trailers for Scholastic Books.
Jerry is currently creating original licensed sketchcards for Upper Deck’s Marvel line, and Topps’ Star Wars and The Walking Dead sets.
Learn more about Jerry’s work here. Follow Jerry on Twitter here. Follow Jerry on Facebook here. Follow Jerry Instagram here.
Emily Heddleson – Senior Manager, Library and Educational Marketing with Scholastic
Emily has over ten years of experience working on campaigns to promote books for ages 0-18, with a focus on retail, library, and educational markets. She will host a Skype breakout session with us entitled, “Marketing Your Published Books”.
Follow Emily on Twitter here.
This year, Oklahoma City is the host city for the conference. Mark your calendars for April 6-7th. You won’t want to miss it!
For more information about our conference and to register for this event, CLICK HERE.
I’m the final stop on this blog parade, so if you’ve missed any of the other wonderful bloggers participating, here are their sites. Make sure to check them out!
See you at the conference!
valerie r lawson 