2012 WPaSCBWI Conference Registration

Registration is now open for the 2012 Western Pennsylvania SCBWI Fall Conference. This year's speakers include:

• Nikki Grimes—author and our keynote speaker
• Noa Wheeler (here's an interview)—editor, Henry Holt
• Julie Ham—editor, Charlesbridge
• Joe Monti—agent, Barry Goldblatt Literary
• Kristin Lewis—magazine editor, Storyworks and Scope
• Stacy Innerst—illustrator and author

For those of you who are new (or fairly new) to an SCBWI conference, here's a good place to start: The Do's and Don't's of Conference Etiquette. After you read it, you'll know whether that trip to the bathroom with the editor was a good idea.

Here's the link for the registration brochure:
http://www.wpascbwi.com/_news-events-files/112012ConferenceBrochure

Fall Issue of The Golden Penn

The 2012 fall issue of the Western Pennsylvania SCBWI newsletter, The Golden Penn, is now available for download:

http://www.wpascbwi.com/_newsletters/GoldPenn-Fall12.pdf

Lapel Pin competition at WPaSCBWI Fall Conference

Call for Submissions (part 2)

If you've attended our fall conferences in the recent past, you might be familiar with the lapel pin contest that we have for our attending illustrators. If you're not familiar, here's how it works:

Create a design that can be used for a lapel pin and send it in (details below). Designs will be displayed anonymously in the main ballroom at this year's regional SCBWI fall conference in Pittsburgh. All conference attendees have the option to vote for any one of the designs submitted. The design with the most votes will have their design die struck into a lapel pin for next year's (2013) conference attendees as well as receive a free conference next year.

Here are the specs:

1. Design must be simple enough to translate into a 1" lapel pin. Too much detail will not work.
2. Only use sans serif fonts, as serif fonts may be too detailed for such a small area.
3. Design can only contain solid areas of color. No gradients, washes or textures.
4. Do not use more than five colors in your design. You don't have to use all five; one or two colors are perfectly fine. You can also figure in a "background" color of gold (brass), silver (nickel) or black. This will be the color of the pin and will be the metal part (the line art) that will show between all your other colors.
5. Designs should contain no overlapping lines and will be die struck with a metal border between all colors. Please see the manufacturer's FAQ page for an explanation of what that means.
6. Design must contain the acronym "WPaSCBWI" and the year "2013."
7. Designs created in a vector program (like Adobe Illustrator) work best. If a design is submitted that needs to be redrawn to pass the manufacturer's specs, the design may be disqualified if too much additional work will be required.
8. For judging we will use hard copies of your design. If your work is chosen, you will be required to email a digital version. Digital specs for the winning design will be sent to the winning entrant.
9. Hard copies must be no larger than 10" in either direction.
10. Hard copies of your design should be mailed to: Nora Thompson, PO Box 10, Whitney PA 15693. Please include on a separate sheet your name, phone number and email address.
11. Only one entry per illustrator.
12. Deadline for entries: October 26, 2012. No exceptions.
13. Only conference attendees may submit.

Good luck!

"First Looks" at WPaSCBWI Fall Conference

Call for Submissions

This year’s WPaSCBWI conference in Pittsburgh will include a new event to showcase your illustrations. In previous years during the conference break after lunch, writers participated in “First Pages” where the first page of several anonymous stories (randomly chosen) were read aloud in the ballroom and commented on by conference faculty, including editors and agents. This year we will be sliding in “First Looks” between readings, also critiqued by faculty.

Details:

1. Create three illustrations that are related, preferably sequential. They can be color or black and white. You can illustrate any subject matter as long as it’s kid-related and could be published as such. Show that you can carry characters through a story.
2. Save all three illustrations SEPARATELY (we will need three individual files):
1. 72 dpi
2. RGB
3. No larger than 720 pixels in either direction
3. Only three illustrations will be accepted per member.
4. Digital files only.
5. Conference organizers won’t be scanning, color correcting or sizing anyone’s work, so make sure it looks the way it’s supposed to and save it correctly.
6. Email your three files to illustrations@nora-thompson.com with the subject line "First Looks."
7. Only one set of three images are allowed per illustrator.
8. Deadline for submissions: November 1, 2012.
9. Only conference attendees may submit.
10. If your files do not adhere to the above specs, your submission could be rejected.

Good luck!