SCBWI Canada East — Events
What's Going on in Eastern Canada?
Traditionally, our chapter has enjoyed an annual spring conference
and a fall retreat, in addition to other workshops and activities
throughout the year.
Keep your eye on this space for details of upcoming events.
Highlights of Past Events in Eastern
Canada
Mark McVeigh & Edward Necarsulmer IV |
“Agents' Day
2009”
September 26, 2009 |
| Canada East held an Agents' Day on September 26,
2009 in Ottawa, Ontario, at Library and Archives Canada
(otherwise known as the National Library). Members gathered
to hear agents Mark McVeigh of the McVeigh
Agency and Edward Necarsulmer IV of McIntosh
& Otis. |
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The day began with each agent giving a
talk to highlight what agents do. Mark McVeigh told audience
the elements of an effective query letter, and advised
us all to maintain or establish an online presence, through
such means as a blog, Facebook, or Twitter. Edward Necarsulmer
told us what questions we should ask of a prospective
agent and described how he likes to work with his clients.
Then the separate Q&A session put both agents on stage
at once, which allowed us to see differences in approach
based on personal preference, as well as those that stem
from operating within a small agency versus a large agency.
Contracts, rights, and points of protocal when contacting
agents were among the topics discussed. |
| Once again, the booksale was generously sponsored by
Collected Works (www.collected-works.com) of Ottawa. It
featured members’ book as well as books by authors
and illustrators who are represented by our agent speakers.
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After lunch, both agents participated in
a “first look” panel. While the agents followed
along silently, Rachel Eugster read aloud to the audience
selected manuscript first pages or query letters submitted
by attendees. The agents then made comments based on their
initial impressions of the pieces. An session geared to
illustrators followed, during which the agents looked
through and provided feedback on illustrators’ portfolios.
During this time, the writers got an overview of the member
features of the Canada East chapter website, and of both
new and upcoming features of the International SCBWI website,
after which they heard from member Stephanie Rainey about
voice software that could help writers write more efficiently |
To finish the day, both agents held one-on-one teaching
sessions. Thanks are due to both agents for being so
generous with their time and expertise. Congratulations
to door prize winners Adrian
Croft, Ishta
Mercurio Wentworth, and Sue
Todd.
A big thank you to all the volunteers for helping to
pull off this event: Alma
Fullerton, Christine
Tripp,
, Rachel
Eugster, Stephanie Rainey, Connie
Topper, Peggy
Collins, and Deborah
Jackson. |
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Kathy Lowinger, Karen Li and Lisa Graff |
“Spring Thing
2009”
April 24-26, 2009
Canada East held its annual Spring Thing from April
24 to 26, 2009 in Barrie, Ontario, at the Kempenfelt
Conference Centre. Members gathered to Lisa Graff, Associate
Editor, Farrar Straus
& Giroux, Kathy Lowinger, Publisher, Tundra
Books,
Karen Li, Editor, Kids
Can Press.
Once again, the conference featured the ever popular
"First Pages/Promo Pieces" session where panel
members Kathy Lowinger, Karen Li and Lisa Graff gave
their first impressions of the first pages of manuscripts
and illustrators' promotional postcards. |
| Kathy Lowinger kept her audience's attention with
her morning and afternoon sessions. In the morning she
addressed common problems she sees in texts submitted
to her with practical advice on how to deal with them
in her "My Five Most Common Mistakes in
Writing for Children" workshop.
In the afternoon, her workshop "Writing
Picture Books" made it clear that picture
books are not illustrated short stories. The workshop
addressed issues of structure, pacing, and style. |
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What is a graphic novel? Do you have to be an illustrator
to write one? How should you submit one? Karen Li
gave an insider's view about the genre that's growing
in popularity.
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As any writer worth her salt knows, finishing a first
draft does not mean finishing a novel. Lisa Graff's
workshop on Novel Revision looked at
tips and tricks for figuring out what’s working
and what’s not using examples from her own works
and others.
Her Humor in Children’s Books
workshop tried to explain to those of us that are funny
(and those of us that are not) how do you transfer your
humor to the pages of a children’s book. We had
a close-up look at examples—from picture books
to YA. |
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Highlights of Past Events in Eastern
Canada
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