SCBWI Chicago Southland

COFFEE SHOP TALKS

2008-04-09T12:39:00.003-05:00

The monthly meetings of the Chicago Southland Network of SCBWI-Illinois are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month in the cafe of the Barnes & Noble in Orland Park, Illinois. For members'convenience, two meetings are held on that day: 9 am and 7 pm. Feel free to attend the one that suits your schedule.

SUBMITTING YOUR WORK

2007-04-05T23:21:00.002-05:00

Here are a few websites and blogs I've run across recently that talk about cover letters, query letters, and submitting your work:

"Rites of Submission: Cover Letters and Query Letters"
Jacqueline K. Ogburn, Harold's Purple Crayon
http://www.underdown.org/covlettr.htm

Includes samples of a bad letter and a good one

"From Keyboard to Printed Page: Facts You Need to Know"
Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators
www.scbwi.org

Members will need to log on, click section "For Our Members," and select "Publishing Resources" to access this article.

"To Staple or Not to Staple, and Other Manuscript Format Issues"

Harold Underdown, The Purple Crayon Blog
http://www.underdown.org/blog_1005.htm#staple

"A Crash Course in Submitting a Manuscript"
Laura Backes, Write4Kids.com
http://www.write101.com/chcrash.htm

"10 FAQs About Children's Book Publishing"
Robin Michal Koontz, SCBWI-Illinois
http://www.scbwi-illinois.org/FAQ.html

"Alice's CWIM Blog: Not-Quite-Daily News and Musings from the Editor of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market"
Alice Pope
http://cwim.blogspot.com/

Jan Fields, Institute of Children's Literature:
"Cover Letters Made S-S-Simple"
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/ws08/simplecover.shtml
"Postage-Free Submissions" (on email submissions)
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/ws04/postage.shtml
"Crafting Clever Queries"
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/ws07/cleverqueries.shtml

Books & Blogs for Writers

2007-01-13T17:11:00.001-06:00

Books
--ESCAPING INTO THE OPEN, Elizabeth Berg
--ON WRITING, Stephen King
--BIRD BY BIRD, Anne Lamont
--THE FOREST FOR THE TREES, Betsy Lerner
--READING LIKE A WRITER, A GUIDE FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE BOOKS AND FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO WRITE THEM, Francine Prose
--TIME MANAGEMENT FOR CREATIVE PEOPLE, Lee Silber

Blogs
--KAT'S EYE, Kim Winters http://kimwinters.blogspot.com
--THREE SILLY CHICKS, Carolyn Crimi, Julia Durango, Andrea Beatty http://threesillychicks.blogspot.com

Come Join Us!

2006-11-01T09:09:00.001-06:00

Maybe you're not sure about this writing thing, maybe you've been doing it--secretly--for years, or maybe you need a new boost of inspiration. Whatever stage your interest for writing for children is in, we invite you to join with others who share your passion. At our monthly meetings we share publishing industry news as well as news on our own successes, near successes, and just plain struggles. Our meetings include established published authors, first-time authors, and those working for their first sale. We have magazine writers, novelists, short story and picture book authors who all share generously of their knowledge and talent. This is the only industry I know of and have been involved with where people share so much without hesitation.

So don't be afraid to come to one of our meetings. You don't have to "know someone," know a special password, or pay an initiation fee. Attendance at our monthly meetings are free. But as a local network of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI), we always recommend joining the national group. See the Learn More column to the right for a link to the national organization. By joining SCBWI, you'll have access to a wealth of industry news, get discounts on local, state and national programs, and be eligible to apply for grants in support of your writing.

Gail Piernas-Davenport

Network Co-Rep

Welcome!

2006-11-01T08:40:00.001-06:00

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Illinois Chapter, Chicago Southland Network welcomes you.