August 11, 2008

SCBWI Summer Conference: Pretty Much Amazing!!!

“I’m happy to be with people who have devoted their lives telling lies to children.”

That was an opening remark at the SCBWI Summer Conference from Bruce Coville who is probably best known for the My Teacher Is an Alien Series. Really this conference was flat out amazing. It’s a bit pricey for me (being that my husband and I still sleep on a mattress on the floor and our diet consists of cheap starches) but I knew it would be a good investment for my illustration future.

…boy did I underestimate how phenomenal this conference is. Not only did I get to hob-knob with the movers and the shakers of the Children’s Book world and see my art idols: Mark Teague who illustrated




How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and




Dear Mrs. LaRue. Letters from Obedience School









and Adam Rex




who just came out with Frankenstein Takes the Cake




and one of my most favorite children's novels, The True Meaning of Smekday






...but I got loads of technical boring business information that probably would have taken me years to figure out… and I was also thoroughly inspired to be confident with my own “voice” and to be patient with the ever changing Market, and I’ve acquired some new info that will hopefully will help me get my foot in the door.

Yippie!




ps. Here's a few pages from Adam Rex's book dummy for Dirty Cowboy




ps.2 If you are seriously thinking of getting into this Children's Book Market thing... go to one of these conferences... it'll be well worth your money and your time

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You said it! The conference is friggin awesome. I always wait for the one weekend of the year that I can come out of my cave and hang out with the rest of the reclusive writers and illustrators. So great to meet you btw!

Emily said...

Sound really inspiring! Gotta look into that for my corner of the globe…

Meridth McKean Gimbel said...

You definitely should Emily... it's fantastic!

life without novacaine said...

Wish I knew you because I was there too! In fact I met Mark Teague as well, probably even sat right next to you! Anyway, nice blog! I really like your illustration style. I'll be back for more!

Anonymous said...

hello dear
how r you ?
i miss you soo much
i waited for your email
but you did not send me anything ...
i love you
bye

Steve sculpts critters said...

I love the baby squid on your earlier blog post.
You like mice:
Have you seen 'Pompeii mice' on YouTube?
Truly unbelievable!

Paige Keiser said...

Wow thanks for the photos of Rex's Book Dummy! Was that a handmade book? Threaded etc.?

Meridth McKean Gimbel said...

Yes! He had some sort of cardboard/foamcore for the binding on the outside and I believe that he sewed the pages together. It looked really nice. I'm not sure if that's exactly how he did it... but if you asked I'm sure he'd tell you. (If you do ask will you let me know :)

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