SCBWI Success Story - Katrina McKelvey

It has been twelve months since I booked and planned to attend the highly successful Narrate Illustrate Meditate SCBWI Author and Illustrator Retreat held mid October, 2017 near Wilton, NSW. And I am now able to officially announce I have a contract thanks to that opportunity!

So how did this publishing offer come about thanks to this retreat?

The retreat was designed so authors and illustrators could come together, develop a piece of work, and learn from and listen to industry experts and each other.

This sounded like a great plan, so I booked it. I don’t apply for most writing retreats - you know, the ones where you get free accommodation and meals for a week while you write uninterrupted with a mentor on tap. My kids are still quite young, and honesty, I don’t want to leave them that long anyway. This retreat was nice and short so I could sneak away for a few days, fairly guilt free, and ponder a few writerly things.

After I’d passed through Sydney from Newcastle as school came out (huge mistake!), I got a little lost. Maybe this was due to having the navigation on in the car as well as the phone. Who does that? Two voices were coming through my bluetooth saying different things! As I was sitting in peak hour traffic trying to work out which one to believe, I realised I had no idea who would be attending. But my manuscript was packed and I was ready to resuscitate it - once I got there.

After arriving, I calmed down quickly as I said hello to lots of familiar faces. I knew half of the attendees in the end. And I had the best roomie - Deb Abela!

Then I was like a sponge, gathering hints and tips from anyone who shared them. Zoe Walton (Penguin Random House), Nancy Conescu (Walker Books Australia), author Tania McCartney, and illustrator Bruce Whatley gave out plenty of golden nuggets over the weekend. Bruce was a highlight, showing us inside his newly released book, Ruben. What a clever man!

I also had a manuscript critique with Zoe. She was so lovely and encouraging! Our half hour chat in the gardens was another highlight.

While this learning was happening, the main focus of the retreat was to develop a writing/illustration project in a supportive and professional environment. Peer critique sessions were regularly planned throughout the 3-day retreat to keep everyone on track. I had multiple copies of my manuscript ready to go.

On day 1 we were put into our critique group for the weekend. I didn’t know any of my group but meeting them was highlight number three. Thanks Nicole, Reena, Victoria, Lynne, and Meiling! At the conclusion of the retreat, most of us decided to stay as a group and become an offical SCBWI online critique group. We are still working hard and critiquing each other 12 months on.

During the first critique session we read our manuscripts. I knew my manuscript had a concept that was attractive - four publishers had confirmed that - but I couldn’t get the story right. Maybe these five sets of fresh eyes was what my manuscript needed. I devoured all their suggestions and then I let them rumble around in my head for the rest of the retreat.

I remember having an ‘a-ha’ moment on the last day during the last critique session. My manuscript took it’s first new breath. I was now ready to do a major rewrite once I returned to my familiar studio. I’m not good at writing when it’s scheduled into a program.

I didn’t want to sabotage my submission to a publisher by rushing my rewrite out the door, so I paid Sue Whiting to assess it. She did a wonderful job of pulling it apart and asking me lots of questions about what was driving my main character and what was the core of the story. She gave me all the scaffolding I needed to dive into yet another rewrite.

Once I was absolutely convinced it was as good as I could make it, I sent it to EK Books in February. I had sent an earlier version of this story to them three years earlier. Yes, three years! After another five months of waiting and sorting out a few behind-the-scene matters, I signed the contract. So here’s the offical announcement:

Isla’s Family Tree will be illustrated by Prue Pittock (www.pruepittockillustrations.com) and published by EK Books (www.ekbooks.org) in 2020. This will be my fifth published picture book, my third with EK Books, and my first with Prue.

Yay! There’s always hope - especially if you grab every opportunity that passes your way with both hands. My first file for this manuscript is dated 28.02.14. I signed my contract 13.08.18. Four and a half years later my story has found a home. We won’t see it until May, 2020, but the six year wait will be worth it. There’ll be a huge party, so save the date!

Thanks to the SCBWI Aus East/NZ committee for giving it’s members such wonderful opportunities to grow and succeed. I look forward to seeing lots of members at the SCBWI Conference in Sydney next year.

Katrina McKelvey

SCBWI Success Story - Dee White

From Sydney to Paris

I always set conference goals, and my major one for SCBWI Sydney 2016 was to take advantage of the opportunity to pitch my manuscript idea, Beyond Belief, to a publisher panel. 

I was hoping to get interest in my story to help me with a VicArts funding application I was about to submit.

I was desperate to spend a month in Paris researching a true story I had discovered about Muslims at a Paris mosque who saved Jewish children during WW2. I had spent all my money on a research trip to Europe in 2015, and it would be years before I could save for another.

But this story had to be told, and I needed to visit the mosque to do it.

Pitching a story idea that had very personal connections for me was terrifying, but if I could get that grant, it would be worth the angst.

All the publishers on the panel were so encouraging, and Clare Halifax from Scholastic generously wrote a letter to support my funding application.

Thanks to my pitch at the SCBWI conference, and Clare's belief in my story, I was successful in getting the money for my trip and in April 2017 I spent an amazing month at the mosque, in synagogues, at a wine market (all in the name of research) and exploring the Paris sewers. Being able to immerse myself in the world of my story has added a new layer of richness to it.

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It has been an amazing journey. I have uncovered secrets, spoken to Holocaust survivors, drunk mint tea in a beautiful mosque, and sat in the oldest synagogue in Paris.

Thanks to this opportunity at SCBWI Sydney 2016, Beyond Belief will be published by Scholastic Australia next year.

Dee White

SCBWI TAS

What a month October has been down here in the heart-shaped island, with not one, but two SCBWI TAS events.

Sheryl Gwyther Talk

7 October

Seven children’s book creators turned up to ‘Shippies’ Hotel at Battery Point on 7 October to hear Assistant Regional Advisor and Queensland Coordinator, Sheryl Gwyther, present about her dazzling new middle-grade novel, Sweet Adversity (Harper Collins). Sheryl spoke about her long and winding road to publication and how membership of SCBWI opens access to publishers, and supports networking, friendships, knowledge and collegial support nationally and globally.

Sheryl is a long term friend of Tasmania’s creatives and its wild natural environment and she is welcome back any time to continue to inspire our local members.

‘SHINING A LIGHT ON TASMANIAN TALENT’ - SCBWI TAS PROFESSIONAL DAY 27 OCTOBER

Our first SCBWI TAS conference was judged outstanding success by all who attended. With the help of a $5,000 grant from Arts Tasmania, we were able to bring publisher, Clare Hallifax (Omnibus, Scholastic), publishing consultant, Maryann Ballantyne, and literary agent, Alex Adsett to the conference.

Our guest publishers and agent conducted manuscript assessments throughout the conference and on the following day at the Tasmanian Writers Centre.

Susanne Gervay opened the conference and Terry Whitebeach acknowledged Country. Clare Hallifax delivered the keynote address on publishing today. Tony Flowers and Christina Booth spoke about the illustrators’ craft and the challenges of illustrating a narrative.

Alex spoke about what a literary agent does, and 10 top tricks and traps of publishing contracts. Christina then interviewed a panel of talented local illustrators, Alyssa Bermudez, Bronwyn Houston and Aurore McLeod and Tony Flowers. Nicole Gill then chaired a panel of eminent Tasmanian children’s writers that comprised Julie Hunt, Verity Croker, Terry Whitebeach and Carol Ann Martin.

Afternoon sessions included ‘Approaching an agent or publisher’ and ‘A bookseller’s perspective on promoting Tasmanian talent,’ presented by Clive Tilsley, FullersBookshop. Susanne chaired the ‘Working with a publisher’ panel that included writer, Emily Conolon, and publishers. The final session was ‘How SCBWI connects authors and illustrators to the industry

This was the first time SCBWI TAS has attempted a conference and we were delighted by the support of over 40 children’s book creators. The feedback on the publisher and agent information and manuscript assessments has been overwhelmingly positive, and we look forward to many more Tasmanian writers and illustrators getting published as a direct and indirect result of attending this conference and their SCBWI membership.

Thanks to all who made this conference such a blast – Clare Hallifax, Maryann Ballantyne, Alex Adsett, Christina Booth, Marion Stoneman, Terry Whitebeach and the Tasmanian Writers Centre, Warren and Jemima Kinman, Aurore McLeod, and all who brought morning/afternoon tea and helped us at the Moonah Arts Centre and the Tasmanian Writers Centre.