Holly McGhee, agent and president of Pippin Properties, presented a list of 10 (of the possible hundreds of picture books) that stand the test of time. Check out the books we discussed. Why do you think they are evergreen? THE CARROT SEED by Ruth Krauss and Crockett Johnson BREAD AND JAM FOR FRANCIS by Russel... Continue Reading →
#SCBWIWWA14: The Art of Picture Book Pacing with Alexandra Penfold
In a Saturday master class, agent Alexandra Penfold of Upstart Crow Literary shared her gold on picture book pacing. As a former editor at Simon & Schuster's Paula Wiseman Books, she had plenty to share. She began her talk by saying, “Effective pacing is the heart of a picture book.” She discussed in depth the... Continue Reading →
#SCBWI-WWA14: Agent/Editor Panel
Justin Chanda, publisher/editor (Simon & Schuster imprints) Claudia Gabel, editor (Katherine Tegen Books) Susan Hawk, agent (Bent Agency) Holly McGhee, agent (Pippin Properties) Alexandra Penfold, agent (Upstart Crow Literary) Lauren Rille, associate art director (Simon & Schuster) From left: Justin Chanda, Claudia Gabel, Susan Hawk, Holly McGhee, Alexandra Penfold, Lauren Rille. This is no ordinary... Continue Reading →
Roundtable faculty profile: Mandy Hubbard
Mandy Hubbard is a Tacoma-based literary agent for D4EO Literary, where she represents authors of middle-grade and YA fiction. She is also the author of Prada & Prejudice, You Wish, But I Love Him, and a number of other YA novels. In her blog, Mandy shares that she writes under her own name, as well... Continue Reading →
Roundtable faculty profile: Kathleen Ortiz
Kathleen Ortiz, an agent at New Leaf Literary & Media, joins our fray as a roundtable critique leader on Saturday, April 12, as part of our pre-conference opportunities. Kathleen is the director for subsidiary rights, which means she deals with audio and translation rights for her clients' work. Her client list is primarily YA, and... Continue Reading →
Roundtable faculty profile: Bree Ogden
Roundtable faculty member Bree Ogden is a renaissance woman. She's an agent at D430 Literary Agency. She has a Master's degree in journalism. She writes comics––and among her many self-described talents, she includes "stick-figure artist." She frequents cemeteries. She judges horror comic awards. Her blog says she's a "modern-day Wonder Woman, with none of the... Continue Reading →
A peek at agent Jill Grinberg
Jill. (Photo by Ali Smith) Are you signed up to hear agent Jill Grinberg speak at our fall kick-off event in October? (It's not too late, if not.) You can learn more about Jill here, but in the meantime, we asked her a few questions about her upcoming talk: Q. What about this opportunity to... Continue Reading →
Learn to make liars
How do you create characters as rich as Micah, the main character of Justine Larbalestier's LIAR? Find out from Justine's agent. There are still a few seats left in the "Dynamics of Character" workshop being presented by agent Jill Grinberg on Friday, October 18, from 3 to 5 p.m. The cost is only $45. Not... Continue Reading →
Announcement from your new Regional Advisors
Greetings to all you writers and illustrators in our wonderful Western Washington chapter! As some of you know, after serving all of us with great enthusiasm, intelligence and creativity, Jaime Temairik, Kim Baker, and Joni Sensel will all be taking a much deserved step away from responsibility to SCBWI WWA. Luckily for all of us,... Continue Reading →