SCBWI Success Story James Foley

I can say without exaggerration that SCBWI kick-started my career.

I attended my first WA SCBWI conference in February 2008, shy and unprepared. My portfolio was abysmal. But I met a few unpublished author/illustrators around my age. They’ve been my support network ever since. 

Fast forward to June 2009 and we SCBWIans are on Rottnest Island for the inaugural SCBWI Retreat. Norman Jorgensen looks at my portfolio (which is now half-decent) and asks if I’d like to work on a book with him. It’s about a fearful boy who wants to be a brave Viking. I say yes; we start work (if you could call it that) almost immediately. His publisher seems interested in the idea. 

Fast forward to June 2010, Rottnest again. Sarah Foster from Walker Books is a guest of SCBWI. She reads a manuscript I submitted for a critique, and she offers me a contract. The story is called In The Lion. 

June 2011. The Last Viking is published by Fremantle Press. There is much rejoicing, eating of pickled herring and drinking of mead. 

2012. In The Lion is published by Walker Books. The Last Viking wins the SCBWI Crystal Kite. I sign on as SCBWI Australia West’s Illustrator Coordinator, and attend my first SCBWI Sydney conference. 

I catch my breath. 

Just four years before this I had no idea what I was doing. I had very few contacts in the children’s book industry; I had no connections to publishers; I had no support network; I had no portfolio and no workable book ideas. 

But then I joined SCBWI, and everything clicked. 

So thank you to all involved with SCBWI in the East and the West for everything you’ve given me over the years; you’re a brilliant group of crazy wonderful people and you make a huge difference. 

James' Bio

James Foley is a children’s author and illustrator. His books include In The Lion (Walker Books, 2012), The Amity Kids Adventures (2013), The Last Viking (Fremantle Press, 2011) and The Last Viking Returns (Fremantle Press, 2014). In The Lion was selected for the International Youth Library’s White Raven list in 2013. The Last Viking won the 2012 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Crystal Kite Award, the 2012 WA Young Readers’ Hoffman Award, and a 2012 Children’s Book Council of Australia Junior Judges Award. It was shortlisted for a further four awards.

His next book is written by Sigi Cohen and titled My Dead Bunny. It will stink up bookshops from October 1st 2015.

James is the Regional Advisor for SCBWI Australia West. He is also an ambassador for Books In Homes and Room To Read, and a judge for the Shaun Tan Award for Young Artists. His interests include comics, film, psychology, science, history (anything nerdy really), as well as yoga and social justice.

He has far too many books in his bedside reading pile.

Read more about James here.

Interviews with Industry Leaders: Eva Mills

Eva Mills—Publishing Director, Books for Children and Young Adults, Allen & Unwin

Which books from your childhood do you still have on your shelf today?
I was a little obsessed with ‘box sets’ so my parents bought me entire series each Christmas. I still have them: Winnie-the-Pooh, the Moomins, Little House on the Prairie, Narnia, The Dark is Rising, Lord of the Rings …

Eva Mills—Publishing Director, Books for Children and Young Adults, Allen & Unwin

How did you get your first break in publishing and what important lessons have you learned along the way?
I spent 10 years working in the public service, thinking I wanted to write young adult fiction. When I finally enrolled in a course at RMIT, it included editing subjects and I found that was my real passion. My first and biggest break was landing a work placement at Allen & Unwin with Rosalind Price. It felt like coming home! At the time she warned me the placement was unlikely to lead to a permanent position, but somehow it all fell into place and I’ve never looked back.

I’ve learned so much from so many wonderful people; children’s publishing in Australia is a very generous and collaborative place. I’ve learned that publishing is a business, so we often have to make difficult and sometimes painful decisions for commercial reasons. But that publishing is also an art, and the many creators I’ve worked with pour their talent and passion into their work, so that must be remembered and respected at all times.

What do you think makes Allen and Unwin different from other publishing Houses?
We are independent and Australian-owned. We have been publishing wonderful children’s books for over 25 years. And we have a big in-house team of editors who spend a lot of time working with their authors and illustrators, taking great care to make our books the very best they can be.

How do you know when you’ve found a truly great book?
Sometimes it happens the first time you read a manuscript. Sometimes it doesn’t happen until you see the finished artwork for a picture book. But always you get a little shiver of excitement up and down your spine that says you have something special …

Without giving away any secrets, can you tell us about the Allen and Unwin process of choosing books to publish?
It’s a mix of intuition and science! We have quite a big list, so we do need to track the number of titles we’re publishing each month and into which categories – e.g. how many picture books, how many fantasy series, how many books featuring skateboarding grandmothers! We also keep an eye on the market and whether there are any gaps we’d like to fill, so sometimes we will commission a title or series from scratch. But most of the time we are simply responding to submissions – many from existing authors, but also brand new projects that arrive via agents or through ‘Friday Pitch’, our online submissions process. If an individual publisher or editor loves a manuscript or a proposal, then they’ll usually discuss it with the rest of the publishing team first, before circulating a formal ‘publishing proposal’ around the company for broader feedback. If everyone is still keen, then we make an offer!

What advice would you offer illustrators and authors hoping to pitch to Allen and Unwin?
Have a look at our ‘Friday Pitch’ submission guidelines on www.allenandunwin.com. (NB: we are closed for all of September and October but will be open for submissions again in November.) Research our list and familiarise yourself with everything we publish – is your project likely to fit with the style of our list? Or is it too similar to something we’ve already published? Write a truly beautiful, moving and authentic novel for 8 to 12 year olds in a realistic setting, as these are the hardest to write so the easiest to get published!

How do you see the future of kids’ book publishing?
There’ll be even more emphasis on the ‘book as beautiful object’, particularly in picture books. I think we’ve spent enough time now in the digital age to realise that reading a picture book to a child is as much about the time spent together as it is about the reading experience, and that teenagers actually like to have some time out from their digital devices by reading a real book – so while e-books definitely have an important place in children’s publishing, they’re never going to replace the physical book. I think we’ll continue to see an increase in adults reading young adult fiction – and why wouldn’t you, when there is so much wonderful YA being written?! But we’ll also continue to see an increase in competition for children’s time and attention from social and electronic media.

ASIAN FESTIVAL OF CHILDREN’S CONTENT 25 – 29 May 2016

AFCC 2016 CALL FOR PAPERS
Writers & Illustrators Conference
The Writers & Illustrators Conference gathers writers and illustrators to come together with publishing industry professionals to share, network, and celebrate children’s content from Asia and around the world.

SELECTION
A group of professionals in the field of education have been invited to join the Programme Committee. The Programme Committee will select the papers according to the content of the topic and the needs of the Festival.

UPON SELECTION
If you are selected you will receive a complimentary Full Festival pass (which includes admission to Teachers Congress, Parents Forum, Writers & Illustrators Conference, Media Summit. The Full Festival pass excludes tickets for Masterclasses). Kindly note that honorarium and hotel accommodation is not included if you are selected as a speaker for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC).

TOPICS COVERED: Writers & Illustrators Conference
The Writers & Illustrators Conference at AFCC is attended by a diverse mix of writers, illustrators, publishers, librarians, literary agents, distributors and retailers, translators, teachers, and other professionals working with children’s content. The main topics covered in AFCC include, but are not limited to, the following:
 Fantasy (e.g. dragons and mythical lands)
 Science fiction
 Retelling of the classics: old stories made new
 Diversity in books
 Children’s books for adults
 Freedom of expression for an illustrator when working with boundaries set by the author and publisher
 Board and pop-up books
 Is the editor’s role being undermined by the increasing popularity of self-published books
 Using international websites to market books
 Board books
50 Geylang East Avenue 1 Singapore 389777 Tel: (65) 6848 8290 Fax: (65) 6742 9466
E: afcc@bookcouncil.sg W: www.afcc.com.sg
If you have other exciting ideas, share them with us in the AFCC 2016 Information Sheet as well!

REQUIREMENTS
To be considered, applicants need to clearly establish the relevance of their papers to the overriding scope of the Festival by filling in the AFCC 2016 Information Sheet and sending it to Alycia Teo at alycia@bookcouncil.sg by 1 October 2015. The Information Sheet can be found here:
(http://bookcouncil.sg/festivals/detail/asian-festival-of-childrens-content-afcc).
The Information Sheet will be used for the selection process. The Information Sheet must be accompanied by a high-resolution picture of the paper presenter of at least 1MB.
Shortlisted applicants will be asked to submit a draft of the full presentation, including the talking points and PowerPoint of their presentations two (2) months prior to the opening ceremonies of the Festival. Submissions must be in MSWord, WordPerfect, RTF, TXT, PDF and Keynote. Presentations are limited to one hour (Masterclasses are allotted at least three (3) hours). Speakers agree to allow the organisers to use the paper in parts or in full for marketing and publicity purposes for the AFCC, either in printed or online form.

TIMELINE
The closing date for submission of abstracts is 1 October 2015.
Please contact us again if you do not receive an acknowledgement with five (5) working days.
For paper submission enquiries, please email Alycia Teo, Festival Executive, at alycia@bookcouncil.sg.
For other festival enquiries, please email the Kenneth Quek, Festival Director at kenneth@bookcouncil.sg.