We Want You! Roving Reporter Call Out

With anchors aweigh and sails unfurled, it’s all hands on deck for the SCBWI Sydney 2016 Conference. Bookings are filling fast but there is still time to join our hearty crew! As a delegate attending one of our Industry’s most illuminating literary conferences, you are automatically part of a conducive, productive, and supportive environment unlike any other. Before we set sail though, we need a few more crew members to ensure that those not sailing with us this time are kept fully informed of every Conference happening.

Sydney 2014 Conference delegates

Sydney 2014 Conference delegates

If you fancy being part of this year’s elite group of semi-professional Conference Roving Reporters and you -

  1. Have a flair for sharing
  2. Can take a photograph in focus
  3. Have a penchant for fast and furious note taking
  4. Are attending the Sydney 2016 Conference
  5. Harbour a secret desire to be a journalist
  6. Possess an unrelenting passion for children’s book writing and illustrating

Then - WE WANT YOU!

Actually, # 4 is the only real requirement for joining our Roving Reporter Team. The benefits however are many! They include, but are not limited to:

  • The opportunity to look like this
  • The pleasure of working with...wait for it...me.
  • The undying gratitude of your fellow colleagues who could not make it to the conference this time round.
  • The satisfaction of seeing your reports dutifully posted on this blog and all other forms of social media.
  • The promise you will not have to dress as or talk like a pirate (unless you really want to).
  • A personalised, individual thank you gift basket from SCBWI. (Warning: this last bit should be regarded as a Chapter One red herring)

Remaining opportunities are limited, so look lively me hearties! To register your availability, please leave a comment on this post or email Dimity direct – dimityspowell@gmail.com

Can’t wait to have you aboard!

Dimity

#SCBWISyd

 

 

2016 Hachette Australia Manuscript Development Program

In 2016, up to 10 emerging fiction and non-fiction writers will work with editors from Hachette Australia to develop high-quality manuscripts. The program will run for four days in Brisbane, Queensland. Participants will each have an individual consultation with editors from Hachette Australia to receive feedback on their manuscript.  During the four days, participants will also meet other publishing industry professionals such as literary agents, booksellers and established authors, and work on their manuscripts. The program will run Friday 4–Monday 7 November 2016.

All details and entry form can be found here.

Entries Close 5pm May 16.

Kaye Baillie Success Story

I was one of those nervous people who pitched to publishers at Sydney SCBWI 2014.  

My pitch was for my picture book, Message in a Sock, which tells the story of the efforts on the home front during World War 1. A mother and her young daughter, Tammy get involved in the urgent appeal for 150,000 pairs of socks for the troops in France. Tammy’s father is also away at war. The story is not just about the knitting of the socks, but about the messages of support often placed by knitters in the toes of the socks.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any requests from the panel to see the whole manuscript from my pitching session, but at least I did it, and I was really delighted to have been picked to be one of the pitchers.

I submitted my manuscript to several publishers with interest from two of them, but…

...my news is that MidnightSun Publishers in Adelaide will be publishing Message in a Sock! I am thrilled to have the chance to work with Anna Solding.

Kaye Baillie

Kayebaillie.weebly.com