SCBWI ACT kicked off the year in style on Thursday 27 February as they heard from the phenomenal Aleesah Darlison about Series Matters, and her awesome new series League of Llamas.
We started with 20 second speed introductions from the new ACT committee members Shelly Unwin (Coordinator), Krys Saclier, Mitch Frost, Sarah Wallace and Catherine Meatheringham.
Aleesah Darlison shared her journey to publishing 52 children’s books in 10 years (yes, you did read that right – 52 books in 10 years!) Some of the advice Aleesah offered is to treat writing as a business, actively seek and create opportunities, and promote and market your work.
Aleesah has published several series (with a few more in the pipeline) including The Unicorn Riders Series, The Little Witch Series and her new League of Lamas Series. Series are great to write as kids love series, they fall in love with characters and become fiercely loyal.
Tips on writing a successful series is to Plan Plan and Plan! Plan the entire series out including all of the characters, setting, themes and branding before you start to write.. Then write the first book in the series (to absolute perfection) and pitch that book, along with the plan for the series, to publishers.
We also heard amazing speed pitches for the recently released: Leaping Lola (CBCA Notable!!) by Tracey Hawkins, Jelly-Boy by Nicole Godwin, A Lighthouse in Time by Sandra Bennett, Our Bush Capital by Samantha Tidy and Emergency Rescue Angel by Cate Whittle Stand out performances by All, and such a tremendous collection of books from our SCWBI chapter!!
In their absence we also had the opportunity to peruse and purchase the awesome new books from our local powerhouse authors Tania McCartney: Fauna, Evie and Pog Puppy Playtime, Evie and Pog Take Off, I 🤍 The World and Ivy Bird, and Stephanie Owen Reeder: Will The Wonder Kid, Trouble In the Surf, and a reprint of Lenny the Legend adorned with shiny stickers! Busy busy ladies!!! We missed you!
We ended with a Q&A session with Aleesah. She answered questions on chapter length – plan the length before you write and make it roughly even. And questions on whether marketing and promotion are important – yes it’s an absolute must! Thank you Aleesah for coming along to our first event for 2020 and sharing your journey and advice on how to write a successful series.
We’re now busy planning the SCBWI ACT Development Day on 21 June. Save the date as we have exciting speakers including Alex Adsett and Dee White already lined up, and more to come!
