The SCBWI British Isle Annual conference 2022 marked our first introduction of Funke and Caroline to the public. Well…sort of; if you consider wearing a shirt with images of the cast and an inscription prompting people to ask me about Funke and Caroline an intro, then yes!
SCBWI (pronounced Scooby), is an acronym for The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, an international professional organization for authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults. SCBWI has regional chapters spread across the world with over twenty thousand members. It has a host of membership benefits including but not limited to awards, grants discounted events, industry insights and professional support.
SCBWI 2022, organized by the British Isle chapter was held at the Manchester Metropolitan University business school, Manchester on November 19 and 20. The timing couldn’t have come at a better time. It was the first in-person event post COVID, and I had just joined SCBWI as a new member, thanks to a recommendation by Jasmine Richards, author and founder of StoryMix.
From the start, you couldn’t miss the excitement of the atmosphere. The anchors had a sense of humour and energy that lit the room up. When the keynote speaker, Alex Wheatle took the stands, his story was both captivating, moving, enlightening and humorous. The comical relay of his experiences had me and indeed the audience cracking up. You knew you were in an atmosphere with Children at its heart.
Below I share highlights from my experience at the conference.
1 to 1 with Saskia Leach
I had a pre-booked session with Saskia Leach of Kate Nash literary agency in respect of a query and synopsis for Funke and Caroline’s “The Accent” story. To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations prior to the 1-2-1 for obvious reasons. Instead, I wanted a different view on the story and our current approach to its publication. I had never done traditional publishing but I was keen on exploring it as an option for Funke and Caroline, hence the submission. In fact, I hadn’t known what a query letter was until I received an email to send one in as part of my prep for the 1-2-1. And so, Reedsy was my go-to resource as I put together the query letter. It was a great exercise though as it had me thinking deeply about the story and narrowing its main context down to an elevator pitch. Sitting with Saskia for 15 minutes was one of my highlights at the conference. Getting her perspective and feedback gave me good insights to build on going forward.
Power, Politics and Censorship in YA Fiction
This was a session with authors Alex Wheatle, Danielle Jawando and Louisa Reid moderated by the humourous Candy Gourlay. It opened my eyes to a different approach to writing. To hear Danielle Jawando speak of the extensive background research on her book’s characters was quite interesting. From interviews with subjects that mirror the cast for her stories to installing and trying Snapchat which her real-life subjects enjoy using, attests to her meticulous approach to writing. It’s tempting to think writing for a young audience requires a dose of one-off creativity without necessarily real life contexts. Alex spoke about his use of Jamaican patois in one of his books which I found fascinating.
Publishing 101: The Truth about Publishing
Here’s one session I’d been looking forward to. It had Camilla Chester, Becky Bagnell (agent and founder of Lindsay Literary Agency) and Katie Blagden (agent with Bright Agency). In the world I’ve come to know since exploring traditional publishing options for Funke and Caroline, literary agents are sometimes portrayed as some sort of faceless figures behind impenetrable walls. With little time on their hands, getting through to them is a mystery. No one seems to know what resonates with them…and on and on. Well, it turns out that they are normal humans first then professionals; phew! Even more, there’s an approach to getting through to them. And who better to hear from than the agents themselves. One thing that stood out was hearing Katie Blagden speak of multiple options when it comes to negotiating IPs for authors. These intellectual property rights span apps, movies and more with a dedicated team to each. Prior to, I had been wondering if our approach to Funke and Caroline where we’d decided on our in-progress cartoon series as a first step before the book proper would be a plus. The feedback I received was that it was great and publishers have a media rights team that could be keen on that. Camilla also shared her experience with self-publishing and traditional publishing touching on the pros and cons of each. That was insightful especially given her context.
Pitch Event
Days before the conference, I received an email that I hadn’t been shortlisted for the pitch. I was disappointed as I had been building up my pitch for Funke and Caroline. The email stated that it was a tough decision by the judges but I thought it was just an explanation to make me feel better. Anyways, that all became clear when I watched the contenders pitch their stories in 90 seconds. Yes, 90 seconds! All the pitches were nothing short of brilliant! From stories about self-acceptance to environmental protection all captured within the context of simplicity, humour and fun for kids, they were pretty good. As I listened to each writer pitch their works, I couldn’t help imagining the stories come to life.
How to Independently Publish & Sell Your Children’s Book
This was my closing session but most resonating at the conference. I sat there watching and listening to Lucy Reynolds and Jemma Harmen recount their 6-year journey into self-publishing with Doodles & Scribbles. Tenacity, perseverance and persistence were written all over their journey. The invaluable lessons and insights were inspiring to say the least. To hear them share their mistakes, strategies and key steps presented a template to work with even for Funke and Caroline. I wasn’t alone going by the engagement of the audience. On my way home from the conference, I bumped into another author at the train station who also remarked that this session was indeed the highpoint of the conference for him.
Other highlights
Conclusion
I left SCBWI on Sunday night elated. I had met interesting people with amazing works. What would a Children’s book conference be without books, hence I had a few signed books for myself and Funke, my 2-year old and inspiration.
In all, it was an exciting weekend for a different reason also. While I was wading through roomful of faces as a SCBWI newbie in Manchester, Tughu, my co-author was walking down the aisle with his wife 5000 miles away. So, there it was. A wedding and a conference weekend, miles apart but memorable for the team – the Funke and Caroline cast and its creators.
