Wednesday, May 4, 2016

SCBWI Rocky Mountain's Nonfiction Picture Book Summit

by Leslie Colin Tribble


On the last day of April while writers were gathering at various venues across the country for spring SCBWI events, I was sitting in an historic meeting hall at Chatauqua Park in Boulder, Colorado attending the first ever Nonfiction Summit, hosted by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of SCBWI.






This workshop was a one day event, but the amount of information packed into those nine hours was amazing. I took 10 pages of frenetic notes, until sometime around 3:00 I realized I couldn't write any more so closed my notebook and just absorbed the goodness.

The faculty was stellar - Carolyn Yoder of Calkins Creek Books; David Meissner, winner of the 2014 Golden Kite Award for his nonfiction book, Call of the Klondike; Terri Farley author of multitudes of Phantom Stallion books and recently published Wild At Heart: Mustangs and the Young People Fighting to Save Them; and Laura Perdew who has written a number of books for the educational market plus a nonfiction activity book, Kids on the Move! Colorado. I learned something from each of them and the workshop was small enough there was a chance to chat with nearly all of the faculty at some point during the day.

Here are some summit highlights:




Carolyn Yoder spoke about the climate being good right now for nonfiction, and how wonderful that is for writers. She said this isn't the "old style" nonfiction that you remember from grade school. Instead, today's nonfiction creates a vision for readers; it's fun and interesting. Carolyn emphasized the need for very high quality research with many sources, back matter and documentation of your research process. She said writers better have two sources for each fact and that your bibliography needs to support your cover letter and show your passion for your topic.




As an editor, Ms Yoder said she reads the cover letter then goes straight to the bibliography - if no bibliography is included, then she doesn't continue reading the submission. For a 600-800 word magazine article your bibliography needs at least 3 or 4 books (adult and children's books), articles, websites, photos, etc. Calkins Creek is an imprint of Boyd's Mill Press and Highlights so part of Carolyn's job is reading magazine submissions dealing with American and World history. Also, since she is the entire staff at Calkins Creek, it could take 6 months for her to respond to your book submission.



David Meissner spoke of his research process for Call of the Klondike. He asked the group, "Can you write a great nonfiction book if you aren't an expert?" Ultimately the answer was yes, but you have to do authentic research and pretty much become an expert. For his research on the Klondike Gold Rush, David went to Alaska and hiked the same trails, walked through the same towns and talked to everyone he could find. His take home message was, "Don't Be Shy! Talk to everyone and ask them who else you should talk to." He also said it doesn't hurt to ask your publisher for help paying for onsite research.




Terri Farley talked about transitioning from fiction writer to nonfiction writer. She walked us through an exercise designed to help us fine tune some topics we might be interested in pursuing. I appreciated this effort because it did help show that yes, I do know a little bit about some really interesting topics and it showed me how to delve deeper into them. All the presenters spoke about needing a sense of "You Are There" in your story - developing the scenes with inciteful details including colors, smell, and sounds that transport your reader to the time and place.




Laura Perdew has been on a mission to write books for the education market and she did a great job of showing us through that process. There was a subtle collective gasp from the group when she talked about having 8 weeks to write a 14,000 word book. I was impressed by her ability to write so much as well as take care of her family (10 year old twin boys!). This is one organized lady - she has a submission chart and sends status inquiries to publishers she hasn't heard back from. Laura also stressed that you absolutely can't do too much research for these books otherwise you'll never make your deadlines. Another tip - send a real, honest-to-goodness thank you card to your editor when the project is finished.

All in all it was a great day and I'm fired up to dust off some manuscripts and get back to writing. Carolyn Yoder reminded us that "Someone needs your writing. It's a great time to be into nonfiction."




24 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing, Leslie. It's interesting to know what Carolyn requires in her NF ms.

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    1. She was daunting in her thoroughness, but I think she'd be great to work with. She was pretty fun to talk with.

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  2. Leslie, thanks to you, I can get a glimpse of what you learned even while I was at NESCBWI. Wonderful post, friend. And safe travels to you.

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    1. Thanks Kathy! Your weekend sounded fabulous as well.

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  3. Thank you Leslie! Very helpful!

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    1. Thanks Pam - maybe next year I can attend a conference out your way!!

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  4. Thanks so much, Leslie! but, boo hoo! why wasn't I there? ;) I greatly appreciate everyone sharing what they are learning at conferences this spring!

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    1. Make sure you go to something next year Jane! I thought it was interesting there were so many events on the same weekend.

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  5. If I lived closer, I woulda been there. Used to live just down the street from Chatauqua Park. Sounds like a great meeting with great people and a wonderful opportunity.

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    1. Oh lucky you Sue - the neighborhood is so pretty! I took a short hike in the snow up to the base of the Flatirons after sitting all day. Pretty snowy and foggy but beautiful!

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  6. Sounds great Leslie - I'll bet that conference will continue to grow!

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  7. Great job summing it up, Leslie! I was there, too. The only tidbit I'd add is that Carolyn wants the sidebars and photos at the end of the manuscript, and not inserted throughout, and that Highlights is looking for holiday, cultural and science stories. And that the lunch was delicious! Very well organized conference.

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    1. Deborah - I wish we could have gotten a chance to meet! Yes lunch was excellent and thanks for adding in the extra information. I had a hard time sifting through all my notes for the best nuggets!

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  8. Sounds like a fabulous conference. . .will it be held the same time every year? Thanks for the info!

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    1. Jarm, this was their first nonfiction summit so I'm not sure if they'll do it again. I hope so - it was so good!

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  9. Leslie, thank you for the great highlights!

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  10. Thanks for the rundown, Leslie! 14,000 words in 8 weeks. Wow. Just wow. Yes, there's not much time for research, so you'd really need to take advantage of your research librarian at your local library!

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  11. What a wonderful conference, Leslie! So glad you had a chance to attend. The research is always a bit daunting for me. I've heard Candace Fleming talk about her research, and it sounds very much like what Carolyn Yoder requires. I had NO idea about the importance of including a bibliography with the initial submission, though. Good tip!

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  12. Informative write-up, Leslie. Sounds like a jam packed day of learning. Thanks for sharing.

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  13. This sounds awesome Leslie! I was at the midwest conference and missed this.

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  14. Thanks for sharing about our wonderful RMC SCBWI chapter and your experience. I'm glad you enjoyed the day, Leslie. Cheers, Kim

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  15. Thank you for sharing all this wonderful news. It's great!

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  16. Leslie - Sounds wonderful!

    This is super & timely as just yesterday a state agency
    contacted me about a possible project they may do for 4th-5th grade.
    They want to know how much would I charge for 32 pages, but nothing said about the # of words, etc.
    I will also mention this elsewhere, but did anyone happen to share, or do you have a resource/link for a standard, blank children's writing work for hire contract?
    I'll look up Tina Cho's Work For Hire series, here, too.
    I've looked at our wonderful SCBWI THE BOOK but don't find one there.

    Appreciations again for the great titles you've highlighted, the helpful editor/author deertales shared & overall great tips. A nourishing article.
    I'm at jgaoffice@gmail.com if you work for hire folks have an attachment
    to share.

    Happy Mother's Day weekend to all. :)

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  17. Thank you, Leslie, for sharing your experience at the first ever Nonfiction Summit, hosted by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of SCBWI.
    ~Suzy Leopold

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