Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/04/2019 - 05/05/2019
8:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location
Gold Coast Hotel & Casino
4000 W. Flamingo Rd - Las Vegas, NV 89103
REGISTRATION IS CLOSED FOR THIS EVENT
The conference is held in conjunction with the NV Mentorship Program. Provided below is useful information for CONFERENCE ATTENDEES:
DATE
Conference Dates: May 4 – 5, 2019
Saturday – 8:00am – 5:30 pm
Sunday – 8:30am – 2:45 pm
LOCATION
Gold Coast Hotel, Casino, and Conference Center
4000 W Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89103
Salon C & D in the 2nd floor conference center.
Conference Center is a non-smoking facility on the 2nd floor of the casino. Please look for a sign to the Arizona and Nevada Ballrooms above the escalator that is located towards the eastern part of the casino floor.
HOTEL INFORMATION
For faculty, your room was either reimbursed or paid for by SCBWI NV. You will need a credit card for your personal incidentals. Wifi is included and already paid for as part of the resort fee. Room service is not reimbursed during your stay. The hotel has a gym and a pool.
Parking is available for free in the hotel parking garage.
The hotel is 1.2 miles from the Las Vegas Strip (about a 30 minute walk).
WHAT TO BRING
Clothes: Please dress in layers because the temperature in the room will vary. It is airconditioned, but we can’t adjust the temperature. So, if you tend to get cold, please bring an outer layer.
Writing Implement/Notepad, or laptop: There are no outlets in the conference room so if you bring a laptop, you won’t be able to charge it in the conference room. There will be small notepads and pens but you might want to bring your own to take notes.
If you’re an illustrator, there will be time to work on your work during the picture book workshop. You might want to make sure that your computer will have enough battery to last on Sunday.
Manuscripts/Picture Book Dummies: For Round table, we approximate bringing 10 copies of not more than 1000 words. Please make sure to format your manuscript in the standard submission format. If you don’t know what that is, there is an example:
https://nevada.scbwi.org/critique-groups/
PITCH PERFECT CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, MAY 4
8:00 am Welcome – Salon C
8:30 am Keynote – Erin Entrada Kelly: Use Your Voice – How to find and use your voice as a writer, and bring voice to your characters on the page.
9:30 am Agent- Hannah Mann: Standing Out Amongst the Outstanding – Focusing on the content of your manuscript for submission, learn what makes a great manuscript a cut above in the pile.
10:30 am Break
10:45 am First Pages – Round Table: All agents and author faculty will participate in moderating sessions – Salon D
12:00 pm (11:45am) Lunch at Port O’Call Buffet (Need vouchers & bracelets. We’ll go together as a group to skip the line for mentees, faculty, and prepaid attendees.)
1:15 pm Agent- Quressa Robinson: The Art of Conflict and Personality – Using classic craft techniques and exercises, we’ll plot stories as well as develop existing and new characters. (Writing exercises during workshop)
2:15 pm Speed Pitch Practice: All agents and author faculty will participate in moderating sessions – Salon D
3:30 pm Agent – Karen Grencik: 101+ Reasons for Rejection – In this breakout session, we will cover the most common reasons for rejection and look at examples of real manuscripts and rejection letters. The handout gives actual reasons for rejection, which is not to discourage one but to show the in-depth analysis that each manuscript undergoes. By being aware of these examples, hopefully you can eliminate a few of the possible reasons for rejection before making your submissions.
4:30 pm – Agent & Editor Panel for Queries
5:30 pm – Author Book Signing – Salon C
Book signing will be in Salon C. Barnes and Noble will have books for sale.
SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2019
8:30 am Welcome
9:00 am Agent – DongWon Song: How to Pitch – This talk covers the fundamentals of how to pitch, not just for your first book, but as a life-long skill. We’ll discuss the role pitching plays as your career progresses and how it can support you at every stage of your career. We’ll go over the core elements of how to construct a pitch, the importance of comp titles, and some basic strategies for refining your hook.
Starting 10:00 am – we will have two tracks of presentations:
TRACK 1 – Writer-illustrators and Illustrators (If you write picture books, we suggest that you stay in this track to learn what happens with illustrators so you have a understanding of how picture books are made and critiqued.)
10:00 am Editor – Kait Feldmann:Reading Images: Components of Visual Storytelling – In this presentation geared towards illustrators and writer-illustrators, we will cover some exciting ways to use art as a narrative form. Come hungry to feast your eyes on lots and lots of picture books and graphic novels that play with components like page-turn, gutter, white space, paneling, perspective, color, and more!
11:00 am Picture Book Workshop with Arree Chung, Ken Lamug, and Kait Feldmann
12:15 pm Lunch (Prepaid vouchers. We’ll need to go together as a group to skip the line for mentees and all faculty.)
1:30 pm Continuation of Picture Book Workshop
2:45 pm End of Conference
TRACK 2 – Writers
10:00 am – Heather Petty: Query Writing Workshop
11:00 am – Jim Averbeck: Synopsis Writing Workshop
12:00 noon Lunch (11:45am)
1:15 pm – Pitch with Kait Feldmann, Karen Grencik, and DongWon Song
2:45 pm End of Conference
For a full description of bios, please visit the faculty page.
(List below in alphabetical order)
AGENT / EDITOR FACULTY
Kait Feldman – Associate Editor, Scholastic
Reading Images: Components of Visual Storytelling
In this presentation geared towards illustrators and writer-illustrators, we will cover some exciting ways to use art as a narrative form. Come hungry to feast your eyes on lots and lots of picture books and graphic novels that play with components like page-turn, gutter, white space, paneling, perspective, color, and more!
Jenny Bent– Agent, The Bent Agency
Jenny Bent will not give a presentation but will participate in group round tables, speed pitch, and agent panel.
Karen Grencik – Agent, Red Fox Literary
101+Reasons for Rejection
In this breakout session, we will cover the most common reasons for rejection and look at examples of real manuscripts and rejection letters. The handout gives actual reasons for rejection, which is not to discourage one but to show the in-depth analysis that each manuscript undergoes. By being aware of these examples, hopefully you can eliminate a few of the possible reasons for rejection before making your submissions.
Hannah Mann – Agent, Writer’s House
Standing Out Among the Outstanding
Focusing on the content of your manuscript for submission, learn what makes a great manuscript a cut above in the pile.
Quressa Robinson – Agent, Nelson Literary
Plotting and Characterization: The Art of Conflict and Personality
Description: Using classic craft techniques and exercises, we’ll plot stories as well as develop existing and new characters.
DongWon Song – Agent, Howard Morhaim Literary
AUTHOR FACULTY
Erin Entrada Kelly, winner of 2018 Newberry Award – Keynote Speaker
(Authors in alphabetical order)
Jim Averbeck
Arree Chung
Terri Farley
Ken Lamug
Diana Lopez
Jenny MacKay
Daria Peoples
Heather Petty
Lynda Sandoval
Suzanne Morgan Williams
LUNCH:
If you’re interested in having lunch with the faculty, we have to use the catering service at the hotel which is expensive unfortunately. It is $45. If you’re interested in purchasing, it is a separate purchase. LINK.
There are many lunch spots, and we’re hoping there will be box lunches as well.
REFUND POLICY:
Cancellation fee between March 15 – April 20 will be $20, unless you have found someone to take your place. Then it will only be the $10 administration fee.
There are no refunds for cancellations between April 21 and the start of the program unless it is an unforeseen emergency. In that case, the team will review for the refund. We have hotel and food and beverage commitments that must be met and paid for in advance. Thanks for understanding.
One-on-one Critiques will be sold separately and emails sent to those in February. More info TBA.
Faculty for the weekend:
Authors: Arree Chung, Jim Averbeck, TeraLynn Childs, Terri Farley, Erin Entrada Kelly, Kit Lamug, Diana Lopez, Jenny MacKay, Heather Petty, Lynda Sandoval, Suzanne Morgan Willilams.
Agents: Karen Grencik (Red Fox Literary), Jenny Bent (Bent Agency), Hannah Mann (Writers House), Quressa Robinson (Nelson Literary), DongWon Song (Morhaim Literary)
Editor: Kait Feldmann, Editor at Scholastic
HOTEL: We have a limited number of hotel rooms at the Gold Coast at the rate of about $110 per night. Please call the hotel or go online: Goldcoastcasino.com/groups and use group code: A9WBC05 or call into The Gold Coast Hotel Reservations at 888-402-6278. Room blocks will be released April 1.
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