SCBWI

Society of
Children's Book Writers
and Illustrators

Michigan

Michigan

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  • Members For Members Scholarship Fund - Supporting Inclusivity in Children's Literature It's time to start thinking about who you can encourage to apply for our Members for Members Scholarship! The application period runs from 8:00 a.m. Feb. 14 - March 14.   This scholarship awards a one year SCBWI membership to a Michigan writer or illustrator who is actively working toward creating children’s books that resonate with diverse readers.   Qualifications: Must be a Michigan resident actively working toward creating children’s books that resonate with diverse readers. (Applicants may be new or current SCBWI members.) Award: Awardees will receive a year’s membership to SCBWI beginning April 1 if awardee is a new member. If the awardee is a current member, the membership will be extended for a year. Applications Accepted:  8:00 a.m. February 14 through March 14. Winner(s) will be announced on or about April 1. To donate to this scholarship, click or tap HERE. For more information and to apply, click or tap HERE   More information about other scholarship opportunities at: https://michigan.scbwi.org/scbwi-mi-scholarship-opportunities/      
  •   FOR A PRINTABLE BOOK PROMOTION POSTER OF SPRING 2023 NEW RELEASES CLICK HERE - page 1 and page 2 Do you have a new book coming out? We would love to share your good news! If you are interested in this promotion opportunity, please complete all the information within this Book Promotion Form. (You will need to be logged into Google to upload your book cover image.) Any questions, please contact Christy Matthes at cmatthes82@gmail.com Book Promotion Poster Schedule Quarter                                                                      Submission Deadline      Posting Date  2023 Spring (March, April, May releases)  January 2, 2023  February 1, 2023  2023 Summer (June, July, August releases)  April 1, 2023  May 1, 2023  2023 Fall (Sept, Oct., Nov. releases)  July 1, 2023  August 1, 2023  2023/2024 Winter (Dec, Jan, Feb releases)  October 1, 2023  November 1, 2023  2024 Spring (March, April, May releases)  January 2, 2024  February 1, 2024  2024 Summer (June, July, Aug. releases)  April 1, 2024  May 1, 2024   Previous Book Promotion Posters FALL 2022 BOOK PROMOTION POSTER  WINTER 2022/2023 BOOK PROMOTION POSTER
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  • Newsflash! SCBWI Announces New Benefits for Members who are self-publishing! Check it out HERE Do you have indie questions? Depending on the indie path that you are considering, you may contact one of the three advisors below that best fits your direction. Indie publishing would include hybrid publishing (combines aspects of traditional and self-publishing), vanity publishing (publishers do it all for a price), self-publishing (the author does it all), and digital. All of these various publishing methods would fall under the indie umbrella. In an effort to provide the most current and accurate information for our members we have two indie advisors: Melissa Bailey - Picture Book, Melanie Hooyenga - Young Adult. You should also consider their particular path to publishing. Who may best answer your individual questions?   Meet the SCBWI-MI INDIE ADVISORS     Melanie Hooyenga – Young Adult Author  Multi-award winning young adult author Melanie Hooyenga writes books about strong girls who learn to navigate life despite its challenges. She first started writing as a teenager and finds she still relates best to that age group. Her award-winning YA sports romance series, the Rules Series, is about girls from Colorado falling in love and learning to stand up on their own. Her YA time travel trilogy, The Flicker Effect, is about a teen who uses sunlight to travel back to yesterday. The first book, FLICKER, won first place for Middle Grade/Young Adult in the Writer’s Digest 2015 Self-Published eBook awards, and the Rules Series has won ten awards, including Finalist for MG/YA in the BookLife Prize. When not at her day job as Communications Director at a local nonprofit, you can find her wrangling her Miniature Schnauzer Owen and playing every sport imaginable with her husband Jeremy.     Melissa Bailey – Picture Book Author/Illustrator Hi! I’m Melissa, but feel free to call me Mo. I’ve been a member of SCBWI since 2013 and have been illustrating children’s books since 2009, including 2 award winners and a feature in Kirkus Review’s 2019 Fall Preview. In 2018, I reached my goal of becoming an author-illustrator with Pug Is Happy (published by a pygmy indie publisher) and have co-authored and illustrated the upcoming picture book Imara’s Tiara (fall 2020). With the help of SCBWI, research, experiences clients have generously shared with me, and my own insatiable curiosity, I’ve worked hard to learn all I can about the ins and outs of the children’s book publishing industry (both traditional and indie) and try my best to keep current with ever-evolving trends and changes. I’m here to help make your publishing journey less confusing and more successful.   Access More Information about the SCBWI-Trailblazers HERE!
  • CHERRY LAKE PUBLISHING GROUP ANNOUNCES 2023 OWN VOICES, OWN STORIES AWARD SEASON IN PARTNERSHIP WITH EASTERSEALS   Cherry Lake Publishing Group is launching their third season of their Own Voices, Own Stories Award for authors from historically marginalized groups. They are so thrilled to elevate their mission to recognize and amplify new and diverse voices in children’s literature with this award.   For the 2023 award season and in partnership with Easterseals, the Own Voices, Own Stories Award will be eligible to new authors with disabilities. Easterseals is the nation’s leading nonprofit provider of life-changing services and powerful advocacy for people with disabilities throughout their lifespans. It has been leading the way to full equity, inclusion, and access for the one in four Americans with disabilities so they can fully participate in their communities and in society at large for more than 100 years.    Cherry Lake Publishing Group will be accepting submissions from January 1, 2023 through March 31, 2023 with winners notified late summer. Awards include a Grand Prize (publishing contract and cash prize) and Honor Awards (cash prize and consulting session with an editor). Click HERE for additional information on the award. You can also check out the OVOS section of their website (https://cherrylakepublishing.com/ovos) or visit them on social media for more information.  
  • SCBWI stands firmly against bias, oppression, or unfair treatment of people based on their identity elements. As we feel the pain of what is happening today in America and in the treatment of our Black citizens, we renew our commitment to equity, inclusion, and equal justice for all. To read more about our stand, here is our position statement on equity and inclusion: At SCBWI, we recognize that publicly committing to equity and inclusion is crucial to our membership and the readers we serve. Words, stories, and images are powerful: They define who we are for ourselves and for others. Historically, content creation that reaches a wide audience of children and teens has been intertwined with a legacy of privilege, oppression, bias, and racism. We acknowledge that, as part of the children’s publishing industry, we share in that legacy.   We accept the challenge and responsibility of becoming agents of change by affirming the need for increased representation in every facet of the children’s and YA book industry, including but not limited to race/ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship, and religion. To fulfill our mission of supporting the creation and availability of quality books for every young reader in all regions of the world, we commit to championing equity and inclusion throughout our organization by striving to:   –identify and dismantle inequities within our policies and practices –expand inclusivity in our leadership, membership, and volunteer corps –increase the social consciousness of our members through substantive learning opportunities –continually examine and renew that commitment in our events, programming, online initiatives, publications, awards and grants, community outreach, and education efforts   As creators of books for children and teens, we have both a unique responsibility and a powerful opportunity to help young people create an equitable, inclusive world. We look forward to listening, learning, and leading.
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  • Linked below are local and regional resources posted with the full intention of supporting teachers all over the great Mitten State to bring equity and inclusion to their classrooms. Here you will discover informative blogs, helpful organizations, and many authors, illustrators, and translators ready and willing to walk beside you to prepare students to thrive emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. Our mission is to support the creation and availability of quality children’s books in every region of the world; we recognize that those books must reflect the rich diversity of our human family. The only way to do that is to support educators, writers, illustrators, and translators that reflect every lived experience. As a global organization, we acknowledge that inclusion looks different in every corner of the world. No matter who you are, how you identify, where you live, what your abilities/disabilities are, whom you love, and what you look like, we want you here. Welcome!   Equity and Inclusion Resource Library SCBWI | Resources for Asian and Pacific Islander Children’s Book Creators SCBWI | Organizations and Resources Supporting Black Lives SCBWI | Disability Employment Awareness Month Resources SCBWI | National Hispanic Heritage Month Resources SCBWI | Native, First Nations, and Indigenous Creators | Organizations and Resources SCBWI | Resources for Women Children’s Book Creators   Partnerships & Endorsements:  The Equity & Inclusion Corner (scbwimithemitten.blogspot.com)- The SCBWI-MI E & I Team is energized to create a stronger SCBWI-MI community that includes, engages, and embraces disparate voices. Michigan | The Teachers’ and Librarians’ Corner (scbwi.org) - SCBWI-MI is proud to partner with teachers and librarians to provide students with the resources to expand their love of reading. Inkluded (getinkluded.com)-Inkluded Academy is a tuition-free publishing course taught by industry professionals. Raising A Reader - Our mission is to engage caregivers in a routine of book sharing with their children from birth through age eight to foster healthy brain development, healthy relationships, a love of reading, and the literacy skills critical for school success. Black Men Read - Expanding Possibilities Through Storytelling: At Black Men Read, we’re changing lives and learning by exposing kids to powerful stories and powerful role models. Every child deserves to feel seen, loved, and valued. To make that happen, we elevate Black men as storytellers and community leaders. BlackCreatorsHQ (@blackcreatorsinkidlit) - A community of Black authors and illustrators. Increasing Black representation in all genres of literature. We Need Diverse Books – diversebooks.org - Dedicated to creating a world where every child can see themselves in the pages of a book. The Brown Bookshelf - The Brown Bookshelf - The Brown Bookshelf is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers. WATCH the LatinX KidLit Book Festival! - KidLit TV - A diverse group of parents, educators, librarians, kid lit creators, and award-winning filmmakers working together to create fun new ways to reinforce an appreciation of reading that children will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Diversity in Middle Grade. - From The Mixed Up Files: Mixed-Up Files Middle-Grade Authors are a team of writers and readers of middle-grade books with the shared goals to celebrate and generate enthusiasm about books for 8-12 year olds. Guides by Deb: A free resource consisting of over 300 CCSS & NGSS-aligned educator guides showcasing contemporary literature for children and young adults - Celebrating Black History Month at Guides by Deb   Authors & Illustrators from Michigan (shown alphabetically) Kelly J. Baptist: Book titles: The Electric Slide and Kai: A
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Welcome!

The strength of SCBWI lies in its individual members. Whether you are a creator, publisher, reviewer, librarian, bookseller, educator, or simply someone with a love of literature and a desire to see the best in the hands of children, we invite you to get to know us better. SCBWI-Michigan is

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