Asilomar Schedule and Details

Below please find the current schedule for the 2010 Golden Gate Conference at Asilomar. This schedule is subject to change up until the start of the conference. We will provide attendees with their critique appointment time, the name of the faculty member conducting their critique, and roommate information at registration. We are unable to provide critique or roommate information prior to that time as logistics are subject to change. We appreciate your understanding.

Friday, February 18

Saturday, February 20

Sunday, February 21

Asilomar 2010 Speaker Panel

Gary Schmidt, Keynote: Sleepers Awake!  The Children's Writer, Thor's
Hammer, and M. Night Shyamalan

Gary Schmidt is the author of books for middle grade and young adult readers.  His The Wednesday Wars won a Newbery Honor Award, and his Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy a Newbery Honor and Printz Honor.  He is currently writing a pair of sequels to The Wednesday Wars, and a history of children's literature during the mid-twentieth century.  He teaches in the English Department of Calvin College and in the MFA program of Hamline University.


Yuyi Morales, On Creating  

When Yuyi Morales creates a book, she crafts words and paintings together to tell a story. From blank paper words and drawings start to appear, characters are born, and a new world is shaped. But, how does an author/illustrator go into creating? Where does she find inspiration? What are the forces that make her bring a book alive?  Explore with Yuyi her process for creating a book, and learn more about the creativity that we all carry inside.
 
Since migrating to the USA from Mexico in 1994, Yuyi Morales has created some of the most celebrated Latino works for children’s books. She is a three-time winner of the Pura Belpre Medal and a two-time recipient of the Tomas Rivera Award for her illustration in Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book, Los Gatos Black on Halloween, and her latest Just In Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book. Asked about her work, Yuyi says “I strive to capture the incredible beauty of the every day forms using textures and colors as another way to reveal the heart of the story. I also pursue glow and luminosity with resolve. If I could ask for a talent, it would be to become a color genius.”
 
To learn more about Yuyi’s work please visit to www.yuyimorales.com or visit her blog at http://yuyimorales.blogspot.com
 
AnnMarie Anderson, A recipe for success: What makes a good paperback series?

This lecture will cover the ingredients that go into a good/commercially successful paperback series.

AnnMarie Anderson has been at Scholastic for five years, and with the Paperbacks group since February 2008. She’s currently focusing on editing and acquiring engaging and entertaining middle grade paperback series for boys and girls. She loves stories about friendships and relationships, as that’s such a huge part of every middle schooler’s life. She also enjoys dramatic adventure stories that are fast-paced and full of action. Double bonus points if a book makes her laugh out loud while she’s reading it on the subway!

Her current projects include the popular Geronimo Stilton series, which was published first in Italian and then translated into English, and the How I Survived Middle School and Appleville Elementary series by Nancy Krulik.  She’s very excited about two new series she’s working on. The first, which is coming in May 2010, is a middle grade series by a new author about a boy who thinks his teacher has super powers. It’s called The Amazing Adventures of Nate Banks.  The second is a new line of spine-tingling, stand-alone, supernaturally influenced novels for tween girls called Poison Apple. The first books will be published in May 2010, and they are just slightly darker than your typical tween novel.

Ari Lewin, Disney/Hyperion, House-keeping

Organize your thinking about the different departments in a publishing house.  Learn what do they do, what YOU should do, and what is taboo in all the major departments.

Arianne Lewin is a Senior Editor at Disney*Hyperion. She edits an eclectic list that emphasizes young adult novels and fantasy, but also includes picture books and chapter books. She works with authors Cinda Williams Chima; Whoopi Goldberg; Julie Anne Peters; EB Lewis; Scott Magoon; and Daniel Waters, among others. Arianne is currently looking for fresh voices in all genres.

Tracy Gates, Associate Editorial Director, Viking  Children's Books

Tracy has worked in the editorial departments of Philomel, Crown, and Alfred A. Knopf before joining Viking Children's Books. She is the editor of the New York Times Bestselling Llama Llama books by Anna Dewdney. She credits her sportswriter father for her love of athletic competition and her Peace Corps Volunteer mother (currently serving in Mongolia!) for her love of adventure. These interests are often apparent in the books she edits, from the sports-themed novels of Rich Wallace to the historical adventures of Elisa Carbone and Liza Ketchum to the high-kicking ninja picture books of J.C. Phillipps. She enjoys working with both new and well-established authors, including Sally Warner, Greg Foley, Susan Runholt, and Kristen Chandler.                                  

Ken Wright, Writer’s House                                               

Ken Wright became an agent after nearly 20 years on the “other side of the desk,” where he was an editor and publisher of books for adults and young readers, mostly nonfiction (serious and more popular). As an agent, he handles books for adults, primarily nonfiction (eg., history, science, natural history, politics, current events, popular cultural and the arts, biography, and memoir). He also handles children’s books--middle grade to young-adult, fiction and nonfiction, and the occasional picture book. Mr. Wright represents two Caldecott medalists: Allen Say and David Macaulay.   

Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary, A Recipe for Writing the Breakout Novel: Five Ingredients for Success

Sarah Davies was a children’s publisher in London for more than 25 years before moving to the USA in 2007 to launch the Greenhouse Literary Agency. Based in Washington DC and London, the Greenhouse exclusively represents authors of children’s and YA fiction and is not only transatlantic (Sarah personally represents both American and British authors direct to both markets), but also unusually international – foreign rights are sold by sister-company Rights People, a specialist children’s rights-selling business with a fast-growing reputation for selling literary properties around the world.

In her publisher incarnation Sarah worked with and edited authors such as Judy Blume, Meg Cabot, Sharon Creech, Karen Cushman, and Philip Pullman. As an agent she represents many debut authors, a number of whom have achieved deals at auction – among them, Sarwat Chadda, Lindsey Leavitt, Brenna Yovanoff, Tricia Springstubb, and Valerie Patterson. Sarah has been a fiction editor half her life, and brings a wealth of editorial experience to her role as literary agent, working closely with writers to reach an optimum submission point. Sarah says, ‘Everything I’d most like to tell you about the Greenhouse is in its name. It’s where writers grow!’ www.greenhouseliterary.com

Ellen Klages, Avoiding Pigeonholes: Writing a Crossover Novel

Ellen Klages has written two novels. The Green Glass Sea (2006) won the
Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction, as well as the New Mexico Book
Award for Young Adult, and the Lopez Award for children’s fiction. The
sequel — White Sands, Red Menace (2008)— won the California Book Award and
the New Mexico Book Award, both in the Young Adult category.

Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies and magazines, both online
and in print, including The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction,
Eclipse Three, and Firebirds Rising.  Her story, "Basement Magic," won
science fiction’s Nebula Award in 2005.  Her short story collection,
Portable Childhoods, was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award in 2008.

She lives in San Francisco.

Greg Pincus, Setting Yourself Up for the Happy Accident (or How to Use Social Media Effectively and Still Have Time to Work)

In less time than it takes to list and describe all the social networks out there today, Greg will talk about how to cut through the noise and focus on ways to use social media effectively and efficiently to help you achieve your goals and set yourself up for, recognize, and act upon the happy accidents that abound online.  

Greg Pincus is a poet, novelist, screenwriter, volunteer elementary school librarian, and social media consultant. He’s also a blogger, writing about children’s poetry and literature at GottaBook (http://gottabook.blogspot.com) and the social web at The Happy Accident (http://www.thehappyaccident.net). Through the wonders of social media, he’s sold poetry off his blog, helped himself land a book deal, ended up in the New York Times, the Washington Post, School Library Journal (multiple times), and many other interesting places.

Kristine Brogno, Design Director of Children's Publishing, Chronicle Books, 10 Principles of a Winning Portfolio          

Kristine Brogno is an award-winning art director and designer in the children's market. Over the past twelve years, she has had the great fortune of working with a wide range of illustrators - from those publishing their first projects to some of the most distinguished illustrators in the field. Collectively, she's worked at Chronicle Books for 10 years where she is currently the Design Director of Children's Publishing. During an interlude as a freelance designer, she worked with Tricycle Press, Sterling Publishing and Harcourt among other publishers. Kristine's most recent projects include the New York Times best-seller Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld; Little Oink (the final book in the Little Series) by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace and the launch of a publishing line with NY MoMA. She is super-excited about a forthcoming book with Calef Brown.

Deborah Underwood, A World in 600 Words: The Craft of Picture Book Writing

As a picture book writer, you must spin a satisfying story using very few words.  Then you have to surrender control as an illustrator completes your book.  Easy?  Absolutely not!  But ideally, the result is magical: a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Using examples from her forthcoming books, Deborah will give practical advice about picture book writing and editing.  She’ll also share some of the 58,647 mistakes she's made (so far!) and what she learned from them, so you won't have to make the same errors.

Deborah Underwood writes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for kids. Three of her picture books will be published in 2010: Granny Gomez and Jigsaw (Disney-Hyperion), The Quiet Book (Houghton Mifflin), and A Balloon for Isabel (Greenwillow). She is the author of the easy reader Pirate Mom (Random House) as well as numerous nonfiction books on subjects ranging from astronomy to theater. Her magazine credits include National Geographic Kids, Highlights, Spider, and Ladybug. She lives in San Francisco.

Liza Ketchum, Finding the Voice of your Character

When we fall in love with a story’s narrator, we often say that he or she “has a strong voice.”  What does that mean? How do we, as writers, hear a narrator’s voice and bring it to life on paper?  This is especially challenging if a character comes from another time and place, especially an era before recorded sound.  What techniques can help us to create an authentic voice from the past?  When we write from multiple points of view, how do we give each character a distinct voice of his/her own?  We have all known real people whose unique syntax, idiom, or manner of speaking nails that person in our minds.  Can we steal those voices as we create fictional narrators?

 In an informal presentation and discussion of these questions, Liza Ketchum will share some practical tools that have helped her in the creation of both contemporary and historical characters.  Bring questions, pen and paper, and your own successful strategies.

Liza Ketchum is the author of fifteen books for young readers, including Where the Great Hawk Flies, winner of the Massachusetts Book Award. Newsgirl, her most recent novel, is an adventure story set in San Francisco during the gold rush.  Blue Coyote, the fourth book in her quartet of YA novels, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. She teaches in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Hamline University.  For more information: www.lizaketchum.com

Mary Rockcastle, Dean, Graduate School of Liberal Studies, Hamline University, Is an MFA Right for You?

Ever wondered if a MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults is a goal you'd like to pursue?  Please join Mary Rockcastle, Dean of the Graduate School of Liberal Studies at Hamline University, and Gary Schmidt and Liza Ketchum, both Hamline faculty members, for a look inside an accredited MFA program with proven results.  In the low-residency MFA program at Hamline in Saint Paul, Minnesota, students work independently from home in one-on-one mentorships with faculty advisors over four semesters.  Twice a year students come to Hamline for eleven days of intensive workshops and seminars.   Come learn if an MFA is right for you?

Mary Francois Rockcastle is the founding dean of the Graduate School of Liberal Studies at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is also the founding and executive editor of Water-Stone Review, an award-winning national literary magazine. In August 2009 she was presented with the Stanley W. Lindbery Award for Excellence in Literary Publishing. Her first novel, Rainy Lake (Graywolf Press) was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award and listed as a Best Book for the Teen Age by the New York Public Library. She has just finished a new novel, In Caddis Wood. She has won a Bush Foundation Fellowship in fiction, a Loft-McKnight Award of Distinction in fiction and a Loft Mentor Award. As Dean, Rockcastle has overseen the significant growth of an MFA in Writing (for adults) and the development of a low-residency MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and a newly launched BFA in creative writing.

Conference Details

The conference begins Friday, February 19, 2009 at 3PM, and ends Sunday, February 21 at noon, with lunch being your final meal of the conference.

SPEAKERS AND WORKSHOPS
Speakers will be giving sixty-minute presentation on aspects of publishing, illustrating, or the craft of writing. Agents and editors will also identify the types of manuscripts they are looking for and what is selling in the industry—all of which can further help you with your eventual submission process.

MANUSCRIPT AND PORTFOLIO CRITIQUES
Most of our speakers will be participating in the optional manuscript and portfolio critiques. Please read the speaker bios and make a list of your top six speaker choices for your critique. You must identify at least 6 choices during registration, or your critique request will not be processed. Manuscript critiques will be in-person, one-on-one, 15 minutes in length, and will take place during other conference activities.

SOCIAL MEDIA CRITIQUE
Receive direction, advice, and strategies from Greg Pincus, social media maven, for getting the most out of social media based on what you're already doing (or NOT doing) and what you hope to accomplish. Hone your focus, learn about efficiencies, and ask questions, too. Required in advance: links to your site/blog/Twitter/Facebook/whatever-exists-already and answers to a short worksheet.

FEES & PAYMENT
We will accept only credit cards and PayPal processing as payment. You will not be able to pay by check. At the time of registration, you will be taken to the PayPal website to pay. However, you neither need to have nor open a PayPal account and can pay with a credit card instead.

To help you decide, plan, and budget your attendance at the 2010 conference, the fees for the conference are as follows:

$465, double room – Includes the conference fee, SHARED ROOM, all your meals, and parking on the grounds. You will be able to request a roommate and we'll do our best to match you up, depending on room availability. But listing a desired roommate is not required for a double room. Simply check off the male or female box on the registration and we'll assign you a roommate. Many lasting friendships have begun by meeting new roommates at Asilomar.

$650, single room – Includes the conference fee, a PRIVATE ROOM, all your meals, and parking on the grounds. There are very few single rooms, and they are available on a LIMITED basis. You may request a single room when you register. If we are unable to accommodate your single room request, the additional payment for a single room will be refunded.

$290, off-campus – Includes the conference fee and meals only. You must find your own lodging. Please keep in mind we have VERY FEW off-campus spots, and they are LIMITED to people who live in and around the Monterey area.

$70 manuscript critique – Optional. If you pay to have a 15-minute manuscript critique with one of the editors, agents or focus speakers, you will need to choose your top 6 speaker choices. If you do not fill in 6 choices your critique request will not be processed. We will do our best to match you with one of your top picks. Your manuscript critique can be ONE of the following:

• One picture book manuscript of up to 6 pages (author-illustrators may include a dummy with their manuscript, but must send a typed manuscript.)

• OR up to 3 chapters plus a synopsis of a longer work (20 pages max.)

Information on how, where, and when to submit your manuscripts will be included in your registration confirmation email.

$35 social media critique – Optional. If you pay to have a 15-minute social media critique, you will need to provide certain information before the conference to Greg Pincus. How, where, and when to submit this information will be included in your registration confirmation email.

WAITLIST
Once the conference is full, we keep a wait list. If you don't get on in the first go-round of registration, don't lose hope - you can still potentially get in later. Through the registration process, you can let us know to add your name to the waitlist, and we will contact you if/when a spot opens up.

REGISTRATION

Registration for this event is now closed. If you would like to be placed on our waiting list, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Golden Gate Conference at Asilomar – New Editor Addition!

We have an exciting new opportunity. Kathleen Kerr, editor at Zondervan, will join us for the 2010 Golden Gate Conference at Asilomar. We are pleased to offer critiques by Ms. Kerr in addition to any other consultations for which you may have already registered. Anyone registered for the conference and interested in an additional critique with Ms. Kerr may submit a manuscript, or manuscript and dummy, plus a check for $70 payable to SCBWI to:

Amy Laughlin

1325 Howard Avenue

PMB 828

Burlingame, CA 94010-4212

Manuscripts must be postmarked January 15. We will accommodate the first 10 submissions received by that date. Please visit www.zondervan.com for an overview of this specialty, Christian publisher.

Here are Ms. Kerr’s latest deals, from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Jonathan Friesen's THE LAST MARTIN, about a young hypochondriac, who after uncovering a family curse that claims the life of every firstborn the instant the next one is born, must a race against the clock to discover the curse's origin before the birth of his nephew, to Kathleen Kerr at Zondervan, in a nice, in a two-book deal, by Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency.

Gene Fehler's NEVER BLAME THE UMPIRE, in which an eleven-year-old girl relies on her faith to come to terms with her young, athletic mother's untreatable cancer, to Kathleen Kerr at Zonderkidz, by Caryn Wiseman at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (world).

 

 $70 manuscript critique – Optional. If you pay to have a 15-minute manuscript critique with Kathleen Kerr, you may submit ONE of the following:

 

•           One picture book manuscript of up to 6 pages (author-illustrators may include a dummy with their manuscript, but must send a typed manuscript.)

•           OR up to 3 chapters plus a synopsis of a longer work (20 pages max.)


Questions about Kathleen Kerr critiques can be emailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it