SCBWI-NM Illustrator's Meeting, May (Preparing Digital Images for Optimal Print Reproduction)

Yesterday, we had our SCBWI-NM Illustrator's group meeting for May.

As usual, at 5pm we started with dinner and socializing at a local cafe. Unfortunately, I'd had a dental emergency earlier in the day and was on some medication that was not agreeing with me… so I don't really remember much of the evening. :( But I hung in there the best I could and got to chat with people a little.

At 6pm, the we moved on over to Alamosa Books, where Lois Bradley lead a a riveting discussion with us about maximizing digital artwork files for print output. I wish I could say I remember it. I had to lay down for a bit, and only caught snippets of the talk. Luckily, Lois provided a detailed worksheet that details her process and I plan to go over it soon! I do know that members in attendance had many questions for Lois and the whole group had a great time discussing and learning about the topic. ;)

After the talk, we had a brief Show and Tell where local illustrators, Lisa Casaus, and Jeanne Bowman talked about some local events their preparing for. Lisa did a poster for the Albuquerque Mini-Maker Faire coming up in September! Jeanne showed us her amazingly detailed, hand-made box-cards that she's preparing for the Albuquerque Bubonicon in August! Gorgeous work, ladies!

Thankfully, I am recovering well from my bad reaction to the meds. Hopefully that's all behind me now and I can move on to all the work ahead! Until next month!!

The New Mexico Book Co-Op (April)

I can't believe it's been a month already… time is just flying by this year and I can't seem to keep up. So much is happening! I've had a crazy and busy week and I almost decided not to go to this NM Book Co-Op meeting, but then I remembered the topic of discussion: Book Sell Sheets.

I'd never even heard of a sell sheet for books until last month's meeting—and the timing turned out to be perfect for me since I ended up needing one for my own book—the very next day. But I had no idea what I was doing when I put that together and I wanted to find out more.

I have to admit, I was a bit late to the luncheon… I basically skipped the lunch part and arrived just as the talk was starting. This time the entire room was given a chance to introduce themselves and their books (if they had one). Then the guest speaker was introduced: John Hoffsis of Treasure House Books & Gifts, on the Old Town Plaza…

SCBWI-NM Illustrator's Meeting, April (Illustrator School Visits)

Last week we had our SCBWI-NM Illustrator's group meeting for April.

As usual, at 5pm we started with dinner and socializing at a local cafe.

(My "dinner" consisted of sweet potato fries and a black&white milkshake—yay for special occasions ;) 

Of course, I didn't get to socialize much since I had to sneak away for a quick discussion with SCNWI-NM volunteers (lots of planning to do!), but I got a few minutes in.

At 6pm, the illustrators headed over to Alamosa Books, where Alan Stacy lead a discussion with us about school visits.  Alan grew up in NM, moved to Texas for several years, and recently came back to us. He's been deeply involved with SCBWI for years, and we were so honored he chose to lead this discussion with us.

Alan started doing school visits before he was even published! He was an artist and illustrator, he knew what he wanted to do, and he found a way to get involved—ahead of the game.

He has several recommendations for illustrator school visits:

• Be prepared, call ahead and make sure the school has any support material you may need: projector, mic, various supplies, YOUR BOOK (if you have one).
• Find out how much time you have, how many presentations you'll be doing, and how many kids there will be. Talk to the teacher/s, make sure they know as much as possible so they can prepare the kids for your visit.
• Be interactive—kids crave excitement and attention. You are a ROCK STAR to them, do activities, get them involved, ask them to think!
• Don't be afraid of failing, you are going to fail! But each time you go for it, you'll gain experience and be better prepared for the next time.
• Practice: in front of a mirror or with friend's kids. If you're still nervous, work up to it, start with a kid's day or story time at a local library.
• For K-1st, props work… puppets! Be silly and funny!
• Leave 10-15 minutes at the end of Q&A or Requests (if you're doing demos/drawing).
• Have SWAG handouts: bookmarks, pins, etc.
• Don't limit yourself—think out outside the school; senior groups, convention demos, there are many places to present and get your name out there.

One of our largest groups this year, we had 13 attendees!

Alan has a simple pamphlet with his bio, contact, and descriptions of his
presentations to promote himself for school visits.

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That night's Schmooze was focused on SCBWI-NM—who are we as a chapter, where are we're heading, how we might best reach our very diverse membership (from authors and illustrators just starting out to those very well established in the field). 

ARA, Caroline Starr Rose led the discussion; RAE, Chris Eboch, gave us a local history of the group (she's been involved; RA, Linda Tripp, talked about some of the guidelines we have to abide by as part of SCBWI; and I, illustrator coordinator for the region, touched briefly on some of the recent illustrator events and activities. 

I think it served nicely to familiarize our group with our regional history and activities—but when the floor was opened to discussion, we really didn't get much feedback. 

SCBWI is something like 99% volunteer run, we as a group can only get as much out of it as we put into it! I love our local group and volunteers, and I encourage as many members a possible to get more involved. You want something to change, you want a particular event—we want to hear your ideas! Volunteer some of your time, work with us, and make things happen—it will benefit the entire group. :)

A VERY large gathering at Alamosa Books' Reading Room—full house!!

The New Mexico Book Co-Op

I vaguely knew of the NM Book Co-Op before this meeting. It was something I heard mentioned or saw in e-newsletters—but this was the first time I've attended one of their meetings, and I was really impressed.
Okay, it was held at a local Golden Corral Restaurant, but I'd never been to one before and had little idea what to expect… it was kind of like a food theme park. LOL
The Co-Op had a private room for the meeting though, and once everyone had had a chance to eat and socialize for a bit, the meeting began. There was general news and open discussion, mostly about the Tucson Festival of Books. Apparently this is an amazing event—people that had attended only had wonderful things to say. I also got an earful about promoting your books in general—little did I know I'm supposed to have a box of my own books in the trunk of my car at all times (I have to admit, I've missed out on quite a few sales in the past year just because I was only carrying one copy of my book on me) and sell sheets.
The theme for the meeting was 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Book Signings'. Local authors Anne Hillerman and Don Bullis, plus local indie bookseller and 'author herder' Ollie Reed. They all had personal takes on the subject, the the overall messages were: be prepared, work/schmooze/SELL (don't just sit there and smile), find organizations and events that relate to your book–outside bookstores!, the more you say yes—the more contacts & connections you make, send out your own press releases, and oh yeah, BE PREPARED. ;)

Don Bullis, Anne Hillerman, and Ollie Reed talk about Book Signing Events

The upcoming meetings are on book sell sheets and book production—one of which I know nothing about and one of which I could actually contribute to the discussion. I am definitely looking forward to getting more involved with the Co-Op.

*I also entered my little picture book in the New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards. Keeping my fingers crossed!

SCBWI-NM Illustrator's Meeting, March

Last night we had our third local SCBWI-NM Illustrator's group meeting of 2014!

At 5pm, we started with dinner and socializing at a local cafe. Our SCBWI Schmooze is held on the same night, so writers and illustrators got to mingle a bit while we noshed and hung out—it was quite the full-house. We're always adding tables to our tables as more people arrive. It was kind of a shame that we illustrators had to leave the party early, but it was worth it…

At 6pm, the illustrators headed across the parking lot, to local framing shop, FRAMED, where Scott Paden was ready to chat with us and answer questions about framing. Scott talked about some basics, old and new framing ideas, as well as ideas for framing pieces to sell vs. striaght-up neutral gallery framing. We talked about shoo sing matte colors—close but not too close (especially with whites/creams) and accenting with a bold colored double matte. Six illustrator members made it out for the evening.

Local illustrators soaking up the framing information.

Scott Paden, Artist, Designer, and Framer.

An awesome example of varieties of framing options for a single piece, from simple to excessively elaborate.

The Schmooze for the evening centered on Social Media, as introduced by local ember (and soon-to-published) Veronica Bartles. There are so many social media options out there, and the idea to keep in mind: you don't have to do it all. Look at the options and pick one or a few that work for you. Some of Veronica's favorites: Twitter (fast & easy way to connect to industry people + chats), as well as owning your own web presence (personal website), and blogging. She also highlighted the advantages/disadvantages of having a Facebook Author page vs. having a personal account.

Veronica Bartles discussing Social Media for authors and illustrators, at local bookstore, Alamosa Books.

SCBWI-NM Illustrator's Meeting, February

Last night we had our second local SCBWI-NM Illustrator's group meeting of 2014!

At 5pm, as is the new norm—we started with dinner and socializing at a local cafe. Our SCBWI Schmooze is held on the same night, so writers and illustrators got to mingle a bit while we noshed and hung out. 

At 6pm, the illustrators headed over to one of local indie books stores, Alamosa Books, for our first official meeting of 2014. We had a night large group of 8 illustrators once again, and almost everyone had new work, a work-in-progress, or some topic of interest to discuss. We also had local author/illustrator, Neecy Twinem join us to lead a discussion about licensing basics—given her extensive experience with her own toy line, Zombie Zoo.

SCBWI-NM illustrator meeting at Lovely Alamosa Books

Neecy Twinem and her Zombie Zoo buddies!

We were having so much fun and had so much to talk about, we went right past our usual cut-off time of 7pm. Still, a few of us headed over to the monthly Schmooze meeting (about 45min late) across the parking lot at Alamosa's Reading Room where, SCBWI-NM member, Lee VanBrakle was giving a presentation on taxes for writers and illustrators. I personally, was very disappointed to have missed out on the bulk of the talk, so I stayed late pestering Lee with tons of questions (she very graciously put up with me). 

Whew, what a night!

SCBWI-NM Illustrator's Meeting, January

Our local SCBWI-NM Illustrator's group kicked off 2014 tonight, with several events. 

At 5pm, we started with dinner and socializing at a local cafe. Our SCBWI Schmooze is held on the same night (a new schedule that gives writers and illustrators have more options), so writers and illustrators got to mingle a bit while we noshed and hung out. 

At 6pm, the illustrators headed over to one of local indie books stores, Alamosa Books, for our first official meeting of 2014. It was informal; illustrators brought recently finished pieces or works-in-progress. We're hang a group show called Enchantment this year, and pieces are due at the end of the month—many members brought their already finished show pieces. It's going to be an amazing show!

At 7pm, a couple illustrators stayed to chat at Alamosa, while several of us headed over to Alamosa's Reading Room (another location across the parking lot—where they sell YA and cross-over adult books)—for our monthly Schmooze meeting. Former SCBWI-NM RA, Chris Eboch, did a lovely presentation on voice in anticipation of a voice workshop she has coming up on Feb 1st.

Overall, I was super excited by the evening. Being the SCBWI-NM Illustrator Coordinator AND the Newsletter Editor for our region, I've been a bit back-logged—I'm still finalizing our illustrator calendar for the year and I only sent out a reminder for this meeting yesterday! We had 8 illustrators in attendance, that is excellent for our group!