Bring Your Career into Sharper Focus with WIK'20 and Meeting Members!

Look for this display at wik'20!

Whether you’re a newcomer or a long time conference attendee, you’re sure to find folks to help you along your creative journey at WIK'20!  Of course, the faculty have lots to share but Membership Coordinator, Paula Puckett hopes you'll mix and mingle with all the members; think about the benefits of expanding your network of writers and illustrators! Though yes, sometimes it’s hard to be a new person in a situation where it might seem like everybody knows everybody else.

So we began something a few conferences ago with a Membership Display and are continuing with this because it seemed to be helpful. Here’s how this will work:

Each area in our region has been divided and posted on the Membership Display.  Look for the largest major city which is closest to where you live, select the corresponding color slip of paper and put it in your name tag.  Then go out there and introduce yourself, especially to those who have the same colored tab in their name tag. Chances are good that they could live somewhere in your area.

If there is not an active Local Liaison close to where you live, consider becoming one yourself. The names and email addresses of Local Liaisons are on the SB webpage. Local Liaisons are volunteers who hold Local Events from time to time. Ask the Regional Advisors, Assistant Regional Advisors or Membership Coordinator to send you information and guidelines about becoming a Local Liaison if you think you would like to participate in this volunteer position.

Some LLs choose to belong to critique groups too, but their main function is to provide opportunities for local members to get together and pass along information about SCBWI Southern Breeze. It’s a bit of work, but it’s the FUN kind of work. 

See how this works?  And anyway you look at it, you will soon begin to develop and expand both your knowledge base of the art and craft of writing/illustrating, along with your network of creatives.  Win, win, win!

All my best,

Paula Puckett

Membership Coordinator

Paula B. Puckett spins stories and yarn. She grows vegetables, frequents flea markets, and makes stuff. She is a retired elementary art educator and a 20+ year member of SCBWI. Follow her on Twitter with @Runswithalpaca or

paulabpuckett.wordpress.com.

Still time to register for wik'20! Click here and register TODAY!

Is Mentorship For You?

Jo starts her mentoring early!

The Southern Breeze region is gearing up for the opening of our mentorship program on February 15th and here's Jo S. Kittinger, Mentorship Coordinator, with the latest news:

You've been writing for years, but now feel stalled. A published author's insights can help move you forward.

Last year, one writer found success with selling not one, but two magazine articles in the course of her mentorship! (If you have been struggling to sell a book manuscript, you might consider trying magazine writing. The demand for material is greater and the competition is less.) And while this program does not promise publication, it can help you polish your craft.

The following mentors are available for 2020:

Kara Bietz, Young Adult

Claire Datnow, Nonfiction Middle Grade

Nancy Raines Day, Picture Books

Jamie Dodson, Middle Grade, Historical Fiction, NF

Avery Hurt, Nonfiction magazine articles

Jo S. Kittinger, Picture Books, Easy Readers, fiction or nonfiction

Heather L. Montgomery, Nonfiction, books and magazines, grant writing

Johnna Stein, Magazine articles

Tracey M. Cox, Picture Books (non-rhyming)

Learn more on the Southern Breeze website and remember, spaces are limited so not everyone who applies can be matched with a mentor, but every applicant will receive a critique of the work submitted. The application window is short--February 15 to March 20--so don't delay!

If you have any questions about our mentorship program, please contact Jo Kittinger. Remember, you'll find lots of information and the application on the website! Good luck!

Bring Your Career into Sharper Focus with WIK20 and INFORMAL CRITIQUES

If you've taken a look at the SCBWI Southern Breeze Facebook page recently--you do know there is an SCBWI Southern Breeze Facebook page, right? You'll also know that the SCBWI Southern Breeze Facebook page is a great place to check in daily and see what's happening around our region. And when you check in, you're going to see this:

This is why we go to conferences: community, craft, career. It's also what you'll get with the informal critiques that we offer at every conference.

The informal critiques are free, and they're an excellent opportunity to meet with other writers and writer/illustrators who write exactly what you write (or illustrate).

Looking for picture book writers who can give you feedback? We've got that, and author-illustrators, too. Non-fiction, only, please? Sure, we've got that as well. But what about novels, you ask. We'll put you in a group with Middle Grade or Young Adult. We have your community, but it doesn't end at wik20. There's no reason why you can't continue to critique with friends you meet at a conference.

Your group might be a couple of new writers but you'll also have a facilitator who has a bit of experience. And before you think that writer sitting next to you who's never attended a conference won't be much help, you might be surprised to know that he or she won the writing contest the year before. So the level of craft in your informal group might be varied but it will be mighty--and you will learn plenty!

Finally, we know it's not always easy to put your work out there, whether it's a professional manuscript critique or an informal critique. But SCBWI Southern Breeze is rooting for you, so take a deep breath and share, knowing that we all started at the beginning and we all know exactly how you feel. We promise to give your work the same thoughtful and thorough consideration that we'd want. Then keep putting the work in and the day will come when your career will take off.

See this great post from our Critique Coordinator, T.K.Read for more information about how the informal critiques work. We'll be meeting in the Aloft Hotel this year for critique, sure, but what we're really after is community and craft and career! See y'all there!

Click here and register today for wik20 and bring your career into sharper focus!