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Visit the conference hub page at http://regonline.com/nescbwi12

Did you know...

• Basketball was invented in Springfield?
• The first accusation of witchcraft in America occurred in Springfield?
• Springfield is home to the first banned book?
• Noah Webster, author of the first American-English dictionary, was born in Springfield?
• The first American postcard was developed in 1873 by the Morgan Envelope Factory of Springfield?
• Milton Bradley invented the first parlor game, The Checkered Game of Life, in Springfield?

Theodor Geisel (aka "Dr. Seuss") was born and grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. The influence of Springfield can be seen throughout his work. Drawings of Horton the Elephant meandering along streams in the Jungle of Nool, for example, mirror the watercourses in Springfield's Forest Park. And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street is filled with Springfield imagery and, importantly, was the first children's book Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated. It was rejected more than twenty times before being published by Vanguard Press - a fact for all of us to keep in mind as we dive into the 2012 NESCBWI Conference here in "The City of Firsts!" (source: www.seussville.com)

True or false?

• All anyone talks about on Twitter is stupid stuff like whether to choose low fat or fat free mayonnaise.
• Authors who do Skype visits have to be very tech savvy.
• If you want to promote your book you have to have a gigantic budget and VIP connections.
• There's no need to have a blog since no one will find my blog when absolutely everyone is blogging these days.
• The word "blog" is used too many times in the above statement.

If you answered TRUE to any of the above statements (except the last one), then you need to sign up for a NetWit Social Media & Promotion Consultation at the 2012 NESCBWI conference. A team of social media "wits" are ready to answer your burning questions about marketing on the "net." We have knowledge to share and have experienced success in areas you want to be successful.

Do you have questions about the mind-boggling submissions process? About big publishers closing their doors and agents opening theirs? About ebooks and the oft-proclaimed impending death of the printed book? This panel will give you answers, from an independent perspective.

We are pleased to announce that we got together to form, for the first time ever at an SCBWI conference, an industry panel composed entirely of independent editors. We are experienced in-house editors, now working on our own, and answerable only to ourselves.

On the panel, we will answer all of your pertinent questions on any topic relating to children's book publishing, so be sure to attend on Friday, April 20, 2012 from 7:45 to 8:45 pm.

Start thinking about your question now. Then submit it at the registration desk. We'll get through as many questions as we can, and you'll even have a chance to win an independent door prize....

Do you have a book idea or illustration portfolio to present but are not sure if it is marketable, who to target it at, and how? Or perhaps your lovingly finessed and revised manuscript still hasn't found its perfect agent or editor match?

The NESCBWI Conference Planning committee is excited to announce the addition of Submissions Strategy Consultations as part of our schedule for 2012.

Lionel Bender will meet with individual authors and illustrators - published and unpublished - looking to determine the viability of their idea or portfolio and to select efficiently and effectively those publishers or agents who might be interested in their work. Lionel will focus on how authors and/or illustrators should go about determining their target publishers (or agents).

Harold Underdown will meet one-on-one with experienced published and pre-published authors interested in creating a targeted submission plan or proposal (for agent and/or editor submissions). Query letters, sample materials, and submission plans will be discussed.

Note: Both of these consultations are for experienced authors and illustrators who have already created presentation material or done significant revision and have a completed book or illustration portfolio that hasn't found the right editor/agent yet. The difference between them is that Lionel will be meeting with people who have not started the submissions process, while Harold will meet with people who have.

2012 Conference Attendees are Invited!

Friday April 20, 2012
11:30 a.m. -- 1:30

Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
125 West Bay Road
Amherst, Massachusetts

Have you wanted to ask your favorite authors/illustrators the secrets to their success? Have you seen them at conferences but were too shy to approach them? Here's your chance to get personal.

The NESCBWI annual conference kicks off on Friday, April 20, 2012 with a Mix and Mingle at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Visit with picture book creators Anna Alter, Carlyn Beccia, Harry Bliss, Brian Lies, Shelley Rotner and Dan Yaccarino while you enjoy tasty hors d'oeuvres at the beautiful setting of The Carle. Learn about their knowledge and experience in the field and get your favorite books signed. Don't forget to take a tour of the museum dedicated to children's picture book art.

The NESCBWI conference planning committee is thrilled to announce that SIGs, or Special Interest Groups, will be included in the schedule again this year. SIGs are moderated conversations on a topic of interest to a group of like-minded conference goers and will be scheduled on both Friday and Saturday of the conference. The topic might be a genre, a format, an area of writing or illustrating craft, an area of professional development, or a notable publishing trend. They are informal, casual roundtable conversations facilitated by fellow conference attendees

In the past, SIG meetings have been on topics as wide ranging as Character Development, Illustrating with Technology, Magical Realism, and Publishing Trends among many others. Please help us generate this year's list of SIGs by completing the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MPV3TJL.

Author Academies will be a new offering at the New England SCBWI Spring Conference

Ready to jump into your manuscript head first in a small group of dedicated writers? For the first time, the New England SCBWI conference will offer small, intensive academies for authors at the 2012 Spring Conference from Friday, April 20 through Sunday, April 22 in Springfield, MA.

Before signing up for an academy, make sure you have a completed manuscript that you are ready to workshop. In the months before the conference, the academy groups will submit materials to the academy faculty or to each other.

The academies will kick off on Friday with a meet and greet session to introduce participants to each other and to start discussing your work. On Saturday, the academies will disperse and participate in regular conference intensives, keynotes, and workshops. Then, all day Sunday will be devoted to synthesizing everything you have learned throughout the weekend, and working with the academy group to make real progress on your manuscript.