Introducing Our New Ed!

As promised and without, as they say, much ado here is the next editor of Words & Pictures....









But first the ado.
This week did you catch...

• The lovely Brenda Gardner and her wicked laugh on the latest Ask a Publisher podcast? (Thank you@CathyHopkins1 for that!) 
• You can see our splendid new banner but have you met its creator, our new featured illustrator Julia Walther?
• Jo Unwin our latest Agent Confidential? Jo is also appearing at #scbiawcon14 in 3 weeks time!
• A BLOGALICIOUS  break on Tuesday? The blogalicious blog breakers with Nick are... Sue Hyams, Dave Cousins, Mark Jones, Sheila Averbuch, Jane McLoughlin, Layn Marlow, Candy Gourlay and Vanessa Harbour! Wow! 

Last Sunday I was all of a dither so didn't read the schedule right which means we can still look forward to Nicola L Robinson's Anatomy of a Monster. If you've seen Nicola's work you know this will be brilliant! We have a new Ask a Picture Book Editor, together with Picture Book Basics, what a treasure trove these picture book posts from Natascha, Ellie and John are. Plus we have some more scbwicon  goodness - meet the conference volunteers!

Now some other important DEADLINE notices this week:
First this:

Click here for the Fabulous Darley Anderson Slushpile Challenge!

Deadline November 2nd

And there's this....

The 2014 W&P Advent Calendar!
Click to enlarge

And of course finally...

Conference Bookings close next Friday, 17th October
Only 3 weeks to go folks!

Now at last, here she is...

Nancy Saunders!

Ta Dah!
We're all smiles for W&P's next Ed! 

Nancy is a lover of all things books. She has worked in libraries, Waterstone’s (when they still had the apostrophe), written short stories (published a few) and is currently working on her first novel for young adults. She’s been a conservation volunteer leader, a support worker for adults with learning difficulties, a yoga teacher, a traditional music fiddler, and a home educator of two now grown-up lovelies. 

She says...

 "I am both thrilled and honoured to be invited to join the W&P team as Editor. Having met Jan a couple of times now, and read through her posts on the site, I know that I have a veritable task ahead to uphold such enthusiasm and joy. Fortunately her sunshinyness is catching – and I have definitely got the bug. I can’t wait to meet everyone who’s clearly played such a fantastic and crucial role in producing a much needed watering-hole for SCBWI-BI members."

I am so happy to hand over to Nancy - she is the perfect person to take Words & Pictures forward - it's wonderful to meet someone with such enthusiasm, vision and humour. I'm completely convinced W&P is in very safe hands. The changeover will be gradual with Nancy completely in place some time after Christmas - it's a big old machine!


I'm off to cook the dinner, hope yours is a delicious Sunday too,

Jan Carr

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Jan Carr is the editor of Words & Pictures. Her fiction is all over the place, she blogs occasionally and loves to write in magenta. You can contact her at editor@britishscbwi.org.

SlushPile Challenge - October 2014

We are pleased to announce the 
October 2014 Slush Pile Challenge.

Clare Wallace joined the Darley Anderson Agency in January 2011. As the Head of Rights, she negotiates deals for translation rights all around the world for all the Agency’s authors. Clare is also building the children’s list and is looking for new children's authors and illustrators.

THE CHALLENGE: 

We would like entrants to submit the first chapter of a title for 5-8 year olds, with a short synopsis. We are looking for brilliant characters, great storytelling and if you can make us giggle, all the better.

THE REWARD:

Clare Wallace will pick a winner and arrange to have a meeting with them by phone or in person for 30 minutes.

Send in your entries by 2nd November 2014

This competition is now closed!

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Who is eligible?

You need to be a current SCBWI un-agented member, resident in the UK. (From 29th July 2014 onwards, it is open to European residents as well).

If you win a challenge, you will not be able to enter for any other Slush Pile challenges.

To join SCBWI and take advantage of the many opportunities to: raise your profile, market your work, meet fellow writers, artists, the gatekeepers to publication, while being supported in the development and pursuit of your craft, visit scbwi.org.


What do you need to do?

Send in your entry (as Word Document ) to competitions@britishscbwi.org by 2nd November 2014.


The document/PDF should contain only the synopsis and the first chapter. Please note the first chapters should be of reasonable length (under 2000 words). Please include both in a single document.

Do not include your name, address or email address in the word document or the PDF.


In the email - please write your full name as it appears in SCBWI membership records and your email address. Also include the title of your work.

Only the first entry will be considered. Please do not send revisions, multiple entries or multiple attachments.

The Process

We will choose 15 entries randomly and send to the agent for review. This is to ensure that the agents are able to judge a reasonable number of entries and to ensure the W&P team is not pre-selecting the entries. In many cases, our judges review all submissions and sometimes we receive only around 15 entries or so.

The agent will pick a winner and also tell us why.

The winner will be put in touch with the agent for the 30-minute meeting.

Good Luck Everyone!

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Chitra has published over 20 books in Singapore, UK, USA and India. She loves writing picture books, folktales and is also working on fiction for 7+ with a lead character brightly named Aurora. Chitra is a member of the Words & Pictures' editorial team, managing The Slush Pile Challenge.