Adult Program Story by Yvonne Mes Lisa Berryman, editor with HarperCollins, shared her experience on how to create and evolve your brand as a children’s author or illustrator. Lisa explained that how you promote and position yourself on social media platforms is taken into serious consideration by publishers looking to work with a new author or illustrator. Explaining who you are and what you write succinctly and clearly is the key and starting point from where an author can establish themselves as a professional creator within the world of children’s literature. Being able to communicate what you write clearly and leaving an unambiguous impression on someone in person is another important part of promoting yourself. Lisa’s quick mind and understanding of branding was on show when clearly articulating the brand of several of the authors present on the spot. A informative and practical session that left everyone wanting more.
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Adult Program Story by Yvonne Mes Illustrators and author James Foley took us through the process of illustrating ‘My Dead Bunny’ written by Sigi Cohen. His initial research into style and character development was done by watching old horror films and pouring over old horror movie posters, researching the style, fonts and colours used. He showed his progression from rather cute dead bunnies to zombie bunnies that would give children nightmares and finally to the creation of a suitably dead bunny that was just right. James showed us the use of perspectives and point of view to create unsettling feeling in the viewer/ reader and gave examples of shape, line, colour and how these influence illustrations. James finished this session on the process of creating an unconventional picture book with an unconventional quick drawing of a dead dog. Personally, I would love to see James complete the ABC of dead animals a la Edward Gorey! Adult Program Story by Rebecca Sheraton Tanya Batt led an interactive workshop with authors and illustrators, demonstrating the power of oral storytelling. It’s like we were kids again! She loves to start each session with a story, which helps groups of people, strangers or companions to connect. One technique that engages children is telling foot stories and having children join in the actions through their feet. Another fantastic technique is ‘What’s in the sack?’ She loves pulling out objects, particularly the characters hare and tortoise, to introduce children to the famous Aesop’s fable. She also enjoys using story improvisation or story making connected to objects in the sack. This can include drawing out an object like a key, and asking the audience open questions such as ‘I wonder …’ to inspire children to create their own story. Tanya recommended that all workshop teachers set clear expectations for children participating in their workshops. All the adults enjoyed the fun-filled workshop and can’t wait to test out their stories on a young audience. Adult Program Story by Rebecca Sheraton Coral Tulloch is an illustrator who loves the challenge of researching. She also enjoys walking her dog with an Antarctic Scientist most days. Their deep conversations have led to Coral becoming fascinated by research. One interesting fact she learnt about was the magnetic poles in the world move around. This inspired the idea for her book The Journey, the amazing locations and puzzles the reader has to solve along the way. She also likes to see people draw everyday objects and create a story around them. Coral has been working with Mark Greenwood on a book and they both share a love of stones. Thank you Coral for sharing your stories about research and how this shows up in your illustration work. Adult Program Story by Maria Parenti-Baldy Steaming up SAFI's Saturday's Gala Dinner were the Victorian Era Sci-Fi cast from either The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Wild Wild West, H.G. Wells - War of the Worlds or Jules Verne - Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Ipswich's Metro Hotel guests were privy to the era's steampunk costumes. The passing parade of corsets, vests, bustle skirts, ruched skirts, twill riding pants, fingerless gloves, black leather boots — lace-ups, ankle, spats and gaiters raised a few eyebrows. What lay underneath were discreetly in place — camisoles, chemises, petticoats, bloomers, pantaloons, thigh-high striped nylons and even the odd gold-engraved single-barrel received reassurance. To top it off, the black coachman’s hat and top hat added the finishing touch to the layer of feathers, lace, bows buckles, clasps, lace and netting — with not a zip in sight. Onlookers were entertained when their favourite Stars stepped onto the red carpet. The centring of a cravat, slight touch of a choker, checking of a pocket watch or an adjustment of a utility belt may have hinted at the big night that lay ahead. Fans pointed, delighted at the aesthetic mechanical contraptions. The light sparkled off the brass, leather and cogged goggles atop, monocles, monoculars, folding brass binoculars, brass sextant keychain, short-handled brass theatre glasses, phial wristband and compass wrist bands. Cheers and applause - and a little disappointment, received the Inventors and Adventurers — Expeditionists, Scientists, Explorers, Alchemist, Horticulturalists, Bounty Hunters, Aeronauts, Overseers of the Museum of Mysteries and perhaps a Denizen of the Night — as they disappeared into the sanctuary of the Gala Dinner. Maria Parenti-Baldey, primary teacher, writer, amateur photographer and blogger. www.bigsisterblogs.com
Adult Program Story by Rebecca Sheraton This interesting session gave us a chance to meet three people working in publishing in Queensland from Wombat Books, Rhiza Press, Yellow Brick Books and Word Wings. Rochelle Manners is the owner and editor of Wombat Books (children’s) and Rhiza Press (young adult). Rochelle loves to publish books for school aged children and she describes the purpose of the books on her list is that they provide entertainment of small issues and have a takeaway message. She doesn’t publish board books or counting books. Ann-Marie Finn is both an illustrator and publisher with Yellow Brick Books. She loves picture books because they are visually appealing. Ann-Marie likes quirky, fun and humorous stories. Next year she will publish 5 books and they are open to submissions. JR Poulter has established her business called Word Wings. She explained how she likes to hire and collaborate with illustrators for her books that she has written. Thank you to these ladies for sharing your knowledge with the conference attendees. Adult Program Story by Dimity Powell The panel consisting of Lisa Berryman, Kristina Schulz and Heather Curdie was moderated by Dimity Powell. By sharing some of the tough day-to-day decisions they have to make, each of these well-known publishers increased our understanding and appreciation of what it takes to get a book across the publishing line. It was enriching to discover that publishers are people with heart who invest themselves in our stories and wellbeing without reserve. Lisa Berryman views her long-standing role as Children’s Publisher with HarperCollins Publishers as one to ‘recognise potential, polish the nuggets and go on journeys with people’. Some of the hardest publishing decisions she regularly makes involve pulling out of auctions for titles she’d really like but for one reason or another, usually financial, is not able to take on. Kristina Schulz, the Children’s Publisher of one of Australian’s longest operating and most respected independent publishing houses, University of Queensland Press, still finds it difficult advising authors that whilst their work may be brilliant, it is not the right fit for UQP’s lists. Heather Curdie, the Commissioning Editor for Penguin Young Readers agrees, stating it is important that burgeoning authors appreciate the role of a publisher and the business of publishing which is a unique and complex enterprise: ‘part manufacturing, part risk assessment, part creative and part business’. The stories they receive must exhibit integrity but unless they have strong saleability, they will not make it across the line. Sometimes it is simply a question of timing, too. Each of these publishers gave the audience fascinating glimpses of their daily, weekly and monthly workloads, all accomplished without the aid of an assistant. Lisa stated that it was rare for her not to get a book accepted as by then, she has already made many of the hard decisions and is ready and able to hard sell the book to the rest of the publishing team. Considering this team includes the CEO, the bean counters, sales and marketing and design personnel, this is no mean feat. We went on to discuss submission no-nos and what some of the deal breakers were for each of them. Kristina proclaimed that whilst they are fine with multiple submissions, it is appreciated and expected that this is made apparent at the submission stage. As Heather stated, author honesty and transparency goes a long way. One of Lisa’s pet peeves was fairy dust (glitter), NOT to be included in any submission, please! Each of them had slightly varying views on the importance of having a strong author brand and social media presence. Lisa preferred submissions of new work come without marketing plans, declaring that she is capable of checking an author’s profile and CV herself and if found wanting, is able to offer social medial ‘training’ in house. Conversely, Heather finds it useful to receive information from the author about the publishing potential of their story and where they think it might fit into the market. Whilst all three conceded that sadly there is no longer a place for B-List authors owing to the ever-increasing demands on the publishing industry and costs involved, they still place considerable significance on attending conferences and festivals like this one as a positive way to locate and cultivate new talent. Face-to-face manuscript appraisals allowed publishers, to keep in touch with the real face of the writing community and make genuine connections. Finally, all agreed that securing an author they can work with and foster an ongoing relationship with is ultimately more important than hanging onto someone purely for the content they offer. Dimity Powell is the author of “The Fix it Man” and other books. www.dimitypowell.com School Program, Family Program and Adult Program Story by Megan Daley The opening night of the Narelle Oliver exhibition and the Story Arts Festival, on the 2nd of September, was a night to be remembered. It was an honour to have so many members of Narelle Oliver’s family in attendance, including her husband Greg, children Jesse and Liam and her father, who travelled from Toowoomba to be there and celebrate Narelle’s work. A packed room of adults and children enjoyed music, drinks, snacks and art…so much beautiful art. Narelle’s artwork stole the show and it was a privelage to be able to see the orignials from ‘I Want to Be in a Book’ and so many more of her works. The studio space was poignant, but gives a beautiful insight into how Narelle worked and the space in which she worked. Cecil AKA Lee Fullarton was in fine form and helped the Mayor of Ipswich to present students from Blair State School and Bethany Lutheran College with certificates of thanks for the artwork they produced in conjuction with the exhibition. The student artwork was beamed onto buildings in D’Arcy Doyle Place and there was much excited screaming as students saw their artwork brought to life through animation and then being beamed, large scale, across the Ipswich CBD. The Narelle Oliver Exhibition will be on display until 30th September. Adult Program Story by Rebecca Sheraton Julieann Wallace and Emma Mactaggart introduced attendees to various forms of self-publishing. Both ladies are accomplished Indie publishers and bring a wealth of other skills. Julieann publishes under Lilly Pilly Publishing and Emma has Boogie Books, Child Writes, a program for children aged 9-12 and several other businesses. Both Julieann and Emma spoke about the many different publishing options including:
Julieann and Emma spoke about the considerations for Indie publishing. The author has 100% of the profits and you are your own publisher and decision-maker. Part of the process is buying your own ISBN, sourcing your own printer, deciding on sizes and formatting and setting up eBooks. The author will earn 70% of royalties. The lead time to launch an Indie book is approximately 2 years until the launch, whereas with traditional publishing it can be as short as 6 months. Tips for successful Indie publishing:
Thanks for all the advice Julieann and Emma. Adult Program Story by Jacqui Halpin Jack Heath, well-known action writer and author of over 20 books for various ages, gave a lesson on writing tension. He’s more than qualified to talk about this subject if the pieces he read from his own books was anything to go by! Jack taught us that escalation is the key to increasing your story tension. Don’t have all your tension at the start of a story. Build it up as the story goes. Although it is important to start on a high with a certain amount of drama. Start your story in the right place which is not necessarily at the start of the story. If you start at the very beginning of a story you have nowhere to go but forward. If you start further in, you can go backwards or forwards. Look at other people’s books. Could the story have started in a better spot with more tension? Ways to build tension. 1. Let the reader know what is at stake if the hero fails. Even if it’s only the reader and not the main character that knows. 2. Suspense/Suspense/Surprise. Make the reader think something is going to happen, then make something completely different happen. Something they weren’t expecting. This is a good narrative device that works across all genres. 3. Character. The tension is always going to be higher if the reader likes and empathises with the character. Tips for making a character likeable:
You can also increase the tension in a story by using the right language and tone. Pacing is important, too. Write the slow stuff fast and the fast stuff slow. Equally important is keeping the reader’s attention. Humour is a good way to do this and can, at times, be used instead of tension to keep the reader interested. This workshop was really informative and entertaining. Jack certainly had our attention right the way through. Jacqui Halpin is author of Parmesan the Reluctant Racehorse, and other Australian stories. Read more about Jacqui at jacquihalpin.com |
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