Date/Time
Date(s) - 02/25/2023
8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Category(ies)
PLEASE NOTE! This event is the SAME DAY as SCBWI’s Virtual NY Conference! Please see below for the recording details of our Marketing Boot Camp.
Writing and publishing your book is only half the job of any writer, illustrator or translator. Marketing lets readers know your book exists and that they must buy and read a copy.
But how do you get the word out, not only about your book, but also about yourself as a speaker, teacher and expert in what you do?
Join our Marketing Boot Camp for help with that!
We’ve got a wonderful faculty lined up to share the tips they’ve learned over the years. We’ll also tap into the power of the hive mind with brainstorming roundtables. By the end of the day, you’ll go home filled with solid ideas that you can use to boost your career to the next level and keep it moving forward.
While registration is not limited, the Marketing Boot Camp is aimed at writers, illustrators and translators who have been published in some format (traditional books, self-published, magazines, short stories), have an agent, and/or are close to signing with an agent or publishing.
This workshop is being held virtually to keep costs low (for us and you) as well as allow broad attendance. Every session except the brainstorming groups will be recorded and available to registered attendees for one month after the date of the event.
Austin SCBWI is offering this workshop for a low fee of $30 for members, $60 for non-members. Register below. Members, login to the website to get the discounted price. If you’re not a member, find out more information about the benefits of SCBWI here.
SCHEDULE
8:00 – 8:10: Welcome and Intro
8:10 – 9:00: Forming a Marketing Plan with author Tonya Ellis
With thousands of books released daily, authors are expected not only to create, but to play an active role in book marketing. Juggling writing your next bestseller with planning and executing marketing tasks can be overwhelming. By developing a marketing plan, you can gain back control and move the needle on your book sales without feeling like you’re on a hamster wheel. During this session, you’ll roll up your sleeves to set goals and build your own bestselling, book marketing plan to help you market your way to success!
9:15 – 10:05: Pitching & Presenting: Getting School Visits and More with authors Carmen Oliver, Adrianna Cuevas, Saadia Faruqi, and Lindsay Leslie
Let’s be honest, for many authors, illustrators and translators, the bulk of their income comes from speaking engagements in schools and other arenas. But how do we get those opportunities? Keep a notebook handy in this session to get the best practices from those who are in demand.
10:20 – 11:10: Taking On TikTok: A Guide for Children’s Book Authors with author Carol Kim
In 2021, TikTok surpassed Google as the Internet’s most visited website, and currently has over one billion users. As an author, are you foolishly missing out on some serious opportunities if you haven’t joined the craze? In this introduction to TikTok, specifically geared toward children’s book authors, we will explore some of the pros and cons of this social media platform, and how it can – and can’t – help your author career.
11:25 – 12:15: Finding Your Peeps on Pinterest with Debbie Gonzales of Pin Lit Marketing
Face it. Teachers love Pinterest. Librarians and homeschoolers live by it. With over 431 million people using Pinterest on a monthly basis, all authors, illustrators, publishers, and book sellers need to establish a viable presence on this robust, yet daunting platform. In this session, Deb explores Pinterest basics, the psyche of the Pinterest user, and the infinite possibilities maintaining visibility on the platform has for book creators and book sellers worldwide.
12:15 – 1:00: Lunch
Take a break, refresh, stretch, then join us again to dig in more.
1:00 – 1:50: Creating Promotional Materials That Shine: Nitty gritty printing knowhow from image to product Laura Fisk
The process of printing and designing promotional materials can be overwhelming and confusing – especially without a design background. Laura will offer tips, printing knowhow, and programs to use so your printed materials come out looking great – whether you are creating them yourself or working with a designer. She will walk you through the process of creating a printed product like a simple bookmark to exploring printing promotional materials like tote bags, tees, mugs, and more. The presentation will include a leave behind with templates and resources.
2:05 – 2:55: Harnessing the Inbox: Best Practices for Enewsletters with author Samantha M Clark
With social media and even search engines dependent on ever-changing algorithms, data continues to show that the best ROI (return on investment) in marketing is in email. Samantha M Clark has been creating enewsletters since they were invented, first for magazines and later for herself and clients. In this session, Samantha will go through different types of enewsletters, best practices when creating them, and give tips on fitting them into your schedule.
3:05 – 3:40: Breakout group brainstorming on marketing opportunities
We’ll break into groups to discuss what we’ve learned, how we can put these lessons into practice, and share other ideas. We’ll get one person in each group to write notes to share.
3:40 – 4:00: Brainstorming idea share
We’ll come together again and the group note takers will share what their brainstorming groups came up with.
Meet our Speakers
Samantha M Clark is the award-winning author of THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST and ARROW (both published by Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster) and AMERICAN HORSE TALES: HOLLYWOOD (Penguin Workshop/Penguin Random House), as well as the GEMSTONE DRAGONS chapter book series (Bloomsbury). She lives with her husband and two funny dogs in Austin, Texas, where she helps other writers as the Regional Advisor for the Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. Sign up for news and giveaways at www.SamanthaMClark.com. Follow her on Twitter @samclarkwrites, Instagram @samanthamclarkbooks, Facebook at SamanthaMClarkAuthor, and Pinterest at SamClarkWrites.
Adrianna Cuevas is the author of the Pura Belpre honor book THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF NESTOR LOPEZ, CUBA IN MY POCKET, THE GHOSTS OF RANCHO ESPANTO, and MARI AND THE CURSE OF EL COCDRILO. She is a first-generation Cuban-American originally from Miami, Florida. A former Spanish and ESOL teacher, Adrianna currently resides in Austin, Texas with her husband and son. When not working with TOEFL students, wrangling multiple pets including an axolotl, and practicing fencing with her son, she is writing her next middle grade novel. Find Adrianna at her website at AdriannaCuevas.com.
Tonya Duncan Ellis has had her nose in a book since she learned to read, so it’s no surprise that she’d one day become a writer. She is author of the bestselling Sophie Washington children’s book series, a former journalist, and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the Authors Guild, Black Creators in KidLit, and the Brown Bookshelf’s Highlights Foundation-sponsored, Amplify Black Stories storyteller cohort. She’s a 2022 winner of SCBWI’s Independently Published Book Launch Marketing Grant. In 2021, she won the Austin SCBWI Cynthia Leitich Smith Writing Mentor Award. Tonya loves learning about other cultures and has traveled to 49 states and 20 countries. Represented by Sara Megibow of KT Literary she lives in Houston, Texas and is married with three children.
Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani American author, essayist and interfaith activist. She writes the children’s early reader series “Yasmin” and other books for children, including middle grade novels “A Place At The Table” co-written with Laura Shovan (a Sydney Taylor Notable 2021), and “A Thousand Questions” (a South Asia Book Award Honor 2021). Her new book “Yusuf Azeem Is Not A Hero” details the experiences of the Muslim American community twenty years after 9/11. Saadia is editor-in-chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry and prose, and was featured in Oprah Magazine in 2017 as a woman making a difference in her community. She lives in Houston, TX with her husband and children.
Laura Fisk is a freelance illustrator who creates silly fun characters with heart. Her first illustrated book, “Sleeping bags to S’Mores: Camping Basics” is published with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She has worked for Cricket Media, and has been featured in Buzzfeed and Parade Magazine amongst other wonderful places. Her love of printmaking led her to start Fisk and Fern, a small business which has featured items that range from dish towels to greeting cards, magnets, coloring sheets, and more! She lives in Austin, TX with her husband, young son, and their sweet pug-mix named Figgy. See laura’s work at illustrationfisk.com, follow on instagram @fiskandfern or sign up for her newsletter here.
Debbie Gonzales is an author, an educator, and founder of Pin Lit, a marketing agency helping book creators and book sellers enhance marketability, visibility, develop academic credibility, promote and sell books, products, and services on Pinterest. She’s the author of six transitional readers for New Zealand publisher, the nonfiction picture book GIRLS WITH GUTS: THE ROAD TO BREAKING BARRIERS AND BASHING RECORDS, and the host of Guides by Deb, a website consisting of over 300 standards-aligned educator guides for all genres. A former SCBWI Regional Advisor, Deb currently serves as a member of the SCBWI-MI Leadership Team and the Michigan Reading Association board. She earned her MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Carol Kim believes books and words have a magical ability to change the world for the better, and she writes for children with the hope of spreading some of that magic. She is the author of the picture book biography, King Sejong Invents an Alphabet as well as over two dozen fiction and nonfiction books for the educational market. Carol also enjoys encouraging and advising budding children’s authors through her website, MakeaLivinginKidlit.com and through her TikTok account, CKimWrite4Kids.
Lindsay Leslie likes to bring her unique outlook on life, quirky humor, and play with words to the page in picture books. She is the award-winning author of DUSK EXPLORERS (an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award winner, Bank Street Best Book of 2021 with Outstanding Merit, and Amazon Editors’ Pick), SO YOU WANT TO BUILD A LIBRARY, NOVA THE STAR EATER, and THIS BOOK IS SPINELESS. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her novelist husband Ryan Leslie, two kiddos, two fur-beasts, and a guinea pig. Follow her on Twitter @lleslie, Post @lindsayleslie, and IG @lindsaylesliewrites.
Carmen Oliver is the author of many award-winning picture books for children including A Voice for the Spirit Bears: How One Boy Inspired Millions to Save a Rare Animal, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard, Building an Orchestra of Hope: How Favio Chavez Taught Children to Make Music From Trash, a Junior Library Gold Standard (Oct 25, 2022), and The Twilight Library (Sept 6, 2022). She’s also the author of the Bears Make the Best Buddies series (Reading, Writing, Math, Science). In 2014, Carmen founded the Booking Biz, a boutique style agency that brings award-winning children’s authors and illustrators to schools, libraries, and special events. She also teaches writing at the Writing Barn and The Highlights Foundation and loves speaking at schools, conferences and festivals. She lives with her family outside of Austin, Texas. To connect or learn more about Carmen and her books visit www.carmenoliver.com or Twitter or Facebook.
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