Golden Gate Conference at Asilomar 2013

The 30th Annual Scbwi Golden Gate Conference and Retreat will be held at Asilomar from March 1-3, 2013.
Please Note: As last year, registration requires two steps. You must register both here, with Scbwi, for conference attendance and then follow up to register with Asilomar for housing. When you are finished, your confirmation email will provide a link for Asilomar housing registration.
REFUND POLICY:
There will be no refunds after December 15, 2012, unless we can fill your spot from the waiting… Show more list. There will be absolutely no refunds after January 15, 2013, except in the case of a family emergency. All refunds will be minus a $25 processing fee.
Over the years, the Asilomar conference has gained a reputation as one of the best intimate gatherings of authors and illustrators. Â Recent speakers include M.T. Anderson, Erin Murphy, Arthur Levine, Cynthia Lord, Gary Schmidt, Namrata Tripathi, Jacquelyn Woodson, David Weisner and Dan Yaccarino. This year, Daniel Handler and Jon Agee will deliver our keynote speeches.
The conference is limited to a small group of approximately 140 people. The Asilomar grounds are on the Pacific Ocean near Monterey Bay in Northern California, two hours south of San Francisco.  Many of the Asilomar buildings are historic, and the famous dining hall, designed by Julia Morgan, provides a friendly, personal gathering place for conference attendees and speakers.  You can see the conference grounds in more depth at www.visitasilomar.com . Our focus for this year’s conference is humor.
 Conference Speakers
Daniel Handler, (A.K.A Lemony Snicket), Author, Keynote Speaker
Daniel Handler  is the author of the liter­ary novels The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, and, most recently, Adverbs. Under the name Lemony Snicket he has also written a sequence of books for children, known collectively as A Series of Unfortu­nate Events, which have sold more than 60 million copies and were the basis of a feature film. His intricate and witty writing style has won him numerous fans for his critically-acclaimed literary work and his wildly successful children’s books. He has worked intermittently in film and music and also co-founded the magazine, American Chickens, with his wife, Lisa Brown. As Lemony Snicket he is also work­ing on a new series for children, the first book of which, Who Could That Be at This Hour? will be released in October 2012. A picture book, The Dark, is to be published in spring 2013. He is also working on a fourth novel for adults.
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Jon Agee, Author/Illustrator, Keynote Speaker
Jon Agee is the author and illustrator of a dozen highly acclaimed picture books, among them Milo’s Hat Trick, Terrific, and Nothing (all Ala Notables), as well as eight books of wordplay, including Mr. Putney’s Quacking Dog and Go Hang a Salami! I’m a Lasagna Hog! He lives in San Francisco, California.
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Lin Oliver, Co-Founder of Scbwi, Author
Lin Oliver  is a leading children’s book author and writer-producer of family films, television series and movies for children. Lin has produced the animated feature Trumpet Of The Swan  and has written and produced over 300 half hours of television, including Harry And The Hendersons, Corduroy and Wayside School. With her co-author Henry Winkler, she writes the New York Times best-selling book series, Hank Zipzer: World’S Best Underachiever, which has sold almost four million copies.  She has also written many other novels for young readers. Lin’s current projects are Sound Bender and its sequel The Shadow Mask, adventure middle grade novels from Scholastic she co-authors with her son, Theo Baker. She is the co-founder of the Scbwi, an international organization of 22,000 writers, illustrators and publishers of children’s books, and serves as its Executive Director.
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Greg Pincus, Social Media Expert
Greg Pincus  is a poet, novelist, screenwriter, volunteer elementary school librarian, and social media consultant. He’s also a blogger, writing about children’s literature and poetry at GottaBook ( http://gottabook.blogspot.com ) and the social web at The Happy Accident ( http://www.thehappyaccident.net ). Through the wonders of social media, he’s sold poetry, helped himself land a book deal, ended up in the New York Times, the Washington Post, School Library Journal (multiple times), and many other interesting places… and also made friends and gotten free cookies on more than one occasion!
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Patti Ann Harris, Senior Art Director, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Patti Ann Harris  oversees the development and design for the picture books and the novelty imprint, LB-kids. Some recent books she designed are, Children Make Terrible Pets, Look! A Book! and The Very Fairy Princess series.
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Sarah Ketchersid, Executive Editor, Candlewick Press
A few of the books Sarah Ketchersid  has edited this past year include Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein, Big Mean Mike written by Michelle Knudsen and illustrated by Scott Magoon, Charley's First Night written by Amy Hest and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, Mrs. Noodlekugel by Daniel Pinkwater, and Above World by Jenn Reese. She edits picture books, chapter books, and middle grade and Ya fiction. She works most days out of Candlewick's (small) New York office and travels once a week to the main office in Somerville, MA.
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Pam Gruber, Assistant Editor, Poppy/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pam Gruber  has worked on everything from board and novelty books to picture books, poetry anthologies and novels. Pam is currently part of the Poppy imprint, where she focuses on acquiring young adult novels aimed at girls ages 12 and up, as well as select middle grade projects. She is the editor of Jen Calonita’s Belles series, Bianca Turetsky’s Time-Traveling Fashionista series, as well as acclaimed Ya contemporary novels such as What Happens Next  by Colleen Clayton and Now Is the Time For Running  by Michael Williams, both of which received starred reviews.. Pam is drawn to commercial Ya novels featuring strong female protagonists, and is open to a variety of genres, including historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. She also has a soft spot for all things Shakespearean. She loves alternate histories, witty characters, and losing herself in fully realized worlds—realistic or fantastic.
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Emellia Zamani, Assistant Editor, Michael di Capua Books / Scholastic Press
Emellia Zamani was part of the editorial team that worked on the New York Times bestselling Wonderstruck  by Brian Selznick. Other recent titles she’s worked on include My Rhinoceros  by Jon Agee; Mouse & Lion  retold by Rand Burkert, illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert; Here Come the Girl Scouts, by Shana Corey, illustrated by Hadley Hooper; and Those Rebels, John & Tom, by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham. Upcoming projects include new middle-grade novels by Pam Munoz Ryan and Ann E. Burg. Emellia works on a variety of formats from picture books, to readers, to middle grade novels. Prior to joining Scholastic, Emellia worked at Writers House Literary Agency. Although she’ll always call California home, she currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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Kat Brzozowski, Associate Editor, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press
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Kat Brzozowski  has had extensive experience at literary agencies, having interned at the Maria Carvainis Agency, Foundry Literary + Media, and Writers House, where she worked under top Ya agents Amy Berkower and Jodi Reamer. Her forthcoming acquisitions include Blonde Ops,  pitched as The Devil Wears Prada  meets James Bond for teens, which she acquired with colleague Peter Joseph. She is eager to acquire young adult fiction across a wide range of genres. Kat loves dark, contemporary fiction with strong female protagonists; mysteries, suspense, and thrillers; horror; and sci-fi. She is especially interested in Ya with crossover appeal as well as anything that reminds her of Veronica Mars,  and she would love to find a Lois Duncan or Fear Street  for the 21 st  century. Some of her current favorite Ya authors include Gabrielle Zevin, John Green, and Laini Taylor (with Lois Lowry and Beverly Cleary being her favorite Ya/MG writers of all time).
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Lisa Brown, Author
Lisa Brown  became a New York Times bestseller by illustrating The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming by Lemony Snicket, to whom she is allegedly married. Her other less-bestselling-but-still-worth-something books include How to Be, Vampire Boy’s Good Night, Baby Mix Me A Drink and, with author Adele Griffin, Picture the Dead, an illustrated ghost story for young folks. She sporadically draws The Three Panel Book Review comic strip for the San Francisco Chronicle.
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Lisa Jahn-Clough, Author/Illustrator
Lisa Jahn-Clough h is the author and illustrator of eleven picture books ( Alicia Has a Bad Day, My Friend and I, Little Dog, A Tale of Two Bunnies, etc…) and author of two young adult novels ( Country Girl/City Girl  and Me, Penelope) . Her work has won awards from Child Magazine, Parent’s Choice, Raising Readers, and Entertainment Weekly. She has taught creative writing, writing for children, illustration, and children’s literature to both graduate and undergraduate students since 1994. She was Writer-In-Residence at Emerson College, the Interim Chair of Illustration at the Maine College of Art, and faculty in the Mfa low-residency programs at Vermont College of Fine Arts and Hamline University. Currently she is Assistant Professor at Rowan University. Lisa’s next Ya novel, Nothing But Blue  is forthcoming in 2013. A series of early reader comic books called Petal and Poppy  (illustrated by Ed Briant) are due out in 2014.
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Ed Briant, Author/Illustrator
Ed Briant  originally trained as an illustrator at the world-famous Saint Martin’s School of Art in London, England. After graduating he came to New York City to work as an editorial illustrator, and began creating picture books for children in his own time. In the 2000’s he attended the Mfa Writing for Children program at Vermont college. Since then he has published six picture books, two young adult novels, and is now working on a series of graphic novel easy readers with his wife, and fellow-author, Lisa Jahn-Clough. Ed also writes and illustrates the popular weekly comic strip, Tales From The Slush Pile for Publisher’s Weekly Children’s Bookshelf. He lives just outside Philadelphia where he teaches writing and illustration at Delaware College of Art and Design.
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Erzsi Deà k, Agent
Erzsi Deà k  founded Hen&ink Literary Studio in 2011 as a traditional literary agency with the goal to work additionally across platforms and countries/borders — from traditional publishing to design to multimedia. Currently, Hen&ink represents authors and illustrators from around the world as well as publishers Thomas Jeunesse (France), Epigram Books (Singapore), and Red Fox Literary (Us). A writer in her own right, her book with Kristin Litchman (and featuring a stellar cast of contributors), Period Pieces: Stories For Girls, was a Bank Street award book and a New York Public Library book for teens. Erzsi received the Member of the Year from the Scbwi in 1999 and 2008. Hen&ink represents children’s and Ya authors and illustrators and a few “grown upâ€* projects. For more information, please visit:  henandink.com
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We offer paid manuscript and illustration portfolio critiques, social media consultations and round table critiques . Please note: there is no refund on consultation fees.
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Manuscript Consultations
a 15-minute manuscript critique with a faculty member. Your manuscript will be sent to the faculty member best suited to critique it. The submission policy is as follows:
one picture book manuscript of up to six pages in length or, for longer works, up to 10 pages max, including a one page optional synopsis
author-illustrators may include a dummy (No original art. Max 8.5 x 11)
Format for manuscripts
double spaced
text starting half-way down the first page
1 inch margins all around, with name and page number in the margin
12 point courier, Times or Arial type
Manuscripts Must Be Postmarked No Later Than December 15, 2012
If you miss the deadline, you will not get a critique and you forfeit the fee.Â
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SOCIAL Media Consultations
Receive direction, advice, and strategies for getting the most out of social media based on what you’re already doing (or Not doing) and what you hope to accomplish. Hone your focus, learn about efficiencies, and ask questions, too. You’ll receive a write up of ideas and suggestions (based on your answers to questions about what you're already doing, what you want to be doing, and how much time you want to spend doing it) as well as 20 minute face-to-face session with Greg during which you can ask questions. You'll also receive a clear way to follow up on anything that is covered during your face-to-face session.
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ROUND Table CRITIQUES
The round table critiques will be held with up to five participants and one editor. Each participant will bring to the conference 6 copies of the first full page of their manuscript (either novel or picture book). Â Text should begin at the top of the page, double-spaced, 12 pt. font. Â Please include your name. Â You will be paired with like-genre, if possible. Â The submission will be read at the beginning of the critique session and critiqued openly by the editor. Â You will have the opportunity to receive your own critique and listen to the critiques of others. Â
Illustration Portfolio Consultation
a 15-minute illustration portfolio critique with a faculty member. Please bring your portfolio to the conference.Â
Format for portfolios
No original art
Maximum 11 x 17
We will be having our annual illustration portfolio display with the fourth annual Golden Gate Illustrator's award, so we encourage you to bring your illustration portfolio even if you choose not to purchase an individual consultation. Â
Note: Because there is a high demand for this event, please do not register for another attendee. Thank you!

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