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This is the blog home of #kidlitart, a live Twitter chat Thursdays at 9:00 pm Eastern, for children's book illustrators, picture book authors, author/illustrators and friends. Check back weekly to read transcripts, comment on previous chats and suggest topics for upcoming chats.


Friday, December 3, 2010

Dummy Challenge

Hello, kidlitart-ers!

In addition to the traditional avenues of promoting our work with postcard mailings, online portfolios and sample submissions, many of us have original picture book ideas we'd like to develop. The notion of combining our art and writing talents received support recently from this post, which suggests that the picture book market is uniquely receptive to the author/illustrator. And several of us got an extra boost by participating in Tara Lazar's PiBoIdmo challenge last month. Add all this to the fact that #kidlitart's first anniversary (!) is coming up January 6th, and we've got a great reason to celebrate with our very own kidlitart picture book dummy challenge!

This is all still in the discussion phase--which is where we need your help. Here are the ideas so far:

1) host an online challenge, either here at the kidlitart blog or elsewhere, that would include a schedule of checkpoints to creating a finished dummy and a mechanism for posting your progress (not the work, just a comment on where you are in the process).

2) create a hashtag for keeping up with/encouraging each other via Twitter

3) establish a closed blog or Flickr account for participants who wish to disuss specific ideas or post work in progress for critique (this would be voluntary--you would not have to post work to participate in the challenge)

4) the challenge would be open to everyone: non-illustrator friends are welcome to join in (making a dummy is a great exercise for polishing any picture book manuscript)

5) the challenge would begin after the first of the year--kickoff January 6th--and run through May or June.

6) At each stage, the host site would post reference material for participants: links to online resources; pdf downloads of storyboard templates, etc.

7) the goal for illustrators would be to have a finished dummy ready to submit as part of an author/illustrator package. In other words, no prizes other than the satisfaction of accomplishing an objective.

Obviously, there are still lots of details to work out. If you're interested, we need your feedback to make this work! Please use the comment field below for questions, concerns and suggestions, or just to let us know you're interested. We won't hold you to it, but it will help in the planning if we have some idea of how many might be participating.

Thanks to all for your input so far, and for your support of #kidlitart every week: the energy and enthusiasm is wonderful!

26 comments:

  1. Hi Bonnie and Wendy!

    Sorry, I haven't been to #kidlitart in a few months. I was taking a writing workshop on Thursday nights, but reading this blog and the transcripts every Friday. The workshop is over now, and I have a new picture book text. I developed it specifically with creation of a dummy (and portfolio pieces) in mind. I am working on character sketches and thumbnails right now.

    I'd love to take part in a #kidlitart dummy challenge! My timing might be slightly off from the rest of the group as I am starting now and hoping to have a dummy ready for critique at a regional SCBWI conference in mid March, but there's enough overlap to make participation worthwhile.

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  2. Hi, Jeanie!

    So glad to hear from you--it'll be fun to have you along . . . and that's one of the things to iron out: there's going to have to be some leeway in the schedule to accommodate the differences in process.

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  3. Sounds like a great idea. I'm also out of synch. I just finished a dummy and I will be sifting through my PiBoIdMo concepts and starting a project. Doubt if it would be ready to dummy up, especially with the holidays - but I'll definitely be following - just not sure if I would be at a point to actively participate.

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  4. I'm so excited about this challenge! I haven't attempted a dummy since college, and I'm looking forward to not holding back anymore, and just jumping in. I'm really looking forward to the reference material postings since the daily posts for PiBoldMo kept that challenge always on my mind. I will also be trying to get a dummy together for a March conference. No more hesitating. It will be done!

    hashtag suggestion: #dumBdone

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  5. I too am very excited about the challenge. I have never attempted a dummy book, but do have an idea or two so this would be a great push.

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  6. Great idea! Dummies are such a challenge. It would be great to know others are working on dummies at the same time. Love the hashtag idea. How about #PBdummy

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  7. I'd love to participate! It'll be the perfect kick in the butt many of us need... Plus a source of valuable information, a place for encouragement and critiques, and a great way to keep us on track. Love the idea!

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  8. I certainly need a kick in the pants to get my dummy done. Great idea.

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  9. Great idea! Sounds like a lot of fun!

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  10. Sounds like a FANTASTIC idea and I'd love to participate. I'd be happy to help promote this, too.

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  11. Thanks for the promo help Inkygirl.

    I am so happy to see all the rest of you throwing your hat in the ring, too!

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  12. I love the idea. So far what is planned sounds great to me. Any group support to get a project like this done is welcomed! Look forward to participating. Need to get a dummy created, too many books remain silently floating in my brain.

    What if we linked to each others sites for who is participating and where people are at, if they want to share?

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  13. Hi!
    This sounds like a great idea. Doing a dummy can be a difficult process at times so support/info would be so helpful. And heck, I love a challenge so I'll be tagging along!
    @danaFR

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  14. I think this will be great. I'd love to participate, and learn how others approach the process. Some of the guides I've seen online and in books contradict each other. Would love to get it clear!

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  15. I would love to participate in this! I have multiple dummies that I'm itching to get at, and would love the community support and see what others are doing. I like the idea of Twitter updates on where we're at, but also would love to be able to share in more length, get and give feedback and critique via a blog or something of that sort.

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  16. Great idea! Nothing like group accountability to get those pic book dummies out of illustration limbo. And seeing/hearing about how others do it is a good learning experience. I'd love to join in.

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  17. I'm in.
    Can I post this link on scbwi france's regional yahoo group? We just had a conference and some people might want to put some of what they learned in practice. Squee!
    @jchevais

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  18. JChevais: Glad to have you aboard.

    Re posting elsewhere--absolutely! The more the merrier!

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  19. Where will everyone be with their manuscripts when the challenge starts? I intend to participate with an all-ages graphic novel but I'm still working on the story details!

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  20. I'm interested, but my illustrations will likely be stick figures.

    Still, I think making a dummy will be helpful in visualizing the text as it relates to the format of the book. I hope strengthen my text and art skills at the same time.

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  21. I have been reading the kidlitart discussions for months without actually commenting (shy i suppose). I have a dummy that I am trying to assemble. This would be a great learning tool for me as a newcomer. I would love to participate.

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  22. This sounds super. count me in please and thanks for putting it together.

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  23. This is great! I started a rough sketch version of a dummy back in late Sept. with the unreasonable goal of getting it up and on the internet as a free e-book for Halloween. But I of course realized it was a crazy deadline and would just lead to something I was unhappy with. So, I put it down and it was quietly moved to my "to do someday" pile. I did not think that someday would be so soon! Thanks for starting this. I think it will help encourage me from letting yet another project sit in limbo.

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  24. I'm running a little late in finding out about this challenge but am very excited about it! Happy to help promote as much as I can and would love to take part, thanks!

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  25. I HEARD about the previous challenge and was intrigued...and this one is something that was on my 'to do immediately, beginning NOW' list! I'd love to participate; I think that it would be really fun and helpful to make my first dummy with company!

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