https://scbwicarolinas.org/ An independent magazine on writing and illustrating childrens books in the Carolinas: craft, revision, portfolios, queries, agents and critique groups. en-us https://scbwicarolinas.org/formatting-my-submission/https://scbwicarolinas.org/formatting-my-submission/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000Margins, spacing, headers, front matter and the file name: the conventions that make a manuscript readable, and the ones that do not matter. https://scbwicarolinas.org/what-editors-agents-like/https://scbwicarolinas.org/what-editors-agents-like/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000Voice, a clear age band, a problem the child character solves, and a first page that starts late. What those phrases mean in practice. https://scbwicarolinas.org/craft/revision-passes/https://scbwicarolinas.org/craft/revision-passes/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000Structure, then character, then scene, then line. Why revising everything at once stalls a manuscript, and how a pass is scoped and finished. https://scbwicarolinas.org/craft/picture-book-word-count/https://scbwicarolinas.org/craft/picture-book-word-count/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000Picture book, chapter book, middle grade and young adult: the ranges publishers work with, where they come from and when they bend. https://scbwicarolinas.org/illustration/dummy-book-explained/https://scbwicarolinas.org/illustration/dummy-book-explained/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000Thirty two pages, the page turn and the gutter: how a dummy tests a picture book, and why a writer should not commission art before submitting. https://scbwicarolinas.org/illustration/portfolio-basics/https://scbwicarolinas.org/illustration/portfolio-basics/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000Character consistency, a sequence rather than single images, and the pieces an art director looks for. What to leave out, and why. https://scbwicarolinas.org/its-all-about-you-how-to-take-a-portfolio-review/https://scbwicarolinas.org/its-all-about-you-how-to-take-a-portfolio-review/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000What to bring, what to ask, how to hear a hard note and what to do in the week after. A review is a working session, not a verdict. https://scbwicarolinas.org/getting-published/query-letters/https://scbwicarolinas.org/getting-published/query-letters/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000The hook, the housekeeping and the bio: three short paragraphs, what belongs in each, and the habits that get a query set aside unread. https://scbwicarolinas.org/getting-published/agents-for-childrens-books/https://scbwicarolinas.org/getting-published/agents-for-childrens-books/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000What an agent does, which houses take unagented work, how agents are paid and the warning signs that a listing is not worth answering. https://scbwicarolinas.org/critique-groups/starting-a-critique-group/https://scbwicarolinas.org/critique-groups/starting-a-critique-group/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000Size, cadence, submission length and the rules agreed before the first read. The practical decisions that decide whether a group survives. https://scbwicarolinas.org/critique-groups/critique-etiquette/https://scbwicarolinas.org/critique-groups/critique-etiquette/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000How to describe a problem instead of prescribing a fix, when to stay silent, and what a writer owes the group in return. https://scbwicarolinas.org/the-carolinas/scbwi-carolinas-explained/https://scbwicarolinas.org/the-carolinas/scbwi-carolinas-explained/Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000What regional chapters of the national childrens writing organisation do, how the Carolinas region is organised today and where it lives online.