Winter kinda dropped in all the sudden this year, and everyone in the country got a dose of chill air whether or not they got the snow to go with it. To warm us all, the Winter CANSCAIP News is here, featuring author Kathy Kacer!

You’ll find the Winter issue in the Member/Friends section, in PDF format.

TPL employees have come to an agreement; therefore our Toronto meeting will take place at its usual time and location on Wednesday November 11th. Meetings are free and open to the public. We’d love to see you there!

We WILL be taking registrations at the door this Saturday for our fabulous fall conference, Packaging Your Imagination.

Although lunch spaces are now filled, there is still room left in all the workshops. (Please note that there is a lower price for registrations without lunch.) We suggest that if you would like to register at the door, you arrive before 8:45. Registration begins at 8:30.
We have a star-studded lineup of authors and illustrators including Paulette Bourgeois, Teresa Toten, Jessica Scott Kerrin, Jeremy Tankard, Cary Fagan, Kathy Kacer, Heather Collins, Pat Hancock, Shane Peacock and Linda Granfield. In addition Kathy Kaulback will talk about book design, and industry professionals Marie Campbell (agent), Peter Carver (editor) and Sharon Jennings (author and educator) will host an “Ask the Pros” panel.

To top it all off, Kenneth Oppel will give the keynote speech.

Click on www.canscaip.org/pyi.html for more information.

CANSCAIP’s Packaging Your Imagination conference will take place in Toronto on November 7th; have you sent in your registration? If not, sign up now for this fabulous full day of workshops. Although lunch spaces are now filled, there is still room left in all the workshops, so if you get that registration form in right away, you will still get your first choices! (Please note that there is a lower price for registrations without lunch.)

We have a star-studded lineup of authors and illustrators including Paulette Bourgeois, Teresa Toten, Jessica Scott Kerrin, Jeremy Tankard, Cary Fagan, Kathy Kacer, Heather Collins, Pat Hancock, Shane Peacock and Linda Granfield. In addition Kathy Kaulback will talk about book design, and industry professionals Marie Campbell (agent), Peter Carver (editor) and Sharon Jennings (author and educator) will host an “Ask the Pros” panel.

And if THAT isn’t enough for you, Kenneth Oppel will give the keynote speech. Good heavens, what are you waiting for?

Go to www.canscaip.org/pyi.html for more information and click the link to download your brochure.

See you there!

Well, the children have returned to school, thus making the leaves fall, the energy from which we produce the CANSCAIP News. I’m pretty sure that’s how it works. In any case, the Fall CANSCAIP News is here, featuring our incoming president, author and illustrator Sean Cassidy!

You’ll find it in the Member/Friends section, in PDF format.

Wednesday, September 30th @ 7 p.m.
Yes Oui CANSCAIP hosts Jeeja Srikant, a tax preparer specializing in small business and self-employed professionals, at the John A. Simms Community Centre, 8 Westminster South in Montreal West. For more information or to RSVP, contact Alastair Reeves (a_reeves@videotron.ca)or Carol-Ann Hoyte (kidlitfan1972@yahoo.ca).

The Liberal Studies unit at the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension offers a variety of writing and editing courses, which are held downtown at Enterprise Square on Jasper Avenue. New this year is Introducing the World: Writing Nonfiction for Children with Lindsay Carmichael. For complete course listings or to register go to: http://www.extension.ualberta.ca/liberalstudies/writing.aspx Or call Megan Woodsmith at 780.492.2408.

It’s here: the Summer CANSCAIP News, featuring creator Anne Laurel Carter!

You’ll find it in the Member/Friends section, in PDF format.

Are you an aspiring or emerging children’s author or illustrator in need of a mentor?

CANSCAIP is delighted to announce a call for applications for the second annual Online Blue Pencil Project. Please read carefully because there are some changes from last year.

If you would you like to have your manuscript or illustrations critiqued by a published author or illustrator, please send a cheque for the required amount with the information below by August 3rd . Please do NOT send a manuscript or illustrations at this time.

Applicants may apply to have ONE of the following critiqued:

1) ONE piece of work up to 10 pages in length ($20) or
2) A group of 10 or fewer illustrations ($20) or
3) ONE dummy book ($40) or
4) 50 pages of ONE novel ($50)
(CANSCAIP will supplement Mentor fees.)

If choosing option 1 or 4, applicants should specify one of the following categories:

a) Picture Book
b) Early Reader
c) Middle Grade
d) Young Adult
e) Non-fiction

In addition, applicants might want to tell us a few details about the work (ie “a high fantasy in the tradition of Tolkien” or a “rhyming picture book in the tradition of Loris Lesynski”) so that we may match each work to the best Mentor. Again, do NOT send the work itself.

Protégés must be current Friends of CANSCAIP, but applicants may join at the time of applying. http://www.canscaip.org/joining.html

Mentors will be published authors or illustrators who are full members of CANSCAIP with at least two children’s or YA books . Protégés will be selected by lottery if applicants exceed expectation. Your cheque will not be cashed until you have been chosen. Last year CANSCAIP was able to accommodate all applicants and we will do our best to do the same this year.

The program will take place during August and September so please do not apply if you will be away for a significant portion of that time.

After your selection you will be given contact information and a deadline for submitting work to your assigned Mentors, on-line or snail mail, whichever works best for both Protégé and Mentor. Please be prepared to submit your work by as early as August 15th.

The writing must be ONE work, double spaced, 12-point type size with at least one inch margins. The illustrations/dummy books can be photocopies or digital pieces. Do not submit original work.

Mentors will respond with one critique of a maximum of two pages for options 1-3, four pages for option 4. If you wish, you may submit one brief letter or email of follow-up questions after receiving the critique.

NOTE: This project was created to help Friends develop and polish their writing or illustration technique, and does not guarantee publication!

Send cheques and applications to:

CANSCAIP Blue Pencil
104-40 Orchard View Blvd.
Toronto, ON M4R 1B9

CANSCAIP’S looking west. Prairie Horizon’s 2009 Conference is now accepting registrations.

When: September 18th-20th, 2009
Where: St. Michael’s Retreat, Lumsden, Sask.
Who’ll be there? Hazel Hutchins, Anita Daher, Linda Aksomitis, Bob King and more!

The Prairie Horizon’s 2009 page has more information (it’s also linked in the right column). Or email us at prairiehorizons@gmail.com.

This year’s theme is Climbing the Beanstalk to Creative Success. Come climb with us!

Well, the sun headed north past the equator today at 7:44 GMT this morning, and look what has bloomed! The Spring CANSCAIP News, featuring creator Frieda Wishinsky!

You’ll find it in the Member/Friends section, in PDF format.

CANSCAIP is pleased to invite you to our second Mentors’ Dinner honouring teacher and editor Peter Carver. Join Master of Ceremonies Ted Staunton and speakers Tim Wynne-Jones, Brian Doyle, Martine Leavitt, Patsy Aldana, Virginia Davis and more for dinner, a silent auction, speeches, toasts and anecdotes. Proceeds from this event will go to CANSCAIP’s Mentor Fund to help aspiring and emerging children’s artists.

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009, 5:30 PM
The Radisson Admiral Hotel
249 Queen’s Quay West, Toronto (Harbourfront)
Tickets are $75 each. Discounted parking has been arranged for the event.
Print off the ticket form here: www.canscaip.org/files/mentor2009.pdf
Hope to see you there!

CANSCAIP, the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors Illustrators and Performers, is delighted to announce its second Mentors’ Dinner.

On Wednesday, April 22nd in Toronto, CANSCAIP will be honouring one of the children’s book world’s most best loved mentors: teacher and editor, Peter Carver.

Proceeds from the event will go to a CANSCAIP’s Mentor Fund and will be used to support aspiring and emerging children’s authors and illustrators.

Because CANSCAIP is now a National Arts Service Organization, we will be able to give you a tax receipt for donations to the Mentor Fund and for the donation portion of the dinner.

Check back for further information, or email office@canscaip.org if you would like to receive an invitation.

Hope to see you there.

About our Mentor Fund

Imagine having your manuscript or portfolio critiqued by one of Canada’s most prestigious children’s-book professionals. Last summer, CANSCAIP made this dream come true for 59 aspiring authors and illustrators across Canada. Each received a professional author or illustrator as a Mentor for their work. CANSCAIP would like to expand this very popular project. If you would like to contribute to our Mentor Fund, CANSCAIP would be happy to give you a charitable tax receipt for the full amount of your donation.

Historic Joy Kogawa House Writer-in-Residence
Call for Expressions of Interest
April to June 2010

Historic Joy Kogawa House will host a resident author between
April 1 and June 30, 2010, as part of its writer-in-residence program.

Writers are encouraged to identify innovative ways their residency will
foster greater appreciation for Canadian writing and involve communities not
typically exposed to Canadian literature. Please mail, fax, or e-mail
applications by midnight on February 1, 2009, to:

Author Residency Selection Committee
Historic Joy Kogawa House
1450 West 64th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6P 2N4
E-mail : kogawahouse@yahoo.ca
Fax : 604.263.6581

For application guidelines, visit www.kogawahouse.com.

An Important Message to all Publishers, Authors and Heirs of Authors about the Google Settlement.
This settlement has the potential to affect every copyright owner in Canada. It is important to read the following message and forward it onto other copyright owners that you know.

There is a proposed landmark settlement to lawsuits brought against Google separately by book authors and the Authors Guild, and publisher representatives of the Association of American Publishers alleging that the scanning/digitization of books for its Google Book Search program infringed copyright in the United States.

Access Copyright is involved in the proposed settlement by working closely with a U.S. firm that is implementing the class action notice program.

We encourage you to read the full Notice about the settlement http://www.googlebooksettlement.com/r/view_notice, which has detailed information about the settlement, important terms, the claims process, and key dates. Want to know more first? Read this article prepared by Access Copyright to understand why you should care about the Google settlement. http://www.accesscopyright.ca/docs/WhytheGoogleSettlementMatterstoYou.pdf

Access Copyright’s Google Settlement Seminars:

To help Canadian copyright owners understand the implications of this settlement, Access Copyright is offering seminars on the settlement.

Web-based seminars will be offered on the following dates (all times in Eastern Standard Time):

Thursday, January 22, 2009 9:30 a.m. – noon

Monday, January 26, 2009 9:30 a.m. – noon

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 1 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Based on demand, we may add additional web-based seminars in February. Please stay tuned for more details.

A seminar on the Google settlement will also be held at Access Copyright’s offices at One Yonge Street in Toronto on Thursday, February 12, 2009 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

If you’re interested in participating in any of these seminars, please email us with your contact details and which session you want to attend. editor@accesscopyright.ca Please note that space for all seminars is limited so it is important to reserve your spot as soon as possible. We will follow-up up via return email to confirm your attendance and provide any additional information you may need, including access information to the Web-based seminar.

If you have any general questions, please contact us at 416-868-1620 (toll-free 1-800-893-5777) or email us by clicking editor@accesscopyright.ca

Our offices are closed for the holidays until Monday, January 5th. Wishing you all a happy 2009.

The Writers’ Union of Canada is holding its 10th annual Postcard Story Competition with a $500 prize awarded to the winning entry. The deadline for entry is February 14, 2009. The main contest link is http://www.writersunion.ca/cn_main.asp.

What could be a rarer gem at this time of year than the Winter CANSCAIP News? Actually, you’re right, a new set of winter tires west of the Ottawa river, now that they are legally mandatory in Quebec. Good answer. But almost as rare is the current issue of the News with a profile of author Vivien Bowers.

You’ll find it in the Member/Friends section, in PDF format.

The Public Lending Right program’s registration period will be open from 15 February to 1 May 2009. Are you registered?

Yes.

If you have moved recently, you must update your address with the PLR Commission. Send us your change of address by mail, fax, telephone or e-mail, indicated below.

No.

If you are an author, co-author, editor, translator, illustrator, photographer or anthology contributor, you may be eligible for a PLR payment for the service of your books held in Canadian public libraries. For further information, visit our website at www.plr-dpp.ca or contact us by using one of the methods indicated below.

Public Lending Right Commission / Commission du droit du prêt public
350 Albert, P.O. Box 1047 / C.P. 1047
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8
Tel: 1 800 521-5721
Fax: (613) 566-4418
E-mail: plr@canadacouncil.ca
www.plr-dpp.ca

CANSCAIP’s November conference is now sold out and we will not be taking registrations at the door.