Indie Publishing and SCBWI

I was a member of SCWBI (The Society of Book Writers and Illustrators) for a few years. My experiences are only with the South Australian branch. It was a fascinating glimpse into the traditional publishing side of the business.

If you are planning on writing for children, I would recommend joining for at least a year and attending your local chapter events. The South Australian folk were really nice, and have a lot of information and connections to traditional publishers. There was definitely a sense of community that can be hard to find when we spend most of our time alone at our keyboards.

However, the not-insubstantial annual fee is in American dollars, and the non-local features felt US-centric. And the key thing is that SCBWI is very traditional publishing focused. The business mindset was all about that: supporting each other to land a deal with a trad pub, awards, etc. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. It's a valid outlook, and is accompanied by a love of children's literature that is wonderful.

For those of us exploring the frontier of publishing—indie publishing—a completely different mindset and business tools are needed. Managing editors, formatting, artists. Access to customers, events, advertising. Handling the cost issues with POD and the massive margins retailers take, if they'll take your books at all.

I'll miss the folks at SCBWI SA, but I need an Aussie children's indie author community. If you know anyone who writes independently for children, let me know.

Find SCBWI: https://www.scbwi.org/

SCBWI SA chapter facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/113160265735468/