Raina Telgemeier's Blog, page 16
July 1, 2012
ALA Anaheim Wrap-Up!
Gene Yang, myself, Derek Kirk Kim, Faith Erin Hicks,
and Thien Pham — photo by Lark Pien
A fantastic time was had at this year’s American Library Association Annual Conference.
ALA was in Anaheim this time, which meant Dave and I went to Disneyland…twice! We brought our friends Jerzy and Anne Drozd along on the first trip…it was Jerzy’s first time at a Disney theme park, which is incomprehensible to me! I’ve been going since I was a tiny kid, and it’s still my favorite, favorite thing.
Then, Dave and I went back by ourselves on our last night in town. We rode the new CARS ride (so much fun!) and the Little Mermaid ride (I admit I teared up!), and revisited a bunch of rides I haven’t been on in years. Snow White’s Scary Adventures really holds up!
California Girl, California Adventure
Right, so also, there was a conference!
Highlights: Signing DRAMA galleys for the never-ending line of librarians; the Scholastic Literary Brunch where I read a scene from my book with three other authors…and David Shannon did a bang-up job with one of the singing parts; the first few hours of Cartoonist Artist Alley on Friday evening, where we were all loopy and excited; the COMICS QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE event on Saturday; riding to the Scholastic dinner with a bunch of authors in a red stretch Hummer limo with an open back; the Newbery-Caldecott banquet, watching the Legend of Korra finale with a bunch of fellow geeks…and of course, all the meetups, parties, hang-outs, and great conversations with so many awesome people!! Everyone I meet at ALA instantly feels like a friend.
Thank you SO much to everyone at Scholastic, as well as all the amazing people I got to spend time with in Anaheim–cartoonists, librarians, kids, teachers, READERS! You are all awesome!
This coming weekend I’m off on a two-headed adventure: Kids Read Comics in Ann Arbor, MI, and then on to Comic-Con International in San Diego. Which means I’ll be posting again SOON! Till then…
June 18, 2012
Kids’ Comics Revolution: A New Podcast!
I mentioned recently that Dave started up a new project–it’s a podcast, called Kids’ Comics Revolution! (And hey, I created the banner artwork!)
We’re big fans of both kidlit podcasts in our house (Brain Burps About Books and Kidsmomo are our kidlit faves) and comics podcasts (we love Comics Are Great, Art & Story, Paper Wings, Fanboy Radio…), but we realized that there was nothing that really merged the two. So, Dave teamed up with our friend Jerzy to create a brand-new podcast!
“Kids’ Comics Revolution is go! Dave Roman and Jerzy Drozd have teamed up to create a series of audio shows connecting the worlds of comics, graphic novels, and kid lit. The series will feature interviews with and contributions by the people who help make the kids’ visual storytelling landscape a better place for all involved.”
And wouldn’t you know it: I’m the special guest on the very first episode! We talk all about book launch parties. You can listen to it here, or subscribe in iTunes. In fact, we’d love it if you gave the podcast some iTunes love–star ratings, as well as reviews, really help out!
There are two episodes of the podcast live as of this blog posting, but new episodes will be posted every other Wednesday. They’ll feature interviews, reviews from teachers and librarians, reviews from actual kids, and a regular KCR Book Club! The first Book Club episode is going to be all about Ben Hatke’s wonderful graphic novel Zita the Spacegirl–and we’d love for YOU to contribute! For information on how to participate, see the bottom half of this page. Submissions must be in by July 19!
Dave, Jerzy and I will all be at ALA in Anaheim, CA this weekend, and we’ll have free KCR bookmarks at our Artist Alley tables! (Dave and I are at #473!) We’ll even have recording equipment on hand, so if you want to help out and provide some soundbites…let us know!
This has been really fun so far, and we only want things to get better. So swing by the KCR page, listen, send an email, send an audio review, post a star-rating on iTunes…we’re starting a revolution, and we can’t do it alone!
June 13, 2012
ALA Annual, Anaheim! June 22-25
I’ll be in Anaheim, CA for this year’s ALA Annual Conference, June 22-25! I had a terrific time at last year’s conference in New Orleans, and I’m looking forward to seeing my librarian friends again.
This year, I’ll be attending as one of Scholastic’s featured authors, which means that DRAMA galleys will be available in full force! You can find Scholastic at booth #2634…or, just look for their giant red display in the exhibit hall. It’s usually pretty hard to miss. 
Here’s my schedule of events:
FRIDAY, JUNE 22
6:00 – 6:30pm
Iron Artist Tournament
Graphic Novel Pavilion Stage
SA
SATURDAY, JUNE 23
10:30 – 12:00pm
Putting the Laughter in Literacy Panel
Anaheim Convention Center, Ballroom A
Come join best-selling authors Sarah Pennypacker, Raina Telgemeier and Alan Sitomer in a session devoted to illuminating the power of smiles, the tools of modern authors and the importance of books, reading and literacy.
12:00-1:00pm
Graphic Novel Panel: What’s New?
Graphic Novel Pavilion Stage
Raina Telgemeier, Derek Kirk Kim, Thien Pham, and Faith Erin Hicks will be talking about their new books. Moderated by Gene Luen Yang.
3:00-3:30pm
Getting Graphic with Kids
Graphic Novel Pavilion Stage
Author/illustrators from the acclaimed EXPLORER: THE MYSTERY BOXES anthology discuss creating and writing graphic novels for children and young adults.
SUNDAY, JUNE 24
8:30 – 10:00am
YALSA Coffee Klatch
(Invitation is required to attend)
10:30-12:00pm
Scholastic Literary Brunch
(Invitation is required to attend)
1:00 – 2:00pm
Scholastic Booth Signing
Anaheim Convention Center – Booth #2634
Come get your galley of DRAMA signed!
3:00-4:00pm
Comics Quickfire!
Graphic Novel Pavilion Stage
Part drawing jam, part fast-paced game show! Volunteers from the audience are paired off with (or against) professional cartoonists in a series of fun-filled drawing challenges! Featuring Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Raina Telgemeier (SMILE, DRAMA), Faith Erin Hicks (Friends With Boys) Jerzy Drozd (The Front), Dan Santat (Sidekicks), and more!
MONDAY, JUNE 25
10:30-11:00am
Raina Telgemeier in Conversation with Snow Wildsmith
Graphic Novel Pavillon Stage
A one-on-one interview with Raina about her forthcoming graphic novel, DRAMA.
11:30-12:30pm
Graphic Novel Open Forum
Graphic Novel Pavillon Stage
A unique opportunity to not only ask questions of graphic novel authors, but have them ask questions of you! Come and share anecdotes about how graphic novels have (or haven’t) worked in your library, what you’d like to see more of, and what kinds of books your patrons really respond to. The authors will also share stories about library visits and other cool stuff they do to get kids excited about reading. Featuring Raina Telgemeier, Dave Roman, Jerzy Drozd, and Faith Erin Hicks.
*****
Whew! That’s quite a lineup. I’ll also be attending the Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder Banquet, which will be your opportunity to see me wear a fancy dress.
During any and all downtime, you’ll most likely be able to find me in the GRAPHIC NOVEL ARTIST ALLEY area of the exhibit hall, where I’ll be sharing a table with my partner-in-crime-and-life, Dave Roman! We’ll be set up at Table #473, where you can find our books, SMILE T-shirts, postcards, original artwork, bookmarks for our new kids’ comics podcast, Kids’ Comics Revolution (more about that soon!), and of course, information about our school and library visits. Please come visit us, we would love to see you!
Look for Dave’s ASTONAUT ACADEMY banner (and, uh, us) to spot our table in Artist Alley!
Get your mouse ears ready…we’ll see you in Anaheim!
June 7, 2012
BEA ‘12 Wrap-Up! (And a star for DRAMA!)
This has been quite a week. Things started off strong on Monday morning, when I accepted the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award for SMILE in Monteplier, VT. A separate post all about that is coming soon. We rushed straight to the airport as soon as the ceremony ended, and flew back to New York–and when the plane landed, I turned on my phone and immediately learned that DRAMA received a STARRED review from Publishers Weekly–my first starred review ever. I was so excited, I think the whole plane heard me squeal!!
From the airport, I headed straight to Scholastic HQ in Soho, where I was presenting at a bloggers conference in conjunction with Book Expo America.
Myself and several other authors presented READERS THEATER, which is where everyone reads a chapter from their respective books, and provides voices for each others’ chapters. I read/showed a chapter from DRAMA, with hilarious results!
What a lineup! Here I am with (L to R, top to bottom) Eliot Schrefer, James Dashner, Jeff Hirsch, Kate Messner, Donna Cooner, Sharon Cameron, and Maggie Steifvater!
So that was a pretty good day.
Tuesday evening I participated in a NYPL event called COMING NEXT! I spoke on a panel with Dave Roman, John Green, and Michael Kupperman, moderated by Chris Butcher. We had fun talking about how we make comics, our upcoming books, and lots of other stuff! Thanks to everyone who came out to the event.
Wednesday was my “big” day at BEA, starting bright and early-ish with a Graphic Novels panel!
My co-panelists were Zack Giallongo, Mark Seigel, and Noah Van Sciver. Our moderator was Jenny Brown of Shelf Awareness. This was a lot of fun! The photo above is courtesy of The Daily Hey Now!, where you can see more photos and get a rundown of what we discussed.
My next event was AUTHOR SPEED DATING, which I have no photos to share from, but which was a total blast. An hour and fifteen minutes, twenty tables full of booksellers, and twenty authors–each author spends exactly 3 minutes at each table, talking about their new book! So I got to tell a huge roomful of people about DRAMA! Several booksellers I already knew, having done so much travel and promotion for SMILE these past few years. And many of them, whom I hadn’t yet met, were already familiar with my work and excited to hear about what was new. It was exhausting and exhilarating!
Right after that, I had a signing in the Autograph Area!
(Thanks to Scholastic’s Twitter feed for the photo!)
What fun! My lineup lasted the full hour, as I signed galleys of DRAMA for enthusiastic fans. It’s wonderful to know how many people are eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new book! I only wish September 1st would get here sooner…
I got to sit down for a few minutes after my signing, and then it was off to the ABC Art Auction. What a great event–the food was cheese, crackers, fruit…and a mashed potato bar!! Now that is MY idea of a party! My favorite combination was red bliss mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, topped with asparagus, cheese, and chives. OMG.
The party was a who’s-who of kidlit stars, and I got a chance to talk with a bunch of awesome creators, booksellers, marketing folks, and agents.
Me and Dave with Mo Willems!
Me and Maggie, who won my piece in the auction!
Finally, Dave and I stopped by the Kidlit Drinks party happening in midtown, and had fun talking to friends and colleagues…but couldn’t stay long, because I was beat! I heard accounts of all the fun people had after we went home, but the benefit of living in New York is that the fun is never away for very long. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again soon.
Thanks very much to everyone at Scholastic, for organizing everything and featuring DRAMA so prominently in their lineup for this year’s BEA!
My next big event is ALA, in Anaheim, and I seriously can’t wait. In the meantime, though, look for more posts here on my site about what’s going on closer to home! See you soon!
June 3, 2012
Book Expo America 2012
Here’s my full and complete schedule for this week’s BEA.
TUESDAY, JUNE 5
6:00 PM
CREATING COMICS–COMING NEXT!
Grand Central Branch, New York Public Library
135 E. 46th Street
New York, NY
Open to the public, but registration is required.
Artists participating include Raina Telgemeier, Matt Madden, Dave Roman and John Green, and Michael Kupperman. Moderated by Chris Butcher.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6
(All events take place at NY’s Javits Center)
11:00-11:30 AM
Graphic Novel Panel
Uptown Stage
Featuring Raina Telgemeier, Mark Siegel, Noah Van Sciver, and Zack Giallongo. Moderated by Jenny Brown.
12:15-1:45 PM
CBC Author Speed Dating Program
Room 1E14-1E15
2:00-3:00 PM
BEA Autographing of DRAMA
Table 24
5:00-8:00 PM
ABC Art Auction & Reception
Javits South Concourse
June 2, 2012
Raina Sings!
Here’s part of a video Scholastic made, for their Fall 2012 Librarian Preview. My editor Cassandra introduces me, and then I have a special little…moment on stage! Then, you get to see a few interior pages from DRAMA.
You can see the video in its entirety here.
May 30, 2012
Between Things
I’m between events and projects at the moment, which is rare and wonderful. Last weekend was my birthday, and I took a few days off to enjoy life and spend some time with friends. Even freelance cartoonists need a little break occasionally! Several big things are shaping up, though: a couple of short projects, my next full-length graphic novel project, and a stretch of summer travel followed by my upcoming DRAMA tour in the fall!
Since people ask me on a regular basis if I’ll be visiting _____ anytime soon, let me just remind you that I always post my upcoming public appearances on the right-hand sidebar of my site’s home page, next to this very blog. If I’m going to be near you, that’s where you will find out! I do plenty of traveling and speaking unadvertised, but that’s because schools frequently hire me for private events, and announcing them doesn’t do much good. I often post about them after the fact, though!
My next event is BEA. Click to see my schedule there!
Here are a couple of other bits and blurbs from the past few weeks:
+++SMILE T-shirts are back in my store!
+++An Interview with the creators of GIANTS BEWARE on Tor.com
+++An Interview on Creating a Little Niche in publishing
That’s all for now, but I hope to have more to share soon! Enjoy the beginning of summer…I know I will!
May 22, 2012
Thanks, MeCAF! BEA, forthcoming!
I had a really nice time in Portland, ME, last weekend at MeCAF! Super fun meeting fans, seeing friends, and eating good food in a picturesque city.
My packed panel on Sunday at MeCAF
Dave, John, and CBLDF Deputy Director Alex Cox eating ice cream
While I was there, I was presented with the Maine Student Book Award! I don’t have a good photo of it, but this one was snapped of me when I received it–it’s HUGE! A giant piece of slate that came from a historic Maine building. Thanks again to the MSBA committee, all the students who voted, and the fine folks at Casablanca Comics in Portland, for helping make the trip possible!
*****
Next up on my calendar is Book Expo America, or BEA, June 4 – 7 right here in NYC.
BEA is a trade show, which means it’s not open to the public, but plenty of people from the book world will be there, so I’m posting my schedule for their benefit!
Monday, June 4, 6 PM
Scholastic Readers Theatre/blogger event! Invite only.
I’ll be performing a scene from DRAMA!
Tuesday, June 5, 6:00-8:00pm
NYPL Comics Event! Invite only.
Wednesday, June 6
11:00-11:30am Graphic Novel Panel
12:15-1:45pm CBC Speed Dating Program
2:00-3:00pm BEA Signing
5:00-7:30pm ABC Reception & Silent Auction
Galleys of DRAMA will be available at the Scholastic booth, so if you’re around, come by and grab one! I’ll be happy to sign it for you at my 2pm singing on Wednesday afternoon.
Following on the heels of BEA will be ALA, in Anaheim, CA! My schedule for that is going to be nutso, and I’ll post all of my events and programming in a couple of weeks.
May 12, 2012
Maine Comics Arts Fest, Portland ME, 5/20!
It’s time for another of my favorite comics events: the
Maine Comics Arts Fest, or MeCAF for short!
I’m headed up to Portland for this fun one-day show, taking place at the Ocean Gateway, right on the water and near Portland’s downtown shopping district. Since SMILE just won the Maine Student Book Award, I’m really excited to meet the kids, teachers, and librarians who voted for me! Here are the event details:
MAINE COMICS ARTS FESTIVAL
Sunday, May 20
10am – 5pm
Admission: $5;
Kids 12 and under are FREE!
Location: Ocean Gateway
Fore Street
Portland, ME
MeCAF Website
Driving Directions
I’m doing one panel Sunday, which is open to all festival-goers:
12 Noon: Join Raina Telgemeier, winner of the Maine Student Book Award, for a fun visual talk about her book, SMILE, and what exactly it means to be a graphic novelist! Raina will do some live drawing and give away some prizes, too, including a preview copy of her yet-to-be-released graphic novel, DRAMA!
Programming will be held on the first floor of the main building. It is accessible from both the walkway and a flight of stairs from the main exhibit room.
And for the rest of the day, I’ll be stationed at my table on the show floor–look for my big SMILE banner! I’ll have copies of SMILE in both hardcover and softcover; SMILE T-shirts, DRAMA bookmarks, and some original art! Joining me at the table will be Dave and John, who just released their superfun graphic novel, TEEN BOAT! All three of us look forward to seeing you there!
May 10, 2012
MoCCA! Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award! TCAF!
Been a busy few weeks here at the Comics Bakery headquarters! April 28-29 we had MoCCA, right here in NYC, and I spent some time signing and wandering around at the show.
A few days later I boarded a plane for Vermont, where I was giving an endnote speech at the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Conference. The DCF Award is given out every year to a book voted on by 4th-8th graders in Vermont. I was invited to speak because Smile was one of 30 nominees…and shortly before the conference, I found out that it WON!
So, I was speaking as the winner of the DCF Award, which was especially exciting! The morning keynote speech was by amazing writer and Ambassador For Children’s Literature, Jon Scieszka, who is basically a legend in hilarious speech-giving. Following that up was a challenge, but I had a great time talking to the 150 teachers and librarians there about comics, and why I love them. I’ll be going back to Vermont in less than a month, to accept the award itself and meet the kids who voted for me. So thanks, Vermont!
From there, I flew straight to Toronto (and by ’straight,’ I mean by way of a triangular flight pattern that had me laying over in Philadelphia). That’s where TCAF is!
The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is easily one of my favorite comics-related events anywhere. This year was no exception. I had a fantastic weekend! Highlights include speaking on a panel with Alison Bechdel (!), Michel Rabagliati (!) and both Holm siblings (!!) about depicting childhood in comics…hanging out with some of my very favorite comics-making friends…the Comics Quickfire! Challenges…and of course, meeting a huge number of my wonderful readers and fans!
I was delighted to see so many new faces at TCAF. OwlKids Magazine took out some advertisements, and the local Toronto papers ran ads too, and this year’s programming was extremely kid friendly…so, I got to meet a lot of parents and kids who were checking out the show for the first time! I’d like to think it’s a great introduction to the wonderful world of indie and self-published comics, as well as the books especially for kids that me and many of my friends create!
You can read more about TCAF and see tons more photos in Dave’s write-up of the Comics Quickfire! Challenge, over on his website.
Next up: the Maine Comics Arts Festival, May 20 in Portland, ME! I’ll write up a separate post about that, soon…
