Raina Telgemeier's Blog, page 22

SMILE: EISNER NOMINEE!!

I'm thrilled to announce that Smile has received a nomination in this year's EISNER AWARDS–the most prestigious award in comics!

Smile is nominated in the 'Best Publication for Teens' category. I was nominated once before in 2005, in the category of Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition, for my work on the Take-Out minicomic series. I didn't win that year, but I made a lot of new friends as a result of the nomination! Maybe this year, I can bring home the actual statue…

But it means I'll need VOTES!

The Eisner website says:

Ballots with this year's nominees will be going out in mid-April to comics creators, editors, publishers, and retailers. A downloadable pdf of the ballot will also be available online, and a special website has been set up for online voting. The results in all categories will be announced in a gala awards ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 22 at Comic-Con International.

Teachers and librarians can vote, too, so stay tuned. I'll put a link to the ballot on my site as soon as one is available!

Thanks very, very much to the panel of judges who chose this year's nominees. I'll be flying to Texas tomorrow morning on cloud nine!

Children's Choice Book Awards: FINALIST!

I'm so pleased to announce that Smile has made it all the way to the finals in the Children's Choice Book Awards, in the category of Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year!!

Now, it's up to YOU to vote.

If you're a student/kid, you can vote HERE!

If you're a teacher, librarian, or bookseller, you can register the votes of the kids you work with HERE!

Winners will be announced on May 2. Please, vote and help me spread the word!!

Vancouver! Seattle!

Rather than post a play-by-play of my trip to Vancouver and Seattle, I'm just going to touch on the highlights. There was so much to take in over our 13 days in the Pacific Northwest, almost all of it wonderful. The two cities were beautiful, full of friendly people and good cheer, and of course we ate well the entire time.

I visited four schools in total–two in BC and two in Seattle. As usual, I was blown out of the water by how welcoming the staff and students were in every single case. As well, the booksellers (of Kidsbooks, in BC, and University Bookstore, in Seattle) were wonderful to work with. Scholastic Canada's rep, Susan, who works with all of British Columbia, the Yukon, and Northwest Territories, was an amazing tour guide and so much fun to hang out with! We felt very well taken care of.

In Vancouver, I was lucky enough to give a presentation and booksigning at the amazing independent kids bookstore, Kidsbooks. It was an event that people had to buy tickets for, so I wasn't sure what to expect–but the event sold out, and 120 people came to see me!! So many wonderful kids and their parents. And such a beautiful store! I gave a short talk, did some drawing, and then signed and signed and signed. I was also surprised to see the French-Canadian edition of Smile that Scholastic Canada put out: Souris! And delighted that quite a few people wanted to own the book in both English and French. What a perfect evening. Thanks a million to Phyllis Simon and her brilliant staff for hosting me.

I also did a group signing at Lucky's Comics, a small, charming Vancouver comic shop, the kind that carries the books of every single indie cartoonist I've ever loved. The store was packed from wall to wall with kids and local cartoonists, hanging out and having a good time. Thanks to Lucky's excellent store owner Gabe for throwing us such a nice party!

The main reason I was in Vancouver was to attend the Serendipity Roundtable, an annual event focusing on children's literature, with a different theme each year. This year's theme was graphic novels! I was lucky enough to be one of the special guests, along with friends and fellow cartoonists Gene Yang, Matt Holm, Jason Shiga, and Aaron Renier. We each got to give a presentation, and then sit on a panel together. The whole conference was intimate, fun, and went by far too quickly. I was grateful to my personal helper Rob Bittman, the staff and organizers of Serendipity, Denise Anderson of Scholastic Canada who played the part of liaison between me and the conference folks, and mostly to Kay Weisman, for inviting me in the first place and making Dave and I feel right at home in Vancouver. Thank you, everyone! I had a blast!

We got to spend a little bit of free time in Vancouver, and even though it was cold and snowy, we made the most of it. There was a dinner with Nina Matsumoto, Dave's collaborator on Zuko's Story, and sight-seeing with our Flight pal Tony Cliff.

From Vancouver, we took a bus down to Seattle. It's an easy trip, and scenic! We got our tourism out of the way in the first day and a half; our friends Mike and Mandy Sartour drove us around and took us to the EMP/Sci-fi museum, out for delicious pizza, on an underground bus, to the Haunted Hospital, to the Fantagraphics store, and over to Ballard for Thai food and outrageously good gelato with Dalton Webb. Later in the week I was also able to meet up with some of my friends from high school, Bryan and Jenny, for a fun dinner. It's so nice to visit a town that's already full of friends!

After a few days of school visits, it was time for the Emerald City Comicon! Dave and I were in Artist Alley, next to our friends Gregg Shigiel, Chris Giarrusso, and Jacob Chabot, and right around the corner from Jen and Mike Maihack. That was nice! The show is well-run and friendly, and although things were a little quiet for us on Friday, it picked up on Saturday and especially Sunday, when Dave, Chris and I did a live reading of our comics for a full audience of kids and families! These readings are great because we invite kids onstage to help us do the voices, so there's lots of interactive fun. After the panel, we were swamped all day, meeting loads of great kids and parents! Convention weekends also mean lots of dinners and parties. Special shout-out to Bill Barnes, for throwing a lovely house party that gave us a chance to relax and spend some time with cartoonists away from con floors and hotel bars, and felt like a nice pause from the fast pace of the trip.

It was hard to leave the west coast after such a terrific couple of weeks, but we've got a lot of work to do here at home, and all good things must come to an end. We've got our great memories though, and lots of pictures!!

Home! And a little announcement…

Before I get to the amazingness that was my trip to Vancouver and Seattle, I have a little bit of an announcement that will disappoint some people, but make others happy. First, the less-good news…

I'm not going to be attending the MoCCA Art Fest this year. I'm pretty saddened by this–MoCCA has always been one of my favorite comic shows, and I have never missed it before. I'm also going to miss Drink and Draw Like a Lady, easily one of the highlights of my MoCCA weekends these past couple of years.

But the reason I won't be there is actually good news:

I'm going to be a guest at Teen Book Con, in Houston, TX, that weekend!

It's a small event with a big impact: A full day spent with kids and teens from the Houston area! After that, I'll be doing some local events before heading to Austin for the Texas Library Association Annual Conference. I've never been to Texas before, so I'm really looking forward to meeting readers and budding writers there, not to mention librarians, booksellers, and parents!

For those of you attending the MoCCA Art Fest: the rest of the Comics Bakery will be there in full force, with some special guests and a full table of awesomeness! There will be a few copies of SMILE for sale too, if you'd like to pick one up. Please visit my fellow Comics Bakers and tell them hello!

And ladies, you should definitely attend DDLL if you're in NYC the evening of Friday, April 8. It's a wonderful opportunity for women in the comics industry to chat, draw, and connect! Artists, writers, editors, publishers, students, bloggers, librarians, booksellers, and teachers are encouraged to join the party. All ages are welcome!

So, that's that. I'm working my way through the hundreds of photos from my trip to the Pacific Northwest, and hope to have another blog post up by tonight or tomorrow!

Vancouver and Seattle!

I can't believe how quickly the year is already flying by. Next week, I'm hitting the road again! First stop…

**VANCOUVER, BC!**

Thursday, February 24

Signing & Presentation at Kidsbooks

2083 West Broadway

Vancouver, BC

604-738-5335

7 PM

THIS IS A TICKETED EVENT. Please click here to purchase your $5 ticket. Each ticket is fully redeemable toward the price of any of my books on the evening of the event.

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Friday, February 25

Signing at Lucky's Comics

3972 Main Street

Vancouver, BC

Friday, Feb. 25

8-10 PM

This event is FREE!

Also featuring Aaron Renier, Jason Shiga, Matt Holm,
Dave Roman, and Gene Yang!

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Saturday, February 26

Serendipity 2011

Vancouver, BC

I'll be presenting and speaking on a couple of panels about graphic novels, the theme of this year's Serendipity Roundtable.

Registration is now closed for this event.

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I'm also doing two school visits while I'm in Vancouver, but of course those aren't open to the public. I've heard that my Kidsbooks event is going to be extremely popular, so I encourage you to buy your tickets now if you'd like to attend!

Next stop…

**SEATTLE, WA!**

Emerald City Comicon

March 4 – 6

Artist Alley, Table G-10

Here, you can find Dave and myself all weekend, selling books and other goodies! I've heard nothing but wonderful things about ECCC, so I'm really looking forward to being there. Here are the panels you can find me on, over the course of the event:

Saturday, 4 PM: Super-Blank: The Game Show (Room 4C1-2)

Get ready to match the comics stars! Strikingly similar to the classic TV game show, The Match Game, a panel of comics "celebrities" will fill in the blanks as contestants from the audience try to match them for points and prizes. Expect humor and shenanigans with comics pros in a way they're rarely, if ever, seen. Starring: Kurt Busiek (Astro City), Chris Giarrusso (G-Man, Mini-Marvels), Raina Telgemeier (Smile) & Dave Roman (Agnes Quill), Kyle Stevens (Kirby Krackle), Brad Guigar (Evil, Inc.) and more TBA! Hosted by Gregg Schigiel (SpongeBob Comics, X-Babies).

Sunday, 12 noon: KIDS COMICS INTERACTIVE READING (Room 4C1-2)

A live comics reading involving lots of audience participation and silliness. Raina Telgemeier (Smile), Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy) and Chris Giarrusso (G-Man) will perform chapters from their all-ages graphic novels. The illustrated panels will be projected onto a large screen for all to see, and volunteers from the audience will be chosen to play some of the characters.

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I'm still waiting on possible confirmation for an event or two in Seattle, in the days leading up to Emerald City Comicon. I'll update this post with that information when it becomes available!

Hope to see you on the west coast!

Art & Travel!

Just a couple of little art notes!

**I have a Tumblr now! I'm still trying to figure out exactly how it works and the best way to use it, but I have posted a couple of new panels from my upcoming book, and will be doing so periodically as I work on it this year. Please note: they are in black and white, but the book will be full color.

**I participated in Hourly Comic Day, which happens every February 1. People draw a comic (or in my case, a single panel) for every hour they are awake, then post them all for the world to see! My HCD comic is posted here, on the HCD forums. I did one last year too, which happened to be the day before Smile was released!

I've been adding events to my sidebar. I believe my Vancouver schedule is now set, and I'm hoping to post Seattle details soon. I will be at Emerald City Comic Con in the Artist Alley, and with luck, I will be visiting a bookstore or two in the days before the con! I can't believe how fast this is coming up, and I'm excited to visit two cities I've never been to before.

In the meantime: back to work!

In with the new

Winter isn't my favorite time of year. The weather is terrible, I'm hugely busy with work, and I've got a headcold! If we could just fast-forward to April, I wouldn't mind. But then of course, I might miss all the neat things happening right NOW!

**Smile was named a 2011 ALA Notable Children's Book! What a thrill to be on this list with so many other inspiring creators!

**Smile also made the TOP TEN Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, as selected by the YALSA committee. I was on this list once before, in 2007, for BSC Graphix #1: Kristy's Great Idea, and I am extremely pleased to be here again.

**Smile is on the shortlist of Cybils nominees, in the middle grade graphic novels category. I've been nominated for a Cybil before, but never won one! Winners will be announced in February 14…cross your fingers for me!

**While I didn't win the vote in the Goodreads Choice Awards, I did place fourth among all of the nominees in my category–which I think is great!! Thank you very much, to those who voted for me.

I've been pleased to see Smile on many a 2010 roundup of books people liked, which is always a wonderful thing to come across. And I've received so many amazing emails over the past year, every one of which I have been grateful for (even if I haven't been able to reply to all of them yet!).

So I guess winter's really not so bad, when I think about it. I start traveling again in late February; my first big trip will be to Vancouver, BC and Seattle, WA. I will be posting details about all of my events there, when I have everything confirmed, so stay tuned!

Happy 2011, everyone!

As 2010 winds down…

…I just want to take the opportunity to say thanks to my readers, friends, fans, and supporters for making this year one of the best I've ever had.

Thanks as well to everyone at Scholastic, for putting their collective power behind Smile and getting it into many thousands of hands.

2011 will be interesting! I've got quite a few trips and events on my calendar (some of which are already listed under "Upcoming Events," on my right-hand sidebar), but most of the year will see me anchored to my drawing desk, working on my next project!

That project, by the way, is still untitled, but it's written and I'm about 50 pages into penciling. It's starting to come to life! I'm on track to finish the artwork at the very end of 2011, and I'm anticipating a mid-2012 release. Scholastic/Graphix will be publishing. Hopefully I'll be able to post some teaser artwork soon!

So thanks again, everyone. My heart is very full. Have a great holiday, and here's to a happy, healthy 2011 for you and your loved ones.

SMILE nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award!

2010 Goodreads Choice Awards Official Nominee:
Best Middle Grade & Children's Books

Vote for this book!

Hooray! You can vote for SMILE (up against some heavy-hitters like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The 39 Clues by clicking the link above. You've got until December 30, so go vote, and tell a friend!

Holiday Links Roundup, plus GIFT IDEAS!

Happy Holidays, everyone! I've got a few links to post, as well as a stuff-is-for-sale memo.

Smile has been collecting quite the assortment of inclusions in Best-Of lists and reading lists around the web! Here are a few that have come in recently:

**New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, Children's Books 2010

**The Texas Library Association's 2011 Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List

**Graphic Novel Reporter's 2010 Favorites

I'm so thrilled to be among such great company on these lists. Thanks very much to the librarians and bloggers who have supported Smile this year!

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And of course, no post in early December would be complete without a mention of the things I have for sale in my site's store. I will happily sell you the Baby-sitters Club page of your choosing; the prices range from about $50 – $100. Please drop me an email {goRaina AT yahoo DOT com} and let me know your page(s) of interest: I'll let you know if it's still available, and how much it will be including shipping.

Also available at a special price are NON-REQUEST pages. You get to choose the book (BSC 1-4), but I get to choose the page – for a flat rate of $30 USD, plus shipping. All the details, plus a Buy-Now Paypal link, are right here! I'll happily ship International, although shipping will be a little extra.

For every page of art sold through my website, I will make a $5 donation to First Book, which provides brand-new books to children in need.

Orders must be in by December 17 at the latest if you would like your package to arrive in time for Christmas! I ship all orders packed flat and safe. And please let me know if you would like your page personalized.

Thanks very much, everyone! I hope this holiday season is happy, healthy, and safe for you and everyone you know.