Children's Books North - Summer social

 Celebrating two years of CBN - Summer Social, Leeds


On Thursday 30th June, Children's Books North finally managed only our second ever in-person social event (due to Covid) since our launch in February 2020. 

Since that first launch our membership has grown from 60 to over 350, with more than 50,000 blog views and nearly 6,000 followers across our social media. It was a genuine joy to be able to celebrate more than two years of supporting and promoting our members' work, and championing regional diversity in children's publishing with everyone.

In those two years we have been joined by the CBN Committee - Tom Ashton-Booth, Maria Rifiuti and Shaniah Shields - who contribute a huge amount to the day-to-day running of the network and were able to meet many of our members for the first time.

Maria, Emma, Tilda, Tom, Shaniah

We are now into our second year of the CBN mentor scheme for aspiring publishing professionals which aims to support mentees from the North of England and Scotland on their journey to a career in publishing, and helps to show the possibilities available for aspiring professionals without moving to London. We were joined at the social by some of our mentees from this year and last. 

Tilda, Helen Varley, Sarah Nuttall, Joanne Ruffell, Emma

Co-founder Liz Scott was unable to make it to the social due to Covid but said: 

‘Our intention with Children’s Books North had always been to host regular in-person networking events to connect CBN members from across our regions. While that hasn’t been possible in our first two years, we’re incredibly proud of our virtual events, the collaborations we’ve delivered, and the impressive growth in our membership. Children’s Books North is here to stay and we have exciting plans for further growth.’


Co-founders Emma Layfield and Tilda Johnson

There is so much happening in publishing in the North and we're proud to be of a part of it. We can't wait to celebrate with you all again in another of our regions.

Emma, Tilda and Liz x 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mentor Scheme 2024 - Applications Open

Image
Children's Books North 2024 Mentor Scheme Applications Open! Applications are now open for the Children’s Books North Mentor Scheme! The scheme offers twelve aspiring publishers living in the North West, North East, Yorkshire and Scotland four hours of mentoring with a publishing professional over four months, with the goal of demystifying the industry for new talent. Mentoring will work on a 1:1 basis and mentees will be matched with a mentor that suits their interests and experience, whether that’s editorial, production, design, marketing, sales or agenting. For more info on publishing roles, see document here for a list of different departments within publishing. Applications are open to anyone interested in beginning a career in publishing. No previous experience is needed and we also welcome applications from those looking to change career path. The only essential is a love for children’s books and to be based in the North of England or Scotland. Scroll to the ‘How to Apply...
Read more

Northern Highlights - Jenny Bloomfield

Image
NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS Jenny Bloomfield    Where do you live, and how would you sum up the place in three words?   Leeds - Urban, Dales, Evolving   What is special to you about creating children's books, and what is your favourite part of the process?  Children's books are mini-works of art and a favourite book will be looked at hundreds and hundreds of times - not many books get this much attention from their audience! I am always drawing (I've drawn every day since 1st September 2014 - you can see every single day on my instagram @Jennybloomfield ) so I love being able to transfer my sketchbook observations and ideas to a living breathing story. For instance,  The Worry Jar , has some scenes at a swimming pool and I was able to go back to all the drawing I did sitting on the side of the pool while my kids were having lessons.   Jenny's sketches by the pool The Worry Jar, Oxford University Press, 2022.       Tell us about your upcomin...
Read more

Looking North: The Children's Books North Directory

Image
Looking North:  An indispensable di rectory of Children's Books North members We are delighted to be launching our Directory of Members, which lists published children’s authors, illustrators and publishing professionals based in the North East, North West, Yorkshire and Scotland.   Tilda Johnson said: ‘ The Directory is a key resource in our aim to connect the children’s book professionals living in our regions, to promote our members' work, and to champion the importance of regional diversity in children’s books and the publishing industry.’ Members are listed along with their details, short bios and recent covers, enabling booksellers, librarians, schools, festivals, literacy organisations, agents and publishers to easily get in touch. The Directory is also a valuable resource for authors and illustrators looking to connect with other creatives working in their region and to forge new networks. Our plan is to update the Directory annually, as the network grows. It wi...
Read more