—  Log line is a 1 to 2 sentence pitch for your work-in-progress.

— See Preparing for Pitch Contests: How to Write a Killer Logline by Laurie Miller, SCBWI

—  One-page, double-spaced summary of your work-in-progress.

— See The Synopsis by Deborah Fletcher Blum in THE BOOK: The Essential Guide to Publishing for Children by SCBWI 

FIRST PAGE
(1 page total maximum per works-in-progress)

—12 point font (standard font, such as Times New Roman, Arial)

—1 inch margins

—Double spaced (for poetry, see below)

—Be prepared to SCREEN SHARE and READ your prepared first pages. Hosts cannot assist you. Familiarize yourself with this Zoom Tutorial.

— Illustrators are invited to screen share dummys, interior/cover art for novels, and or graphic novel illustrations in addition to their first pages as collateral material only. Familiarize yourself with this Zoom Tutorial.

—POETRY: This includes rhyming picture books, novels in verse, and stand-alone poetry collections. Poetry submissions should conform to the guidelines above; however, they may be single spaced with a double space between stanzas, per industry standards. Feel free to format your poetry to allow for a standard of approximately 250 words (e.g. putting verses into multiple columns, etc.).

—GRAPHIC NOVEL: One standard script page. Please bring any finished art you would like to screen share with professionals and peers as collateral material only. Familiarize yourself with this Zoom Tutorial.

BOUTIQUE CRITIQUES
Pre-event manuscript uploading Instructions will be provided to registered attendees after Friday, September 10.
After this date, if you do not receive instructions within 2 days of registration, Email Deborah Topolski, Co-RA

All manuscripts: 10 Pages total maximum.  Digital formatting requirements for your single Word document is as follows:

—Please format as a Word Document.

—8.5 by 11 inches, 1-inch margins, 12-point standard font, double spaced.

—Your name, e-mail, ms title, format (picture book, middle grade, YA, graphic novel, etc.) AND genre (romance, mystery, biography, etc.) must be at the top of the first page.

—No title page is necessary; text may start immediately after the identifying information.

—No introduction letter.

—Name your file with the naming convention LAST_first

—All submissions are to be uploaded to SCBWI-IL Dropbox by Friday, October 1 at 11:59 PM—no exceptions.

—PLEASE SEND YOUR DIGITAL SUBMISSION IN EARLY if you are unfamiliar with Dropbox.
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Formats for Critique: If your work-in-progress format is a…

—PICTURE BOOK: ONE picture book manuscript only, please.  Your file may include up to (10) pages maximum.

—NOVEL: FIRST (10) pages of the ms (even if this cuts off mid chapter); your one-page, optional synopsis must be double-spaced and contained within your 10 pages total.

—POETRY: Includes rhyming picture books, novels in verse, and stand-alone poetry collections. Poetry submissions should conform to the picture book and novel guidelines above and are allowed up to (10) pages; however, poems may be single spaced with a double space between stanzas, per industry standards. Stand-alone collections (i.e., a group of poems intended to be published as one book) must have a page break at the end of each poem.

—GRAPHIC NOVEL: Your submission should include a one-page synopsis (which may be single-spaced) plus up to (09) pages of finished art, standard script pages or a consecutive combination thereof.