Putting the SCBWI Book Launch Grant to Good Use

October 8, 2022 by Henry Herz 2 Comments

I was honored to receive the 2022 Book Launch Grant from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) for my award-winning picture book, I AM SMOKE. The funding was used to purchase copies of I AM SMOKE for elementary schools and to pay for travel to book promotion events, including WonderCon, the Bay Area Book Festival, and bookstores and schools in the Washington, DC area.

My booth at WonderCon in Anaheim, CA

I was also on a panel with children’s book authors and illustrators (l to r) Tim McCanna, Ernesto Cisneros, Sam Subity, and Salina Yoon.

I was an invited speaker at the Bay Area Book Festival, held near UC Berkeley.

Here I am, reading I AM SMOKE to an audience. What incredible stage presence! So lifelike!

I also got to meet fellow authors, including the charismatic Jessixa Bagley.

I helped the shy author John Scalzi out of his shell…

And here I am with author Mac Barnett and illustrator Shawn Harris, who, it turns out, played on the same soccer team when they were kids.

My trip to the Washington, DC area included popping in on Capclave, where I chatted with authors Alex Shvartsman and Leah Cypess.

Then it was on to the Manassas, VA Barnes & Noble store.

I got to read I AM SMOKE to the well-behaved and well-dressed kids of Westminster Elementary.

I signed copies of I AM SMOKE in good company at the Tyson’s Corner Barnes & Noble.

I read I AM SMOKE to the wonderful kids at Oakwood Elementary.

I rounded out the tour reading I AM SMOKE to these rapscallions at the Aurora Hills Library in Arlington, VA, followed by a wildly unsuccessful “ice volcano” experiment.