Find some of the most commonly asked questions here.
The new SCBWI will never be completely finished, and that’s the beauty of it! When we launch, it is just the beginning. We already have a few additions planned for the site after we launch, for example, Critique Groups and the Speakers Bureau. We’ll also gather member input and feedback in order to keep making improvements, changes, and additions to the site as time goes on. We will review feedback and analytics on an ongoing basis so that we can continue to improve the site so that it never gets stale or outdated. The more that SCBWI members use the site and share feedback, the better the site will be.
We’ve striven to keep what’s good about the old site and let go of anything that wasn’t working well. We switched from a WordPress format—which the organization had outgrown—to an open-source, customized format that allows us to change and grow as we need. The new site is easier to navigate, the design is fresh, and we can now feature many more members’ artwork throughout the site—allowing for more exposure for SCBWI members. The new payment system, Stripe, allows non-US members to pay for membership and events in your home-country’s currency. The entire site is now GDPR compliant, ensuring online security for members around the world. The new site is one of the ways in which SCBWI is shifting into a more truly global organization, and putting an emphasis on providing value for members that live around the world. A big change with the new site is the emphasis on the Member Home, and our ability to share content, news, and opportunities to our members without relying on emails crowding up inboxes. In the new Member Home, you’ll find your Feed (so the content comes straight to YOU), your library of resources, your events info and access, and your galleries—where you can upload your books and illustrations. The new Member Home will be your online home base at SCBWI, and your new public Member Profile will look great and be informative—it will be a page that you’ll want to share widely.
Besides the new site being easier and more fun to use, and allowing you better access to all that SCBWI membership provides, the site will also be up to date with all the current technological and online advances, for example SEO, so that more people can find you and your work. With new and improved design and analytics, we can track how people use the site, and can make additions and improvements to the site based on what SCBWI members and industry publishing professionals really need and want.
Technology moves fast, and our old site became outdated. The SCBWI website isn’t just a page for people to find information about the organization—it’s a place where members need to be able to experience their member benefits with ease and fun. A vibrant place to learn and grow as a creator, connect with the children’s book community, apply for awards and grants, showcase your work, get discovered, get inspired, and sell books. It also needs to be an enticing place for new members to join, for industry professionals to discover talent and connect with SCBWI members, and for the public to find books for young children. We are confident that the new site will allow us to provide more to our members and to the entire children’s book community.
Please direct all questions and concerns to webmaster@scbwi.org