If your question is not answered here, please contact us and we’ll try to help! Or Submit a New FAQ and we’ll add it to the list.
I’m having a hard time figuring out what is where on the website!
I’ve lost the home page for SCBWI Canada East!
I registered for an event but can’t remember what workshops I signed up for. How can I find out?
How can I find other members in my area?
I’m having a hard time figuring out what is where on the website! (top)
Yes, it can be confusing, in part because our regional chapter (SCBWI Canada East) tries not to duplicate information that is offered by our umbrella organization at scbwi.org. SCBWI offers a Help with the Website page that will help you navigate the main site.
I’ve lost the home page for SCBWI Canada East! (top)
When you navigate away from the SCBWI Canada East home page by clicking on any of the links offered there, the way back is not obvious. If the link has taken you to another SCBWI Canada East page, just click on Canada: East where it appears right under the header illustration. See where it is on this page, just above the “FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)” heading?
I’m confused about my membership level (Associate, Full, PAL, Student). How do I fix it if it’s wrong? (top)
SCBWI’s membership categories are Associate, Full, PAL or Student. It’s important to ensure that your profile properly reflects your publication status by keeping your membership status up to date. The primary reason is obvious: If you have published a book for children, you want people to know about it. Additionally, SCBWI offers specific benefits to PAL members, and if you are eligible, you don’t want to miss out!
When you add a book to your SCBWI profile, your membership status will be automatically updated to reflect the appropriate level. When you publish with a non-PAL company, your membership will convert from Associate to Full. If your new publisher is a PAL (“published and listed”) publisher, your membership will convert to a PAL membership. You can view SCBWI’s list of PAL publishers on the main site.
To add a book to your profile, simply click on My Home, scroll to the bottom of the page, and under Publications – View in Bookstore, click on the Add link next to Books.
I signed up for an SCBWI Canada East event, but I don’t think I got a confirmation. How can I find out if my registration was received? (top)
Log on to the SCBWI website. Click on the My Home button at the top right corner of the home page. In the right-hand menu, click on Event History. A list of every event you have registered for since this website was launched will appear (see image below). You’ll see the name of each event, the date you registered, the status of your registration, and a link to the confirmation. If your registration status is “Approved,” you’re all set! If it isn’t, check your registration date. If more than one or two days have passed since you registered, contact our chapter’s Regional Advisor (canadaeast@scbwi.org) to find out if there was a problem with your registration.
I registered for an event but can’t remember what workshops I signed up for. How can I find out? (top)
Log on to the SCBWI website. Click on the My Home button at the top right corner of the home page. In the left-hand menu, click on Event History. A list of every event you have registered for since this website was launched will appear (see image below). You’ll see the name of each event, the date you registered, the status of your registration, and a link to View Registration Confirmation.
The Event link will take you to the event details.
The View Registration Confirmation link will allow you to view details associated with your registration, such as workshop selections and the amount paid.
Event registrations are listed 10 entries at a time, starting with the most recent ones. To view earlier registrations, simply navigate using the page numbers on the right-hand side above the list.
How do I change my Zoom name? (top)
One of the great things about Zoom is being able to put a name to a face. Unfortunately, many of us share our Zoom account with family members or we may have used a “cute” name when creating our zoom account. However, the security of your zoom session is important to us. We don’t want any gate crashers ruining your event. To ensure that we only admit registered attendees to our events, please ensure that you rename your zoom account to your full name (first and last), while you’re in the waiting room. This will help everyone get through the waiting room much faster. It will also help out new members or those who may not have met you. We can all work on learning each other’s names.
Don’t worry if you share the account — you can rename it for this session only or for all sessions. If you don’t know how to change your name, check out this short video so you can learn how to do it prior to the meeting: https://youtu.be/yx8mLR76ukA.
I don’t seem to be receiving emails from SCBWI. Or my SCBWI email keeps landing in my SPAM/Junk folder. What should I do? (top)
Here are some tips to help ensure that you will receive communications from SCBWI and your local chapter:
1. Is the email address in your SCBWI profile correct? We use the email address you provided on your SCBWI profile for all SCBWI communications, with the exception of SCBWI Canada East Exchange. Mailings from our Google Group are based on the email address you used to sign up for the group, and some members have chosen to use a different email address than they have listed on their SCBWI profile. Be sure to keep your SCBWI profile (and your Google Group membership) up to date if you change email addresses, or you will not receive any emails from SCBWI. You can update your SCBWI Profile–including your email address–at scbwi.org by clicking on My Home.
2. Keep an eye on your spam folder. Despite everyone’s best efforts, some messages you want will end up there. This is the first place to check if you think you’re missing a message. Note for Gmail users: If you are using Gmail’s default layout, when you click on Inbox, you’ll see three tabs across the top of your email — Primary, Social, and Promotions. Don’t forget to check your Social and Promotions tabs as well as your Spam folder. Gmail will often send SCBWI mail to these folders instead of your inbox. Also, note that Gmail will delete messages that have been in your Spam folder after 30 days.
3. If you use Gmail, check your Promotions and Social Media folders. Depending on your Gmail configuration, you may have tabs or categories for Promotions and Social Media. Or you may have set up your own filters to categorize incoming mail. Gmail may have inadvertently placed SCBWI messages into one of these other categories. Use Gmail help instructions to learn out how to move these to the correct category.
4. Add SCBWI address to your contacts. Adding a sender’s email address to your address book will help to reduce (not eliminate) the chances of their email landing in your spam folder. Despite everyone’s best efforts, some messages you want will end up there. This is the first place to check if you think you’re missing a message.
Several addresses you should consider adding to your contacts right now are info@scbwi.org and webmaster@scbwi.org (used for many of SCBWI headquarters general and event announcements, as well as their Pro Insider newsletter), insighteditor@scbwi.org (the Insight newsletter), canadaeast@scbwi.org (for our SCBWI Canada East chapter communications, including event announcements, Quick Notes, etc.), scbwi-canadaeast@googlegroups.com (for messages from our Google Group).
5. When email messages land in your spam folder, mark them as Not Spam. This is the most important thing you should do to prevent future messages from that email address from landing in your Spam folder. Tip: If you use an email program such as Mac Mail or Thunderbird and mail from some of your regular contacts is going to your junk mail when it shouldn’t, often the solution is to fix it via your service provider’s webmail interface. It is usually the one marking it as spam, not your mail program. Sign onto your service provider’s webmail interface and mark the sender as Not Junk there. Hopefully, the next time you receive mail from that sender, your problem will be resolved.
5. You can create a special folder for SCBWI email messages and add a mail rule redirecting all mail from these two addresses to that folder. Because any mail rules and filters you create are generally applied before spam filters, any SCBWI messages should be directed to the folder you identify in the rule or filter before the junk-mail (or spam) filter kicks in.
For Gmail users, this can be done by clicking on the Settings icon at the top-right of your Gmail interface, followed by See all settings, and then Filters and Blocked Addresses. Next, click on Create a new filter. Enter the domain name scbwi.org in the From field. (You want to enter the domain name, not a specific email address, in order to receive all emails from SCBWI.) Then, click on Create filter (not the blue Search button). You will be presented with the screen below. Check Never send it to Spam (and any other rules you’d like to apply). Click on Create Filter. Note: you will have to repeat the above process (enter: scbwi-canadaeast@googlegroups.com in the From field this time) for Google Group emails, as they come from Google Groups, not SCBWI.
6. Do not unsubscribe from Constant Contact emails from SCBWI. If you do so, you will be taken off the recipient list for all SCBWI mail that is distributed via Constant Contact. That includes Quick Notes (our monthly chapter e-newsletter), SCBWI Insight (the monthly e-newsletter from SCBWI “headquarters”), and notifications of new programs for members. If you have opted out accidentally and would like assistance getting back on the SCBWI mailing list, please let us know at the address below.
If you have tried all these measures without avail, email our chapter’s Assistant Regional Advisor (canadaeast-ara@scbwi.org) and let us know that you are still having problems.
Why can I receive emails from SCBWI Exchange (the Google Group), but I can’t send or reply to messages? (top)
In order to send messages to others in the Exchange, you have to be using an email address that the Google Group recognizes. If you have multiple email accounts, you may be trying to send from an address that is not a recognized (or “registered”) member of the Exchange. This can also happen if you changed email addresses after you joined SCBWI. If you are receiving messages from the Exchange but can’t send to it, it’s quite likely that messages to your other address are being auto-forwarded to the one you are using now.
If you are running into this problem when sending a new email message or replying to a message that you have received, see if you can figure out what email address is registered on the Exchange. That is the one you should be using to send or reply from. If you cannot figure it out, our chapter’s Assistant Regional Advisor (canadaeast-ara@scbwi.org) should be able to tell you which of your addresses is registered on the Exchange.
How can I find other members in my area? (top)
The best way to do this is to attend one of our get-togethers, which are organized by volunteers in a variety of locations across our region.
If you’re not close to one of these areas, contact our chapter’s Regional Advisor (canadaeast@scbwi.org), who can let you know if there are other members in your vicinity. Perhaps you and one of the people you connect with will be inspired to begin organizing get-togethers in your area, as well.
Or you can join the SCBWI Canada East Exchange (our Google Group,), introduce yourself, and seek out members in your area that way.