04 Wednesday Mar 2020
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital hi-fives welcome in the comments!
26 Wednesday Feb 2020
Posted in Down The Rabbit Hole
by Dawne Knobbe
We’re excited to announce that Down the Rabbit Hole, an SCBWI Los Angeles field trip, is back and will be held on May 17, 2020! This Sunday field trip began in 2005 with SCBWI-LA offering members a new experience – an adventure designed to help participants discover a deep and truthful essence of their characters while bonding with other creative souls.
Since 2005, our character-focused adventures have explored many Southern California settings. We’ve ventured by train to both Carpinteria and San Juan Capistrano and then by ferry to Santa Catalina. We’ve boarded the Queen Mary, and explored the Huntington Gardens and The Getty.
If you’d like to know more about what’s in store for you Down the Rabbit Hole this year, keep reading!
12 Wednesday Feb 2020
Posted in Contests & Grants, Mentorship Contest
by Cheryl Manning
The SCBWI Los Angeles region offers a plethora of events and contests for writers and illustrators throughout the year. I’ve been inspired and enlightened by many of them, but the Mentorship Contest stands out. Here are six reasons why my mentorship was so meaningful.
1. Favorite New Author
I was writing a middle grade novel and therefore reading mostly books in that genre. When I found out that YA author Catherine Linka had chosen to mentor me, I purchased her novels A Girl Called Fearless and A Girl Undone. Instead of prepping my manuscript to send off, I began reading Catherine’s first book and was sucked into Avie’s story of survival in search of freedom. Within one chapter, Catherine’s storytelling skills and authentic dialog had me hooked. By the end of her second book, I knew that I was the luckiest mentee on the planet. When I found out that her newest novel, What I Want You to See, was about to launch, I knew I’d be the first in line.
2. Memorable First Words
05 Wednesday Feb 2020
Posted in Great News!
SCBWI loves celebrating our members’ successes and noteworthy news, and there are many! Read on to find out who’s got something to shout about. Digital high-fives welcome in the comments!
08 Wednesday Jan 2020
Posted in Contests & Grants, PAL, Tips and Tools
Tags
A week into 2020, are you still working on your goals for the year? If your goals include things like sharing your work/personal successes, being more active in the SCBWI community, increasing your online presence, or helping fellow writers/illustrators by sharing your expertise – then you should consider submitting to Kite Tales!
Here are some of the key ways you can be featured on Kite Tales. Continue reading
25 Wednesday Dec 2019
Posted in Los Angeles
11 Wednesday Dec 2019
Posted in Contests & Grants, Writers Days
Tags
awards, contests, middle grade, picture books, published, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, young adult
by Karol Ruth Silverstein, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator
2019 Picture Book category winner Sue Schmitt. (Photo by India Schmitt)
The SCBWI-L.A. annual Writers Day will be held March 28, 2020 and, as usual, there will be a manuscript contest open to all who register for the event. Whether you’ll be attending the event for the first time or you’ve been to so many Writers Days you’ve lost count, entering the contest is a fun and valuable part of the experience.
Submissions will be accepted in four categories—Picture Book, Middle Grade novel, Young Adult novel and Other (which includes non-fiction and poetry). Instructions for entering will be included on the 2020 Writers Day event information page. The contest opens as soon as registration goes live, which will be sometime in December. Winners receive a free written critique from one of the Writers Day faculty members PLUS free tuition to Writers Day 2021 (or equivalent).
In recent years, the Writers Day contest has been particularly prescient when it comes to recognizing promising work. Continue reading
27 Wednesday Nov 2019
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here atKite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital hi-fives welcome in the comments! Continue reading
15 Friday Nov 2019
Posted in Industry Conferences, Tips and Tools
by R. S. Mellette
On the last morning of the 2019 Los Angeles Comic Con, Sarah Parker-Lee saved the day. She handed out fliers to every kid in sight, begging them to attend our panel, “What Are Kids Reading? What Do You Wish We’d Write?”
Out of fifty or so invited, four kids showed up, along with a handful of adults. A fifth kid had to come because she was a friend of Andrea J. Loney, who was on the panel. The idea was, we authors would switch places with kids in the audience, to make them the panelist. If no kids showed up, I didn’t have a B-plan – so hats off to Sarah!
Once we had the bright, talkative, reading, kids on the panel, everyone knew we had to share their thoughts with Kite Tales readers. So, what are kids reading? What do they wish we’d write? Continue reading
06 Wednesday Nov 2019
Posted in Industry Conferences, SAG, Writers' Retreat
Tags
Jennifer Rawlings, networking, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, Sue Alexander Grant, Working Writer's Retreat
by Jennifer Rawlings, 2019 Sue Alexander Grant Award Winner
I remember where I was sitting, red club chair in my living room, when I opened the email from SCBWI-L.A. letting me know that I had won the Sue Alexander Grant. I cried when I read the email. I was so happy that someone liked the words that I had typed in secret. I had not told anyone, not even my husband, that I was writing a YA novel.
Needless to say, he was pretty surprised when I told him I had won an award for a book he knew nothing about. Continue reading
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