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SCBWI-Los Angeles Writer’s Day 2016

06 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by in Writers Days

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by Christine Van Zandt

On March 12, 2016, writers from all walks of life attended this year’s daylong SCBWI-Los Angeles Writer’s Day at the beautiful Skirball Cultural Center. The comfortable seating was an ideal place to take in presentations by the four keynote speakers: Stephanie Stein, Brenda Bowen, Debbie Ridpath Ohi, and Robin LaFevers. As with other SCBWI events, Writer’s Day provided opportunity for education, motivation, and networking.

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Writer’s Day 2016

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Industry News: Important Recent Amazon Changes

23 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Industry News

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by Christine Van Zandt

amazon-kindle-logoLast month, Amazon implemented important changes wherein books which appear to have “quality issues” are being flagged. Quality issues include typos, unsupported characters, cover issues, image quality, formatting, links, table errors, duplicated text, missing content, wrong content, content unsuited for reading on Kindle, and disappointing content.

Heated debate has ensued. Is Amazon infringing on our rights and acting like Big Brother? Or, is it about time they enforced restrictions to ensure mostly error-free books? Continue reading →

Storyteller Antonio Sacre’s Path to Writing Children’s Books

11 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by in Author's Perspective

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Meet LA-region SCBWI member, Antonio Sacre, a storyteller and author of four children’s books. Multiculturalism is an important word in the marketplace today. In his three children’s picture books and one YA collection of stories (memoir and traditional folktales), Sacre incorporates this theme using his own mixed ethnicity.

Dean Zatkowsky photo, higher res Ojai festIMG_3348

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News from the Internet: Re-Flowable or Fixed Format—What’s Best for Digital Children’s Books?

09 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Industry News

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By A.J. Cosmo

Amazon offers two types of formatting options when creating books for the Kindle platform. The options allow for much different reading experiences and require different preparation before publication. It’s important to know the differences and limitations of the formats and choose one before you start work on the illustrations. Why’s that? Let me explain.

Re-Flowable Format
Re-flowable books allow users to change font sizes and even font selection at any time. It allows for links to websites, annotations, bookmarks, highlights, and more—stuff that makes an eBook different from a print book. Continue reading →

SoCal Regional News

09 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by in SoCal, Tri-Regional News

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by Francesca Rusackas, Regional Advisor

Happy Spring! Here in the SoCalRegion we are all looking forward to our annual Spring Retreat at the South Coast Winery Resort and Spa in Temecula. It will be held May 20 – 22. The winery gardens should be in full bloom by then.images 2 JA conference photo 3 Deirdre Jones UnknownOur guest list includes: Stacy Cantor Abrams, Executive Editorial Director of Entangled Teen; Jenne Abramawitz, Senior Editor at Scholastic; Deirdre Jones, Associate Editor, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and Deborah Warren, Co-Founder of East West Literary Agency. Continue reading →

Creating a Newbery Honor Book, an Interview with Victoria Jamieson

12 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by in Author's Perspective, Illustrator's Perspective

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In honor of Valentine’s Day weekend, we’re going to share the love and offer our readers a chance to win Victoria Jamieson’s awesome book, Roller Girl. Post a comment through February 19, 2016, to be entered in this random drawing.

SCBWI member Victoria Jamieson shares her process for creating the Newbery Honor book, Roller Girl. This middle-grade graphic novel has scored more than a dozen accolades including New York Times best seller, Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of 2015, and an ALA Notable Children’s Book of 2016.RollerGirlSticker

Roller Girl is Jamieson’s fourth children’s book and her third publication with Dial Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group. Her three picture books are Bea Rocks the Flock (Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books, 2009), Olympig! (2012) and Pest in Show (2013).

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome! Why did you change your focus from picture books to a graphic novel?

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Coloring Outside the Lines with Drew Daywalt

05 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by in Author's Perspective, Community Corner

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FullSizeRenderWe all love a success story. By success, I mean Drew Daywalt’s book, The Day the Crayons Quit, with over 1.1 million copies in print in 17 languages. TIME magazine named this book one of “100 Best Children’s Books of All Time.” It was on the New York Times best-seller list for 100+ weeks (No. 1 in its category for more than half that span) until recently, when bumped from this spot by its sequel, The Day the Crayons Came Home.

It gets better! This talented, amazing author is an SCBWI member who writes, lives, and raises his kids here in Los Angeles. You may have seen him on the cover of this month’s Writer’s Digest magazine.

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Central Coast Regional News

27 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by in Central Coast, Tri-Regional News

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by Ann Rousseau Smith, CenCal News Liaison

 

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Writer’s Retreat, January 15-17, 2016

SCBWI CenCal Announces Its First Mentor Program

The SCBWI CenCal Digital Mentorship intends to match well-published, knowledgeable local CenCal PAL members* with promising mentees to provide one-on-one writing feedback and guidance. Three mentorships will be offered in 2016: one each for picture book, middle grade, and YA.

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Picture Book Manuscript Wins Sue Alexander Grant

24 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by in Contests & Grants, SAG

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By Marcelle Greene, LA Contest Coordinator

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Sue Alexander

After three years of favoring novels, the judges for the region’s most prestigious annual contest have awarded the Sue Alexander Grant to a picture book:

    Woodland Dreams by Karen Lyn Jameson

In rhythmic writing that is sparse and word perfect, Jameson develops a gentle repetitive call to a range of forest creatures to bed down for the night. The text is “more than a bedtime story,” judges say, “offering just enough flora and fauna to spike a young listener’s interest and to create wonderful illustration potential.” Following are the first two stanzas:

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Thérèse Makes a Tapestry, Part 2: Author, Alexandra S. D. Hinrichs

22 Friday Jan 2016

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Today, we present Part Two of the series featuring the author and illustrator of the historical fiction children’s picture book, Thérèse Makes a Tapestry.

Alex_gettyAlexandra S. D. Hinrichs, an SCBWI member, is the author of this beautiful book. Set in the time of King Louis XIV’s reign of France (1643-1715), Thérèse’s father is a painter who travels with the king; their family lives at the Gobelins Manufactory where world-famous tapestries are made (and are still being made today!). Although women and girls are not permitted to weave, Thérèse practices at home. The book reveals how Thérèse surprises those around her.

Alexandra’s background includes historical researcher for American Girl, substitute youth services librarian, and children’s bookseller. She has two young boys. This is her debut children’s picture book.

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