23 Wednesday Mar 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective, PAL
by R.S. Mellette
January 17th was my 60th birthday. All I wanted as a gift was a cover for my book.
I didn’t get it.
But I did get the reviews from Kirkus and Foreword.
Continue reading23 Wednesday Feb 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
authors, Forward Reviews, Hasty Book LIst, Kirkus Reviews, marketing, Merritt Hicks, publicist, publicity, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Teen Ink
by R.S. Mellette
When last we left, I had set aside $20,000 to spend on the promotion of my next book, Kiya And The Morian Treasure, which hits streets April 26th, 2022. So, let’s look at the heat I’m getting from the money I’ve set on fire.
Summer 2021: After a COVID delay of a year-and-a-half, my publisher, Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, was eager to get the ball rolling again, but our original cover artist gracefully bowed out to concentrate on her picture book/lower MG work. Matt at EBP found a new artist who promised to deliver in November. As that was the only big thing holding up publication, I reached out again to Books Forward saying, “We were a go in 2019. How about 2021?” They honored their 2019 bid. Contracts were signed in August for a November start to a six-month campaign ending with a launch sometime in the Spring of 2022. I was also sent an Author’s Questionnaire to complete before November.
Continue reading09 Wednesday Feb 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
authors, Cheryl Klein, editing, kidlit, revision, Rieko Mendez, Sandy Asher, SCBWI members, Writers Day
by Rieko Mendez
Editor’s Note: This is the third and final installment on What to Take on Your Writer’s Journey.
Now that you are prioritizing feedback with your community of writers and hopefully scratching the surface on — if not digging to the core of — answering the question “why must you write this book?” from my earlier articles, let’s talk about the most important step in being a writer: revisions, many revisions.
Continue reading02 Wednesday Feb 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective, Central Coast
Tags
author, CenCal Writer's Day contest, June Moon, Lynn Becker, Monsters in the Briny, picture book, picture books
By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
Lynn Becker is the author of Monsters in the Briny, illustrated by Scott Brundage (Sleeping Bear Press, April 2022). What do you do with a grumpy kraken, a sickly sea serpent, and a tearful gigantic tortoise? You sing them a tune! The verse in this debut picture book follows the sea shanty rhyme of “What Do You Do With . . . ,” as the ship’s crew face each creature’s demand for comfort or attention.
Lynn Becker, former resident and volunteer member of the SCBWI Central-California Region, now lives and writes in Colorado. She took a moment to answer some questions for Kite Tales.
ANN ROUSSEAU SMITH: Congratulations on your debut picture book Monsters in the Briny, illustrated by Scott Brundage (Sleeping Bear Press, April 2022). What was the inspiration for writing about sea creatures?
Continue reading28 Friday Jan 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
authors, Elephant Bookshelf Press, JKS Communications, marketing, publicist, publicity, publishing, Robert Mellette
by R.S. Mellette
Many of us have said, “When I get my book published, I’m going to spend the advance on my own publicist.” Advances have become the subject of myth, but the debate rages on about how much, if anything, an author should spend on publicity, marketing, giveaways, etc. My book, Kiya And The Morian Treasure, will be out April 26th and I happen to have some money to spend, so follow along over the next few months to see how much, how, and where it’s spent. And if it’s worth it.
Continue reading12 Wednesday Jan 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
authors, Christine Van Zandt, interview, Lee and Low, middle grade, Page Street Kids, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Tina Athaide
Southern California author Tina Athaide’s middle-grade debut was the critically acclaimed novel Orange for the Sunsets (2019, Katherine Tegen). Her latest publication is picture book Meena’s Mindful Moment (2021, Page Street Kids).
CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Your historical fiction, middle-grade book, Orange for the Sunsets, about two friends (an Indian girl and a Ugandan boy) is set in 1972 Uganda when President Idi Amin announced all Indians with British citizenship had 90 days to leave Uganda—a story that is close to your heart. Did the span of decades help give this life-altering event perspective?
TINA ATHAIDE: Time is exactly what this story needed. The decades in between gave me a broader perspective, which allowed for the space to present two alternating points of view. When I first set out to write the story, it was in the late 1990s, and I had a singular vision—telling the story from an Asian Indian POV. Now when I look at the story, I cannot imagine it without Yesofu, the Ugandan boy. Time healed to look past the loss and pain of the Asian Indian experience so I could give a voice to the Ugandan experiences during that time, so the story had balance.
Continue reading05 Wednesday Jan 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
authors, character development, revision, Rieko Mendez, SCBWI members, voice, writing, writing tips
by Rieko Mendez
Editor’s Note: This is the second of three installments on What to Take on Your Writer’s Journey. Look for the third installment next month that will explore deeper revision.
I’ve been writing YA fiction seriously for the last five years. Like many of you, I’ve immersed myself in books on the writing craft and consumed every minute of workshops I could afford. Early in the pandemic, I lived for those free SCBWI digital workshops. In these blog posts, I want to share something different — the less obvious, yet crucial insights that upped the game in my writing journey.
Continue reading29 Wednesday Dec 2021
Tags
Amy Rubinate, authors, Elana K. Arnold, Eric Smith, Erin Dealey, Henry Lien, illustrators, inspiration, Jorjeana Marie, Kristen Nordstrom, LeUyen Pham, Rieko Mendez, Sara Schonfeld, SCBWI community
Another year has flown by, and while we have borne the loss of some great creators and publishing influencers, we still have a tremendous community of children’s book writers, illustrators, and translators to look towards for inspiration. We have had many words of wisdom shared on Kite Tales this past year and it is a great pleasure to share them again with you now.
Writing for children requires grit and self-reflection; a sense of play and an openness to the changing world. As creators, we can find inspiration in change and embrace our own strengths and weaknesses to make something greater than we thought possible. Take heart and have patience, we are all on this journey together.
Continue reading08 Wednesday Dec 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective, Community Corner
by Rieko Mendez
Editor’s Note: This is the first of three installments on What to Take on Your Writer’s Journey. Look for the next article next month, that explores the question of “Why Must You Write This Book?”
I write YA fiction and started writing seriously in the last five years. As a writer, there are craft books, workshops and conferences to hone your writing and I recommend using them. Here though, I want to share what I found crucial in my writing journey—what upped the game so to speak.
Continue reading01 Wednesday Dec 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
Alyssa Embree Schwartz, author, character development, cowriting, Fade into the Bright, interview, Jessica Koosed Etting
Jessica Koosed Etting, a Los Angeles native, and Alyssa Embree Schwartz have been BFFs and cowriters for about twenty years. In addition to their TV and film career, their four-book YA series, Georgetown Academy, has over 1.4 million downloads online.
In their recent YA book, Fade into the Bright (2021, Delacorte Press), eighteen-year-old Abby and her older sister Brooke receive a brief letter from their estranged father, telling them he’s tested positive for Huntington’s disease. Both sisters decide to undergo the required six-month pre-testing genetic counseling, then learn whether they have this fatal gene. Abby does; Brooke does not. Trying to process this information, Abby escapes to Catalina Island to spend the summer after high-school graduation with her little-known aunt.
CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Fade into the Bright is amazing! What made you choose to write about Huntington’s?
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Kite Tales 