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
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
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
01 Friday Nov 2019
Tags
Bethany Barton, Emily Asaro, mentoring, mentors, mentorship, novel, PAL novelists, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, SCBWI Mentor Program, writing
by Karol Ruth Silverstein, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator
The SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship program alternates between picture book writers, illustrators and novelists. And this year, it’s the novelists’ turn again.
Many folks can attest to the value of having a mentor—but there’s tremendous value in being a mentor as well. From learning more about your own craft to reaffirming your love of storytelling to the simple satisfaction of giving back to the SCBWI-L.A. community, being a mentor can be incredibly rewarding.
We caught up with the SCBWI-L.A. 2019 Mentor Bethany Barton, currently mentoring author/illustrator Emily Asaro, and asked her the following:
KAROL RUTH SILVERSTEIN: What motivated you to be an SCBWI-L.A. mentor? Continue reading
31 Wednesday Jul 2019
Posted in #KT250, Contests & Grants
Tags
agents, contest winners, contests, fantasy, middle grade, nonfiction, picture book, publishers, SCBWI members, seeking publisher, seeking representation, The Last Bookstore, unpublished, YA, young adult
#KT250 is a Kite Tales quarterly community contest! We’re proud to announce this quarter’s winners and share the first 250 words of their unpublished manuscripts. We encourage agents, publishers, and mentors to reach out to any they find intriguing!
To find out how YOU can enter for next quarter, check out contest info here. Entries are now being accepted for next quarter!
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Continue reading
17 Wednesday Jul 2019
Posted in Contests & Grants, SAG, Writers' Retreat
By Karol Ruth Silverstein, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator
The 2019 Sue Alexander Grant drew nearly 60 manuscripts, making the anonymous judges’ decisions all the more difficult. In fact, in the final scoring, the winning manuscript edged out the runner-up by a single point!
We’re thrilled to announce this year’s winner: Continue reading
26 Wednesday Jun 2019
Tags
digital illustration, illustrating, Illustration, illustrator resources, illustrator tips, prompt, Twitter Banner Contest
In SCBWI-L.A.’s latest Twitter Banner Contest (a bi-annual event), illustrators were asked to submit their most creative response to our prompt: EXPLORE. The winning contestant’s artwork is featured on the Los Angeles Region SCBWI Twitter Profile until the next contest with a feature article published here on Kite Tales. Illustrator Gela Kalaitzidis won! Read on to learn more about Gela, her tips and tools, and her own illustration prompt for anyone looking for some inspiration.
15 Wednesday May 2019
Posted in Contests & Grants, Mentorship Contest
Tags
Bethany Barton, illustrator, mentor, mentoring, mentorship, picture books, SCBWI community, SCBWI members
By Bethany Barton, author/illustrator
Have you ever gotten a restaurant menu where everything looks so delicious, it’s nearly impossible to decide? That’s what it felt like going through the applications for SCBWI’s 2019 Mentorship contest! Too much good stuff!
First of all, I want to thank everyone who applied. It’s not always easy to share our artwork with the world, and so many of you were willing. I feel privileged to have gotten my eyes on what you create. I was blown away by the talent on display in every one of this year’s mentorship applicants. The passion for the craft of visual storytelling for children could be seen (and often felt!) in every image that popped into my inbox and I was oh-so-inspired to see the gifts you have to offer young readers. Please keep drawing, please keep painting, please keep telling stories with your images. You must. We didn’t work together this time, but I look forward to seeing your books on shelves, hearing about your successes, and high-fiving you at SCBWI events.
And now, without further ado, I’d love to introduce the world to my mentee: Continue reading
24 Wednesday Apr 2019
Posted in #KT250, Contests & Grants
#KT250 is a Kite Tales quarterly community contest! We’re proud to announce this quarter’s winners and share the first 250 words of their unpublished manuscripts. We encourage agents, publishers, and mentors to reach out to any they find intriguing!
To find out how YOU can enter for next quarter, check out contest info here. Entries are now being accepted for next quarter!
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Continue reading
17 Wednesday Apr 2019
Posted in Contests & Grants, SAG, Writers' Retreat
Tags
agents, critiques, critiquing, Julia Edwards, published, publishing, SAG, SCBWI community, SCBWI events
By Julia Edwards
If you are thinking about applying to SCBWI-LA’s Sue Alexander Grant, JUST DO IT! It was the best thing I could have done for my middle grade manuscript — twice! In 2017, I applied with a very early draft of Anno Catti: In the Year of Our Catand was lucky to be the first runner-up. Then, in 2018, after major rewrites, I applied again and received top honors and a free ride (!) to the coveted Working Writers Retreat weekend.
For those who have never been to WWR, here’s the deal: Continue reading
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