12 Wednesday Nov 2025
Posted in Los Angeles, Tri-Regional News, Writers Retreat
Tags
Adam Blackman, Analía Cabello, craft, Events, Jennifer Rofé, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, working writers retreat, writing
by Judy Y Faulkner
It was Halloween. Many of us came in costume. We all bared our souls. We tendered—and tended—our words. Ate, played, and laughed together. This year’s SCBWI-Los Angeles Working Writers Retreat took place from October 31–November 2, and it was a sweet treat.
08 Wednesday Oct 2025
Tags
Adam Blackman, Berrie Torgan-Randall, Cardinal Rule Press, interview, Just Ducky, Lee Wind, Like That Eleanor, publishing, SCBWI community, working writers retreat, writing
by Judy Faulkner
Registration for this year’s SCBWI-LA Working Writers Retreat closes in four days, and the event is only a few weeks away. Retreat faculty member Adam Blackman is Acquisitions Editor for picture books at the Cardinal Rule Press and a freelance editorial consultant on books for all ages. In this interview, he gives Kite Tales a taste of what he brings to a retreat conversation and what he hopes attendees will bring with them and be able to take away. In conversation, Adam listens closely, smiles easily, and laughs often. He also notes, “You can put in brackets, ‘gestured with hands,’ because I speak with my hands so much. It’ll be an art note.” Hooray, an editor with no fear of art notes! This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. – JF
Continue reading13 Wednesday Aug 2025
Posted in Central Coast, Great News!, Los Angeles, SoCal, Toot Your Horn!, Tri-Regional News
We’re Going Fishin’ … but First, a Deadline for YOU
Today (Wednesday, August 13) is the last day to submit your news for Kite Tales’ September Great News and Toot Your Horn columns.
Follow the link, fill out the forms, upload an image (no larger than 2MB), and shine some light on your recent and upcoming work and achievements. Let the community help you celebrate!
Continue reading09 Wednesday Jul 2025
Dive into visual storytelling for the modern picture book market with agent Kait Feldmann!
Kait Feldmann is an agent with KT Literary and was previously an editor with HarperCollins and Scholastic, overseeing an award-winning editorial list. Join us as she brings more than decade of experience and her unique perspective on kidlit art to SCBWI-L.A.’s Illustrators Day at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, CA, on July 13, 2025, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Continue reading11 Wednesday Jun 2025
Tags
Julia Edwards, mentorship, Mentorship Award, MG, middle grade, novel, Sherry Shahan, writing, Writing awards
In March, we invited writers to apply for a six-month mentorship with one of our Published and Listed members, and we received a record number of entries! This year’s mentor, Sherry Shahan, joins us to announce the winner and discuss her selection process.
by Sherry Shahan
What a pleasure to spend time with this year’s mentee submissions, written by accomplished playwrights and actors, teachers, artists, music lovers, well-published poets, and other creators. While genres and approaches differed, each writer presented realistic characters with heartfelt desires. Their unique personalities shined through. Stepping into their characters’ worlds at the beginning of their transformations was a remarkable, emotional experience.
Continue reading07 Wednesday May 2025
Posted in Industry Conferences, Los Angeles, PAL, SoCal, Tri-Regional News
Tags
Ann Suk Wang, Annelouise Mahoney, authors, Book Festivals, Dan McCauley, Events, Glenda Galvan-Garcia, illustrators, Janie Emaus, Jennifer S. Pitts, Joy Hwang Ruiz, Judy Campbell-Smith, Kimberly Tso, Kobina Commeh, Kumiko Yamada-Yuge, LATFoB, Lauren Gallegos, Lori Polydoros, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Molly Ruttan, PAL, PAL events, R.S. Mellette, Sasha Mayer, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, W.R. Miller, writers
by Jennifer S. Pitts
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
Though originally a tribute to the ancient Persian royal couriers, this enduring phrase also perfectly captures the spirit of SCBWI’s LA and SoCal PAL members, who braved unpredictable weather to complete their own “appointed rounds” at the 2025 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
Continue reading11 Friday Apr 2025
Posted in Industry Conferences, Los Angeles, PAL, SoCal, Tri-Regional News
Tags
authors, Book Festivals, Events, illustrators, LATFoB, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, PAL, PAL events, writers
Friday Special Edition
Join SCBWI at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books!
PAL authors and illustrators from the LA and SoCal regions will be appearing and signing their books in the famed Booth #826. Here’s the weekend schedule of Signing Authors and Illustrators to help you make your plans:
Continue reading19 Wednesday Mar 2025
Posted in Contests & Grants, Los Angeles, Mentorship Contest, Tri-Regional News
Tags
Cassandra Federman, contest, Edward Underhill, illustrating, mentorship, Monica Mancillas, publishing, Sarah Gottlieb, Sherry Shahan, writing
As the 2025 mentorship contest deadline approaches, SCBWI-L.A.’s Contest Coordinator checks in with a few past winners who’ve gone on to score major successes…
by Brenda Scott Royce
A few months ago, I was perusing the new release display in my local bookshop when a title called The In-Between Bookstore caught my eye. (I’m a sucker for any book about books, libraries, or bookstores!) I stared at the author’s name for a few moments before it struck me why it seemed so familiar—Edward Underhill won SCBWI-L.A.’s mentorship contest in 2020. The manuscript he worked on with mentor Nicole Maggi, Always the Almost, was published in 2023 by Wednesday Books, an imprint of Macmillan. Ed summarized the mentorship for Kite Tales in 2021, concluding: “Nicole’s mentorship gave me gifts I didn’t even know I needed, and I would not have gotten here without it.”
The In-Between Bookstore is Ed’s adult debut, and it’s garnering rave reviews (and a cover blurb by mega-bestseller Jodi Picoult!). Seeing it on the bookshelves made me wonder about other past mentorship contest winners. How many are enjoying similar achievements—and did their mentorship experience contribute to their success? I reached out to a few to find out.
Continue reading12 Wednesday Mar 2025
**Note: The SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship is a six-month program that alternates between various categories of writing and illustrating. In this post, our 2024 winner, illustrator Kristin Marine, shares her experience with the program and last year’s mentor, Jaime Zollars. The 2025 mentor will be announced at the end of the post.**
by Kristin Marine
I applied for the SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship Contest in 2024. I had a portfolio on my website, a few written stories, and a book dummy. I felt pretty good when I reached out to illustration agencies in search of representation, but I heard more than once that I wasn’t quite “ready.” I wasn’t sure what ready looked like, and I hoped a mentor might help me figure it out.
Continue reading26 Wednesday Feb 2025
by Jessica Cooper
Calling all Los Angeles-area artists and writers! Come join the fun!
Kite Tales 