26 Wednesday Jul 2023
Posted in Writers' Retreat
From September 29–October 1, 2023, writers will once more gather at the beautiful Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, CA, for the first Los Angeles Working Writer’s Retreat since 2019. Attendees will have the opportunity to get feedback on their work from five faculty members who are either literary agents or editors. Between scheduled critique sessions, attendees will have time to write and revise (or nap, if they so choose!).
Continue reading12 Wednesday Apr 2023
Posted in Author's Perspective, Contests & Grants, SAG, Writers' Retreat
Tags
Christine Van Zandt, Milkweed for Monarchs, picture books, SCBWI members, Sue Alexander, writing contests
by Christine Van Zandt
The 2023 Sue Alexander Grant contest opens tomorrow, April 13, offering one SCBWI-L.A. writer a guaranteed spot and free tuition to the Working Writers Retreat (to be held at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, September 29 to October 1, 2023). This will be the first time this popular event has been held in person since 2019!
We asked last year’s Sue Alexander Grant recipient, Christine Van Zandt, to talk about her winning manuscript:
The idea for Butterfly Dreams began in May 2020, when my daughter and I bought our first milkweed plant unaware that a mother monarch had sent us home with a surprise—actually 26 surprises! Soon, our plant was covered in adorable caterpillars. We excitedly watched them grow … until something came along one night and ate every last one.
Continue reading13 Wednesday Oct 2021
Posted in Central Coast, Tri-Regional News, Writers' Retreat
By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
Need a boost to your creative juices? Join us for a weekend of writing and revising beside the sea on January 21 to January 23, 2022.
Our get-away-to-write retreat will be held at the Cavalier Oceanfront Resort in San Simeon, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
30 Friday Apr 2021
Posted in Contests & Grants, SAG, Writers' Retreat
Tags
call for submission, contest, Nicholas Ponticello, Nick Ponticello, SAG award, submissions, Sue Alexander Grant, Working Writer's Retreat
by Brenda Scott Royce
The 2021 Sue Alexander Grant contest opens today, offering one SCBWI-L.A. writer a guaranteed spot and free tuition to the Working Writers Retreat (to be held virtually this year on October 9). Winning a golden ticket to this always popular event is not the only reason to enter. Since COVID-19 sidelined last year’s event, 2020 winner Nicholas Ponticello will be among the attendees at the 2021 virtual retreat. But winning the prestigious prize has already impacted his career:
Continue reading27 Friday Mar 2020
Posted in Contests & Grants, SAG, Writers' Retreat
by Jennifer Rawlings
I know applying for the Sue Alexander Grant is scary, but ignoring your dreams and goals is even scarier.
Not only did I not tell a single soul I was applying for the Sue Alexander Grant, I wrote an entire novel in secret. That’s right. Not even my husband knew I was writing a YA Novel—I just wanted to do the work then hope and pray someone liked it.
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com
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
16 Wednesday Oct 2019
Posted in Author's Perspective, Central Coast, Writers' Retreat
Tags
April Halprin Wayland, authors, Beach Retreat, Cencal 2020 Retreat, More Than Enough: A Passover Story, New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story, picture books, poetry, SCBWI events, To Rabbittown, writing, writing tips
By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
(Photo: Morgan Eagle)
April Halprin Wayland will be joining us for our picture book retreat, January 10–12, 2020, in San Simeon, California. She writes poetry and picture books, including More Than Enough: A Passover Story and the Sydney Taylor Gold Book Award winning New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story. She was named UCLA Extension Writers’ Program Outstanding Instructor of the Year, and blogs with five other children’s authors at TeachingAuthors.com. April will be presenting four sessions during the retreat weekend, which is open to the public, and will include time to write, join small critique groups, stroll on the beach, and enjoy a beachside campfire in the evening.
ANN ROUSSEAU SMITH: Welcome to the Kite Tales blog! Most people love origin stories. Can you tell us a little bit about your first published picture book?
Continue reading
24 Wednesday Jul 2019
Posted in Agent's Perspective, Writers' Retreat
Tags
agent, business, Dogs, Doug Cenko, Laurel Symonds, productivity, Shelly Vaughan James, submissions
Agent Laurel Symonds began her publishing career in the editorial department of HarperCollins Children’s Books/Katherine Tegen Books in New York City and joined the Bent Agency in 2018. She’s also had positions in the marketing department at a small publishing house, in a library, and as a bookseller at one of the nation’s best independent bookstores. She’s looking for authors and illustrators from across the picture book-YA spectrum, especially underrepresented stories and voices. And! …She’s here to share some of all this kid lit wisdom she’s gathered before she sits on faculty for this year’s Working Writers Retreat.
SARAH PARKER-LEE: Your decades’ worth of experience with marketing, editing, bookselling, and publishing gives you a lot of insight into both the creative and business sides of kid lit. We can’t wait to learn from you at the retreat! What is one thing from each side you think authors and illustrators should know but often don’t? 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
10 Wednesday Jul 2019
Posted in Writers' Retreat
Tags
agents, editing, Jennifer Chen Tran, queries, query, revision, SCBWI events, Working Writer's Retreat
Agent Jennifer Chen Tran is on faculty for this year’s SCBWI-L.A. Working Writers Retreat (WWR).
She joined the Bradford Literary in 2017, and represents fiction and nonfiction. She’s interested in diverse writers and #ownvoices from underrepresented/ marginalized communities, strong and conflicted characters who are not afraid to take emotional risks, stories about multi-generational conflict, war and post-war fiction, and writing with a developed sense of place. In non-fiction, she loves books that broaden her world view or shed new light on “big ideas.”
Originally from New York, Jennifer was an associate agent at Fuse Literary and served as Counsel at The New Press before becoming an agent at Bradford Literary. She obtained her Juris Doctor from Northeastern School of Law and her B.A. in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis.
She took some time to answer our questions about her work, how first-time authors can shine, and her wishlist.
ERLINA VASCONCELLOS: What are the biggest mistakes made by first-time authors?
Kite Tales 