12 Wednesday Jun 2024
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
Autobiography/Memoir, biography, Fantasy Adventure, historical fiction, horror, Middle Grade Fantasy, mystery, nonfiction picture book, picture book, poetry, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, supernatural, YA Fantasy, YA Horror, YA Mystery Thriller
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital high fives welcome in the comments!
05 Wednesday Jun 2024
Tags
authors, contests, Events, illustrators, publishing, SCBWI Annual Summer Conference, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members
ONGOING
Registration for the Virtual Summer Conference is now open. The online event will take place from August 1–August 4. Early Bird Registration for members before June 21 is $175. There will be 50 jam-packed sessions to choose from on the topic of craft and the business of children’s book creation. Attendees will have access to all content sessions for up to one month after the conference.
29 Wednesday May 2024
Posted in Great News!
SCBWI loves celebrating our members’ successes and noteworthy news, and there are many! Read on to find out who’s got something to shout about. Digital high-fives welcome in the comments!
Continue reading22 Wednesday May 2024
Posted in SoCal Voices
Tags
agents, Andy Greene, authors, editors, publishing, retreats, writing, writing retreat
by Andy Greene
It was Friday, the day of the writers retreat. Part of me wants to add an exclamation point to that sentence, but that’s not how I felt that morning.
Everything had been packed. I had done my preparations. I had justified my lack of preparations. It was too late to do anything else. I was never one for cramming before a test. I preferred to stew . . .
The weekend was a big opportunity—I would get to meet picture book agents and editors in person, face-to-face! They would read my work. (Gulp, they would read my work?!)
Continue reading15 Wednesday May 2024
Posted in Ask an Editor, Tips and Tools
Tags
#AskanEditor, 12x12, author-illustrators, authors, business, children's book insider, Christine Van Zandt, craft, editor, illustrators, publishing, Storystorm, The Lyrical Language Lab, The Writers' Loft
“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered quarterly as part of our Kite Tales blog.
Hi Christine – I’m pre-published and wonder if I should have a website or be on social media.
—Deneice, Northridge
Hi Deneice – When I started on this journey writing children’s books about seven years ago, I was unagented and unpublished. Now I’m represented by the fabulous Liza Fleissig and am the proud author of two nonfiction picture books, Milkweed for Monarchs (Beaming Books, 2024) and A Brief History of Underpants (becker&mayer! kids, 2021). If I can do it, so can you!
Continue reading08 Wednesday May 2024
Posted in Central Coast, LitMingles!, Tri-Regional News
by Ann Rousseau Smith
The SCBWI Central-Coastal California Region offers free meet-ups known as Mingles, where writers and illustrators share knowledge, good news, fellowship, and improve their craft. Four of the Mingles are geared toward our writers, one for each of our four counties—Kern, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. We also have a Mingle for our illustrators, hosted by Jaime Zollars, CenCal’s Illustrator Coordinator.
Continue reading01 Wednesday May 2024
Posted in Los Angeles, SoCal, Treasure Chest, Tri-Regional News
Tags
authors, contests, Events, illustrators, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI Impact & Legacy Fund, SCBWI members, SCBWI SoCal
ONGOING
A video and transcript of the Children’s Book Changemakers Special, presented by the SCBWI Impact and Legacy Fund, are currently available on the SCBWI YouTube page.
24 Wednesday Apr 2024
Tags
author-illustrators, contests, Illustration, illustrators, Jaime Zollars, Jessica Woo, Kristin Marine, Mentorship Award, picture book, SCBWI community
by Jaime Zollars
In January, we invited illustrators to apply for a six-month mentorship with one of our Published and Listed members. This year’s mentor, Jaime Zollars, joins us to announce the winner and share some of the submission highlights.
It was a wonderful experience reading the entries for this year’s mentorship contest. It made me realize just how much I have missed my teaching days among so many promising students, and how exciting it is to share in the process of creating lasting stories. I loved reading the entrants’ goals, ideas, and thoughtful answers to my questions.
Continue reading17 Wednesday Apr 2024
Posted in Los Angeles, PAL, Tri-Regional News, Volunteer in the Spotlight
by Jennifer S. Pitts
Editor’s Note: A longtime active member and generous volunteer with SCBWI-Los Angeles, Jennifer S. Pitts has played numerous roles in support of members of the regional kidlit community, embarking on her latest one just this year. As the region’s new PAL Liaison, she took a moment to give Kite Tales readers a sense of where she has come from, who she is, and her vision for her latest gig. If you are a PAL member, she is eager to hear your thoughts on the program, to make it most responsive to your needs. Here is her self-interview:
Tell us a little about yourself and your background.
The library was my babysitter (along with my big brother) for most of my childhood. Escaping for hours into the world of children’s books made me want to be a part of that creative process.
As an adult, I have been a teacher, private school administrator, full-time wife, and mother, and a leader/coordinator of women at my church. Recently, I have returned to being a full-time wife and mother so I can dedicate more time to writing.
What was your introduction to SCBWI, and how long have you been with the organization?
Alexis O’Neal introduced me to SCBWI at a UCLA children’s writing event where she was sharing her insights on writing for children. After her presentation, she made time to chat with me in the hallway. She told me about SCBWI and encouraged me to pursue my dream. I joined SCBWI in 2005 and have been pursuing my dream ever since that lucky encounter with Alexis.
Continue reading10 Wednesday Apr 2024
Posted in Contests & Grants, Los Angeles, SAG, Tri-Regional News, Writers' Retreat
Tags
authors, contest, Julia Edwards, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, Sue Alexander Grant, working writers retreat
by Julia Edwards
The 2024 Sue Alexander Grant contest opens this week—April 13. The winner receives a guaranteed spot and free tuition to the Working Writers Retreat (to be held at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, September 27–29, 2024). We asked last year’s Sue Alexander Grant recipient, Julia Edwards, to talk about her experience at the 2023 retreat.
“I am a writer.”
SCBWI-Los Angeles Co-Regional Advisor Nutschell Windsor encouraged the attendees gathered at the 2023 Working Writers Retreat to write down these four words. I penned the phrase quickly, not realizing at first how much I needed to write it. How much I needed to think it. After a several-year hiatus from the retreat due to COVID and an aversion to online anything, I was finally shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow writers. Colleagues. Friends.
Continue reading
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