Interview with Meg Hamill: Celebrating 60 Years of California Poets in the Schools, Part One

10 Wednesday Jul 2024

Posted by in Community Corner, Poet's Perspective

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by Paige Vinten Taylor

Meg Hamill, executive director, California Poets in the Schools

California Poets in Schools (CalPoets) is a thriving program that encourages students to write. Established in 1964, the nonprofit has been successful not only in improving its students’ writing skills, but also in enhancing their personal development. Part of what makes it so special is that the medium used is poetry. I was fortunate to interview Executive Director Meg Hamill for Kite Tales. 

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Treasure Chest: July 2024

03 Wednesday Jul 2024

Posted by in Contests & Grants, Illustrators Day, Industry Conferences, SCBWI Summer Conference, Treasure Chest, Tri-Regional News, Writers Days

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Events, Opportunities, and Resources happening now and coming soon for the
Tri-Regions and beyond

ONGOING
There are lots of opportunities for PAL and self-published SCBWI members in the coming months! Snag one of the few remaining slots at the SCBWI’s Orange County Book Fair booth. The event takes place in Old Town Tustin on Saturday, July 13, 2024. Register here.

The Los Angeles Kids Book Festival has limited seats available for published SCBWI members and will take place in West Hollywood Park on Sunday, September 8, 2024, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information about registering, click here.

Additionally, if you are a published SoCal member and would like to be put on the waitlist for the SoCal booth at September’s Orange County Children’s Book Festival, email Bev Plass at: SoCal-RA@scbwi.org.

ONGOING
Registration for the Virtual Summer Conference is still open! The online event will take place from August 1–August 4. Registration is $195 for premium members and $295 for non-members. There will be 50 jam-packed sessions to choose from on the topic of craft and the business of children’s book creation. Every attendee will have access to all content sessions for up to one month after the conference.

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SCBWI CenCal Writers and Illustrators Day 2024

26 Wednesday Jun 2024

Posted by in Central Coast, Illustrators Day, Tri-Regional News, Writers Days

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by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

Join us for Writers and Illustrators Day 2024!

CONNECTING THE CREATIVE DOTS is Saturday, September 21, 2024, with an optional online pitchfest/portfolio review the following day, Sunday, September 22, for an additional fee. The first day is in-person at a new venue, the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District Auditorium, 1605 E. Burnley Street in Camarillo. Lunch is provided.

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Write for Kite Tales!

19 Wednesday Jun 2024

Posted by in Community Corner, Great News!, Illustrator's Gallery, Toot Your Horn!

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Looking for more ways to get your voice out?

Whether you’re a PAL member, independently published, or pre-published, Kite Tales wants to hear about your stories and experiences in the kid lit world. Writers, illustrators, translators, editors, publishers, agents, teachers, librarians, and more welcome!

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Toot Your Horn!

12 Wednesday Jun 2024

Posted by in Toot Your Horn!

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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!

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Treasure Chest: June 2024

05 Wednesday Jun 2024

Posted by in Contests & Grants, SCBWI Summer Conference, Treasure Chest, Tri-Regional News

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Events, Opportunities, and Resources happening now and coming soon for the
Tri-Regions and beyond

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.

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Great News

29 Wednesday May 2024

Posted by in Great News!

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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!

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SOCAL VOICES: A Conversation Among Andys

22 Wednesday May 2024

Posted by in SoCal Voices

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by Andy Greene

Author, filmmaker, and podcaster 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?!)

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Ask an Editor: 13 Great Things to Do While Waiting to Sell Your First (or Next) Book

15 Wednesday May 2024

Posted by in Ask an Editor, Tips and Tools

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“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!

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Update on SCBWI CenCal County Mingles

08 Wednesday May 2024

Posted by in Central Coast, LitMingles!, Tri-Regional News

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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.

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