by Dr. Jeff Creely

**Note: The SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship is a six-month program that alternates between illustration and writing. For 2024, it’s the illustrators’ turn! Ahead of mentee applications opening on January 28, Dr. Jeff Creely, 2023 contest winner, shares his experience with the program. The 2024 mentor will be announced at the end of the post.**

A year and a half ago, I made a promise: I was going to “give myself permission to publish a bad book.” After four years of writing mostly on my own, I felt that it was time to brave more collaborative experiences and put myself out there … even if that meant learning that my writing wasn’t very good. Embracing every opportunity became my mantra. I sought out reading groups, critiques, conferences, and agents. Although I had some positive feedback, the outset of 2023 tested my resolve with a string of rejections.

Honestly, I entered the SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship Contest on a whim. I came across the post only two days before the deadline and went back and forth on whether I had enough time to write a well-crafted entry (hint: I don’t think I did). Admittedly, my expectations were low, but the prospect of being mentored by a seasoned professional in the writing field was an opportunity I couldn’t let slip. I yearned for guidance and had a slim hope that someone could validate the potential I still believed my manuscript held.