13 Wednesday Apr 2022
Posted in Ask an Editor
“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog.
Hi Christine – My grammar and mechanics skills helped me get good grades in school but they often cause me trouble when I’m revising fiction. How do I keep from editing the voice out of my manuscript?
—Jade, Los Angeles
Continue reading06 Wednesday Apr 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective, Writers Days
Tags
Asa Gilland, authors, Charlotte Offsay, editing tips, Frances Gilbert, picture books, publishing, Rejection, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, writing tips
by Charlotte Offsay
Unpublished and unagented, I attended SCBWI-L.A. Writer’s Day 2019 full of hope but never expecting that the events of the day would ultimately lead to a big five publishing contract.
For the second year in a row, I attended as an aspiring picture book author, and this time around I knew what to expect. I arrived eager to soak in the wisdom of the day’s fabulous lineup of speakers and had submitted a picture book manuscript for critique by one of the event day faculty. The manuscript that I submitted was one that I had been working on for months, Gram’s Got the Magic Touch. Here is the pitch:
Gram’s leaving, and she’s taking her magic with her. Without it Rose’s baby brother Henry wails and life as Rose knows it is dooooomed. There’s only one solution, Rose needs magic powers too.
Continue reading30 Wednesday Mar 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools
Tags
cowriters, cowriting, Faith McClaren, Horror Hotel, paranormal, path to publication, supernatural, Victoria Fulton, YA, YA Horror
Los Angeles writers Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren are an award-winning coauthor duo. In their YA, Horror Hotel, the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang—Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki—visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark. They expect it to be just like their previous paranormal huntings (spooky, but harmless) yet soon wonder if they will survive the night.
CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! I couldn’t put down your new YA, Horror Hotel. What inspired you to write a scary book for a YA audience as opposed to an adult one?
Continue reading23 Wednesday Mar 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective, PAL
by R.S. Mellette
January 17th was my 60th birthday. All I wanted as a gift was a cover for my book.
I didn’t get it.
But I did get the reviews from Kirkus and Foreword.
Continue reading16 Wednesday Mar 2022
Posted in Illustrator's Perspective, Illustrators Day
Tags
digital illustration, digital tools, illustrator tips, illustrators, Laura-Susan Thomas, SCBWI events, SCBWI members
SCBWI-L.A. Illustrator’s Day is coming around the corner and we have a wonderful presenter lined up, ready to dive deep into the craft of digital art making with you!
Please welcome Laura-Susan Thomas, a digital artist extraordinaire with experience creating art on a grand scale as a Walt Disney Imagineer where she was able to embrace her inner 10-year-old every day, working on designs for Paris, Orlando, and Tokyo theme parks. She has had her work featured in the LA Times Kids’ Reading Room and Babybug Magazine. A professor of Fine Arts at the Allan Hancock College, she is also the Gallery Director at the Ann Foxworthy Gallery and the Illustrator Coordinator for the SCBWI-CenCal region.
For Illustrator Day, Thomas will share with us different strategies for working creatively with technology. The workshop will delve into two of the main applications artists use for creating on the computer and will have a little “sandbox” time for participants to begin experimenting in the medium as well. If you haven’t signed up yet, please visit the regional events page to register.
Continue reading09 Wednesday Mar 2022
Posted in Contests & Grants, Mentorship Contest
by Brenda Scott Royce
SCBWI-L.A. is thrilled to announce the winner of the 2022 Nonfiction Mentorship Contest!
The competition was steep and the submissions enticingly diverse, making the decision a difficult one for mentor Joseph Taylor.
Continue reading02 Wednesday Mar 2022
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
biography, middle grade, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, young adult
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 hi-fives welcome in the comments!
23 Wednesday Feb 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
authors, Forward Reviews, Hasty Book LIst, Kirkus Reviews, marketing, Merritt Hicks, publicist, publicity, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Teen Ink
by R.S. Mellette
When last we left, I had set aside $20,000 to spend on the promotion of my next book, Kiya And The Morian Treasure, which hits streets April 26th, 2022. So, let’s look at the heat I’m getting from the money I’ve set on fire.
Summer 2021: After a COVID delay of a year-and-a-half, my publisher, Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, was eager to get the ball rolling again, but our original cover artist gracefully bowed out to concentrate on her picture book/lower MG work. Matt at EBP found a new artist who promised to deliver in November. As that was the only big thing holding up publication, I reached out again to Books Forward saying, “We were a go in 2019. How about 2021?” They honored their 2019 bid. Contracts were signed in August for a November start to a six-month campaign ending with a launch sometime in the Spring of 2022. I was also sent an Author’s Questionnaire to complete before November.
Continue reading16 Wednesday Feb 2022
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 reading09 Wednesday Feb 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
authors, Cheryl Klein, editing, kidlit, revision, Rieko Mendez, Sandy Asher, SCBWI members, Writers Day
by Rieko Mendez
Editor’s Note: This is the third and final installment on What to Take on Your Writer’s Journey.
Now that you are prioritizing feedback with your community of writers and hopefully scratching the surface on — if not digging to the core of — answering the question “why must you write this book?” from my earlier articles, let’s talk about the most important step in being a writer: revisions, many revisions.
Continue reading
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