01 Wednesday Sep 2021
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 — I’m just starting out and keep hearing I need to “build an author brand.” What does that mean and at what stage of my career should I start working on that? Thanks. —Starr, Los Angeles
Continue reading25 Wednesday Aug 2021
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!
18 Wednesday Aug 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective, SCBWI Summer Conference
Tags
Aiden Thomas, Big50 Summer Conference, Dan Santat, inspiration, Malinda Lo, Nadia Salomon, SCBWI community, SCBWI events
by Rieko Mendez
Is your brain exploding after the SCBWI The Big Five-Oh Summer Conference? Mine is! The conference had over one hundred faculty — a diversity of voices, seasoned and new — and I am still combing through the volume of handouts available to hone our craft. True to the tone that Lin Oliver sets for SCBWI, I connected with the authenticity and generosity of all the faculty sharing their experiences and insights. While professional, their sessions felt like fireside chats in their homes. What hit me was that creativity takes a community and SCBWI is a tremendous force of community. I am grateful.
11 Wednesday Aug 2021
Posted in Contests & Grants, SAG, Writers Days
by Brenda Scott Royce, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator
We’re thrilled to announce this year’s Sue Alexander Grant winner—Christine Van Zandt—for her nonfiction picture book, Butterfly Dreams. The book’s inspiration came in May 2020, when Van Zandt and her daughter bought their first milkweed plant, “unaware that a mother monarch had sent us home with a surprise—actually 26 surprises,” she says. “Soon, our plant was covered in adorable caterpillars. We excitedly watched them grow, . . . until all perished.”
The sad turn of events led Van Zandt to research monarch declines, plant milkweed, and educate others by writing this lyrical story.
Here’s what our judges had to say about her manuscript:
Continue reading04 Wednesday Aug 2021
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!
28 Wednesday Jul 2021
Posted in #KTIllustrates
It’s that time of year again! Kite Tales invites all our illustrator members to participate in our annual KTIllustrates Contest: we give you a prompt and you show us your best take.
The illustration can be in any medium, for any age range, and any genre. It can be conceptual or literal, spot or spread, as long as it keeps the idea of the prompt as it would apply to children’s books. (If you’re inspired to create a cover illustration instead, go for it!) All are welcome, as long as the final entry follows the guidelines posted on the entry page.
Continue reading21 Wednesday Jul 2021
In SCBWI-L.A.’s latest Twitter Banner Contest, illustrators were asked to submit their most creative response to our prompt: NIGHT FLIGHT. The winning contestant’s artwork is featured on the Los Angeles Region SCBWI Twitter profile until the next contest, with a feature article published here on Kite Tales. Illustrator Hannah Shafiroff won this year’s contest!
Read on to learn more about Hannah, her tips and tools, and what has kept her inspired through the pandemic.
A recent graduate of Cal State Long Beach, Hannah Shafiroff lives in the South Bay and can often be seen with a sketchbook in tow. Her heartwarming and magical illustrations can be found at HannahShafiroff.com and on Instagram @ThatGalWhoDraws.
Continue reading14 Wednesday Jul 2021
Posted in Central Coast, Writers Days
Tags
Annelouise Mahoney, CenCal Writer's Day, critiques, Jamie Emaus, Kristen Nordstrom, SCBWI events, writing contest
By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
SCBWI Central-Coastal California has set a date for Writers’ Day 2021. Please mark your calendars for Saturday, October 30.
This year’s Writers’ Day will be in two parts. The first will be in-person at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks with spotlight speakers. A featured guest will also speak on this day. The writing contest recipients will be announced and critiques distributed at this half-day event.
Spotlight speakers include:
Continue reading30 Wednesday Jun 2021
Posted in Writers Days
By Jorjeana Marie
The SCBWI-L.A.Virtual Writers Day this year, on June 12-13, was incredibly special indeed. Perhaps because I had waited over a year for it. It was my first opportunity to present with one of the most welcoming and genuine organizations I have ever had the honor to be a part of. I thought after my session: “Definitely worth rescheduling, despite unusual circumstances and constraining parameters. Magical moments showed up for us. In droves.”
Thank you to Nutschell Windsor, Sally Jones Rogan, and all the volunteers and team members for paving the way for a day of productivity and group inspiration and creating such a positive, uplifting place to gather. Events like this and the opportunities therein make the loneliness that creeps up sometimes (okay, maybe a lot, recently) in writing easier to move through. Even though this was different from events in the past, there was again, those magical moments to be gained.
Continue reading23 Wednesday Jun 2021
Posted in Contests & Grants, Writers Days
Tags
contest winners, middle grade, nonfiction picture book, picture books, SCBWI events, Writers Day 2021, young adult
By Brenda Scott Royce, Contest Coordinator
The event was virtual, but the excitement was still palpable as the winners for the 2021 Writers Day Contest were announced at the end of Writers Day on Saturday, June 12. First place winners in each category (Picture Book, Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Nonfiction/Other) will receive free tuition to next year’s Writer’s Day, as well as a manuscript critique from one of this year’s faculty members. Excerpts from the judges’ comments are included in the list of honorees below. If you’d like to contact any of the winners to request their manuscript or discuss publication, please let us know!
Continue reading
Kite Tales 