Great News!

09 Wednesday May 2018

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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!

 

 

“The Jackpot,” a memoir by Karen Gorback, has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul – My Amazing Mom (March 2018).

Joan Bransfield Graham’s poetry is featured in two recent Lee Bennett Hopkins anthologies: “Teacher” in School People (Feb. 13, Wordsong) and “Great Indian Fruit Bat” in World Make Way (March 27, Abrams, a book in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.)

Shireen Hakim blogged for NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month), a motivational writing community site with 250k followers. She wrote her tips for getting traditionally published, based on her experience writing and publishing her children’s refugee story, Rabbi the Rabbiti.

Continue reading →

Target Marketing: Writing for the Whole Family

04 Friday May 2018

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by R.S. Mellette

While the publishing world argues over what’s Middle Grade, what’s Young Adult, and what’s New Adult, I’m asking; whatever happened to “good for the whole family?”

Target marketing has been around long enough that most people think it’s the only way it’s ever been, but if you take a longer view of commercial art, you’ll see that excluding the majority of your potential audience is a brand new concept. Yes, I said “excluding.” If you write, or edit, or make acquisitions, or shelf for one specific age group, then you are limiting your audience. And by “brand new” I mean since the turn of the previous century. Continue reading →

Community Corner with Susan Lendroth: From the Sue Alexander Grant to Publication

02 Wednesday May 2018

Posted by in Community Corner, Contests & Grants, Writers' Retreat

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By Susan Lendroth

In 2010, I submitted the picture book Not So Loud, Natsumi! to the Sue Alexander Grant contest sponsored by SCBWI-LA. Little did I realize the winding road my story and I would take over the next eight years from contest entry to manuscript submission to eventual publication. Continue reading →

#KT250 Winning Entries, 2nd Quarter 2018

27 Friday Apr 2018

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#KT250 is a Kite Tales quarterly community contest! We’re proud to announce this quarter’s winners and share the first 250 words of their unpublished manuscripts. We encourage agents, publishers, and mentors to reach out to any they find intriguing!

To find out how YOU can enter for next quarter, check out contest info here. Entries are now being accepted for next quarter!

 

GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Continue reading →

The Sue Alexander Grant is Open. Why Should You Submit Your Writing?

25 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Contests & Grants, SAG, Writers' Retreat

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By Karol Ruth Silverstein, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator

It’s time once again to polish up those manuscripts and submit to the Sue Alexander Grant, the winner of which receives a guaranteed spot and free tuition to the SCBWI-L.A. September 2018 Working Writers Retreat.

The WWR is an intense critiquing weekend with critique sessions, revision time, and parties ­­— including karaoke! The retreat culminates in a first-pages pitch session with four acquiring editors and agents.

I recently caught up with last year’s Sue Alexander Grant winner, Andrea Custer, for her insight on the retreat, how it influenced her writing, and why you should apply for this grant to attend.

KAROL RUTH SILVERSTEIN: Did you put in a lot of work on your manuscript before submitting it to the Sue Alexander Grant or did you have a polished manuscript ready to go?

ANDREA CUSTER: I workshopped it with my critique group as I was writing the first draft. They are an amazing group, quite astute, and so I had the benefit of their comments early on and had already revised the first half of the manuscript based on their feedback. Submitting it for consideration for SAG was actually a bit of an impulse! I saw the reminder on Facebook that the submission deadline was coming up, and thought why not go for it? I had about a week to re-read, polish, and get it ready. I found out I’d won on my birthday! It was the best gift I’ve ever gotten.

KRS: What was your favorite part of the retreat? What was most valuable? Continue reading →

And the 2018 SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship Contest Winners Are…

20 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in Contests & Grants, Mentorship Contest

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By Karol Ruth Silverstein, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator

SCBWI-L.A. is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2018 Mentorship Contest. These two lucky writers will each enjoy a six-month mentorship with their respective PAL member mentors. To all those who applied but were not selected, please know that our mentors considered the competition very steep. Your applications definitely made it difficult for them to choose their mentees.

“I am so honored by and grateful for everyone who submitted to be my SCBWI mentee,” mentor Andrea J. Loney said. “Everyone put a tremendous amount of thought, passion, and heart into their applications and it showed. So I encourage everyone who submitted to keep going, keep writing, keep critiquing, keep sharing, keep networking, keep revising, and once again, keep writing. I’m looking forward to seeing your words in the world.

And now for our lucky winners: Continue reading →

SCBWI SoCal Regional News, Second Quarter 2018

18 Wednesday Apr 2018

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By Beverly Plass, Co-Assistant SoCal Regional Advisor

Into the Woods: May 4-6, 2018

Our weekend writer’s retreat sold out in one week! YA and middle-grade writers will gather in scenic Idyllwild to spruce up their manuscripts with the guidance of professionals. And what better theme for this year than “Into the Woods?” Attendees will participate in four critique-group sessions led by an editor, agent, or published author, hear speaker presentations on the craft of writing, and mingle during meals and a happy hour.

Our faculty includes: Continue reading →

SCBWI Los Angeles at LA Times Festival of Books: Location, Location, Location

13 Friday Apr 2018

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By R.S. Mellete

In 2015, when we first decided to have a booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, I had no idea where we should request our booth. When I looked at the map of the festival, I saw Childs Way and figured that’s where the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators should be, right?

I’m not from Los Angeles. I didn’t go to USC or UCLA. The most time I’ve ever spent on either campus has been working on movie locations, so I had no idea that Child’s Way was the name of a street, not a section of the festival — which ended up being in the “Hero Complex.” Continue reading →

SCBWI Central Coast Regional News, Second Quarter 2018

11 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Central Coast, Contests & Grants, Tri-Regional News

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By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

A Changing of the Guard

By Mary Ann Fraser

Change seems to be one of the few reliable constants at play in the universe, and so it is with our region. I will soon be moving, and since regional advisors must live within the areas they serve, as of March 1, 2018 I officially stepped down from my post. Thankfully, the talented, hard-working, and did I mention best Assistant Regional Advisor a region could ask for, Rebecca Langston-George, stepped up to take my place. I have no doubt that she will do an outstanding job. I have thoroughly enjoyed serving our region for the past many years, first as Regional Kite Tales Editor, then as Illustrator Coordinator, and most recently as Regional Advisor. Before all of that, along with Lisze Bechtold, I also coordinated several local SCBWI Illustrator Retreats. As a result, I have had the joy of meeting and working with so many people I admire and the honor of calling many of them friends. I will miss you all, but please know that in my heart I will forever be a CenCal Gal!

Wishing you all endless inspiration and great success in all you do,

Mary Ann

SCBWI Cen-Cal 2018 Mentor Program

Our 2018 Mentee is… Continue reading →

Writers Day Literary Agents on Pitching in Person and Making the Most of Your Time

06 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in Agent's Perspective, Writers Days

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By Sarah Parker-Lee and Erlina Vasconcellos

Last month brought us the annual SCBWI-LA Writers Day. Quite a few attendees took advantage of assigned one-on-one pitch sessions with the awesome literary agents on faculty. Some pitchers used the opportunity to work on their query letter or aspects of their pitch with the agent in an advisory role while others went all-in with hopes the agent would request their full manuscript – AKA be interested in representing them professionally. Several folks did get a partial or full request and everyone walked away with some great feedback.

After the pitch sessions were over, we asked our agents how things went, what they liked, and what they recommend so you can put their answers in your toolbox for your next pitch! Continue reading →