By SoCal Regional Team
SCBWI SoCal has some great events coming up!
May 5-7, 2017 – SCBWI SoCal Spring Retreat 2017: Finding Gold
YA and middle-grade writers, now’s your chance to work on your novel with the support of professionals in a scenic mountain retreat. Our goals? We want you to find the gold in your manuscript and query letter and inspire you to polish your work until we all holler “Eureka!” Attendees will participate in four critique-group sessions led by an editor, agent, and published author. You will hear speaker presentations on the craft of writing as well as valuable feedback on query letters and what makes them shine. Plus, you’ll get to mingle with the editor, agent, authors, and fellow Forty-Niner writers during happy hour. Continue reading
We love our volunteers at SCBWI and couldn’t exist without them! “Volunteer Spotlight” is a great way to get to know them for yourself and learn more about what they do and how you can volunteer too. Now meet Jessica Chrysler, the Los Angeles Region’s Social Media Coordinator.
When I joined the SCBWI in 2008, I had just graduated from art school. I had no idea how to get published and I hadn’t read the latest best-seller in middle grade, but I knew without a doubt that I wanted to create stories—books specifically. So I attended the South Bay Schmooze, and within the first two meetings, I became the co-coordinator. I was scared at first—I had no idea how this stuff worked—but soon I discovered that I was in the same place as most of the members in our area. Time to roll up my sleeves and jump into some research! 
Having a published mentor who helps you improve your work could be the greatest gift you receive on your path to publication. Through its Mentor Program, SCBWI-L.A. has offered this gift to three members in the past two years, and is now running a contest for a 2017 illustration mentorship. (
Winning the 2015 mentorship changed illustrator Matthew Rivera’s goals. “Writing my own stories to illustrate wasn’t something I considered before the mentorship,” Rivera says. But mentor 
Upcoming Events
Long-time SCBWI member 
Kite Tales 