30 Friday Sep 2016
Posted in Mentorship Contest
Tags
authors, Catherine Linka, community, E. Katherine Kottaras, mentors, mentorship, SCBWI members, YA, young adult
One year ago authors E. Katherine Kottaras and Catherine Linka answered our call for published members interested in mentoring. Since May, they have been working with their chosen mentees. As we now request proposals from next year’s potential mentors, Kottaras and Linka reflect on their experience of advising aspiring writers. Continue reading
28 Wednesday Sep 2016
Posted in Author's Perspective, Illustrator's Perspective
Today we’re talking with SCBWI member and former Angelino, Booki Vivat. Her illustrated middle-grade novel, Frazzled: Everyday Disasters and Impending Doom (HarperCollins Children’s Books), became available on September 27, 2016.
CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome! In this debut novel Abbie Wu, the middle child in her family, is about to enter middle school. What was your process as author-illustrator from idea to publication?
BOOKI VIVAT: Frazzled has a pretty unconventional origin story. It didn’t start with a traditional pitch or a query or a manuscript. It started with a doodle—or rather, a whole bunch of them. I kept a planner a few years ago to try and get my life in order, but it ended up becoming more of a creative outlet to channel all my feelings. Doodles literally took over the pages of my life! Continue reading
21 Wednesday Sep 2016
Posted in Illustrator's Gallery
Tags
awards, conferences, illustrator, illustrator tips, illustrators, picture book, portfolio tips, portfolios, SCBWI members
SCBWI member Anne Berry is an illustrator living and working in Huntington Beach, California. She’s been doodling ever since she found paper and pencil, and could get her cats to sit long enough for a portrait. At the 2015 SCBWI Summer Conference, she won the SCBWI Mentorship Program award and the Portfolio Honor Award. Read on for her valuable tips about perfecting your own portfolio and to check out her awesome illustrations!
14 Wednesday Sep 2016
Posted in Tips and Tools
I’ve always wondered how artists and illustrators pay their bills and still have time to create. Some artists like myself, who need extra income, have little information on finding art and writing jobs other than by asking other artists/writers and checking newspaper job listings for part-time paid positions or freelance jobs. But the Internet is such a wonderful vehicle to use when you need to find information or even jobs that you wouldn’t be able to find locally, so the Kite Tales team and I decided to do some research.
09 Friday Sep 2016
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
A Charmed Life / Una Vida con Suerte, by Gladys E. Barbieri, illustrated by Lisa Fields, Arte Público Press, ages 4-8, bilingual picture book, ISBN: 978-1-55885-827-5, released 05/30/2016.
07 Wednesday Sep 2016
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!
Andrea Ellickson is thrilled to sign with agent Tricia Lawrence at the Erin Murphy Literary Agency. They met through #DVpit twitter pitch that promoted diverse voices. Her novel, Blanca and the Ruins, also won for best YA manuscript at the SCBWI LA Writer’s Day 2016 conference. Continue reading
02 Friday Sep 2016
Posted in Industry News, Writers Days
Tags
Anomaly, Augmented Reality, Between Worlds, Brian Haberlin, Jay Anacleto, Morton Heilig, Penguin Random House, Skip Brittenham, YA, YA Fantasy
I recently attended a demonstration of the amazing Augmented Reality (AR) which accompanies Skip Brittenham’s new YA speculative fiction book, Between Worlds (released August 30th). The AR is created when your mobile device’s camera registers one of the book’s thirteen illustrations, enabling three-dimensional images to literally pop out of the pages. Readers can interact with the characters by tapping these images. The AR also includes additional text not found in the book itself.
Brian Haberlin, Co-Founder of Anomaly Productions talks with us today. Continue reading
31 Wednesday Aug 2016
Posted in Industry Conferences, SCBWI Summer Conference
Tags
2016 Summer Conference staff, Alvina Ling, Editor's Panel, Kat Brzozowski, Kate Sullivan, Kim Wildman, Lin Oliver, Matt Ringler, Melissa Manlove, Neal Porter, Nutschell Windsor, Reka Simonsen, Sally Jones Rogan, Sara Sargent, Stacey Barney
by Christine Van Zandt
Inspiration, education, and conversation 
The SCBWI’s 45th Annual Summer Conference was held at the beautiful, centrally located Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. With almost 1,000 attendees representing 48 states and 15 countries, from the first moment it was apparent that this was the place for a children’s writer or illustrator to be. Continue reading
24 Wednesday Aug 2016
Posted in LitMingles!
Tags
authors, community, critiques, illustrators, middle grade, mingles, picture books, publishing, query letters, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, tools, volunteers, writer, writing tips, YA, young adult
Minglers discussing plot.
The SCBWI L.A. Hollywood LitMingle started humbly. For the past three years, Deborah Blum and Jean Perry (that’s me) have taken the mingle from a living room to the meeting space at the Hollywood Fairfax Library. It’s absolutely delicious to meet with other children’s writers. We who gather on those special Thursdays “get” each other. We find friends whose eyes don’t glaze over at the mention of plot and inciting incident. When we talk about crisis and climax, we can ask which is which. Picture book, middle grade, young adult, and new adult writers are welcomed to this free event every month. We usually start out full group, and then break into small groups based on genre, to get the specific support we need. Mingles are open to the public.
19 Friday Aug 2016
Posted in Industry News, Tips and Tools
Tags
authors, Cindy Pon, Comic Con, Elizabeth Briggs, Emerge, Future Shock, Maryelizabeth Yturralde, published, Romina Russell, San Diego Comic Con, SCBWI members, SDCC, Serpentine, Tobie Easton, writing tips, YA, YA Fantasy, young adult, Zodiac series
Author Tobie Easton signing “Emerge” for fans in the signing area.
As a debut author, I have spent this year—and the time leading up to it—learning as much as I could about the publishing industry and about all the different ways to build a successful career as an author. One lesson that has stood above all the rest so far is that publishing is about finding your people. That team of people who really gets your writing—and who falls in love with it. It starts out with just you, then your critique partners, then (if you pursue traditional publishing) your agent, editor, and other members of the team at your publisher, then booksellers, and finally readers. No matter what stage of your writing career you’re at right now, here’s why conventions are so beneficial: They help you find your people. Continue reading
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