It was Friday, the day of the writers retreat. Part of me wants to add an exclamation point to that sentence, but that’s not how I felt that morning.
Everything had been packed. I had done my preparations. I had justified my lack of preparations. It was too late to do anything else. I was never one for cramming before a test. I preferred to stew . . .
The weekend was a big opportunity—I would get to meet picture book agents and editors in person, face-to-face! They would read my work. (Gulp, they would read my work?!)
“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered quarterly as part of our Kite Tales blog.
Hi Christine – I’m pre-published and wonder if I should have a website or be on social media.
—Deneice, Northridge
Hi Deneice – When I started on this journey writing children’s books about seven years ago, I was unagented and unpublished. Now I’m represented by the fabulous Liza Fleissig and am the proud author of two nonfiction picture books, Milkweed for Monarchs (Beaming Books, 2024) and A Brief History of Underpants (becker&mayer! kids, 2021). If I can do it, so can you!
Events, Opportunities, and Resources happening now and coming soon for the Tri-Regions and beyond
ONGOING A video and transcript of the Children’s Book Changemakers Special, presented by the SCBWI Impact and Legacy Fund, are currently available on the SCBWI YouTube page.
The 2024 Sue Alexander Grant contest opens this week—April 13. The winner receives a guaranteed spot and free tuition to the Working Writers Retreat (to be held at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, September 27–29, 2024). We asked last year’s Sue Alexander Grant recipient, Julia Edwards, to talk about her experience at the 2023 retreat.
Julia Edwards (at right) with the writers from her Retreat crit group.
“I am a writer.”
SCBWI-Los Angeles Co-Regional Advisor Nutschell Windsor encouraged the attendees gathered at the 2023 Working Writers Retreat to write down these four words. I penned the phrase quickly, not realizing at first how much I needed to write it. How much I needed to think it. After a several-year hiatus from the retreat due to COVID and an aversion to online anything, I was finally shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow writers. Colleagues. Friends.
Events, Opportunities, and Resources happening now and coming soon for the Tri-Regions and beyond
On Thursday, April 11th at 4pm PT / 7pm ET, you’re invited to the Children’s Book Changemakers Special, presented by the SCBWI Impact and Legacy Fund. This exciting Zoom program is free to all (no SCBWI membership required) and features rare appearances from iconic children’s book thought leaders whose work has made a difference. More information or register today.
SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator Brenda Scott Royce announces this year’s winners.
Please join us in celebrating the 2024 Writers Day Contest runners-up and winners, who were announced at the SCBWI-L.A. Writers Day event on Saturday, March 9. With a record number of submissions this year, the competition was very steep! Our anonymous judges chose seven honorees in four categories: Young Adult, Middle Grade, Picture Book, and Non-Fiction. First-place winners in each category receive free tuition to next year’s Writers Day event and a manuscript critique from one of this year’s faculty members.
Excerpts from the judges’ comments are included in the list of honorees that follows. If you’d like to contact any of the winners to request their manuscript or discuss publication, please let us know!
Events, Opportunities, and Resources happening now and coming soon for the Tri-Regions and beyond
Burst into creative bloom this Saturday at Bud to Blossom. How to Grow Stories and Nurture Creative Inspiration, the in-person SCBWI-Los Angeles 2024 Writers Day conference being held at the Skirball Cultural Center on March 9, 2024. An all-star faculty—including speakers Deborah Halverson, Henry Lien, Ariel Richardson, Liz Garton Scanlon, and Karol Ruth Silverstein—will nourish your creative spirit and encourage your stories to sprout and grow. Enjoy keynotes, breakouts, an afternoon book signing, and a patio lunch by the famous lily pond. Event schedule and faculty profiles here. Online registration is now closed. Walk-ins welcome (cash or check only).
March 9 is the date for the 2024 SCBWI-Los Angeles Writers Day.
Events, Opportunities, and Resources happening now and coming soon for the Tri-Regions and beyond
Tri-Region Members: Last call! Remember to share your Great News and Toot Your Horn! announcements no later than Friday, February 9, 2024, to appear in this month’s columns. All items submitted after February 9 will run next quarter.
The C. Harrington Scholarship is accepting applications through February 17, 2024. Established in memory of Claudia Harrington—mentor, author, SCBWI-L.A. regional advisor, and friend—the scholarship awards one SCBWI-L.A. member free tuition to either the LA Region Writers Day (see March 9, below) or an Illustrator event of the current year, and includes a free editor critique or portfolio review. Claudia was the recipient of the Sue Alexander Service Award in 2015. Read more about Claudia and this special scholarship here.
SCBWI-Los Angeles members may apply for the scholarship honoring the memory of volunteer, mentor, and author Claudia Harrington.
“Ask an Editor” is a quarterly forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our Kite Tales blog.
Hi Alexis – I have three traditionally published nonfiction picture books and have heard that I can make money doing school visits. You seem to do a lot of them. How do I get my first school visit and what should I charge?
Events, Opportunities, and Resources happening now and coming soon for the Tri-Regions and beyond
Event registration opening soon! From Bud to Blossom: How to Grow Stories and Nurture Creative Inspiration. Join SCBWI Los Angeles for the in-person “Bud to Blossom” Writers Day Conference, March 9, 2024, at the Skirball Cultural Center. An amazing faculty will nourish your creative spirit and encourage your stories to sprout and grow. Already have a flourishing manuscript? Then add an Agent Pitch to your event day! Enter the manuscript contest (see below) for a chance to win a free event plus a free 10-page manuscript review. Come meet fellow SCBWI Los Angeles and Tri-Region members and enjoy a delicious al fresco lunch beside the famous lily pond. See you there!
*Deadline extended!* Submissions are open now, and January 28, 2024, is the new deadline to enter your work into the SCBWI-L.A. Writers Day Contest. If you plan to attend the March 9, 2024, event (see Save the Date above), you can enter the contest now for the opportunity to receive a free written critique from a member of the event faculty PLUS free tuition to next year’s Writers Day (or equivalent event). The contest is open to all who register for Writers Day, and there’s no additional fee to enter. To quote Vincent X. Kirsch, one of last year’s contest winners, “You can do this!”
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