05 Wednesday Dec 2018
Posted in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools
By Mary Jo Hazard
Peacocks have lived on the Palos Verdes Peninsula since 1924, but no one ever wrote a book about them until I did in 2010. Since then, The Peacocks of Palos Verdes has sold over 4,000 copies — identify a niche market and you can do it too! Read on for my road map on how it worked for me.
07 Wednesday Nov 2018
Posted in Tips and Tools
Tags
Author Tips, illustrator tips, in-store events, Katie Orphan, marketing, promotions, published, The Last Bookstore
By Katie Orphan, manager of the Last Bookstore
One of the best aspects of working in a bookstore is making author events happen. We want them to be great for the author as well as the audience, and I’ve got some tips to help.
Before the event happens, there’s a lot to do. If you’re an illustrator, partnering with your author for the event, or vice versa, can help a lot. You each bring a special part of the creative process to the table, and being able to use your individual talents during the event makes it extra special. If you’re flying solo, don’t despair, there’s still plenty more you can do. Continue reading
01 Wednesday Aug 2018
Posted in Agent's Perspective, Writers' Retreat
Nephele Tempest is on faculty for this year’s SCBWI-L.A. Working Writers Retreat (WWR). She joined The Knight Agency in January, 2005, opening the Los Angeles-area office. As an agent, she works with a number of talented writers, assisting them to hone their skills and build their careers. Nephele comes from a diverse publishing and finance background, having previously worked on the editorial side of the business, as well as for several major New York investment firms as a financial advisor and later a financial marketing and communications writer. Her previous experience provides her with insight into multiple aspects of the publishing industry and today she’s going to share some of it with us!
SARAH PARKER LEE: You’ve been involved with SCBWI events in the past. Are you there just to give back or are you actively looking for clients? If the latter, what makes someone stand out from the crowd at these fast-paced events? Continue reading
04 Friday May 2018
Posted in Author's Perspective
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
11 Friday Mar 2016
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
Antonio Sacre, local, marketing, multiculturalism, parent, Spanish speaking, speaker, storyteller, UCLA, writer
Meet LA-region SCBWI member, Antonio Sacre, a storyteller and author of four children’s books. Multiculturalism is an important word in the marketplace today. In his three children’s picture books and one YA collection of stories (memoir and traditional folktales), Sacre incorporates this theme using his own mixed ethnicity.
Kite Tales 