16 Wednesday Sep 2026
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
authors, biography, fiction, illustrators, juvenile fiction, middle grade, nonfiction, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital high fives welcome in the comments!
09 Wednesday Sep 2026
Posted in Los Angeles, Tri-Regional News, Writers Retreat
Tags
authors, illustrating, illustrators, middle grade, nonfiction, picture book, poetry, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, working writers retreat, writers, writing, young adult
by Kim Wildman, SCBWI-LA Regional Advisor
Step Out of Your Daily Life. Step into Your Creative Self.
Imagine an entire weekend dedicated to one thing: your writing or illustrating.
Come join a small group of supportive people who share your goal of creating excellent books for young readers. Leave behind the cooking, cleaning, and endless emails to gift yourself rare uninterrupted creative time in a peaceful, inspiring setting. Write. Draw. Revise. Brainstorm. Receive thoughtful critiques. Share with fellow creatives who understand the joys and challenges of bringing a book to life.
Continue reading26 Friday Jun 2026
Tags
Lori Anaya, mentor, mentoring, mentors, mentorship, Mentorship Award, middle grade, nonfiction, picture book, Rebecca Langston-George, writing
by Brenda Scott Royce
In April, we invited authors to apply for a six-month mentorship with one of our PAL (Published and Listed) members. Open to writers in the earlier stage of their career, the SCBWI-L.A. mentor contest has been a springboard to many a successful career.
This year’s mentor, Rebecca Langston-George received several worthy applications from local writers, all of whom have bright futures ahead. She is grateful to have friends in the writing community willing to trust her with their precious stories and wants to thank each person who applied.
Continue reading17 Wednesday Jun 2026
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
authors, fiction, illustrators, middle grade, nonfiction, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital high fives welcome in the comments!
15 Wednesday Apr 2026
Posted in Contests & Grants, Los Angeles, Mentorship Contest, Tri-Regional News
Tags
authors, contest, fiction, Julia Edwards, mentorship, middle grade, nonfiction, picture book, publishing, Rebecca Langston-George, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Sherry Shahan, writers, YA
**Note: The SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship is a six-month program that alternates between various categories of writing and illustrating. In this post, our 2025 winner, author Julia Edwards, shares her experience with the program. The 2026 mentor will be announced at the end of the post.**
by Julia Edwards
Last year, I was the lucky winner of the SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship Contest and got to work with middle-grade author Sherry Shahan for six months on my manuscript I Speak for the Trees.
I am so glad I met this human! She is enthusiastic, she asks essential questions, she elucidates truths. She dove into her own research to understand the heart of my story, and we had deep conversations about eco-anxiety, the Wood Wide Web of mushroom fibers that allows trees to communicate, women’s climbing camps, and more.
Continue reading25 Wednesday Feb 2026
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
authors, fiction, illustrators, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital high fives welcome in the comments!
11 Wednesday Feb 2026
Tags
illustrating, Julia Edwards, mentor, mentoring, mentors, mentorship, Mentorship Award, MG, nonfiction, PAL, PAL events, picture book, Sherry Shahan, writing, YA
by Sherry Shahan
I’ve been a proud member of SCBWI since the mid-1980s. I was a young, unpublished writer who met other dreamers at a National Convention in Southern California. Forty or so years later, we remain best of friends, with children’s books that cross age groups and genres. I was thrilled to be selected as the mentor for the 2025 SCBWI-Los Angeles Mentorship Contest for Middle Grade Authors. Giving back is a rewarding way to honor the many mentors who helped shape my career.
17 Wednesday Dec 2025
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
authors, fiction, illustrators, MG, middle grade, mystery, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Spiritual, YA
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital high fives welcome in the comments!
22 Wednesday Oct 2025
Posted in Contests & Grants, Illustrators Day, SoCal, Tri-Regional News, Writers Days
Tags
authors, Brett Duquette, Brian LaRossa, contest winners, illustrators, Marie Chan, middle grade, picture book, publishing, Rebecca Sherman, Robert Mellette, Robin Preiss Glasser, Sally Kim, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, Tina Athaide, YA
by Beverly Plass, SCBWI SoCal Regional Advisor
Our Fall Harvest Writers and Illustrators Day at Cal State Fullerton and online was a huge success. Attendees got to hear a day full of inspiring speakers, enter writing contests and a portfolio contest, sign up for pitches and written critiques, get live feedback during First Pages, display published books, buy books from author and illustrator presenters, and participate in our daylong icebreaker bingo game.
Continue reading17 Wednesday Sep 2025
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
board book, Fantasy Adventure, historical fiction, interactive, MG, middle grade, mystery, nonfiction, nonfiction picture book, picture book, picture book biography, published, publishing, SCBWI community, YA, young adult
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital high fives welcome in the comments!
