12 Wednesday Jun 2024
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
Autobiography/Memoir, biography, Fantasy Adventure, historical fiction, horror, Middle Grade Fantasy, mystery, nonfiction picture book, picture book, poetry, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, supernatural, YA Fantasy, YA Horror, YA Mystery Thriller
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!
05 Wednesday Jun 2024
Tags
authors, contests, Events, illustrators, publishing, SCBWI Annual Summer Conference, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members
ONGOING
Registration for the Virtual Summer Conference is now open. The online event will take place from August 1–August 4. Early Bird Registration for members before June 21 is $175. There will be 50 jam-packed sessions to choose from on the topic of craft and the business of children’s book creation. Attendees will have access to all content sessions for up to one month after the conference.
22 Wednesday May 2024
Posted in SoCal Voices
Tags
agents, Andy Greene, authors, editors, publishing, retreats, writing, writing retreat
by Andy Greene
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?!)
Continue reading15 Wednesday May 2024
Posted in Ask an Editor, Tips and Tools
Tags
#AskanEditor, 12x12, author-illustrators, authors, business, children's book insider, Christine Van Zandt, craft, editor, illustrators, publishing, Storystorm, The Lyrical Language Lab, The Writers' Loft
“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Hi Deneice – When I started on this journey writing children’s books about seven years ago, I was unagented and unpublished.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!
Continue reading08 Wednesday May 2024
Posted in Central Coast, LitMingles!, Tri-Regional News
by Ann Rousseau Smith
The SCBWI Central-Coastal California Region offers free meet-ups known as Mingles, where writers and illustrators share knowledge, good news, fellowship, and improve their craft. Four of the Mingles are geared toward our writers, one for each of our four counties—Kern, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. We also have a Mingle for our illustrators, hosted by Jaime Zollars, CenCal’s Illustrator Coordinator.
Continue reading01 Wednesday May 2024
Posted in Los Angeles, SoCal, Treasure Chest, Tri-Regional News
Tags
authors, contests, Events, illustrators, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI Impact & Legacy Fund, SCBWI members, SCBWI SoCal
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.
03 Wednesday Apr 2024
Posted in Los Angeles, SoCal, Treasure Chest, Tri-Regional News
Tags
authors, Christine Van Zandt, Comic Orange, craft, illustrators, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, middle grade, PAL events, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI Impact & Legacy Fund, SCBWI members, SCBWI SoCal
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.
06 Wednesday Mar 2024
Tags
authors, Comic Orange, contest, craft, illustrators, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, Writers Day
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).
21 Wednesday Feb 2024
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
biography, historical fiction, mystery, nonfiction picture book, picture book, poetry, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, YA Fantasy
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!
07 Wednesday Feb 2024
Tags
authors, CenCal Writers Retreat, contest, craft, illustrators, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, Writers Day
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.
