27 Wednesday Nov 2019
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here atKite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital hi-fives welcome in the comments! Continue reading
06 Wednesday Nov 2019
Posted in Industry Conferences, SAG, Writers' Retreat
Tags
Jennifer Rawlings, networking, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, Sue Alexander Grant, Working Writer's Retreat
by Jennifer Rawlings, 2019 Sue Alexander Grant Award Winner
I remember where I was sitting, red club chair in my living room, when I opened the email from SCBWI-L.A. letting me know that I had won the Sue Alexander Grant. I cried when I read the email. I was so happy that someone liked the words that I had typed in secret. I had not told anyone, not even my husband, that I was writing a YA novel.
Needless to say, he was pretty surprised when I told him I had won an award for a book he knew nothing about. Continue reading
23 Wednesday Oct 2019
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!
I Am a Thief! by Abigail Rayner, illustrated by Molly Ruttan, received a starred Kirkus review: “Hilarious and sweet, with a gentle, affirming moral.” Published by NorthSouth Books, it is now available.
21 Wednesday Aug 2019
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
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 hi-fives welcome in the comments!
07 Wednesday Aug 2019
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!
Joan Bransfield Graham’s poem Nurse: Healing Hand was featured in Lee Bennett Hopkins’ I Am Someone Else: Poems About Pretending, which debuted July 2. Kirkus called her poem a “standout.” Continue reading
28 Friday Jun 2019
Posted in Tri-Regional News, Volunteer in the Spotlight
Sometimes doing a good thing, even a very good thing, is not necessarily the best thing for us. It’s hard to know when boundaries need to be placed, when risks need to be taken, when the unknown is better for us than the relative safety of routine. It’s hard to change. But as writers and illustrators, we must be protective of our time, our creative mental space, and recognize when a good thing, even a very good thing, could be getting in the way. Continue reading
12 Wednesday Jun 2019
Posted in Critique Day
By Amber June Davis
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked into the Skirball Cultural Center on June 2, for my first Peer2Peer Critique Day. I’d been to critique groups and workshops over the years, but none with a professional reputation like SCBWI’s. My hands shook a little. Who would be there? Would they all be vastly more experienced than me? But I knew I was ready to take this step, and had six copies of a picture book manuscript I was proud of tucked under my arm. I pushed through the courtyard door.
05 Wednesday Jun 2019
Posted in Illustrator's Perspective, Tips and Tools
By Joie Foster
You work toward a goal for ages, but when you finally achieve it, it feels like nothing more than a checkbox to be crossed off on your way to the next thing. Your sweet victory suddenly tastes so bland. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Today I’m going to share three tips to help you stop moving your creative goalposts and celebrate wins! Continue reading
17 Friday May 2019
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
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 hi-fives welcome in the comments!
15 Wednesday May 2019
Posted in Contests & Grants, Mentorship Contest
Tags
Bethany Barton, illustrator, mentor, mentoring, mentorship, picture books, SCBWI community, SCBWI members
By Bethany Barton, author/illustrator
Have you ever gotten a restaurant menu where everything looks so delicious, it’s nearly impossible to decide? That’s what it felt like going through the applications for SCBWI’s 2019 Mentorship contest! Too much good stuff!
First of all, I want to thank everyone who applied. It’s not always easy to share our artwork with the world, and so many of you were willing. I feel privileged to have gotten my eyes on what you create. I was blown away by the talent on display in every one of this year’s mentorship applicants. The passion for the craft of visual storytelling for children could be seen (and often felt!) in every image that popped into my inbox and I was oh-so-inspired to see the gifts you have to offer young readers. Please keep drawing, please keep painting, please keep telling stories with your images. You must. We didn’t work together this time, but I look forward to seeing your books on shelves, hearing about your successes, and high-fiving you at SCBWI events.
And now, without further ado, I’d love to introduce the world to my mentee: Continue reading
Kite Tales 