09 Wednesday Nov 2022
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!
Continue reading19 Wednesday Oct 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective, PAL, Tips and Tools
Tags
authors, Danielle Davis, Mags DeRoma, picture book author, picture books, SCBWI members, school visits, theme, To Make, writing tips
by Danielle Davis
The North Star has always been a beacon for travelers, all over the Northern Hemisphere. A barely drifting constant. A guide.
I believe theme functions as that same kind of beacon for every story—and storyteller.
I’m not a mariner by any stretch, and sea sickness prevents me from even wanting to be one, but here goes:
Continue reading12 Wednesday Oct 2022
Posted in Central Coast, Critique Day, Tri-Regional News
Tags
authors, CenCal, Critique Day, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, small press, webinar
by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
Join us for a couple of fun programs this coming November and December. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to write for a small press, be with us in November for our Small Press Webinar. Also, we will be holding a Critique-a Thon, online, in December. Please see the details below for both events.
Continue reading05 Wednesday Oct 2022
Posted in #KTIllustrates, Contests & Grants
Tags
book covers, contest, illustrators, interior art, KTIllustrates, middle grade, picture book, SCBWI members, spot illustration, young adult
Calling all Illustrators! Kite Tales invites you, our illustrator members, to participate in our annual #KTIllustrates Contest: we give you a prompt and you show us your best take. The illustration can be in any medium, for any age range, and any genre. It can be conceptual or literal, spot or spread, as long as it keeps the idea of the prompt as it would apply to children’s books. (If you’re inspired to create a cover illustration instead, go for it!) All are welcome, as long as the final entry follows the guidelines posted on the entry page.
Continue reading21 Wednesday Sep 2022
Posted in Community Corner, Industry News
Tags
American Library Association, banned books week, book banning, censorship, Dr. Tasslyn Magnusson, EveryLibrary Institute, SCBWI community, SCBWI members
The recent rash of documented complaints against specific books in schools and libraries have grown to an overwhelming number. Not only are the numbers concerning, but the complaints are also targeting books on the shelves of public libraries and bookstores all over the country. Books that have helped children learn more about themselves and others in the world are being removed from their hands. Books that have been created by authors who share the same identities of these kids are being censured into silence.
So what can we do about it?
Continue reading14 Wednesday Sep 2022
Posted in #KTChat, Author's Perspective
Tags
#KTChat, brainstorming, career goals, improv, Jorjeana Marie, kidlit, mindmapping, SCBWI members, writing
by Jorjeana Marie
Editor’s Note: On Twitter this Friday (9/16/22) from 12-1PM PST, Jorjeana will take your questions and discuss ways on how to define your writerly goals. Log into your Twitter account during our chat hour and use the hashtag #KTChat or @mention @jorjeanamarie and @SCBWISOCALLA to join the discussion! If you aren’t on Twitter, leave questions in the blog comments before the chat!
Brainstorming isn’t just for coming up with ideas or solving story solutions. If you’re at all unhappy with any aspect of your writing life, brainstorming can help. It can connect you with your deepest desires—and what better way to brainstorm than by playing some fun games with your inner kid.
Continue reading24 Wednesday Aug 2022
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!
Continue reading12 Friday Aug 2022
Posted in Central Coast, Tri-Regional News, Writers Days
Tags
Anita Perez Ferguson, CenCal Writer's Day, contest winners, Eloise Freeman, Judith Torres, middle grade, nonfiction picture book, picture book, Rachel Waterstone, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, young adult
By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
The SCBWI Central-Coastal Region held its Writers’ Day webinar, Perfect Your Pitch, on Sunday, July 10. Lynn Becker, author of Monsters in the Briny, and Lisa Kerr, author of Wake, Sleepy One: California Poppies and the Super Bloom, were our Spotlight Speakers, sharing their paths to publication. Agent Joyce Sweeney from The Seymour Agency offered advice on composing pitches and gave live feedback on a handful of pre-selected pitches.
A highlight of the event was the announcement of the winners of the writing contest.
Continue reading10 Wednesday Aug 2022
Tags
Emily Asaro, illustrator tips, illustrators, portfolio tips, portfolios, SCBWI members, watercolor
In SCBWI-L.A.’s latest Twitter Banner Contest, illustrators were asked to submit their most creative response to our prompt: FLIGHTS OF FANCY. The winning contestant’s artwork is featured on the Los Angeles Region SCBWI Twitter profile until the next contest, with a feature article published here on Kite Tales.
We’re excited to announce Emily Asaro as our winner! Emily is an illustrator who grew up in a small beach town in southern New Jersey. She has spent most of her life by the sea and currently calls the West coast home. She has won the SCBWI-L.A. Illustrator’s Day 2019 Portfolio contest and the Illustration Mentorship contest and shows her work at galleries all over Southern California.
Read on to learn more about Emily, her tips and tools, and what inspires her work.
Continue reading27 Wednesday Jul 2022
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
Tags
biography, middle grade, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, 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 hi-fives welcome in the comments!
Kite Tales 