18 Wednesday Feb 2026
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 reading11 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 I was a young, unpublished writer who met other dreamers at a National Convention in Southern California.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.
31 Wednesday Dec 2025
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#AskanEditor, Adam Blackman, Alexander Vidal, Analía Cabello, authors, Brenda Scott Royce, Cassandra Federman, Christine Van Zandt, craft, Ellen Hopkins, Harshini Vankineni, illustrators, inspiration, Jaime Zollars, Jennifer Rofé, Jennifer S. Pitts, Jenny Turnbull, Judy Faulkner, Kelly Pellico, Micky O'Brady, Paige Vinten Taylor, Philana Marie Boles, publishing, publishing tips, quotes, SCBWI community, Sherry Shahan, writing tips
January is not just right around the corner—it’s tomorrow! But don’t panic. We still have time to make our resolutions or More/Less lists (see below and linked), and to dream big for 2026. Hopefully, revisiting some of the ideas and insights in Kite Tales’ 2025 posts through the quotes and article links below will provide a fresh sprinkle of information and inspiration to help you get started. Write on. Draw on. Read on!
Continue reading10 Wednesday Sep 2025
Posted in Great News!
Tags
Caroline L. Perry, Dan McCauley, Laura Segal Stegman, Margaret Finnegan, Molly Ruttan, PB Rippey, Rosalind Barden, Sasha Mayer, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Sherry Shahan, Tim Cummings
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 reading11 Wednesday Jun 2025
Posted in Contests & Grants, Los Angeles, Mentorship Contest, Tri-Regional News
Tags
Julia Edwards, mentorship, Mentorship Award, MG, middle grade, novel, Sherry Shahan, writing, Writing awards
In March, we invited writers to apply for a six-month mentorship with one of our Published and Listed members, and we received a record number of entries! This year’s mentor, Sherry Shahan, joins us to announce the winner and discuss her selection process.
by Sherry Shahan
What a pleasure to spend time with this year’s mentee submissions, written by accomplished playwrights and actors, teachers, artists, music lovers, well-published poets, and other creators. While genres and approaches differed, each writer presented realistic characters with heartfelt desires. Their unique personalities shined through. Stepping into their characters’ worlds at the beginning of their transformations was a remarkable, emotional experience.
Continue reading02 Wednesday Apr 2025
Tags
Alaska Writers Guild, April Halpin Wayland, authors, Coffee with the Authors, Comic Orange, Eori Tokunaga, Fall Harvest, Great News, Highlights Foundation, illustrators, Kids Book Conference, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Mark Parsons, mentorship, middle grade, PAL, poetry, published, SCBWI Alaska, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, SCBWI University, Sherry Shahan, Shiho Pate, tabling, Toot Your Horn!, UCLA Extension, volunteer, Wendelin Van Draanen, workshop, Writing Conference of Los Angeles, young adult, zine
APRIL 9
Register to attend Writing Poetry for Children with April Halprin Wayland through UCLA Extension! “In three hours of lecture, group participation, and individual writing time, you learn the basics of writing poetry for children, play with different forms, and learn to hear children’s poetry with new ears.” This class is free to attend and will take place on April 9, 2025, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Click here to save your spot!
19 Wednesday Mar 2025
Posted in Contests & Grants, Los Angeles, Mentorship Contest, Tri-Regional News
Tags
Cassandra Federman, contest, Edward Underhill, illustrating, mentorship, Monica Mancillas, publishing, Sarah Gottlieb, Sherry Shahan, writing
As the 2025 mentorship contest deadline approaches, SCBWI-L.A.’s Contest Coordinator checks in with a few past winners who’ve gone on to score major successes…
by Brenda Scott Royce
A few months ago, I was perusing the new release display in my local bookshop when a title called The In-Between Bookstore caught my eye. (I’m a sucker for any book about books, libraries, or bookstores!) I stared at the author’s name for a few moments before it struck me why it seemed so familiar—Edward Underhill won SCBWI-L.A.’s mentorship contest in 2020. The manuscript he worked on with mentor Nicole Maggi, Always the Almost, was published in 2023 by Wednesday Books, an imprint of Macmillan. Ed summarized the mentorship for Kite Tales in 2021, concluding: “Nicole’s mentorship gave me gifts I didn’t even know I needed, and I would not have gotten here without it.”
The In-Between Bookstore is Ed’s adult debut, and it’s garnering rave reviews (and a cover blurb by mega-bestseller Jodi Picoult!). Seeing it on the bookshelves made me wonder about other past mentorship contest winners. How many are enjoying similar achievements—and did their mentorship experience contribute to their success? I reached out to a few to find out.
Continue reading12 Wednesday Mar 2025
**Note: The SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship is a six-month program that alternates between various categories of writing and illustrating. In this post, our 2024 winner, illustrator Kristin Marine, shares her experience with the program and last year’s mentor, Jaime Zollars. The 2025 mentor will be announced at the end of the post.**
by Kristin Marine
I applied for the SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship Contest in 2024. I had a portfolio on my website, a few written stories, and a book dummy. I felt pretty good when I reached out to illustration agencies in search of representation, but I heard more than once that I wasn’t quite “ready.” I wasn’t sure what ready looked like, and I hoped a mentor might help me figure it out.
Continue reading20 Wednesday Nov 2024
Posted in Great News!
Tags
Ann Suk Wang, Ben St. James, Benson Shum, Eori Tokunaga, Helena Ku Rhee, J. Dianne Dotson, jendia gammon, Joan Bransfield Graham, Josh Oaktree, Kimberly Tso, Laura Segal Stegman, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Sherry Shahan, Sue Ganz-Schmitt, Wayne L. Wilson
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 reading21 Wednesday Aug 2024
Posted in Great News!
Tags
Andy Narwhal, Andy Nordvall, Brenda Scott Royce, Caroline Arnold, Charlotte Sherman, Erika Lewis, J. Dianne Dotson, Josh Oaktree, Kelly Hollman, Lee Wardlaw, Margo Sorenson, Molly Ruttan, Nasrin Aboulhosn, Nelly Buchet, Rosalind Barden, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Scott Slater, Sherry Shahan
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 reading
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