Tag Archives: Sue Alexander Grant

The Sue Alexander Grant is Open. Why Should You Submit Your Writing?

25 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Contests & Grants, SAG, Writers' Retreat

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By Karol Ruth Silverstein, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator

It’s time once again to polish up those manuscripts and submit to the Sue Alexander Grant, the winner of which receives a guaranteed spot and free tuition to the SCBWI-L.A. September 2018 Working Writers Retreat.

The WWR is an intense critiquing weekend with critique sessions, revision time, and parties ­­— including karaoke! The retreat culminates in a first-pages pitch session with four acquiring editors and agents.

I recently caught up with last year’s Sue Alexander Grant winner, Andrea Custer, for her insight on the retreat, how it influenced her writing, and why you should apply for this grant to attend.

KAROL RUTH SILVERSTEIN: Did you put in a lot of work on your manuscript before submitting it to the Sue Alexander Grant or did you have a polished manuscript ready to go?

ANDREA CUSTER: I workshopped it with my critique group as I was writing the first draft. They are an amazing group, quite astute, and so I had the benefit of their comments early on and had already revised the first half of the manuscript based on their feedback. Submitting it for consideration for SAG was actually a bit of an impulse! I saw the reminder on Facebook that the submission deadline was coming up, and thought why not go for it? I had about a week to re-read, polish, and get it ready. I found out I’d won on my birthday! It was the best gift I’ve ever gotten.

KRS: What was your favorite part of the retreat? What was most valuable? Continue reading →

SAG Winner Karen Jameson on Getting Published & the Mentors That Got Her There

29 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by in Author's Perspective, Contests & Grants

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By Karen Jameson

Sometimes the person who’s about to change your life has been there all along!

Children’s author and friend, Dianne White, and I met way back in 1996 when I joined the teaching staff at Peachland Elementary. A well-respected primary teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge of children’s literature, Dianne pursued her love of children’s writing after hours. Sixteen years later, when Dianne announced plans for an early retirement (and a move to Arizona), I knew that it was now or never. I finally summoned my courage and shared my own secret writing dreams. I never could have imagined what happened next!

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Working Writer’s Retreat 2017 Recap: Plot Problems and Muddy Middles

11 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Writers' Retreat

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By Andrea Custer

IMG_5103Every year in September, a handful of writers lucky enough to have secured a spot at SCBWI LA’s Working Writers Retreat gather at a retreat center in Encino. This year it was my immense honor to attend as the recipient of the Sue Alexander Grant.

No one could have done more to set a positive atmosphere at the event, held September 15-17, than Co-Regional Advisor Nutschell Windsor, who began the opening session with this simple promise: all your needs will be met so you can relax and focus entirely on your writing. They delivered on that promise right away, assembling an outstanding First Pages Panel (authors and freelance editors Judy Enderle and Stephanie Gordon, and author Catherine Linka) who provided sincere praise interwoven with meaningful feedback.

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Judges Award Sue Alexander Grant, SCBWI-L.A.’s Top Writing Prize

14 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by in Contests & Grants, Writers' Retreat

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By Marcelle Greene, SCBWI-L.A. Contest Coordinator

Our anonymous judges were unanimous in their opinion that awarding this year’s Sue Alexander Grant was one tough decision. But after three rounds of whittling more than one hundred entries, there emerged this clear winner:

I do my best thinking in my underwear. Mamma always understood that about me.

 “We Rockfort women are at our best when we’re wearing the least,” she’d say. But Lord in Heaven, I don’t think she had in mind that I’d be wearing a man’s jockey shorts, standard Army issue, second-hand no less. And I’ll say it plain, as much time as men have spent getting into my drawers, I can’t quite get right with walking around in theirs.

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