18 Wednesday May 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective, Community Corner, PAL
Tags
authors, Conventions, CoyCast, LA Comic Con, marketing, publicity, publishing, SCBWI members, SciFi.radio, WonderCon, writing tips
by R.S. Mellette
This blog-umentary started out as an analysis of hiring a PR firm for a small-press book, and I promise we’ll get back to that, but to assess that value for the month of April I have to fill you in on some personal backstory.
You might want to get a tissue.
Continue reading04 Wednesday May 2022
Posted in #KTChat, Author's Perspective, PAL
Tags
Amy Duchene, authors, collaboration, Elisa Parhad, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, writing tips
by Amy Duchene and Elisa Parhad
Editor’s Note: On Twitter this Friday (5/6/22) from 12-1PM PST, Amy and Elisa will take your questions and discuss why our stories matter, even when we think they don’t. Log into your Twitter account during our chat hour and use the hashtag #KTChat or @mention @amydishes and @SCBWISOCALLA to join the discussion! If you aren’t on Twitter, leave questions in the blog comments before the chat!
We (Amy and Elisa) are long-time friends and co-authors of Pool Party. Luckily, we had a stellar experience working together on this project, but we know that not every collaboration ends with hugs and a publication. Collaborating together for nearly nine months on this project, we learned a lot about what works and what to watch out for so that you can find success too. Here are seven tips.
Continue reading06 Wednesday Apr 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective, Writers Days
Tags
Asa Gilland, authors, Charlotte Offsay, editing tips, Frances Gilbert, picture books, publishing, Rejection, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, writing tips
by Charlotte Offsay
Unpublished and unagented, I attended SCBWI-L.A. Writer’s Day 2019 full of hope but never expecting that the events of the day would ultimately lead to a big five publishing contract.
For the second year in a row, I attended as an aspiring picture book author, and this time around I knew what to expect. I arrived eager to soak in the wisdom of the day’s fabulous lineup of speakers and had submitted a picture book manuscript for critique by one of the event day faculty. The manuscript that I submitted was one that I had been working on for months, Gram’s Got the Magic Touch. Here is the pitch:
Gram’s leaving, and she’s taking her magic with her. Without it Rose’s baby brother Henry wails and life as Rose knows it is dooooomed. There’s only one solution, Rose needs magic powers too.
Continue reading05 Wednesday Jan 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
authors, character development, revision, Rieko Mendez, SCBWI members, voice, writing, writing tips
by Rieko Mendez
Editor’s Note: This is the second of three installments on What to Take on Your Writer’s Journey. Look for the third installment next month that will explore deeper revision.
I’ve been writing YA fiction seriously for the last five years. Like many of you, I’ve immersed myself in books on the writing craft and consumed every minute of workshops I could afford. Early in the pandemic, I lived for those free SCBWI digital workshops. In these blog posts, I want to share something different — the less obvious, yet crucial insights that upped the game in my writing journey.
Continue reading08 Wednesday Dec 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective, Community Corner
by Rieko Mendez
Editor’s Note: This is the first of three installments on What to Take on Your Writer’s Journey. Look for the next article next month, that explores the question of “Why Must You Write This Book?”
I write YA fiction and started writing seriously in the last five years. As a writer, there are craft books, workshops and conferences to hone your writing and I recommend using them. Here though, I want to share what I found crucial in my writing journey—what upped the game so to speak.
Continue reading10 Wednesday Nov 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective, Illustrator's Perspective
Tags
Graphic Novels, illustrator tips, illustrators, LeUyen Pham, picture books, Shannon Hale, writing tips
Southern California author-illustrator LeUyen (pronounced Lay-Win) Pham is the 2020 Caldecott Honor winner and a NYT, Indies, and USA Today best-seller. Her successful collaborations include illustrating Julianne Moore’s Freckleface Strawberry series and Shannon Hale’s The Princess in Black chapter book series. LeUyen was also co-collaborator on Hale’s popular Real Friends middle grade graphics series. And there’s much more—over a million books in print more!
CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! You wrote and illustrated your latest picture book, Outside, Inside (Roaring Brook Press, 2021). The book beautifully addresses how weird it was when everyone suddenly had to be inside. Even though the pandemic isn’t mentioned until the back matter, the way we felt during that time is clearly communicated. Was it harder writing this book than some of your others?
Continue reading06 Wednesday Oct 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools
by Sherry Shahan
Simply put, a ‘listicle’ is a catchall phrase for a short article arranged as a list. Each numbered item expands on the topic in simple, succinct sentences. Rarely is an individual item given more than a paragraph.
Young readers are drawn to listicles because they offer information in easily digestible chunks—as opposed to trying to absorb concepts plopped on a page in an inky mass.
Continue reading29 Wednesday Sep 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools
By Colleen McAllister
Has your writing become generic without your permission? The habits and routines that help us write with regularity and consistency can take us down stale story paths without us realizing.
Here are some ways to break out of your comfort zone and breathe new life and specificity to your work.
Character Backstory Challenge
08 Wednesday Sep 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools
By Colleen McAllister
Stuck at home, staring at the same walls, unable to figure out how get inspired without getting in debt? Here are five things you can do to feed your creativity but don’t require you to open your wallet to do it.
Virtual Visits
Continue reading14 Wednesday Apr 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools
Tags
Amy Rubinate, audiobook publishing, Audiobooks, Erin Bennett, Ideal Audiobooks, Live Oak Media, Mosaic Audio, picture books, Ron Butler, writing tips
by Amy Rubinate
Many authors use audiobooks to enhance their readership and increase sales. To confirm why a writer would want to ensure that their book is made into an audiobook, I went straight to the source. I asked the executive director of the Audiobook Publishers Association (APA) Michele Cobb for her thoughts. She replied, “By giving the consumer all the format options, you maximize their ability to connect with your title. With eight years of double-digit growth, audiobooks have proven their value again and again.”
Kite Tales 