Great News!

18 Friday Nov 2016

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in Great News!

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authors, community, news, picture books, poetry, SCBWI members, YA, young adult

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 “Tuck a Poem in Your Head” is featured in former U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt’s new poetry anthology One Minute Till Bedtime, which debuted on November 1^st.

Betsy Rosenthal’s An Ambush of Tigers was selected as a 2016 Notable Children’s Book in the English Language Arts and consequently, she has been invited to serve on a panel at the upcoming National Council of Teachers of English annual convention.

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Toot Your Horn!

16 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in Toot Your Horn!

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authors, community, illustrators, middle grade, picture books, published, publishing, SCBWI members, YA, young adult

toot

Living Fossils: Clues to the Past, by Caroline Arnold, illustrated by Andrew Plant, Charlesbridge, ages 7-10, Picturebook Nonfiction, ISBN: 978-1-58089-691-7, released 06/02/2016.

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The LitMingle Minute: San Fernando Valley-Glendale

02 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in LitMingles!

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community, illustrators, middle grade, picture books, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, writer, young adult

sgvmingle We at the SFV-Glendale LitMingle are dedicated to the pursuit of writing and illustrating children’s literature. We support, guide, and nurture budding authors and illustrators as well as established authors and illustrators. Our goal is to create quality works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry that educate, entertain, and inspire children of all ages. Continue reading →

Ask an Editor: Word Count for Middle Grade and Young Adult

12 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by Christine Van Zandt HOT DOG! 2026 JLG gold-standard selection in Ask an Editor

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editor, editors, middle grade, word count, young adult

“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog.

Dear Editor – Word count requirements confuse me. Should I try to reach a certain number before I submit my novel? Does it really matter? —Rob, Studio City

Dear Rob – An ideal reference for word count is SCBWI’s annual publication, The Book: The Essential Guide to Publishing for Children, available to SCBWI members at https://www.scbwi.org/online-resources/the-book/. The printed version is a bargain at $6.25 plus shipping, or download the PDF for free. Continue reading →

Past PAL Mentors Praise Program as 2017 Selection Process Begins

30 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in Mentorship Contest

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authors, Catherine Linka, community, E. Katherine Kottaras, mentors, mentorship, SCBWI members, YA, young adult

One year ago authors E. Katherine Kottaras and Catherine Linka answered our call for published members interested in mentoring. Since May, they have been working with their chosen mentees. As we now request proposals from next year’s potential mentors, Kottaras and Linka reflect on their experience of advising aspiring writers. Continue reading →

LitMingle Minute: Hollywood

24 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in LitMingles!

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authors, community, critiques, illustrators, middle grade, mingles, picture books, publishing, query letters, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, tools, volunteers, writer, writing tips, YA, young adult

Minglers discussing plot.

The SCBWI L.A. Hollywood LitMingle started humbly. For the past three years, Deborah Blum and Jean Perry (that’s me) have taken the mingle from a living room to the meeting space at the Hollywood Fairfax Library. It’s absolutely delicious to meet with other children’s writers. We who gather on those special Thursdays “get” each other. We find friends whose eyes don’t glaze over at the mention of plot and inciting incident. When we talk about crisis and climax, we can ask which is which. Picture book, middle grade, young adult, and new adult writers are welcomed to this free event every month. We usually start out full group, and then break into small groups based on genre, to get the specific support we need. Mingles are open to the public.

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Getting Your Geek On: Why You Should Check Out Comic-Con

19 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in Industry News, Tips and Tools

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authors, Cindy Pon, Comic Con, Elizabeth Briggs, Emerge, Future Shock, Maryelizabeth Yturralde, published, Romina Russell, San Diego Comic Con, SCBWI members, SDCC, Serpentine, Tobie Easton, writing tips, YA, YA Fantasy, young adult, Zodiac series

Author Tobie Easton signing “Emerge” for fans in the signing area.

As a debut author, I have spent this year—and the time leading up to it—learning as much as I could about the publishing industry and about all the different ways to build a successful career as an author. One lesson that has stood above all the rest so far is that publishing is about finding your people. That team of people who really gets your writing—and who falls in love with it. It starts out with just you, then your critique partners, then (if you pursue traditional publishing) your agent, editor, and other members of the team at your publisher, then booksellers, and finally readers. No matter what stage of your writing career you’re at right now, here’s why conventions are so beneficial: They help you find your people. Continue reading →

Bridget Smith: Agent’s Perspective

17 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in Agent's Perspective, Tips and Tools

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agent, Bridget Smith, Dunham Literary, query, tools, writing tips, YA, young adult

photo-BridgetSmith-leaves Bridget Smith is more than an agent at Dunham Literary, Inc. She also studied anthropology and archaeology, worked as a radio DJ, fenced on the varsity team at Brown University, and helped design an experiment that she later performed in microgravity at NASA. So, she’s kind of awesome and you want her to represent your books.

Read on for Bridget’s insights into the kid lit community, how to include diversity in your books, and what happens after you get a full manuscript request.

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Kite Tales at Book Con 2016

27 Friday May 2016

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools

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authors, BEA, Book Con, Book Expo America, illustrator tips, Justin Cronin, Laini Taylor, middle grade, Naomi Novik, Pierce Brown, Sarah J. Maas, Victoria Aveyard, writing tips, YA, young adult

2016-05-13 08.13.52 Did you know there is an entire convention dedicated to books? Book Con is the public part of Book Expo of America, or BEA. Professional authors, publishers, book sellers, book buyers, etc. come together to share must-read books, delve into upcoming market trends, and build relationships with other literary professionals. There are panels with authors from all genres and a showroom full of major, indie, and niche publishers who sell or give away their books. (FREE BOOKS!) I went for the first time this year and came home with some amazing advice and insights from bestselling authors, including Naomi Novik, Pierce Brown, and Sarah J. Maas. And I’ll share them with you below! (My paraphrased versions unless specifically quoted.)