Attending the Annual Summer Conference For the First Time as a PAL Member

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Author Tips, conferences, Karol Ruth Silverstein, PAL, published, SCBWI Annual Summer Conference, SCBWI events

by Karol Ruth Silverstein

With my debut YA novel Cursed on bookstore shelves, there was no way I was going to miss SCBWI Annual Summer Conference this year. Attending as a published author for the first time was definitely a different experience.

Here are my 5 takeaways:

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What Cassandra Federman Wants You to Know About Writing and Illustrating Your First Book

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Albert Whitman, author, Cassandra Federman, illustrator, picture books, publishing, This is a Sea Cow

Author/illustrator Cassandra Federman was born and raised in Massachusetts, where she spent her childhood reading comic books, playing action figures, drawing superheroes, and participating in all things nerdy (before that became cool). She is also the SCBWI Los Angeles 2017 Mentorship Contest winner. Her book This is a Sea Cow hits shelves on September 1, 2019. Today she’s here to share some of her recent experiences and takeaways on her path to becoming published.

SARAH PARKER-LEE: What things do you wish you’d known/learned before you started this new chapter of illustrating?

Interview with Best-Selling Middle Grade Author Robert Beatty

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Author Tips, authors, disney, fantasy, historical fiction, hyperion, interview, middle grade, Robert Beatty, Serafina, series, Willa of the Wood

Robert Beatty is the successful author of the New York Times best-selling Serafina series and of Willa of the Wood. His fourth Serafina book, Serafina and the Seven Stars (Disney-Hyperion) was released on July 9, 2019. I met up with him when he stopped in Los Angeles for the opening-day book event at the Grove’s Barnes & Noble.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to LA! Serafina and Willa are some of my favorite middle grade characters. Your books spin fantasy and historical fiction together seamlessly. Much of Serafina takes place at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, and includes real-life characters such as the Vanderbilts. How did you choose this location?

Interview with Seth Fishman, Nonfiction Picture Book Author

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agent, Author Tips, nonfiction, picture book, picture books, Seth Fishman, The Gernert Company, Writers Day, writing tips

Maybe you’ve come across SETH FISHMAN’s award-winning book A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars. Or, perhaps you attended his Keynote Presentation at SCBWI LA’s 2018 Writers Day event. His books are rocking the nonfiction picture book world

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! It’s great to see a local writer doing so well. Let’s talk a bit about nonfiction picture books. In your latest book, Power Up: Your Incredible, Spectacular, Supercharged Body, you shift the focus from the amazing universe around us to the fascinating world inside our bodies. Power Up has an engaging story line and is loaded with cool facts. Do you have any advice for aspiring children’s nonfiction picture book writers?

Author Catherine Linka on Getting an Agent: It’s All About Fit

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agents, Catherine Linka, pitching, publishing, query

By Catherine Linka, author

Getting an agent is about finding the right fit, because the agent who will sell your work successfully is the person who loves to sell what you love to write. 

Agents champion books they believe in. They work unpaid until they get you a book contract.

And they are also human beings. They may love rom coms, but not horror. If you write rom coms and they love to read rom coms, they’ll be more likely to read your submission. They’ll be more likely to have sold rom coms and to know which editors are fans of rom coms. They will be more aware of the other rom coms in the marketplace.

Seven Things I Learned After Publishing My First Book

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Helena Ku Rhee, picture books, published, publishing, SCBWI members

by Helena Ku Rhee, Author

Helena with her muse Sherwin

EDITOR’S NOTE: Helena Ku Rhee grew up in Los Angeles, but has also lived in various parts of the U.S., Asia and Europe. Currently, Helena works at a movie studio by day and as a writer by night and weekends. Her debut picture book, The Turtle Ship (Lee and Low), is available now! Today, she shares seven things she learned after publishing her book and you’re going to want to learn them, too!

I’ve always loved learning about a writer’s journey — especially about the path of a debut author, with his or her very first book out in the world. Now that almost a year has gone by since the release of my debut picture book, I wanted to share seven learnings to help writers who are journeying towards their own exhilarating debut.

1. Your dream will keep expanding and evolving.

During what I refer to as the “Rejection Years,” I used to think I’d be so happy to get just one book published.

Writers Day 2019: Tenacity, Writing with Respect, and Other Takeaways

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Abigail Samoun, Cornelia Funke, Frances Gilbert, Lee Wind, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, Steve Mooser

By Charlotte Offsay

On March 9, writers swarmed the Skirball Cultural Center for SCBWI’s annual L.A. Writers Day conference. The day was packed with wisdom, tips, and motivation. Here are some of my favorite takeaways from the event.

The publishing industry is subjective, do your research and don’t give up!

Doubleday Books Editor Frances Gilbert cited being bored, an overly complicated plot, or an over-published topic among her reasons for rejecting manuscripts. She shared her own journey as an author and highlighted the subjective nature of this business – one of her manuscripts was called too specific by one publisher and too vague by another. She encouraged authors to do their research before submitting to find the right home and champion for their manuscript.

Achieve Book Nirvana with SCBWI-L.A. at the L.A. Times Festival of Books

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L.A. Times Festival of Books, LATFoB, SCBWI community

by Jerry Mahoney

If you’re like me, your main problem with books is that there are never enough of them. Libraries and bookstores are nice, but can’t there be more books? Lots, lots more? Well, prepare yourself, because there’s a place where squijillions of words will surround you in a warm, wonderful embrace that will satisfy all your literary cravings.

Yes, it’s just about time for every Southern California book lover’s favorite weekend: the L.A. Times Festival of Books! Meet some of your favorite authors, sit in on panels, and network with professionals from all over the publishing industry.

With tons of exhibitors, A-list authors in every genre, and over 150,000 visitors every year, the L.A. Times Festival of Books is the country’s largest literary festival, and it’s free!

As always, SCBWI will be there in force.

#KTChat with Author/Illustrator Bethany Barton: In Defense Of Your Day Job

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Author Tips, Bethany Barton, day jobs, Give Bees a Chance, I'm Trying to Love Math, I'm Trying to Love Spiders, illustrator tips, mentorship, tips

By Bethany Barton

Editor’s Note: Award-winning author/illustrator Bethany Barton spends her days working in film and TV, currently in the prop department at ABC’s Black-ish. Her newest book, I’m Trying to Love Math, hits stores this July. And Bethany is not only making herself available to chat with you this Friday (3/22) for an hour beginning at 12PM, but she is ALSO SCBWI-LA’s mentor! So if you’re an illustrator or author/illustrator, you can apply to be her mentee! And no matter what you’re writing, today’s chat topic about day jobs will encourage you, make you laugh, and start a lively conversation! And now, take it away, Bethany…

I hear it all the time from authors and illustrators: “I wish I could make books full time… but for now I’m JUST (insert self-deprecating tone) a bartender/teacher/accountant/etc.” 

We’re all wonderfully complex human beings and that “day job” is a part of our story….so why do we feel the need to apologize for it? Maurice Sendak did toy-store window displays. JK Rowling worked as a secretary and translator. As long as there have been authors and artists, they have had day jobs and side hustles.

And I’m here to suggest we stop apologizing for them.

Consider this a call-to-arms to embrace our day jobs and, dare I say, even celebrate them?! Here are some quick reasons why:

Author Michelle Markel on the Changing Nonfiction Picture Book Industry and Your Place In It

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biography, Michelle Markel, nonfiction, picture book, picture books

MICHELLE MARKEL is a successful writer and a local SCBWI member! She’s the author of Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909, which won the Bank Street Flora Stieglitz Straus Award and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for Younger Children, and was also chosen as an NCTE Orbis Picture Honor Book. Her recent titles are Balderdash!: John Newbery and the Boisterous Birth of Children’s Books and Out of This World: The Surreal Art of Leonora Carrington.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Your career has included a number of popular narrative nonfiction books as well as some fiction. How is the industry changing?

MICHELLE MARKEL: The field of narrative nonfiction has busted open. There are now books about little known historical events, unsung heroes, and underrepresented groups (women and people of color). Editors are interested in expressive language, innovative artwork, and uncommon formats. They’re looking for creative “hooks” to grab young readers. If you love telling stories, and love nonfiction, this is your moment.

CVZ: What’s your writing process for your biographies?