The 1, 2, 3’s of the SCBWI-L.A. Working Writer’s Retreat

Tags

Jennifer Rawlings, networking, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, Sue Alexander Grant, Working Writer's Retreat

by Jennifer Rawlings, 2019 Sue Alexander Grant Award Winner

I remember where I was sitting, red club chair in my living room, when I opened the email from SCBWI-L.A. letting me know that I had won the Sue Alexander Grant. I cried when I read the email. I was so happy that someone liked the words that I had typed in secret. I had not told anyone, not even my husband, that I was writing a YA novel.

Needless to say, he was pretty surprised when I told him I had won an award for a book he knew nothing about.

Attention PAL Novelists: Be an SCBWI Mentor in 2020!

Tags

Bethany Barton, Emily Asaro, mentoring, mentors, mentorship, novel, PAL novelists, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, SCBWI Mentor Program, writing

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

The SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship program alternates between picture book writers, illustrators and novelists. And this year, it’s the novelists’ turn again.

Many folks can attest to the value of having a mentor—but there’s tremendous value in being a mentor as well. From learning more about your own craft to reaffirming your love of storytelling to the simple satisfaction of giving back to the SCBWI-L.A. community, being a mentor can be incredibly rewarding.

We caught up with the SCBWI-L.A. 2019 Mentor Bethany Barton, currently mentoring author/illustrator Emily Asaro, and asked her the following:

KAROL RUTH SILVERSTEIN: What motivated you to be an SCBWI-L.A. mentor?

#KT250 Winning Entries, 3rd Quarter 2019

Tags

agents, contest winners, contests, fantasy, middle grade, nonfiction, picture book, publishers, SCBWI members, seeking publisher, seeking representation, The Last Bookstore, unpublished, YA, young adult

#KT250 is a Kite Tales quarterly community contest! We’re proud to announce this quarter’s winners and share the first 250 words of their unpublished manuscripts. We encourage agents, publishers, and mentors to reach out to any they find intriguing!

To find out how YOU can enter for next quarter, check out contest info here. Entries are now being accepted for next quarter!

GRAND PRIZE WINNER:

Here are the Winners of the Fiercely Competitive 2019 Sue Alexander Grant!

Tags

contests, SAG, Sue Alexander Grant, writing contest

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

The 2019 Sue Alexander Grant drew nearly 60 manuscripts, making the anonymous judges’ decisions all the more difficult. In fact, in the final scoring, the winning manuscript edged out the runner-up by a single point!

We’re thrilled to announce this year’s winner:

SCBWI-L.A. Twitter Banner Contest Winner: Illustrator Gela Kalaitzidis

Tags

digital illustration, illustrating, Illustration, illustrator resources, illustrator tips, prompt, Twitter Banner Contest

In SCBWI-L.A.’s latest Twitter Banner Contest (a bi-annual event), illustrators were asked to submit their most creative response to our prompt: EXPLORE. The winning contestant’s artwork is featured on the Los Angeles Region SCBWI Twitter Profile until the next contest with a feature article published here on Kite Tales. Illustrator Gela Kalaitzidis won! Read on to learn more about Gela, her tips and tools, and her own illustration prompt for anyone looking for some inspiration.

2019 Mentor Bethany Barton Has Selected Her Mentee!

Tags

Bethany Barton, illustrator, mentor, mentoring, mentorship, picture books, SCBWI community, SCBWI members

By Bethany Barton, author/illustrator

Have you ever gotten a restaurant menu where everything looks so delicious, it’s nearly impossible to decide? That’s what it felt like going through the applications for SCBWI’s 2019 Mentorship contest! Too much good stuff!

First of all, I want to thank everyone who applied. It’s not always easy to share our artwork with the world, and so many of you were willing. I feel privileged to have gotten my eyes on what you create. I was blown away by the talent on display in every one of this year’s mentorship applicants. The passion for the craft of visual storytelling for children could be seen (and often felt!) in every image that popped into my inbox and I was oh-so-inspired to see the gifts you have to offer young readers. Please keep drawing, please keep painting, please keep telling stories with your images. You must. We didn’t work together this time, but I look forward to seeing your books on shelves, hearing about your successes, and high-fiving you at SCBWI events.

And now, without further ado, I’d love to introduce the world to my mentee:

#KT250 Winning Entries, 2nd Quarter 2019

Tags

contests, SCBWI community, SCBWI members

#KT250 is a Kite Tales quarterly community contest! We’re proud to announce this quarter’s winners and share the first 250 words of their unpublished manuscripts. We encourage agents, publishers, and mentors to reach out to any they find intriguing!

To find out how YOU can enter for next quarter, check out contest info here. Entries are now being accepted for next quarter!

GRAND PRIZE WINNER:

Sue Alexander Grant is Open for Submissions! Here’s Why You Should Apply!

Tags

agents, critiques, critiquing, Julia Edwards, published, publishing, SAG, SCBWI community, SCBWI events

By Julia Edwards 

If you are thinking about applying to SCBWI-LA’s Sue Alexander Grant, JUST DO IT! It was the best thing I could have done for my middle grade manuscript — twice! In 2017, I applied with a very early draft of Anno Catti: In the Year of Our Catand was lucky to be the first runner-up. Then, in 2018, after major rewrites, I applied again and received top honors and a free ride (!) to the coveted Working Writers Retreat weekend.

For those who have never been to WWR, here’s the deal:

Los Angeles SCBWI Writers Day 2019 Manuscript Contest: And The Winners Are…

Tags

middle grade, nonfiction, picture book, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, young adult

By Karol Ruth Silverstein, Contest Coordinator

It was another year of very strong entries in the SCBWI L.A. Writers Day Contest. As usual, manuscripts were submitted in four categories: Young Adult, Middle Grade, Picture Book, and Other (which includes poetry and non-fiction). First place winners in each category receive free tuition to next year’s Writer’s Day, as well as a manuscript critique from one of this year’s faculty members. If you’d like to contact any of the winners to request their manuscript or discuss publication, please let us know!

Our much-appreciated anonymous judges selected the following 10 honorees:

Heads Up Illustrators and Author/Illustrators – the SCBWI-L.A. 2019 Mentorship is for You!

Tags

illustrators, Jennifer Fitzgerald, mentoring, mentorships, Monica Mancillas, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, volunteering, volunteers

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

SCBWI-L.A. PAL member Bethany Barton is the 2019 Mentor! This year’s mentorship contest is for illustrators and author/illustrators and we’ll be accepting applications from February 15 through March 22.

To encourage applicants, we thought we’d check in with last year’s mentees, Monica Mancillas and Jennifer Fitzgerald, to see how their mentorship experience went.

KAROL RUTH SILVERSTEIN: What did you hope to get out of the mentorship when you first applied?

JENNIFER FITZGERALD: I am just starting out writing for children, so initially I was looking for guidance in getting started. My biggest issue is time management. I’m a business owner and a parent, which means time to sit and think can be at a minimum. I needed someone to be accountable to, someone who I could trust to send me an email out of nowhere saying, “How’s it going? What are you working on right now? Send me something.” It made making time to write more real to me and I really needed that.