SCBWI Central Coast Regional News: Writer’s Day Coming October 2018

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agents, Allison Moore, Andrea Loney, Antoinette Portis, Carol Heyer, editors, erry Pierce, Hannah Mann, Happy LaShelle, Lorin Oberweger, Lynn Becker, Maria Middleton, Mathew Rivera, Molly Ruttan, Sarah Jane Abbott, SCBWI events

By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

SCBWI CenCal ArtWorks Re-Cap

By Laura-Susan Thomas, CenCal Illustrator Coordinator

Our amazing and talented faculty this year at ArtWorks were Maria Middleton, Art Director for Random House Children’s Books, and Antoinette Portis, author-illustrator of Not A Box, an ALA Geisel Honor book, and Not a Stick, one of the New York Times Ten Best Illustrated Books of the Year. Maria Middleton kicked off the day with lots of creative energy, informing us how a middle grade cover gets created, coming up with unique characters and world building, and including a live drawing exercise for all our illustrator attendees. Antoinette inspired us all to get creative, explore, find and work out those perfect picture book images and storytelling.

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#KT250 Winning Entries, 2nd Quarter 2018

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agents, contemporary fiction, contest winners, contests, Fiction Autobiography/Biography, horror, middle grade, mystery, publishers, SCBWI members, seeking publisher, seeking representation, The Last Bookstore, unpublished, YA, young adult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 We’re proud to announce this quarter’s winners and share the first 250 words of their unpublished manuscripts.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:

Writers Day Literary Agents on Pitching in Person and Making the Most of Your Time

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agents, Eve Porinchak, Karen Grencik, Kari Sutherland, pitching, query letters, SCBWI events, Seth Fishman

By Sarah Parker-Lee and Erlina Vasconcellos

Last month brought us the annual SCBWI-LA Writers Day. Quite a few attendees took advantage of assigned one-on-one pitch sessions with the awesome literary agents on faculty. Some pitchers used the opportunity to work on their query letter or aspects of their pitch with the agent in an advisory role while others went all-in with hopes the agent would request their full manuscript – AKA be interested in representing them professionally. Several folks did get a partial or full request and everyone walked away with some great feedback.

After the pitch sessions were over, we asked our agents how things went, what they liked, and what they recommend so you can put their answers in your toolbox for your next pitch!

#KT250 Winning Entries: 1st Quarter 2018

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agents, contests, fantasy, literary fiction, middle grade, mystery, publishers, SCBWI members, seeking publisher, seeking representation, The Last Bookstore, unpublished, YA, young adult

#KT250 is our first 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 winners whom 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:

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

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agents, Alexis O'Neill, Ann Whitford Paul, Dianne White, Karen Jameson, Lynn Becker, published, publishing, SAG, Sue Alexander Grant

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!

Author/Illustrator & Nickelodeon Story Artist Ashlyn Anstee on Pitching an Agent & Leveling Up Your Illustrator Skills

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agents, Ashlyn Anstee, authors, illustrators, picture books

 Ashlyn Anstee is a story artist at Nickelodeon on Harvey Beaks as well as the author/illustrator of Are We There, Yeti? and No, No, Gnome! (Simon & Schuster, 2015 & 2016), a comic artist, film maker, and devourer of cookies. She talks with us about finding her agent through SCBWI, how professional relationships are just like any other relationship, and how she keeps her skills sharp.

Sarah Parker-Lee: You’re an illustrator, author, and storyboard artist for animation. Which came first and how do you find time for both?!

Ashlyn Anstee: It helps that all of them are a little different, so it’s actually been fun to jump between them, thank goodness. I started out first as a reader–I was a voracious reader as a kid (and my mom’s a teacher-librarian). I didn’t really start to draw until my teens. I fell in love with animation, and it wasn’t until I graduated from college that I started to rediscover illustration and kids’ books. I find writing the hardest, so I’ve been focusing on that, lately!

SPL: For those unfamiliar, can you tell us a little about being a story artist? How does it compare to illustrating a book?

Ask an Editor: Submissions to Agents

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agent, agents, pages, submissions

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

Dear Editor – How many pages will I submit to an agent?

—Lim, Los Angeles

Debut Author Helena Ku Rhee: How She Scored a Book Deal Without an Agent

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agents, authors, Bill Contardi, Colleen Kong-Savage, contracts, Helena Ku Rhee, illustrators, picture books, publishers, publishing, The Turtle Ship

Jessica Echeverria (editor, Lee & Low), Helena, and Colleen Kong-Savage (illustrator)

Helena Ku Rhee is the author of The Turtle Ship, a forthcoming picture book by Lee & Low (Fall 2018). Helena, trained as a lawyer, followed an uncommon path by negotiating her own book deal. She tells Kite Tales about her debut and navigating publishing without an agent.

John Nez: Illustrator Perspective

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agents, authors, illustrator tips, illustrators, John Nez, picture books, publishing, tools, writing tips

Prolific illustrator John Nez shares with us about the tools he uses, why life as a working illustrator really is work, how to be your own best advocate, and how to keep that “little mouse of creative happiness” alive and thriving through it all. Read on for some great insight, tips, and illustrative goodness!

Debbie Ridpath Ohi: Author/Illustrator Perspective

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agents, authors, conferences, critiques, Debbie Ohi, Debbie Ridpath Ohi, how-to, illustrator tips, illustrators, Inky Girl, InkyGirl, middle grade, picture book, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, writing tips

Debbie Ridpath Ohi writes and illustrates books for young people in Toronto, Canada. Her first solo picture book, Where Are My Books?, debuted from Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers in 2015. Her illustrations appear in picture books by Michael Ian Black and in Judy Blume chapter books and middle grade reissues, as well as many others. She gave a challenging and insightful keynote at this year’s SCBWI Los Angeles Writer’s Day as well as a “master class” on social media for authors. She was kind enough to do a follow-up interview with Kite Tales to share her perspective on being an introverted author, networking, and how to attract that magical publishing lightning.