SCBWI Serves Up A Slice of Literary Camaraderie at Booth #826

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Annelouise Mahoney, authors, C.K. Malone, Caroline L. Perry, Glenda Armand, Heather Buchta, illustrators, Janie Emaus, Jennifer Pitts, LATFoB, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Molly Ruttan, PAL events, published, R.S. Mellette, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Tina Athaide, writing

by Annelouise Mahoney

Saturday morning booth exhibitors (l-r) Glenda Armand, R.S. Mellette, Annelouise Mahoney, and Janie Emaus get a thumbs-up from SCBWI-L.A. volunteer Jennifer Pitts (r) as they all prepare to greet festival-goers.

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is an annual tradition of literary wonder. It’s the Coachella of book festivals, the largest in the country.

This year, as they do each year, the SCBWI Los Angeles chapter extended an invitation for its PAL members to sell and sign their books at a festival booth. SCBWI SoCal joined the L.A. chapter at the festival for the first time ever, sharing Booth #826. PAL members of the two regions who signed up could choose a two or three-hour time slot for either Saturday or Sunday of the event.

Volunteer Spotlight: How Volunteering Helped Me Save Myself from Myself

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Jennifer Pitts, Karol Ruth Silverstein, LitMingle, Marcelle Greene, SCBWI board, SCBWI members

by Karol Ruth Silverstein

Editor’s Note: A “changing of the guard” has taken place recently at LA SCBWI, with our wonderful Contest Coordinator, Marcelle Green passing that baton to our equally wonderful Mingle Meister, Karol Ruth Silverstein, who has, in turn, passed the Mingle Meister baton to, yes, another wonderful volunteer: Jennifer Pitts. Read on as Karol explains the change-over, and why the contest-addiction struggle is real! Many thanks to Marcelle for all her hard work over the year. We wish her the best of luck on all her future endeavors! And welcome to the team, Jennifer!

I have a confession: I was addicted to entering contests.

Unlike casual contest entrants, who may really benefit from the manufactured deadlines and bravery required to put their work out there (not to mention the potential cash and prizes — woohoo!), it became an unhealthy obsession for me. Writers Day events weren’t about the great faculty and enjoying a fun day with my fellow children’s book writers and illustrators. Increasingly, they became about the contest. If my manuscript won — which a few have — I was high as a kite. If I didn’t win or place in the contest — which is what happens more often than not — the day felt like a total waste. Never mind the inspiring keynotes or illuminating panels. Even if I came in second or third, the initial high of being “a winner” was soon replaced by the disappointment of not having been deemed “the best.”

I’d literally dream of winning contests. Any addiction specialist will tell you that the cure for obsessive compulsion is complete abstinence. But could I do it? Could I really walk away from entering all the SCBWI LA contests voluntarily? I wasn’t sure I could.