27 Wednesday Nov 2019
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here atKite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital hi-fives welcome in the comments! Continue reading
22 Friday Nov 2019
Posted in Central Coast, Tips and Tools, Writers Days
Tags
Alexis O'Neill Volunteer of the Year, Carol Heyer Mentorshihp, CenCal Writer's Day, Charlotte Wenger, Illustration awards, Karen Jameson, Kari Sutherland, Karol Ruth Silverstein, middle grade, Nikki Barthelmess, Rachael Stein
by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison
After numerous wildfires and road closure scares, we had a lovely, informative, and inspiring Writers’ Day on Saturday, October 12. Faculty included Kari Sutherland from the Bradford Literary Agency, Charlotte Wenger with Prospect Agency, and Rachael Stein, editor at Sterling Children’s Books. We also heard emotion-filled, inspiring speeches from three spotlight speakers: Nikki Barthelmess, Karen Jameson, and Karol Ruth Silverstein. After speeches, first page panels, and a writing contest, what’s the next step or steps a conference attendee might pursue? Continue reading
20 Wednesday Nov 2019
Posted in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools
Tags
author, Author Tips, child welfare, foster kids, M.G. Hennessey, middle grade, novel, published, The Echo Park Castaways, The Other Boy
Local author and SCBWI member M.G. Hennessey’s new middle-grade book, The Echo Park Castaways, addresses LA’s child-welfare system. The four main characters share the same foster-care home and the story is told from three viewpoints.
CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! This is such an important topic but you convey the issues in a way a middle-grade reader can understand. Did you write it in an alternating fashion as it’s published, or did you write each character’s piece separately?
21 Wednesday Aug 2019
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital hi-fives welcome in the comments!
31 Wednesday Jul 2019
Posted in #KT250, Contests & Grants
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nonfiction, picture book, publishers, SCBWI members, seeking publisher, seeking representation, The Last Bookstore, unpublished, YA, young adult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: Continue reading
19 Friday Jul 2019
Posted in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools
Tags
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?
17 Friday May 2019
Posted in Toot Your Horn!
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital hi-fives welcome in the comments!
13 Wednesday Mar 2019
Posted in Contests & Grants, Writers Days
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: Continue reading
01 Friday Feb 2019
Posted in #KT250, Contests & Grants
Tags
agents, contemporary fiction, contest winners, contests, literary fiction, middle grade, publishers, SCBWI members, science fiction, 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: Continue reading
01 Monday Oct 2018
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
GARRET WEYR delights middle-grade readers with her novel, The Language of Spells (2018, Chronicle Kids). Previous publications include picture book, French Ducks in Venice (Candlewick, 2011), and YA titles from HMH Books for Young Readers, After the Moment (2009), Stay with Me (2007), The Kings are Already Here (2003), When I was Older (2002), My Heartbeat (2002), and, from Crown, Pretty Girls (1988).
CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! It’s wonderful to share with our readers how a local author has successfully been published in PB, MG, and YA. What advice do you have for authors who write in more than one category? Continue reading
