Though The Show Mustn’t Go On—The Contest Still Can: Announcing The 2020 Writer’s Day Contest Winners!

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contest winners, middle grade, news, nonfiction, picture book, poetry, verse, Writers Day 2020, young adult

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

The SCBWI-L.A. is thrilled to be able to bring good news to some of our members at a time that’s been so difficult for all of us. 

Let us begin by expressing a hearty thank you to our anonymous judges for selecting the 2020 honorees. As usual, manuscripts were submitted in four categories: Young Adult, Middle Grade, Picture Book, and Other (which includes poetry and non-fiction). If you’d like to contact any of the winners to request their manuscript or discuss publication, please let us know in the comments below!

This year, the first-place winners in each category will receive a manuscript critique from one of our faculty members plus free tuition to either the rescheduled 2020 Writers Day event or to next year’s Writer’s Day.

Here are the 2020 honorees:

Your 2020 Guide to Book Festivals, Conventions, and SCBWI Events

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Books Festivals, business, ComicCon, Conventions, Critique Day, Down The Rabbit Hole, LA Comic Con, LitFest, marketing, news, OC Book Fair, PAL events, SCBWI events, Working Writer's Retreat, Writers Day, writing

Need a creative pick me up? How about a new avenue for book promotion? Or maybe you just need some quality time with like-minded writers and illustrators working on their craft. SCBWI has you covered on the craft of kidlit and our region’s list of local book festivals and conventions is sure to broaden your creative perspectives!

SCBWI Sponsored Events for 2020

MARCH 28
Writers Day
Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles

Dive into craft and “Discover the Words Worth Keeping” with a full day of keynotes, critiques and agent pitch sessions. A special pre-event intensive with Harold Underdown will also give a new perspective on approaching revision to polish your work in progress. Contests, manuscript reviews and scholarships will also be available. Need more insight? Read author Charlotte Offsay’s recap of last year here.

Toot Your Horn!

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news, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members

SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world:

 

 

Los Angeles Is…, by Elisa Parhad, illustrated by Alexander Vidal, Cameron Kids, ages 0-6, Board Book, ISBN: 978-1-944903-23-7, released 04/24/2018.

Great News!

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authors, illustrators, news, publishing, SCBWI members

SCBWI loves celebrating our members’ successes and noteworthy news, and there are many to be thankful for as Thanksgiving approaches! Read on to find out who’s got something to shout about. If you have something to be thankful for, kid-lit-related or otherwise, share in the comments! We here at SCBWI Los Angeles and Kite Tales are thankful for each and every one of you!

 

 

Rabbi the Rabbit, by Shireen Hakim, was published in the “Out of Many, One: Celebrating Diversity” anthology. It also won an award by the anthology publisher, Houston Writers Guild Press, on April 5, 2017.

Toot Your Horn!

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news, published, SCBWI members

 

Hatching Chicks in Room 6, by Caroline Arnold, illustrated by Caroline Arnold, Charlesbridge, ages 3-7, Nonfiction, ISBN: 978-1-58089-735-8, released 01/10/17.

 

 

The Sundown Kid – A Southwestern Shabbat, by Barbara Bietz, illustrated by John Kanzler, August House, ages 5-8, Picture book, ISBN: 978-1-93-916094-2, released 01/07/17.

Great News!

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authors, awards, illustrators, news, published, SCBWI members

SCBWI loves celebrating our members’ successes and noteworthy news, and there are many! Read on to find out who’s got something to shout about. Digital high-fives welcome in the comments!

 

 

Living Fossils: Clues to the Past by Caroline Arnold, is a 2016 CRA Silver Eureka Award winner and on the NYPL Recommends: New Nonfiction for Kids List, Bibliofile July 15, 2016.

SCBWI Central Coast Regional News, First Quarter 2017

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awards, community, grant, news, SCBWI events, SCBWI members

By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

 

2016 WRITERS’ DAY REFLECTION BY IAN FOUTZ:

I have attended Writers’ Days in the past, but the 2016 Writers’ Day was special. Not only because I was awarded a scholarship grant, but also because the day seemed custom-tailored to my current state as a writer. Stephanie Pitts’ amazing talk about “Writing Irresistible Picture Book Characters” provided a lot of wonderful examples from existing PBs that helped to make her points very easy to understand. By addressing topics such as character personalities, voice, and the idea of non-transformative change, she provided actionable advice to authors of all kinds.

Los Angeles Regional News: 2017 Is Your Year!

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community, conferences, critiques, news, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, Working Writer's Retreat

Puppy dogs and fairy queens, stars and wishes and unseen things . . . as a community of writers and illustrators, we have wondrous tales to spin and dazzling visuals to design. Our hope is that you find in this new year your strongest voice ever. For there are children waiting, children who need your stories of hope and love and adventure and triumph in their hands. Tell yourself, for them, that this is your year, and mean it.

All our best to all our Los Angeles SCBWI members from the Regional Team and Board

Upcoming Events

On Saturday, February 25, we’ll once again be at the beautiful Skirball Cultural Center for Writers and Illustrators Day, combining two favorite events into one great day. Morning keynote speakers, lunch, and a choice of two afternoon breakout sessions are included in the price of registration.

Great News!

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authors, community, news, picture books, poetry, SCBWI members, YA, young adult

SCBWI loves celebrating our members’ successes and noteworthy news, and there are many! Read on to find out who’s got something to shout about. Digital high-fives welcome in the comments!

 

 

Joan Bransfield Graham’s poem “Tuck a Poem in Your Head” is featured in former U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt’s new poetry anthology One Minute Till Bedtime, which debuted on November 1^st.

Betsy Rosenthal’s An Ambush of Tigers was selected as a 2016 Notable Children’s Book in the English Language Arts and consequently, she has been invited to serve on a panel at the upcoming National Council of Teachers of English annual convention.

Writing Awards Boost Confidence: Need Some?

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community, news, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, Writer's Day Contest 2017

Ever wonder what happens to the manuscripts that win first place in SCBWI-L.A.’s writing contests? We did. As the contest for Writers & Illustrators Day 2017 opens, we talked with our 2016 winners to find out how the award affected them and where their manuscripts are now.

All four of our winners talked about the huge boost in confidence that winning gave them. The award created courage to keep trying — writing, revising, querying, and learning.