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Tag Archives: nonfiction

Hope in the Mail: An Interview with Wendelin Van Draanen

14 Wednesday Oct 2020

Posted by Jessica Chrysler in Author's Perspective, Central Coast

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fiction, Flipped, Hope In The Mail, inspiration, interview, nonfiction, Sammy Keyes, Wendlin Van Draanen, Writing Life

by Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

Wendelin Van Draanen, a member of the SCBWI Central-Coastal California region, has written more than thirty novels for young readers and teens. She is the author of the 18-book Edgar-winning Sammy Keyes series, and wrote Flipped, which was named a Top 100 Children’s Novel for the 21st Century by SLJ, and became a Rob Reiner directed Warner Brothers feature film.

Her first non-fiction book, Hope in the Mail: Reflections on Writing and Life, is part memoir, part writing guide, and part publishing insight.

ANN ROUSSEAU SMITH: Congratulations on your newest book Hope in the Mail: Reflections on Writing and Life! You have written many novels, why a non-fiction book, why now?

Continue reading →

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

08 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by Jessica Chrysler in Contests & Grants, Los Angeles, Tri-Regional News, Writers Days

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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.

SAG_Winner

Here are the 2020 honorees: Continue reading →

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Prolific Author-Illustrator Mary Ann Fraser on Hooking Agents, Editors, and Readers with Narrative Nonfiction

19 Wednesday Feb 2020

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools, Writers Days

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Mary Ann Fraser, narrative nonfiction, nonfiction, writing workshop

This year’s Los Angeles SCBWI Writers Day is all about discovering that “eureka” moment by learning tricks and techniques to make your manuscripts shine, digging deeper or simply polishing work to perfection, and attending in-depth workshops with industry pros in areas where we all can use insights and practice. Author and illustrator of over seventy books, Mary Ann Fraser’s workshop, Ready, Aim, Write: Creating On-Target Nonfiction, is all about “carving a gripping informational story out of facts. You’ll learn how to form an irresistible hook to tempt agent and editor alike.” You’ll also get hands-on reading AND writing done in this workshop! We just couldn’t wait until March 28th, though, so we’re bringing you a little sneak peek. Read on for a great Q&A with Mary Ann!

SARAH PARKER-LEE: Thanks for joining us, Mary Ann! Your workshop sounds super fascinating! Nonfiction and fiction are often seen as opposite ends of the kid lit world, or that writing for one means you can’t write for the other. Writers can also feel intimidated because they don’t think they’re “experts” on new subject matter that might interest them, even if they’ve written nonfiction before. What do you say to writers looking to bridge these perceived gaps or who feel intimidated?  Continue reading →

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#KT250 Winning Entries, 3rd Quarter 2019

31 Wednesday Jul 2019

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in #KT250, Contests & Grants

≈ 1 Comment

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 →

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Interview with Seth Fishman, Nonfiction Picture Book Author

29 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Author's Perspective

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

agent, Author Tips, nonfiction, picture book, picture books, Seth Fishman, The Gernert Company, Writers Day, writing tips

Maybe you’ve come across SETH FISHMAN’s award-winning book A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars. Or, perhaps you attended his Keynote Presentation at SCBWI LA’s 2018 Writers Day event. His books are rocking the nonfiction picture book world

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! It’s great to see a local writer doing so well. Let’s talk a bit about nonfiction picture books. In your latest book, Power Up: Your Incredible, Spectacular, Supercharged Body, you shift the focus from the amazing universe around us to the fascinating world inside our bodies. Power Up has an engaging story line and is loaded with cool facts. Do you have any advice for aspiring children’s nonfiction picture book writers? Continue reading →

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Break In with Work-For-Hire Webinar

05 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in Central Coast, Tips and Tools, Tri-Regional News

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Christine Peterson, educational writing, literacy support, nonfiction, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, webinar, work-for-hire, write for hire

By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

Wouldn’t it be nice if editors approached you, asking if you’re available to write a book? That’s the reality of the work-for-hire market, for fiction, nonfiction, or illustration. If you’d like to learn the secret to breaking in through work-for-hire, what to send and how to be successful, SCBWI-CenCal and Capstone Senior Managing Editor, Curriculum Strategy Christine Peterson have a webinar made just for you!

Capstone is a publisher of K-8 children’s books and digital solutions for libraries, classrooms, and consumers headquartered in Mankato, Minnesota. Christine has been with Capstone for 16 years, and has specialized in nonfiction content for K-5 students, including supplemental nonfiction texts, guided reading and literacy support materials, and curriculum instruction. They need writers and illustrators for their projects, but what are the benefits to you? Continue reading →

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Author Michelle Markel on the Changing Nonfiction Picture Book Industry and Your Place In It

15 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by Christine Van Zandt, author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNDERPANTS in Author's Perspective

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Tags

biography, Michelle Markel, nonfiction, picture book, picture books

MICHELLE MARKEL is a successful writer and a local SCBWI member! She’s the author of Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909, which won the Bank Street Flora Stieglitz Straus Award and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for Younger Children, and was also chosen as an NCTE Orbis Picture Honor Book. Her recent titles are Balderdash!: John Newbery and the Boisterous Birth of Children’s Books and Out of This World: The Surreal Art of Leonora Carrington.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Your career has included a number of popular narrative nonfiction books as well as some fiction. How is the industry changing?

MICHELLE MARKEL: The field of narrative nonfiction has busted open. There are now books about little known historical events, unsung heroes, and underrepresented groups (women and people of color). Editors are interested in expressive language, innovative artwork, and uncommon formats. They’re looking for creative “hooks” to grab young readers. If you love telling stories, and love nonfiction, this is your moment.

CVZ: What’s your writing process for your biographies? Continue reading →

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

13 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in Contests & Grants, Writers Days

≈ 2 Comments

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 →

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Author Mary Jo Hazard: How to Find, and Write For, a Niche Market

05 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in Author's Perspective, Tips and Tools

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marketing, Mary Jo Hazard, niche markets, nonfiction, target marketing, writing tips

By Mary Jo Hazard

img_0134.jpgPeacocks have lived on the Palos Verdes Peninsula since 1924, but no one ever wrote a book about them until I did in 2010. Since then, The Peacocks of Palos Verdes has sold over 4,000 copies — identify a niche market and you can do it too! Read on for my road map on how it worked for me.

Continue reading →

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Los Angeles SCBWI Writers Day 2018 Manuscript Contest Winners!

23 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by Sarah Parker-Lee in Contests & Grants, Writers Days

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Alison A. Baker, Brenda Scott Royce, Chelsea Lin Wallace, Colleen Paeff, Debbie Friedman, Heather Schmidt, Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh, Kendra Kurosawa, middle grade, nonfiction, PB Rippey, picture book, Sarah Parker-Lee, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, young adult

Every year, SCBWI Los Angeles opens our Writers Day contest to all members attending the event. This year, our anonymous judges chose 10 honorees in 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 Writers Day, as well as a manuscript critique from one of this year’s faculty members. There were a lot of wonderful entries and a “20% of total entries” guideline was used to determine how many manuscripts were honored in each category. As Contest Coordinator Karol Ruth Silverstein so aptly put it, “Regardless of whether you win or lose, putting your work out there to be judged by entering the contest is a courageous act in itself. So let me first congratulate all of you who entered.”

And now, our 2018 Writers Day winners! (If you’d like to contact any of the winners to request their manuscript or discuss publication, please let us know!) Continue reading →

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