02 Wednesday Sep 2020
Posted in Ask an Editor
Tags
“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog.
Dear Christine – With all that’s going on in the world, should I be querying? Thanks.
—Lynn, Los Angeles
Dear Lynn – Query, just be sure to check the agency’s or publisher’s website first. If they are closed to submissions, it should state that.
01 Wednesday Jan 2020
Posted in #KTWriteOn
Tags
Author Tips, Eve Porinchak, logline, pitching, query letter, synopsis, writing exercise, writing tips
Happy New Year! Welcome to the Kite Tales Writing Prompt: #KTWriteOn. Each writing challenge is crafted by a kid-lit publishing professional to help spark ideas, creative energy, and get your work moving out into the world. This prompt was created by former literary agent and current editor/YA true-crime author Eve Porinchak. She’s sharing her method for writing the all-important one-page synopsis and subsequent submissions package materials it practically writes for you. BONUS: she’s offering to help you with your logline in the comments, so don’t miss out! Now, take it away, Eve:
The only sad part about working as a literary agent and kid-lit author is witnessing fabulous manuscripts go unread by the gatekeepers’ eyeballs. To prevent this from happening, authors must learn how to pitch their stories. And, I’m here to help! This means creating a submissions package, which equals: Continue reading
30 Wednesday Jan 2019
Posted in Tips and Tools
By Kim Wildman, SCBWI-L.A. Assistant Regional Advisor
One of the things I love about being a writer is that I’m constantly learning. Yes, I’m writing, but I’m also reading books, studying other writers’ sentences, and listening to authors talk about their craft or their challenges. Learning together is one way SCBWI is a community to me.
Recently, I’ve taken advantage of SCBWI webinars, a resource that helps me learn in a relaxed and easy way. How easy? Bathrobe-at-my-kitchen-table easy. Continue reading
17 Wednesday Oct 2018
Posted in Central Coast, Tri-Regional News, Writers' Retreat
By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison and Rebecca Langston-George, SCBWI CenCal Regional Advisor
Join us for a weekend of writing, revising, and crafting your pitch at an ocean side resort. In addition to craft workshops and the opportunity to pitch your work to an agent, you’ll enjoy sunset fire pits and s’mores overlooking the ocean, life-size checkers and chess games atop the cliff, and strolls on the sand.
15 Wednesday Aug 2018
Posted in SCBWI Summer Conference
By Lorian Steider Brady
SCBWI held its 47th Annual Summer Conference at the JW Marriott at LA LIVE in Los Angeles, August 3-6. The event spanned three extensive floors and was appropriately centered in the Diamond Ballroom. It was a perfect setting for the dazzling event.
Every day of the conference began with keynote speeches from well-known authors and illustrators or panel discussions with agents, editors, and authors. On August 4, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, award winning author of the middle grade novels One for the Murphys and Fish in a Tree, made us laugh, made us cry, until, finally, the audience rose en masse for a standing ovation. And that was just one of many. Outstanding keynote speakers shone throughout the weekend, reminding us again and again to write the stories in our own hearts because there are children who want, and need, to hear our stories.
04 Wednesday Jul 2018
Posted in #KTWriteOn
Tags
As you celebrate Independence Day, why not free yourself from the agony of the query letter with the third installment of the Kite Tales Writing Prompt: #KTWriteOn? Each writing challenge is crafted by a kid-lit publishing professional to help spark ideas and creative energy. This prompt was created by Bridget Smith, an agent at Dunham Literary, Inc., where she represents middle grade, YA, and adult novels, including contemporary fiction, historical fiction, and science fiction & fantasy. She is also the co-host of the podcast Shipping & Handling, and you can follow her on Twitter @bredalot.
By Bridget Smith
As an agent, I very often hear complaints from writers about how hard it is to write a good query. And I sympathize! I have written many pitches myself, after all. But unfortunately, it’s a necessary skill – and it doesn’t stop once you get an agent, either.
Luckily, with all the pitches I’ve written, I’ve figured out a formula that can give me a workable draft quickly. This isn’t necessarily the form your final pitch needs to take: I’m always delighted to see a pitch that breaks out in interesting ways, whether it’s hauntingly minimal or a clever inversion. And, of course, there is LOTS of room here for adding flavor: voice! Jokes your characters would make! Emotion! Tension!
But if you have absolutely no idea where to start, here’s a handy map:
13 Wednesday Dec 2017
Posted in Ask an Editor
Tags
“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that
are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog.
Dear Editor – What is the difference between a query letter and a cover letter?
—Marissa, the Valley
Kite Tales 