Toot Your Horn!

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biography, middle grade, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, young adult

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!

Write for Kite Tales!

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authors, editors, illustrators, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, translators, writers

Have a topic you’d like to share with your fellow kidlit community? Want to share your process and inspire other writers or illustrators? Or maybe you have a list of incredible authors you’d like to interview but no idea where you can publish it? Let Kite Tales be your outlet for creative community and discussion!

Publicity & Marketing: A Case Study – Part 6

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authors, indie-publishing, marketing, publicity, publishing, reviews, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, self-publishing

by R.S. Mellette

So was it worth it? Hiring a publicist. Spending $20,000 to promote Kiya And The Morian Treasure, from a traditional publisher that’s no bigger than a self-published author? Let’s look at the numbers. 

Getting the Most Out of Critique: The Art of Listening

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critiques, kidlit, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, writing tips

This weekend on June 12th, SCBWI-L.A. will be hosting its annual Critique Day which is open to all members of SCBWI. Creatives from all over the tri-regions (and beyond) will have the opportunity to share their work with each other in a safe and structured environment. It is one of the best places to get started when taking those first steps into honing your craft without having to fully commit to a class or pay for a workshop. This event is always free to our members. (Registration for this year’s event is now closed, however, so be sure to check back on the regional page for next time!)

But we’re here to talk about getting the most out of that critique. For first timers it can be nerve-racking just having someone else read your work, but for the seasoned pro it might be a testing ground for an experimental piece. Both need open and honest feedback about the work, but with only a few minutes to read and talk about each piece, how can we best make use of that time?

Great News!

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SCBWI community, 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!

Toot Your Horn!

Tags

biography, middle grade, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, young adult

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!

#KTChat with Amy Duchene and Elisa Parhad: Collab x Fab – 7 Tips on Collaborative Creation

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Amy Duchene, authors, collaboration, Elisa Parhad, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, writing tips

by Amy Duchene and Elisa Parhad

Editor’s Note: On Twitter this Friday (5/6/22) from 12-1PM PST, Amy and Elisa will take your questions and discuss why our stories matter, even when we think they don’t. Log into your Twitter account during our chat hour and use the hashtag #KTChat or @mention @amydishes and @SCBWISOCALLA to join the discussion! If you aren’t on Twitter, leave questions in the blog comments before the chat! 

We (Amy and Elisa) are long-time friends and co-authors of Pool Party. Luckily, we had a stellar experience working together on this project, but we know that not every collaboration ends with hugs and a publication. Collaborating together for nearly nine months on this project, we learned a lot about what works and what to watch out for so that you can find success too. Here are seven tips.

How Attending SCBWI-L.A. Writer’s Day Led to a Book Deal

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Asa Gilland, authors, Charlotte Offsay, editing tips, Frances Gilbert, picture books, publishing, Rejection, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, writing tips

by Charlotte Offsay

Unpublished and unagented, I attended SCBWI-L.A. Writer’s Day 2019 full of hope but never expecting that the events of the day would ultimately lead to a big five publishing contract. 

For the second year in a row, I attended as an aspiring picture book author, and this time around I knew what to expect. I arrived eager to soak in the wisdom of the day’s fabulous lineup of speakers and had submitted a picture book manuscript for critique by one of the event day faculty. The manuscript that I submitted was one that I had been working on for months, Gram’s Got the Magic Touch. Here is the pitch:

Gram’s leaving, and she’s taking her magic with her. Without it Rose’s baby brother Henry wails and life as Rose knows it is dooooomed. There’s only one solution, Rose needs magic powers too.

Toot Your Horn!

Tags

biography, middle grade, picture book, published, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, young adult

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!

Publicity & Marketing: A Case Study — Part 2

Tags

authors, Forward Reviews, Hasty Book LIst, Kirkus Reviews, marketing, Merritt Hicks, publicist, publicity, publishing, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Teen Ink

by R.S. Mellette

When last we left, I had set aside $20,000 to spend on the promotion of my next book, Kiya And The Morian Treasure, which hits streets April 26^th, 2022. So, let’s look at the heat I’m getting from the money I’ve set on fire.

Summer 2021: After a COVID delay of a year-and-a-half, my publisher, Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, was eager to get the ball rolling again, but our original cover artist gracefully bowed out to concentrate on her picture book/lower MG work. Matt at EBP found a new artist who promised to deliver in November. As that was the only big thing holding up publication, I reached out again to Books Forward saying, “We were a go in 2019. How about 2021?” They honored their 2019 bid. Contracts were signed in August for a November start to a six-month campaign ending with a launch sometime in the Spring of 2022. I was also sent an Author’s Questionnaire to complete before November.