SCBWI Los Angeles Launches New Critique Exchange

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critique groups, critiques, illustrator tips, writing tips

By Jill Tuckman

If you missed the registration deadline for the Critiquenic, taking place Saturday at the Skirball center, fear not! We have other ways for you to find critique partners. Read on as Jill Tuckman, our webmaster, tells you all about our new and improved Critique Exchange.

Many authors and illustrators talk about how valuable their critique groups are to their careers, and I can (but won’t, fear not) go on about how helpful my critique groups have been to me. But finding a good critique group is not always easy.

Clelia Gore: Agent’s Perspective, 2017 Writers & Illustrators Day Faculty

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Adria Regordosa, authors, Bistra Masseva, Brian Russo, Cheryl Lawton Malone, Dustrats, Ignite Your Spark: Discovering Who You Are from the Inside Out, illustrator tips, Patricia Wooster, picture books, writing tips, Yoga Bunny

Clelia Gore is a lawyer-turned-literary-agent who heads Martin Literary Management’s kid lit division. She represents authors and illustrators in both fiction and nonfiction, from board books to young adult.

As faculty for SCBWI’s upcoming Writers & Illustrator’s Day, she will lead a session titled “The Interplay Between Art and Text in Picture Books.” She also will critique manuscripts and will be an illustration contest judge.

Erlina Vasconcellos: What do you want participants to take away from your breakout session at Writers & Illustrators Day?

Clelia Gore: I get two kinds of picture book queries: author/illustrators and authors only. For people who are authors only, they sometimes need a little help seeing how the art and writing can work together to tell the story. A lot of picture book writers who are early in their careers don’t understand how the two forms of art interplay in telling the story.

For authors who are illustrators, it’s honing in on things to think about when crafting their story…Hopefully people will leave inspired and it will lead to thoughtfully crafted books.

EV: What question are you asked often?

Illustrator’s Perspective: Olivia Aserr

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diversity, illustrator tips, illustrators, Olivia Aserr, picture books, writing tips

I mainly work in visual storytelling, which is a fancy way of saying I like to draw pictures that tell a story. Throughout the years, this has meant working in animation, editorial, and now, children’s books. Drawing and writing for kids is something I’ve always wanted to do, because when I was a kid, I loved stories and movies and books, but I wanted more of them to look like me (rather selfishly, I admit). This is a pretty common thread amongst a lot of creators and storytellers I meet. We become artists so we can add to the mix and enrich the narrative with our perspectives and experiences and dreams.

Kid Lit, Day Jobs, and Paying the Bills

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how-to, illustrator tips, illustrators, publishing, tools, writer, writing tips

I’ve always wondered how artists and illustrators pay their bills and still have time to create. Some artists like myself, who need extra income, have little information on finding art and writing jobs other than by asking other artists/writers and checking newspaper job listings for part-time paid positions or freelance jobs. But the Internet is such a wonderful vehicle to use when you need to find information or even jobs that you wouldn’t be able to find locally, so the Kite Tales team and I decided to do some research.

LitMingle Minute: Hollywood

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authors, community, critiques, illustrators, middle grade, mingles, picture books, publishing, query letters, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, tools, volunteers, writer, writing tips, YA, young adult

Minglers discussing plot.

The SCBWI L.A. Hollywood LitMingle started humbly. For the past three years, Deborah Blum and Jean Perry (that’s me) have taken the mingle from a living room to the meeting space at the Hollywood Fairfax Library. It’s absolutely delicious to meet with other children’s writers. We who gather on those special Thursdays “get” each other. We find friends whose eyes don’t glaze over at the mention of plot and inciting incident. When we talk about crisis and climax, we can ask which is which. Picture book, middle grade, young adult, and new adult writers are welcomed to this free event every month. We usually start out full group, and then break into small groups based on genre, to get the specific support we need. Mingles are open to the public.

Getting Your Geek On: Why You Should Check Out Comic-Con

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authors, Cindy Pon, Comic Con, Elizabeth Briggs, Emerge, Future Shock, Maryelizabeth Yturralde, published, Romina Russell, San Diego Comic Con, SCBWI members, SDCC, Serpentine, Tobie Easton, writing tips, YA, YA Fantasy, young adult, Zodiac series

Author Tobie Easton signing “Emerge” for fans in the signing area.

As a debut author, I have spent this year—and the time leading up to it—learning as much as I could about the publishing industry and about all the different ways to build a successful career as an author. One lesson that has stood above all the rest so far is that publishing is about finding your people. That team of people who really gets your writing—and who falls in love with it. It starts out with just you, then your critique partners, then (if you pursue traditional publishing) your agent, editor, and other members of the team at your publisher, then booksellers, and finally readers. No matter what stage of your writing career you’re at right now, here’s why conventions are so beneficial: They help you find your people.

SCBWI Community Corner with Deborah Fletcher Blum

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authors, community, SCBWI members, volunteers, writing tips

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is a dynamic community of professionals and aspirings. Read on for a member’s story about how SCBWI has influenced their work and connected them to publishing professionals, life-long friends, and the tools they need to share their stories with children of all ages. Read on for former Hollywood LitMingle Coordinator Deborah Fletcher Blum’s story!

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators launched my career as a filmmaker. It may sound odd to credit a children’s writers and illustrators group with this, but writing and filmmaking are integrally connected artistic disciplines. As an artist and English teacher, who wrote poetry and non-fiction, I embarked on a middle grade novel in the Summer of 2010 and joined SCBWI soon after.

Bridget Smith: Agent’s Perspective

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agent, Bridget Smith, Dunham Literary, query, tools, writing tips, YA, young adult

Bridget Smith is more than an agent at Dunham Literary, Inc. She also studied anthropology and archaeology, worked as a radio DJ, fenced on the varsity team at Brown University, and helped design an experiment that she later performed in microgravity at NASA. So, she’s kind of awesome and you want her to represent your books.

Read on for Bridget’s insights into the kid lit community, how to include diversity in your books, and what happens after you get a full manuscript request.

Kite Tales at Book Con 2016

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authors, BEA, Book Con, Book Expo America, illustrator tips, Justin Cronin, Laini Taylor, middle grade, Naomi Novik, Pierce Brown, Sarah J. Maas, Victoria Aveyard, writing tips, YA, young adult

Did you know there is an entire convention dedicated to books? Book Con is the public part of Book Expo of America, or BEA. Professional authors, publishers, book sellers, book buyers, etc. come together to share must-read books, delve into upcoming market trends, and build relationships with other literary professionals. There are panels with authors from all genres and a showroom full of major, indie, and niche publishers who sell or give away their books. (FREE BOOKS!) I went for the first time this year and came home with some amazing advice and insights from bestselling authors, including Naomi Novik, Pierce Brown, and Sarah J. Maas. And I’ll share them with you below! (My paraphrased versions unless specifically quoted.)

John Nez: Illustrator Perspective

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agents, authors, illustrator tips, illustrators, John Nez, picture books, publishing, tools, writing tips

Prolific illustrator John Nez shares with us about the tools he uses, why life as a working illustrator really is work, how to be your own best advocate, and how to keep that “little mouse of creative happiness” alive and thriving through it all. Read on for some great insight, tips, and illustrative goodness!