Authors Judy Enderle and Stephanie Gordon on Founding the Working Writer’s Retreat, Making the Most of Critiques and Writing with a Partner

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critiques, editing, Judy Enderle, Little Zack?, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, Smile! Principessa!, Stephanie Gordon, Where are You, writing tips

Since they met during a UCLA writing class in 1979, Stephanie Gordon and Judy Enderle have led prolific careers as writing partners, publishing more than 20 picture books, middle grade, and young adult novels like Smile! Principessa! and Where Are You, Little Zack?  They have also published books individually and under the joint pen names Jeffie Ross Gordon and J.R. Gordon.

They were also the co-editors of the Fox Broadcasting Children’s Network magazine, Totally Fox Kids, and story editors and writers for the first season of the Fox children’s television program Rimba’s Island. They have been lecturers, teachers, and editors for Boyd’s Mills Press, and are still famous for saying, “yes.” Today, they also run the manuscript critique and editing business Writers Ink.

Enderle and Gordon have crafted writing communities, founding SCBWI’s Southern California chapter (which would later be segmented to include the Los Angeles Chapter) and were the first Regional Advisor Chairpersons, taking SCBW(I) from six chapters to sixty and international, as well as launching the Working Writer’s Retreat. The retreat returns this year, Sept 15-17, with Enderle and Gordon again serving as faculty.

We asked them about their careers, working with a writing partner, and making the most of a critique.

Author Catherine Linka on Community for Introverts, Critique Tips, What Sells, & Balancing Romance with Wonder Woman

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A Girl Called Fearless, A Girl Undone, Author Tips, Catherine Linka, community, romance, SCBWI community, SCBWI events, SCBWI members, Wonder Woman, writing tips, YA

Catherine Linka, author of the A Girl Called Fearless series, joins this year’s LA SCBWI Working Writer’s Retreat faculty. She is a world traveler, former buyer for an independent book store, and was almost thrown out of boarding school for being “too verbal.” She spoke with me about her work, your work, Wonder Woman, and the kid lit community’s place in the world.

Linka first became involved in SCBWI “forever ago.” It was the first time she’d found people interested in the same kid lit things as her. Later, she added her Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA community and then the debut author community. “Everyone was so generous and warm and inclusive.” That’s why she believes it’s so important to give back. “It costs me nothing but time to help someone else out, really, so why not?”

True to that ideal, Linka is a huge supporter of SCBWI and an active SCBWI mentor and member. She knows every writer needs a supportive community. “It can take years to develop your craft, and you need people to cheer you on, point out opportunities, open doors, celebrate successes and mourn defeats. We really can’t do this alone, and it is so much more fun and satisfying to do it together.”

Linka acknowledges that writers who are often introverted, herself included, may feel overwhelmed in social situations, even when taking advantage of SCBWI’s group activities and professional development opportunities. This can also make it harder when we eventually have to do our own marketing. Her biggest advice:

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.