Website Spotlight: SCBWI Official Blog

The SCBWI Official Blog is available under the ‘publications’ drop-down menu on the SCBWI website.

New posts are added twice a week and you’ll find “industry news, interviews, and in-depth posts addressing everything from book promotion, to school visits, timely issues and more.” The blog archive goes back to 2010 and has something useful for all SCBWI members. It’s well worth a look!

By Margaret Lea

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Kelly Bennett is coming to town!

By Margaret Lea Kelly Bennett credits an elementary school teacher for praising her writing and sticking it on the board. This gave her confidence to write more. And surprisingly, it was Kelly’s unhappy first marriage that also spurred her writing. In 1985, while trying to make this marriage work, she decided to do something solely for herself. She wanted to take a volleyball class at the university near her, but they didn’t offer that. So instead, she took a class on writing and marketing children’s stories. There she fell in love with writing for children. She also met another woman, Ronnie Davidson, who became a writing partner for twenty years. They published their first book together in 1987 and five more over the years. Kelly has now published around 25 books, both by herself and with others. She credits writing friends for keeping her accountable. For example, she and one friend would set a...

Valerie Bolling

By Margaret Lea Valerie has been writing poems since her elementary-school days, but not until 2016, inspired by writing a couple of stories for her nieces, did she get the urge to seriously pursue writing. She had some author friends, so she sought out their advice. She also talked with librarians and booksellers, attended classes and conferences, and joined SCBWI and writing groups. Her debut picture book, LET’S DANCE, was picked up by an editor after a Twitter pitch event. It came out in March, 2020, and went on to win a SCBWI Crystal Kite award. Three months after her debut, she signed with agent James McGowan at BookEnds Literary. She has been with him ever since and very much enjoys working together. Valerie spent 30 years as an educator. She taught elementary and middle school for many years and then was an instructional coach for other tea...

Sheila Fernley from Storm Literary Agency

By Margaret Lea Sheila Fernley joined Storm Literary Agency in March 2024 as an Associate Literary Agent, and is an agented picture book author herself, as well as a former editor and special education teacher. If you are reading this before November 2024, and would like to hear her speak, register for our free Zoom meeting . Here are her answers to some of querying authors’ most common questions. 1) Do you prefer a query salutation to be Dear Ms. Fernley, Dear Sheila Fernley, or Dear Sheila? I prefer query letter salutations to be personal – Dear Sheila, or even Hi Sheila. 2) How far do you read of each genre (PB/MG/YA) before you usually know it’s a pass? Do you represent all three categories? I represent authors who write PB, MG, and YA subgenres, requesting a full manuscript for picture books and the first three chapters of a MG or YA. I also represent author/illustrators. I can usually tell by the end of the first page if the project wil...

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