Space City Scribes

By  Margaret Lea    Adam Blackman, like many children's writers, began by making up stories for and with his young son. A specific incident about ten years ago further propelled Adam into the KidLit space. His Kindergartener son picked out pink, light-up, sparkly rhinestone shoes, but when he wore them to school, even in his progressive Brooklyn, NY neighborhood, several kids asked him why he was wearing “girly” shoes. Adam realized that KidLit was the perfect place to let kids know that everyone should have the freedom to express themselves and not be judged for it.        Adam has an MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and worked as a non-profit bookstore manager for seven years. He began engaging with the KidLit community on Twitter after his son’s shoe incident, and he made connections there that led him to writers, agents, editors, mentors and critique groups. Adam stresses that community and networking, especially through SCBWI, can ...

  By  Margaret Lea   Cate Berry, picture book author, will be the speaker at our October 6, 2025 Zoom chapter meeting . She will be speaking on "Secrets to a Long, Unshakeable Career in Publishing." Below is my interview with Cate. For more info on Cate and her work, check out her website at cateberry.com .  When did you decide you wanted to be a writer? What most helped you get there?  It sounds cliché, but reading is what MOST helped me become a published author. Want to write picture books? Read at least 300 before you even begin drafting. I'm serious. There is a rhythm to picture books, a cadence and a "puzzle element" that's absorbed into your subconscious by reading in bulk. This is also true for middle grade and YA. Try and feel your way into the game. You'll also discover which authors, subjects and subgenres speak to you. It's fun to draft. I get it. But while you're building up your chops, keep reading the form. I have taken classes, t...

       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...

Meet our new Self-Publishing Coordinator!  By  Margaret Lea If you are self-published or thinking about self-publishing, you need to meet our chapter’s Self Pub Coordinator, Tiffany Obeng. In fact, I recommend you go to her website right now at sugarcookiebooks.com . If you have some time (because you will definitely want to read many of these posts), click on “Blog.” You will learn much and also pick up money-saving and money-making tips.       For example, here’s a tip from her Dec. 6, 2021 post : If you’re selling at a vendor’s market event, give the customer the book they bought in a clear plastic bag, and they will be doing free advertising for you as they stroll the market!        The Jan. 5, 2022 post explains strategies to get your books into U.S. libraries. The Oct. 11, 2022 post is a “Cheat-Sheet for Creating a Fascinating Amazon Book Page that Captivates Buyers.” And the Nov. 17, 2020 post explains ISBNs. Did you know,...

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...

By Margaret Lea        “Embrace your weirdness, take calculated risks, and interact with as many people as possible,” urges two-time NY Times bestselling illustrator Marissa Valdez.      Marissa has been drawing for as long as she can remember and loves illustrating everything, especially when she gets to convey expression and emotion. She grew up in Los Fresnos, a small town near Brownsville, TX, then got a degree in animation from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She had simply followed other’s advice, though, and didn’t enjoy animation.            After college graduation, she moved to the Houston area and got a job teaching preschool at a fine arts school in Fulshear. She loved this, especially reading picture books to the kids, but there was no opportunity for advancement, so she took a job as a graphic designer, where she worked for three years while pursuing h...

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