10 Ways to Wait

10 things to do while waiting 8 months to hear from an editor on a requested revision
Waiting
What would you add to this list?

Check your email every 15 minutes. Alternately, leave your email program on and the volume set to high, so that it bellows at you, “You’ve got mail,” and you can run [...]

Current 2008 Speaking Schedule

Schools, conferences, professional development for teachers–I have a little bit of everything planned for this year.

March 17 Pine Ridge Elementary, Maumelle, AR

April 1 Cathedral School, Little Rock, AR

April 4-6 Act 2 of Novel Retreat in 3 Acts, Nebraska

April 11-12 Arkansas Society of Children’s Bookwriters and Illustrators, Conway, AR
http://members.aol.com/ddpattison/scbwi/spring.html
April 21 Arkansas Association of Instructional Media, Little [...]

Take a Walk

The great secret of education is to combine physical and mental work so that one kind of exercise refreshes the other.
–Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Exercise and Creativity
I think you could substitute “the great secret of creativity” in the above [...]

Are You Still Not Tracking Submissions?

Submissions
This week, I’ll talk about submissions.

Are You Still Submitting Before Revising?
Are You Still NOT Submitting?
Are You Still Submitting Blind?
Are You Still Singly Submitting?
Are You Still Not Tracking Submissions?

Manuscript Tracking Software
There are many ways to do this, including Excel or other spreadsheets. But I’m still using SAMM, written by KC (Kevin) Cummings and distributed FREE.
Valuable [...]

Are You Still Singly Submitting?

Get ready for my soapbox about submitting!
Submissions
This week, I’ll talk about submissions.

Are You Still Submitting Before Revising?
Are You Still NOT Submitting?
Are You Still Submitting Blind?
Are You Still Singly Submitting?
Are You Still Not Tracking Submissions?

Submitting a Manuscript is the Saleswoman’s Hat
Think about this scenario: You are a saleswoman for an auto company that specializes in [...]

Are You Still Submitting Blind?

Are you still submitting blind, to people you know nothing about and have never met? Why?
Submissions
This week, I’ll talk about submissions.

Are You Still Submitting Before Revising?
Are You Still NOT Submitting?
Are You Still Submitting Blind?
Are You Still Singly Submitting?
Are You Still Not Tracking Submissions?

Know Your Audience
You should always know your audience. This is a [...]

Are You Still NOT Submitting?

Do you write for yourself or for publication?
Submissions
This week, I’ll talk about submissions.

Are You Still Submitting Before Revising?
Are You Still NOT Submitting?
Are You Still Submitting Blind?
Are You Still Singly Submitting?
Are You Still Not Tracking Submissions?

Are you Still NOT Submitting?
When a friend recently started writing, we talked about why he might want to write. Maybe [...]

Jody Feldman: Class of 2k8

Today begins a year-long series about those intrepid newcomers, The Class of 2k8. To help marketing efforts for debut novelists, these 28 novelists have banded together to create a group marketing effort. I’m thrilled that three authors in this group have taken my novel revision retreat; two of them sold the novel they [...]

Are you Still Submitting Before Revising?

Before you sent off that manuscript to an editor, did you revise? Why not?
Submissions
This week, I’ll talk about submissions.

Are You Still Submitting Before Revising?
Are You Still NOT Submitting?
Are You Still Submitting Blind?
Are You Still Singly Submitting?
Are You Still Not Tracking Submissions?

Are you Still Submitting Before Revising?
You finish a manuscript and in the heat [...]