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7 Children’s Picture Book Manuscripts in 7 Days I’m taking the 7 in 7 picture book challenge. Report on 7 in 7 for the first week of May, 2009 May 7 May 6 May 5 May 4: Delaware and Miriam. OK. This is getting hard! Picture books are short, yes, but that doesn’t mean they [...]
7 Children’s Picture Book Manuscripts in 7 Days I’m taking the 7 in 7 picture book challenge. Report on 7 in 7 for the first week of May, 2009 May 1: Violet Ivy’s Button Eyes. 1128 words. May 2: ABC book. OK, so it’s one I had half-way started before and abandoned because I had [...]
Have you decided to join the National Picture Book Writing Week? It started today and you need to write a picture book (with a beginning, middle and end) each day. Of course, if you write seven, you’ll need to revise seven! So, come back the next week and read through my series, 30 Days to [...]
Stiff Competition for These Picture Book Topics Dial editor, Liz Waniewski (ONE–es-key) spoke at the Arkansas SCBWI 2007 conference. For a couple months before the conference, she kept track of her slush pile picture book submissions by category. This resulted in my 2007 posting 12 Picture Book Topics to Avoid, one of the more popular [...]
Do picture books need subtitles? Well, no, not strictly. Just like any other book, a subtitle is a chance to tell the prospective reader something more about the topic of the book.
A reader asks, “I’m wondering if there is an objective way of measuring didacticism in an PB manuscript.”
Voice is important, whether you’re writing a novel or a picture book.
One question that often arises is, “Can you revise for voice?” Yes. Here’s an example of how it worked for me.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when revising a picture book is that it needs to be easy to read aloud. Usually picture books are read to kids by adults. If you have to read the same thing over and over and over — and over again, then you learn to appreciate a smoothly written and fun text.
Poetry Collections make great picture books. Write a Collection of Poetry on a Specific Topic Poetry collections make great children’s picture books. The most common type of poetry collection seen in picture books is 15-30 poems on a single, specific topic. This slots the book into a category for use in the classroom, as well [...]
This post was originally published as “When Folktales Fail: Modernize Your Picture Book” Children’s Writer. December, 2005. Picture books: Folk Tale or Modern Story? Despite several sales of picture book manuscripts, I still receive many rejections. Why? That’s what I recently set out to learn. My search began with an article by Jill Paton Walsh, [...]
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