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Hello, from Lake George in the Adirondacks. There are white caps on the blue lake, nestled amidst fading fall colors. This weekend, 35 children’s picture book writers gathered on the shore to schmooze, learn, talk, gossip, and passionately discuss the art and craft of writing a 32-page children’s picture book. Thanks Nancy Castaldo, Regional Advisor [...]
I’m having a submissions day. This is true: a manuscript that is only in a drawer or only a file on your computer will not sell. It’s only when you send out a manuscript to an editor that you get a contract, a sale, a publication. Last year, I talked about reevaluating my career and [...]
The Arkansas Society of Children’s BookWriters and Illustrators conference (see the national SCBWI site here) was this weekend in North Little Rock, AR, my home town! It was a small, cozy conference; but look out, because Arkansas writers have big dreams. Kudos to the AR-Regional Advisor, Phyllis Heman, for planning a great conference. The speakers, [...]
Conferences give Personal Renewal One reason I love conferences is because they are often mountain-top experiences. I’ve definitely been living in the valley this year and it was great to attend the March, 2011 Oklahoma SCBWI conference. I came away excited, ready to work. Talking Shop. For one thing, I talked shop non-stop for 48 [...]
Have Your Pity Party: But Then Get to Work When you get the letter from an editor about a revision, what do you do? Frankly, I get mad. How dare that misguided editor
How to Write a Query Letter I’m attending a retreat this weekend and we are supposed to bring a query letter for critique. In preparation, I’ve read a variety of articles about “how to write a successful query letter” and found the best available on the internet today. Basics How to Write a Query A [...]
Dear-Editor.com is Giving Away a Free Edit Former Harcourt editor, Deborah Halverson is celebrating the one-month anniversary of her new blog, Dear-Editor.com, with a Free Giveaway. It’s a “substantive edit” of an 85,000 word or less middle grade or young adult (teen) novel. About Deborah Disclosure: Deborah was my fabulous editor for Searching for Oliver [...]
3 Reminders About Pitching Your Mss to an Editor or Agent At our conference this weekend, we have an editor and an agent attending and for the first time, we’re doing pitch sessions. Always before, we’ve done a manuscript critique, sending in 10 pages a month before. So, I’ve been going over some recommendations for [...]
The Arkansas SCBWI Conference is this weekend in Conway, AR. Featured speakers are Anastasia Suen, Greenwillow editor Martha Mahilick, and agent Jennifer (Jaeger) Rofe, from the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Earlier, I linked to the websites and blogs of the speakers. Full registration information is available on the Arkansas SCBWI website. If you’re anywhere close, [...]
Yesterday, I started brainstorming on revisions for a picture book. I got some editorial feedback in February when I saw the editor in NYC. But it’s been hard to approach this revision because when we talked, I disagreed with much of what the editor said. Cooling Off Period Helps Me See Editor’s Wisdom So, I [...]
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