Value of school visits

Yo-Yos v. Author
When I first started doing school visits, I was uncertain, trying to figure out what to do and why. That’s when I had a near encounter with a yo-yo.
I went to a rural elementary school a week after a yo-yo company had performed at the school. The yo-yo people had charged the school [...]

First Contract Advice

Last weekend, I was in Chandler, Oklahoma, a sleepy little town on the old Route 66. I didn’t get much sleep, though, because I was there to teach a Picture Book Retreat. Here are reports from Sara,
Susan Meyers, and Leeth. Also, check out the Okie Book Woman, who added lots of photos of the [...]

Top 10 Picture Book Topics to Avoid

Stiff Competition for These Picture Book Topics
For several years, information on writing a picture book has been available free on this site. It’s now available altogether as a 110 page pdf file, How to Write a Children’s Picture Book.
Dial editor, Liz Waniewski (ONE–es-key) spoke at the Arkansas SCBWI 2007 conference. For a couple months [...]

Touchstones

Touchstones: a reader’s way into your story
In this guest post by Martha Brockenbrough, grammarian, freelance writer, columnist, and author discusses how to pluck the heartstrings of your reader.
When I worked as a freelancer for a company that created really special games—games designed to draw out the best talents of each player—I learned [...]

Quoted at the Conference

This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Why YOU Should Attend a National ConferenceMany speakers used quotes in their presentations or made memorable statements. Here’s my collection of quotes from the conference:

About True Love: “It’s great when a publisher loves my work, but a contract is better; a contract is True [...]

Jennifer Rees, Scholastic

This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Why YOU Should Attend a National ConferenceOne main reason to attend a national conference is to meet editors, listen to how they describe their lists, and find out what they are looking for. Attendees are usually offered an opportunity to submit for a short period [...]

Jennifer Greene, Clarion

This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series Why YOU Should Attend a National ConferenceOne main reason to attend a national conference is to meet editors, listen to how they describe their lists, and find out what they are looking for. Attendees are usually offered an opportunity to submit for a short period [...]

Michelle Nagler, Bloomsbury

This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Why YOU Should Attend a National ConferenceOne main reason to attend a national conference is to meet editors, listen to how they describe their lists, and find out what they are looking for. Attendees are usually offered an opportunity to submit for a short period [...]

Who Attends National Conference

This entry is part 2 of 6 in the series Why YOU Should Attend a National ConferenceWho attends a national conference of writers?
Demographics
Executive Director of the SCBWI, Lin Oliver, always starts the conference with jokes and then gives a demographics report.

This year the conference was attended by 1056 people; 890 women, 166 men. Which, of [...]

Effective Picture Book Subtitles

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.