I’m revising my middle grade historical fiction manuscript, CHASING HOME, and am at the point of fussing over word choice. This is a perfect time to enlist the support of the word frequency and phrase frequency checker (http://www.writewords.org.uk/word_count.asp) at the website www.writewords.com. It’s so easy to use. Paste in a document or parts of a document, click… Read more »
The first Mentor Monday interview is with Michigan’s own Melissa Shanker, winner of the 2011 SCBWI-MI Mentorship Award. Melissa is mentored by the accomplished author, Kristen Wolden Nitz, who can be found at http://www.kwnitz.com/. The interview follows: Please provide a brief description of your mentor and your winning manuscript. I am fortunate to have Kristen Wolden Nitz as… Read more »
“We can help a person to be himself by our own willingness to steep ourselves temporarily in his world, in his private feelings and experiences. By our affirmation of the person as he is, we give him support and strength to take the next step in his own growth.” — Clark MoustakasFour years ago this fall,… Read more »
Any folklore folks out there? Check out this hot from the presses info: Sylvan Dell Publishing (www.sylvandellpublishing.com) is expanding into Social Studies (cultures, geography, history) concepts through folklore. Our current focus is/has been fun-to-read (fictional) picture books with non-fiction science and math concepts woven through the story. The back of each of our books has… Read more »
As I struggle with revisions to my midgrade historical novel, I am struck by how perfect the following quote is: Writing is not a profession, after all; it’s an obsession, a long-term sentence in a rubber room of uncertainty and doubt. – New York Times Notable Book winner, Mark Ribowsky
Lisa Wheeler (www.lisawheeler.com), picture book author extraordinaire, shared this resource for free critiquing from industry professionals. Yes. You read that right. The website is: http://rateyourstory.blogspot.com/. I tried it out and Margot Finke was my critiquer. She did a great job finding the sticking points in a new picture book manuscript. And she did it for free, quickly,… Read more »
Writers, do you know about this resource? Jacketflap http://www.jacketflap.com/index.asp provides a wealth of information about books, publishers, authors, illustrators…Check it out. It is free and is a good place to start research on publishers prior to submitting — because we all know how important it is to research the most appropriate publishers for our submissions, right? … Read more »
“Write like you are drunk. Edit like you are sober.” — Tamra Tuller, editor, Philomel Books
I just received cover art for A Warm Winter Tail! I think Christina Wald nailed it. What do you think?
I’ve just returned from the 2011 SCBWI-Michigan fall conference and even though this was my 6th fall conference with this group, I am still in awe of their comraderie, support and skill. If you are a children’s book writer and/or illustrator and you haven’t joined the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, do it today (www.scbwi.org)…. Read more »
Sharing insights on writing children’s books and the publishing industry, and offering trinkets for creators and educators because you rock.
