I thought it would be fun to hear from Melissa Shanker’s mentor, Kristin Wolden Nitz. Kristin took time out of a tight deadline to answer our questions about mentoring and how important the process has been to her and her writing. She can be found at http://www.kwnitz.com/. Thanks, Kristin! Please share a brief bio of you and… Read more »
P.J. Hoover Since we are staring the end of 2011 right in the face, it’s time to think about new year’s resolutions. How about this one? “I resolve to get a professional critique on my fantasy novel.” Look no further than P.J. Hoover, a mentor from the great state of Texas. Check her out at… Read more »
This Monday, we take a peek at the other side of the mentor partnership with Jessica Lee Anderson. She’s an accomplished author who is part of the Avante-Garde Mentoring Program (http://austinavantmentors.com/) organized by SCBWI-TX, Austin. This program connects talented mentors with aspiring children’s book writers. Anyone would be lucky to work with Jessica Lee Anderson. Check her out at: http://www.jessicaleeanderson.com/index.php. 1. Please share a… Read more »
Kristen Remenar, children’s librarian, national speaker and SCBWI-MI colleague shared information about www.readerkidz.com, a new review site hosted by people deep in the field of children’s literature:“Our mission is to provide teachers, librarians, and parents with the resources and inspiration to foster a love of reading in kids, K-5. . If you need help finding… Read more »
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 »
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 »
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.
