Children’s Writing Web Journal

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When an editor opens up the envelope containing your manuscript and begins to read, you have 10 seconds to get her attention. If she’s not captivated by the end of the first page (or maybe the second page if she’s having a good day), it’s not likely she’ll continue.

If that sounds harsh, think about this: editors have more patience than your juvenile audience. So how do you guarantee that your readers will keep reading? The first sentence must be active, must pull the reader into the book. The first paragraph needs to set the stage by introducing elements of the main character, the setting and the upcoming conflict. By the end of the first page, your reader should be so involved in the story that there’s no turning back. (more…)

We just stumbled across this:  Until midnight tonight, you can grap a free copy of Liquid Story Binder XE, a “uniquely designed word processor for professional and aspiring authors, poets, and novelists.”   It’s being given away at http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/

Enjoy!

Rejection is never easy. But some authors can’t separate themselves from their work, and take rejection letters very personally. I get many emails from disgruntled writers who can’t get past their anger to figure out why their work was turned down in the first place. So before you spend hours sticking pins in your editor voodoo doll, see if you recognize yourself below:

The complaint: “Editors practice age discrimination. I’m over 50 and editors believe only young authors can write for children.”

The truth: Editors are interested in finding good books, period. It doesn’t matter how old the author is. Take a look at the lists of award winners (ask your librarian, or do an Internet search for Caldecott or Newbery Awards) and note the ages of the authors. Many didn’t start writing until their kids were in school full time, or took up writing as a second career. Editors also know that the best stories come from years of life experience, and older writers have more to draw from. Yes, occasionally a book written by a teenager will make the news, but more often than not it’s the novelty of the author’s age that gets the publicity, not the quality of the writing. And why does the editor know your age in the first place? There’s no reason to mention it in your cover or query letter, unless it has direct bearing on the story. If you’re writing historical fiction and you actually lived through the events in the plot, or your nonfiction book is based on years of study in the subject, then your age is a plus. (more…)

Picture books aren’t read, they’re performed. The very act of reading a story out loud to a child forces the reader to add inflection, dramatic pauses, and even ad-lib some commentary. Where the pages are turned can add (or detract) as much from the experience as the quality of the story itself.

Picture books are almost always 32 pages long. There is no mysterious artistic reason for this; it’s simply how the printing presses work. If the book is longer, it will go up in 8-page increments, but most publishers don’t care to spend this added cost on new authors. The 32 pages includes the endpages (the white or decorated pages at the beginning and end of the book), the title page, and the copyright/dedication page. So the author has an average of 26 pages to tell the story. In general, the first page of text is a righthand page, and the last page of text is on the left. Once you’ve written your story, it’s useful to break the text into 26 sections, type each section on a separate piece of paper, and staple those pages together like a book. Now read your story as you turn the pages. Does each spread (two facing pages) encompass a different scene from those before and after? Are your characters doing something the illustrator can draw? Finally, is there a reason your r! eaders will want to turn the page to see what comes next?

Talented picture book writers consider pacing when they’re revising their texts. Here are four page-turning methods that work: (more…)