Children’s Writing Web Journal

• Social network for book lovers: http://www.shelfari.com/ Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• Great quotes about writing. http://is.gd/gtYV Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• PW: Children’s booksellers choose their favorite books of 2008 http://snipr.com/ad05e Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• New @ the Clubhouse: talks w/ Chris Crutcher, Lois Lowry & more! Plus new video and audio. http://cbiclubhouse.com writing community #
• Provocative & cool: children’s books that are “not for children’” http://short.to/ltz Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• Why What We Read At 12 May Be The Most Important Reading We Ever Do: http://jijr.com/uMD Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #

Our pal Harold Underdown has written a thought-provoking piece on the state of children’s publishing as we begin 2009. 

Harold sees some pain ahead — but it’s not all bad news.

Click here to read this interesting piece for yourself.

• Cool stuff found inside old books: http://is.gd/zgJ Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• Plot Scenario Generator Fun to play with: http://is.gd/fBwA Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• Need character names? http://thenamegenerator.com/ Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• Neil Gaiman on how he gets ideas: http://jijr.com/jYG Jon, cbiclubhouse.com, children’s writing community #
• A writing ‘cheat sheet”. Some good stuff here. http://is.gd/fBnF Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• Novel Outlining 101: http://snipr.com/9w6lz Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• So, how do we feel about the new Winnie the Pooh “sequel? http://jijr.com/jYD Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• School pulls National Book Award winner after parent complains: http://twurl.nl/q01pdl Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• 18 sites that pay you to write http://snipr.com/9w5tg Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #

• 10 Words to Avoid When Writing: http://is.gd/eDpm Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• All of Google’s hidden features in one page: http://www.simply-google.com/ Jon, cbiclubhouse.com children’s writing community #
• For illustrators - this could be an interesting tool to mess with: http://short.to/imp Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writing community #
• 5 cool writing exercises: http://snipr.com/9rrds Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writing community #
• wow - 32 millions adults in US have low literacy skills. More: http://is.gd/fbNN Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writers community #
• “trait chart” to make your characters come to life: http://jijr.com/j7L Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writers community #

Via the NY Times, Simon & Schuster has appointed Jon Anderson, currently president of Running Press Book Publishers, as the new publisher of their children’s division.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/simon-schuster-appoint-new-head-for-childrens-division/

• Grammar Girl’s Top Ten Grammar Myths http://jijr.com/j7K Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writers community #
• Massive collection of public domain & open access texts: http://is.gd/ffPt Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writers community #
• How other famous writers would have ended Harry Potter: http://snipr.com/9r9wy Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writers community #
• Need more hard drive space? How To Get 124 GB in Free Online Storage http://jijr.com/jrE Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writers community #
• Send your future self an e-mail. Lots of uses for this. http://emailfuture.com/ Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writing community #
• Nice reference guide to proofreading marks. Very useful for all writers. http://jijr.com/jrA Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writers community #
• 10 Books Harry Potter fans should check out: http://snipr.com/9r942 Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writers community #
• Origins of common phrases. Don’t get the “wrong end of the stick”! http://twurl.nl/riwqpa Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writers community #
• Interesting fill-in form to help create fiction characters: http://jijr.com/jr5 Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writer’s community #
• 5000+ Resources to Do Just About Anything Online. A goldmine of info! http://short.to/ihi Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writer’s community #
• Print out a recyclable, personal organizer. Cool! http://pocketmod.com/v2/ Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writer’s community #
• 15 Things Kurt Vonnegut Said Better Than Anyone Else Ever Has Or Will http://snipr.com/9r84z Jon, cbiclubhouse.com writer’s community #

A New York restaurant has granted a pardon to George — a 140 year old lobster! He was released back to the ocean in Maine. Imagine that — a lobster born around the end of the Civil War still swimming around out there.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090110/ap_on_fe_st/odd_liberated_lobster

So, who amongst you is ready to do George his proper justice in a picture book?

Know what I find offensive? I mean really, really offensive?

Mediocrity.

I’m really quite OK with bad books, or bad music, or bad movies—as long as I can observe that the people behind the work had the intention of making something great. There’s no shame in trying to produce something beautiful and falling short. There’s no shame in trying to reach beyond your level of talent and hitting a wall.

But mediocrity is another matter. Mediocrity says that you never intended to shoot for the stars. You just wanted to get something out there, make a few bucks and grab a little fame.

It used to be that mediocrity was obliterated by excellence. Think about the pop culture titans who strode the earth in days past: Mailer, Sinatra, Ali, Hepburn, Dylan, Bowie…. Sure there were hacks all over the place back then, but they were largely obscured by the shadows of the truly talented.

Now look at the culture around you and think about who our most famous people are. We’re surrounded by a sea of reality TV stars, vapid mass-produced pop idols and ceaseless self-promoters. We have become a society that doesn’t just tolerate mediocrity, we venerate it. We’ve mistaken heat for talent. And we’ve handed over the keys of our culture to the unbearably average.

So what’s this have to do with you, dear children’s writer? Just this:

We don’t need more children’s books. We need more great children’s books. If you’re not fully committed to trying to create something spectacular, and wonderful and utterly breathtaking, find another hobby.

Now, you may not have the chops to actually succeed at creating something beautiful, but you won’t know that until you truly try. If you fail, at least you’ll have gone down with a dignity of purpose. If you succeed, you may not sell as many books as the celebrity-author-of-the-day, but I guarantee that kids will know. And future generations will know. And, for goodness sakes, is there another form of artistic expression that offers a greater chance for unbounded creativity, joy and inventiveness than a children’s book? And is there another field that offers a better chance for the truly visionary to actually come out on top? J.K. Rowling, Mo Willems and Louis Sachar don’t sell so many books because they were hyped to the heavens. They sell so many books because kids have a natural B.S. detector and can tell the truly great from the truly mediocre. They sell so many books because they dreamed of greatness, and it was greatness they so deservedly achieved.

Kids don’t care about hype. They just want what’s good. In that, they are the final firewall against mediocrity. And they deserve only the best as a result.

And here’s the best part: If you set your sights not on fame and fortune, but rather on simply creating something beautiful, your chances of success become so much greater. When we’ve asked writers about the best moments of their careers, we’ve never heard anyone say “getting a big advance” or “making the bestseller list”. What we’ve heard was “when a parent stopped and thanked me for writing a book that turned her child on to reading” or “when I got a letter from a young boy who told me that my book changed his life” or “when a writer I really admire complimented me.” And these are from some folks who have gotten big advances and have made bestseller lists.

In March 1966, The Velvet Underground released their debut album. It was met with confused indifference and barely dented the charts. Today it’s said that 5,000 people bought that record and every one of them started a band. The impact of that album is profound beyond words and, while most of the bands who bested the Velvet Underground in sales are now forgotten, young musicians still pull that record out and marvel. And then they start a band.

The point: create something special and beautiful and then give it to the world. Forget about sales, forget about acclaim. Just write a book that even a handful of kids will read. But make that book so special, so wonderful, that this handful will go forth and write their own wonderful books.

Right now:

1. Decide if you are truly committed to creating something absolutely, utterly transcendent. If not, walk away.

2. If you are up to the task, defend this decision with everything you’ve got. Don’t let naysayers, shortsighted rejecters, and the voices of those who would drag you down to their level of mediocrity and compromise stop you. Forge ahead and find your path to excellence.

For more articles and instruction, visit the CBI Clubhouse, a community for children’s writers, at http://cbiclubhouse.com

For the past month, I’ve been so fixated on getting the CBI Clubhouse up and running that I’ve completely forgotten a whole host of things.  Shaving….sleeping….taking my vitamins…and the fact that I did an interview with the awesome Cynthia Smith for her also-awesome blog Cynsations.

So it was a lovely surprise to log on today and see the interview.  It’s also a nice reminder of what I look like when I had time to shave, sleep and take my vitamins.

Good times, good times.

Anyway, here’s the link so you can check it out.

http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2009/01/publisher-interview-jon-bard-on.html

• Woo-hoo…The CBI Clubhouse is open! Come and visit…you’re gonna be amazed! http://cbiclubhouse.com Jon, Children’s Book Insider #