Jon’s Twitter Updates for 2009-07-21


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Jon’s Twitter Updates for 2009-07-11


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Jon’s Twitter Updates for 2009-07-10


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Jon’s Twitter Updates for 2009-07-09


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How to Write a Picture Book That Shines


Writing picture book fiction is quite possibly the hardest type of writing there is, and yet editors receive more picture book manuscripts than any other genre. To make your work stand out from the crowd, you need to do more than study how to devise a winning plot and create believable, unique characters. You need to polish your prose until it sparkles. Here’s a video checklist to help with the editing process:

 



 

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Interested in learning how to write a picture book and send it to children’s book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!

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Jon’s Twitter Updates for 2009-07-08


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Research Tools You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of


Yes, Google is great.  Really, it’s revolutionized the world.  But the web doesn’t end at Google’s doors.  For the writer, there are some really, really terrific research tools just waiting to be discovered.  So, let’s discover ‘em!

Ms. Freckles – Crisply designed site that puts a boatload of info at your fingertips.  It’s particularly strong for writers needing translations or definitions of non-English words.  http://www.msfreckles.com/index.php?lang=en

Questia - Offers access to a huge collection of books and journal articles in the humanities and social sciences, plus magazine and newspaper articles, much of which are unavailable elsewhere.  There’s a monthly cost, but you can get a 72 hour free trial to check it out.  http://www.questia.com

Yahoo Kids – OK, you’ve heard of Yahoo, but have you checked out this search tool?  From this page, you’ll be able to dig through pop culture in no time.  Need to know what your readers are into?  Here’s where to turn!  http://kids.yahoo.com/search

Complete Planet – Got some serious research to do?  Have a look at Complete Planet, which provides over 70,000+ searchable “deep web”  databases and specialty search engines.  http://aip.completeplanet.com/

Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children’s book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!

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Our Top Posts From the Past Month


Too many posts to handle? If you missed out on a great post from last month, here’s a quick digest of the top posts that you may want to check out:
  • Children’s Book Publishing 101: 5 Ways to Improve Your Manuscript
    Posted on Friday, June 12th, 2009 in Uncategorized – Comments: (1)
    In this video: five ways to make your manuscript shine before you send it to a children’s book publisher.Free free to embed this video in a blog or website. You can also view or download it at YouTube, MySpace, Metacafe, Blip.tv, Veoh, Sclipo, 5min, Graspr and i2TV Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children’s book publishers?
  • Smart Promotion Tip for Children’s Book Authors
    Posted on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 in business of publishing – Comments: (2)
    Authors know the power of giving out freebies to promote their books. Bookmarks, stickers and the like are a great way to spread the word. The problem is getting the stuff in the hands of enough children, teachers and parents to make a difference. Here’s the solution: “freebie” websites. These sites list offers of free goodies for a variety of audiences, and are excellent places for authors to be listed.
  • Unique Tool For Writers: Wordle
    Posted on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 in freebies – Comments: (2)
    Wordle is a free online tool that takes any text and creates a “word cloud”.  The more a word shows up in the text, the larger it appears in a cloud.  Here’s a Wordle cloud I created using the text of Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address.I can think of a few  interesting uses for children’s book writers (or any writer, for that matter): Run your manuscript through it to see if you’re overusing certain adjectives.
  • Video: 7 Things Editors @ Children’s Book Publishers Wish They Could Tell Writers
    Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2009 in videos – Comments: (3)
    Editors are sometimes too polite to tell writers what they need to hear.  So we’ll do the job for them!If this embedded video doesn’t work, you can also view the video at any of these places: Yahoo, MySpace, Revver, DailyMotion, Blip.tv, Veoh, Sclipo, Viddler, Howcast, 5min, Graspr and i2TVInterested in learning how to write a book and send it to children’s book publishers?
  • Which Children’s Books Do Kids Read Most?
    Posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 in Uncategorized – Comments: (3)
    A survey of more than three million American children has identified the most-read books at each age level.  Conducted by the Renaissance Learning Web site, the survey has some fascinating revelations.Grade by grade, here are the most-read books:1st Grade – Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss2nd Grade – If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff3rd Grade – Charlotte’s Web by E.
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