Children’s Writing Web Journal

From their press release:

# Amazon.com is now selling more Kindle books than hardcover books. Over the past three months, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, the Company has sold 143 Kindle books. Over the past month, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, the Company has sold 180 Kindle books. This is across Amazon.com’s entire U.S. book business and includes sales of hardcover books where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the number even higher.

# Amazon sold more than 3x as many Kindle books in the first half of 2010 as in the first half of 2009.

# The Association of American Publishers’ latest data reports that e-book sales grew 163 percent in the month of May and 207 percent year-to-date through May. Kindle book sales in May and year-to-date through May exceeded those growth rates.

# On July 6, Hachette announced that James Patterson had sold 1.14 million e-books to date. Of those, 867,881 were Kindle books.

# Five authors–Charlaine Harris, Stieg Larsson, Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, and Nora Roberts–have each sold more than 500,000 Kindle books.

Stunning stuff. It’s always scary to be in the midst of an upheaval — and make no mistake, this is an upheaval — but when the dust clears, I believe we’ll be entering a great time for authors.

Full release here

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!

I’ve just posted a new video over at The CBI Clubhouse about resources to help you find writing jobs online.  If you’re looking to earn a few dollars while you develop your children’s writing career, you just might find the answer at the sites I highlight.

Have a look at the video at

http://cbiclubhouse.com/2010/06/writing-jobs-online-4-sites-to-help-you-find-freelance-opportunities/

Thirty years ago, the music industry was largely controlled by a handful of major labels: Atlantic, Warner Brothers, MCA and the like.  Power was centralized and access to creating a record that anyone would hear was extremely difficult to come by.  It was a tough slog for aspiring artists but, on the positive side, this meant that quality was more consistent and, if an artist did manage to score a contract, the chances of being heard — and potentially making a fair sum of money — was pretty decent.

Fast forward through decades of revolution — the compact disc, the rise of indie and DIY labels and ultimately, digital downloading — and the music world is a vastly different place.  On the one hand, almost anyone can record and release music, sharing it with listeners around the world with little or no expense.  The catch?  With millions of people creating and releasing music, it’s nearly impossible to cut through the clutter, especially when the once monolithic music market has become so wildly segmented.  Thirty years ago, a band that sold 50,000 albums would be considered an abject failure.  Today, they’re stars.

So what does this have to do with publishing?  A great deal if history repeats.  At issue: what if the rise of eBooks has the same impact on publishing as the compact disc and the MP3 had on music?

The Good:

* Content will become easier and cheaper to create and distribute, opening publishing doors for anyone with an idea and the desire to create a book.

* Niche (and even micro-niche) audiences will be well served with a wide variety of content options.

* Digital technology will allow creativity to soar, as eBook readers incorporate sound, touch and (before too long) smell into a formerly 2D medium.

The Bad:

* Without traditional gatekeepers (i.e. editors) in place, the signal to noise ratio is likely to get out of hand.  Don’t believe me?  Try bouncing around Myspace and listening to new pop music artists.  What’s the batting average when seeking true talent amidst the dross?

* Content will lose its value.   Stripped of  the packaging and context of traditional albums, music became another overly abundant commodity.  If it’s paid for at all, it’s for a measly sum.  Ebooks could suffer the same ultimate fate.

So It’s All Bad News?

Nope.   Some music artists have figured it out, and they’re clearing a path for authors to study.  Consider Derek Vincent Smith a.k.a. Pretty Lights, a hip-hop/techno artist who has released three CDs — and has never sold a single copy.  That’s because he gives them away, in exchange for the fan loyalty and exposure they bring.  The result?  He scores huge appearance fees to perform live, sells lots of merchandise and, generally, does a whole lot better than his contemporaries going the traditional route.

This isn’t to say that authors should prepare to give their work away (although they may consider it at some point) but to point out that income earned from live appearances, merchandise, licensing, blog advertising and other sources is every bit the legal tender that royalties are.   The successful writers, musicians and artists of tomorrow are those who understand that their overall brand is what will provide a good living, not simply one or two pieces of content.

Here’s a no-nonsense guide to submitting your children’s manuscript to children’s book publishers.

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!

At a recent session of the Children’s Authors’ Bootcamp workshop that I co-teach with author Linda Arms White, one of the attendees asked me how an author knows when her story is ready to submit to children’s book publishers. My facetious, off-the-cuff answer had something to do with a beam of light shining down from above, illuminating the manuscript. I then went on to try to answer the question in earnest, ending with, “The first time you think your manuscript is finished, it never is.”

There isn’t a writer alive who hasn’t wished for some sort of literary oven in which to place their manuscript, knowing when the timer goes off it’s done. Unfortunately, there is no such objective measurement for good writing. Therefore, the best advice I can give is to get as much input on your completed manuscript as possible before putting it in the mail.

Writing is a solitary endeavor, with authors carefully guarding their ideas and feeling tremendous ownership of the finished project. As they should. But in order for a manuscript to become a book, it has to pass muster with many people, from editors to sales reps to accountants to art directors. Once in book form, those ideas must then appeal to reviewers, bookstore owners, librarians and consumers, not to mention kids. No matter how stellar you think your writing is, if others don’t share your opinion, your manuscript will never make it farther than your file cabinet.

The first “second reader” of your writing is you. You need to remove your author’s hat and adopt the reader’s viewpoint. You can’t do this as soon as you’ve written the last word of the manuscript. Put some distance between yourself and the project. Take time off, start working on something else. Then read the work and try to measure it against what you consider to be high standards. Does the pacing compare to a published work in the same genre by an author you admire? Are the characters as fully developed as those by acclaimed authors writing for this age group? Does the dialogue actually sound like words real, live people you know might say? If you wrote an outline for your book, compare the finished plot to what you intended to write from the outline. Did you leave out any important elements? Did you add anything that’s unnecessary? If you’re writing nonfiction, did you do enough research, or did you have to pad areas with “filler”?

Then, take your book out into the world. The first stop should be your writer’s group. Ideally, this is comprised of people who are all writing and/or studying children’s books. Listen to their comments and take them seriously. You don’t have to make any suggested changes, but you should consider the reasons for changes offered by the readers. If more than one reader doesn’t understand a plot twist, doesn’t believe a character would act a certain way, can’t accurately visualize a setting, it’s your problem, not theirs. It doesn’t matter how inspired the idea is inside your head; if you can’t accurately communicate this idea on paper, no one will ever pick up your book. This process of frank editing and honest critique can take several rounds before the book is “done.” Ending the process too soon will only lead to frustration and rejection letters. Declaring “I just have to find an editor who understands my book” can be just as bad. Yes, a good author/editor fit is important to the success of any book, but once you decide you want to get your work published, it ceases to be a solitary exercise. You have to know that your story makes sense to other people, and the only way to do this is to get input from outside yourself and consider it carefully.

In the end, no book is ever really finished. I’ve spoken with many published authors who wish they could take back their books for one more run though the editing mill. Every time we write we improve our skills a little more. One final aspect then, of knowing when a book is done, is learning to walk that fine line between making it better and letting it go. Learn to recognize when a manuscript is as strong as you can make it, and then send it out and begin your next masterpiece

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!

It seems like every day you can open up a trade journal and read about new children’s book publishers entering the children’s book scene. While most of these publishers are well-funded and have some sort of background in the industry, a few may be bad risks for an author or illustrator. Here are some ways you can check out a publisher before signing a contract.

Full article here: http://cbiclubhouse.com/2010/03/how-to-tell-if-a-new-or-small-press-is-legitimate/

In case you needed another reason to write books for kids, here comes some fascinating news:

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center tracked 81 clinically obese girls, ages 9 to 13, and found that 35 percent of the children managed to reduce their body mass index (BMI) when given a book to read about an overweight girl who helps herself to get healthier.

Read the whole story here: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6719309.html

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!

When Steve Jobs and his crew at Apple set out to change the technological landscape, they usually succeed.  That’s why it’s absolutely vital that all writers pay close attention to their new “tablet”, the iPad.

This could be the gizmo that changes everything about the way newspapers, magazines and books — yes, even children’s books — are experienced.

I’ve found some links that will help you understand what this potentially game-changing product is about.  The more you know now, the better positioned you’ll be for the future.

Here you go:

What It Looks Like to Read a Book on the Apple iPad - Video:

http://i.gizmodo.com/5458329/what-it-looks-like-to-read-a-book-on-the-apple-ipad-+-video

Apple’s iPad: What book lovers need to know:

http://shelf-life.ew.com/2010/01/27/all-you-need-to-know-about-apples-ipad/

Apple iPad: Books, Magazines, Movies and Music:

http://i.gizmodo.com/5458263/apple-ipad-books-magazines-movies-and-music

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!

Besides the cute little kid, of course. It’s CBI!

Noelle Sterne’s terrific interview with Laura is featured in the new issue.

Click here for more info.