1. A Deal that Even My Sister
Bonnie Would Jump At
2. Oprah's Book Club Releases Kids' Reading List
3. Cool Tool Turns eBooks and Websites into
Audio
4. Here's What's in August's Children's Book
Insider...
5. You Know Fall's Coming When....
6. Princeton Children's Book Festival
Coming in September
7. Come Join Us for the Kidlitospere
Conference!
8. Feature Article: Have
You Lost the Plot?
Try Children's Book Insider with No Risk. Click Here!
>> ITEM 1 - A
Deal that Even My Sister Bonnie Would Jump At
If shopping was an Olympic sport, my sister Bonnie would
be in Beijing right now kicking all kinds of butt. The woman is a
force of nature with a credit card in her hand. She has never --
and I mean never -- bought anything that wasn't a great deal.
Sales clerks cower in fear and other shoppers bow in respect for her
bargain-hunting abilities.
And so, I've embarked upon the ultimate challenge -- to
craft a deal so good that even Bonnie would approve. This, my
friends, is more challenging than running a marathon in the smog of
Beijing, but my competitive spirit is fierce.
I got Bonnie on the phone. I told her the first
deals I came up with. "Not bad," she said. "But not
enough. What else have you got?". After some
haggling (which felt like playing a round of golf with Tiger Woods) I
finally got the "Yeah, that'll work."
I was spent, but a good kind of spent. The deals
were Bonnie-approved and ready to be shared with the world. These
really are ridiculously good bargains, and you have Bonnie to thank for
them. If you see her (she'll be the one in Nordstrom buying a $300
dress for $50) feel free to express your gratitude.
So here they are:
The New & Improved Instant
Download Beginner ePack:
A $127.75
value..........................................yours for only $85
!
That's 33%
off!
The New & Improved
Instant Download Get Published ePack:
A $126.75
value..........................................yours for only $85!
That's 33%
off!
The New & Improved
Instant Download Writing Skills ePack:
A $145.70
value..........................................yours for only $95
!
That's 35%
off!
Ready to pounce, Bonnie-like, on these
incredible deals? Don't wait -- the prices will go up at the
end of this month!
Grab these deals now by going to http://write4kids.com/holiday.html
PS: If you're currently a CBI
Electronic Edition subscriber and would like to take advantage of one of
these deals, e-mail us after you place your order and we'll apply the 12
months to the end of your current term.
>> ITEM 2 - Oprah's
Book Club Releases Kids' Reading List
If Oprah Winfrey's bookselling track record carries over
to children's books, you're one click away from what may become the 100
most popular kids' titles in American in the coming weeks.
Oprah.com has teamed with the American Library Association to create a
reading list ranging from books for infants to young adult novels.
The list was just released and is garnering lots of attention.
Have a look and see if you agree with the choices!
http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahsbookclub/kidsreadinglist/pkgkidsreadinglist/20080701_orig_kids_books
>> ITEM 3 - Cool Tool Turns eBooks and Websites into Audio
I know how it is. You've got all these great
ebooks (like the ones we sell!), blog postings and websites you want to
read, but there's never enough time. Here's an elegant, free
solution -- turn them into audio downloads that you can listen to on
your mp3 player! ReadTheWords.com allows you to convert any PDF
file, Word document, text file or web page into computer generated
audio. You can also just enter a web address and it will covert
that page automatically. You can even convert RSS feeds, so blogs
and even your e-mail can be turned into audio to take along with you.
That's pretty cool.
Check it out, and find the right robot for you (I like
Charles, the English robot. He's so very upper crust). The
site can be found at http://readthewords.com/
>> ITEM 4 - Here's What's
in August's Children's Book Insider...
Here's something nice we just received from Lynne
Stover, author of Fantastic Social Studies Lessons Using Literature
and From Snicket to Shakespeare: Connecting Contemporary Tales to the
Classics:
"I knew if I was
going to keep getting published I’d need some help so I did some
research and discovered your newsletter. It seemed made to order…so I
ordered it! Five books and over thirty-five articles later, I’m still
subscribing and finding Children’s Book
Insider as useful and inspiring as ever.
"
That's really kind, Lynne. Thanks! And
here's what some other folks have to say:
"I won a subscription
to CBI at a conference few years ago. I've been renewing ever since -- 450
magazine and 4
book credits later! Thanks for the best
information published. I rely on your newsletter!" Lorri
Cardwell-Casey
"Thank you so much! I can't imagine not subscribing to CBI and
still taking myself seriously." Lynnmarie
May
If you're new to the Update, you may not know that we
publish a monthly subscription-only newsletter for aspiring and
working children's book writers that's jam-packed with market leads,
advice, inside info and much more. It's called Children's
Book Insider, and we've been sharing it with subscribers
across the globe since May, 1990!
Here's a look at what's in the current issue of Children's
Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children's Writers:
* Publisher Seeks Inspiring, Playful Fiction
* Christian Magazine Seeks True Stories
* Publisher Seeks Literary Fiction, Nonfiction
* Good News from CBI Subscribers!
* Publisher Seeks Classroom-Tested Materials from Teachers
* Upcoming Writing Events
* Cut It Down, Flesh It Out!
* The Non-Illustrator's Guide to Writing Graphic Novels
* An Open Letter to Editors
* Study Harry Potter to Generate Kid-Appealing Characters
* When to Say No to a Contract........................and lots more!
If you enjoy the information offered in this e-mail update,
wait 'til you see what we've got in store for you each month in the
pages of CBI! A one year subscription to CBI costs as little as $26.95
and includes a special bonus gift.
For more information and to order, go to http://write4kids.com/aboutcbi.html
"If you
are "thinking" about subscribing, DON'T!!! Just do it. I
waited for almost 2 years before I did, now I'm wondering why I waited
so long" Frederick
Claus
>> ITEM 5 - You
Know Fall's Coming When....
....the Publisher's
Weekly Fall Children's Book Announcement edition and the new Childrens
Writer's & Illustrator's Market
are out. Both are indispensable for the children's writer.
If you can't find Publisher's Weekly at your local bookstore, go
here to get it directly from PW.
To get the brand new Children's Writer's &
Illustrator's Market go
here.
>>>>> ITEM 6 -
Princeton Children's Book Festival Coming in September
Dozens of children's authors, illustrators and
entertainers will be on hand for the 2nd Annual Princeton Children's
Book Festival, which will take place Saturday, September 13 from
noon-5:00 pm
This sounds like a wonderful opportunity to get to know
successful authors and illustrators, and find out about current kidslit
trends.
For more details, visit http://www.princetonlibrary.org/children/festival/aboutthefestival.htm
>>> ITEM 7 - Come
Join Us for the Kidlitospere Conference!
Blogging and social networking are playing an
increasingly important part of the children's literature world.
We've gotten into the act with our Children's
Writing Web Journal blog, and we have many more amazing things
coming in this department.
On Saturday, September 27, I'll be joining a range of
authors, illustrators, librarians, editors, teachers and other lovers
of children's literature for the 2nd Annual Kidlitosphere Conference
in Portland, Oregon. We'll be talking about how to build
communities among those who craft and those who read children's books.
It should be a grand time.
If blogging and social media intrigue you, come out
and hang with us!
Here's where to get more info: http://www.kidlit08.blogspot.com/
We've Got Solutions to Aid Your
Resolutions!
-
Care to hear --
first-hand -- the best advice superstar authors have to give for
aspiring children's writers? In
Their Own Words offers exclusive insight from Lois
Lowry, Judy Blume, R.L. Stine, Chris Crutcher and many, many
more. This is pure gold and available nowhere else. http://write4kids.com/itow.html
And there's more. For a full listing, just go to http://write4kids.com/collect.html
The
Children's Writers Big Book of "How To"
The Children's Writer's Big Book of "How To" has
the solution to more than 100 of the trickiest issues faced by
children's authors. From coming up with great ideas right through
signing the contract, this amazing volume is packed with insight.
Visit http://write4kids.com/bigbook.html
to view then entire table of contents!
>> ITEM 8 - Feature
Article: Have You Lost the Plot? By
Laura Backes, Publisher of Children's
Book Insider
I've read several picture book manuscripts recently
that don't have plots. They have terrific ideas, charming scenes, even
unique characters. But these particular manuscripts were missing that
thread of story that starts on page one and tugs at the reader to
continue turning the pages until the end. The events weren't
connected--they may have involved the same characters, but there was
no cause-and-effect relationship that made one event logically follow
another.
It's sometimes difficult to tell the difference between a plot point
and an incident. Incidents stand alone; they may lend themselves to
vivid scenes, but they have no connection to what came before in the
book, and have no effect on what happens on the next page. A plot
point, on the other hand, couldn't exist without everything that
preceded it, and if you remove that plot point from the story,
everything that happens afterwards wouldn't make sense. Each point is
a link in a chain. Break one, and the whole thing falls apart.
Incident stories also tend to lack conflict and tension. That's
because these books are more about conveying a mood, a place, or a
point in time. They show a day in the life of a particular child, what
a bunny sees on his first tour of the backyard, the comforting bedtime
routine of a toddler. Many picture books of previous generations were
actually incident books, and in fact this type of story is still being
published today as books for children up to age three. But for the
mainstream, hardcover picture book crowd--those kids ages four to
eight--incident books won't cut it anymore.
You can blame television, publishing conglomerates concerned with
making money, or large bookstore chains that only want titles that fly
off the shelves, but the bottom line is if you're a first-time author
writing a picture book, it needs to have a plot to sell. And let's
face it, plots are a good thing. They allow children to become
emotionally invested in the story, wondering what's going to happen
next. They hold kids' attention (even before television, young
children didn't have the longest of attention spans). They invite
rereading, and retelling, over and over.
If you study recent picture books, you'll see that some of the plots
are very subtle. David Shannon's
Duck on a Bike, for example,
seems at first glance like an incident story. Duck finds a bike on the
farm and slowly rides past all the animals. As he passes each animal,
it comments on the sight of a duck on a bike. This pattern is repeated
several times until suddenly a bunch of kids come down the road on
their bikes, park them by the farm house, and go inside. The next
spread is wordless, showing all the animals staring at the bikes. The
following illustration depicts all the farm animals careening around
the barnyard on bicycles with silly grins plastered to their faces. As
the story ends, the animals return the bikes to the house, And no one
knew that on that afternoon, there had been a cow, a sheep, a dog, a
cat, a horse, a chicken, a goat, two pigs, a mouse, and a duck on a
bike.
The repetition of Duck pedaling past each animal on the bike paved the
way for the story's high point. It couldn't have happened without all
the scenes that came before.
Oh sure, you say, but what about a book like Ian Falconer's
Olivia?
That's a series of incidents in the life of a spunky girl pig. Yes, it
is, and this popular book proves that for every rule there's an
exception. And though it doesn't have a conventional plotline, it does
have emotion (What child hasn't seen him or herself in Olivia, and
laughed at her approach to life?) and tension (Will Olivia get in
trouble for drawing on her bedroom wall? Will she convince her mother
to read her four bedtime stories instead of two?). It also has
exquisite illustrations by the author (if you can write and
illustrate, and do both well, you're given a bit more room to stretch
the rules). But most of all, it has a strong main character. Olivia is
real, multilayered, and charming. The author took the time to develop
the character first, so the reader will immediately identify with
Olivia and be interested in the incidents that make up her day.
If you're just starting out as a children's book writer, or are
writing your first picture book, do yourself a favor and create a
story with a plot. But before you begin, develop your main character.
If you have a real character with emotions, strengths and weaknesses,
that character will inevitably want something. How that character goes
about getting what he or she wants will lead you to your plot. It's
really that simple.
Now all you have to do is write the book.
