I Need Your Vote!

Mee Genius, Apple's ebook ap for Children's Books, is holding their 2nd Author's Challenge. My story, Gobblin' in the Garden, is in the running. I would appreciate your vote. Just click this link to read and vote for Inchworm. Thanks!

Picture Book Idea Month 2011

Sign-up thru November 3rd to participate. At the end, you'll have fresh ideas for PB stories and you may even win a prize!

We're all Winners!

Today is December 1st, PiBoIdMo is over, and I have 30 new story ideas to work on! Thanks to Tara for organizing this month long writing exercise and to all the guest bloggers that kept me motivated to pull out my idea notebook every day.

Writing PBs with Curriculum Tie-Ins

At a recent SCBWI conference in Spokane, WA, Kendra Marcus of BookStop Literary Agency emphasized that picture book editors are looking for books for the toddler set and books with curriculum connections. If you've committed yourself to writing in this genre, including curriculum tie-ins is something to consider. But what if you're not a teacher? What if you haven't been in a kindergarten or first grade classroom for awhile? Here's an example of a link I found that you may also find useful. This website offers a Teacher's Guide for preschool teachers. With research, you can learn what teachers are teaching in the classroom and weave those elements into the stories you write.

30 PB Ideas in 30 Days.

Thanks to Tara Lazar, I get to play a fun game in November. Picture Book writers have been challenged to the ultimate brainstorm, and I'm in. It sounds simple enough--write down an idea for a picture book story every day in the month of November. Tara has lined up some great guest bloggers to inspire, motivate and keep us on track. If you're feeling up to a challenge, or just need a distraction from the upcoming holidays, sign up on October 31st!

Two Day Conferences

Thank goodness for 2-day writing conferences. The first day I'm excited. Too excited. When I walk through the door, I'm at the top of the first hill on a roller coaster. I'm brimming with confidence and sure of myself and my writing. Then it happens, click, click, click . . . WOOOSH! Down the hill I go into the pit of despair, regret and frustration.

Why, you ask? The dreaded first pages session. I admit it, I'm Ralphie in A Christmas Story. I think the Editor is going to waltz around the room with my page in her hand singing it's praises and offering me a contract on the spot. But when I get, "You'll shoot your eye out." I'm devastated.

Then, my poor friend Annette, has to listen to this all day, "Why am I hear? Who am I kidding? I must be completely insane trying to publish a PB at a time like this." I leave feeling overwhelmed and ready to quit.

But back at my hotel, I regroup. I reflect on the other things I did that day. I appreciate the workshops I attended and think to myself, "Oh yeah, I'm here to learn."

Day two is an entirely different experience. When I walk through the door, I hop on the Merry-Go-Round. I pick a cheerful-looking seat and listen. The speakers share advice that's pleasant to my ears. Sure, there are still a few ups and downs, but I go with the flow, staying positive and looking at the conference and my writing journey as an enjoyable ride. (And hopefully Annette will forget how crazy I was on day one!)

SCBWI Conferences

The first writing conference I attended was the SCBWI conference in Seattle, WA. I was excited, and terrified. I rode the train to the big city by myself and jumped on a bus that (I hoped) would take me to Bellevue. It did and after walking around the same block 2 or 3 times, I asked someone how to get to my hotel.

I was so nervous stepping into the conference hall the next morning. But what surprised me the most, was that the room was NOT filled with published authors snubbing me. Everyone was friendly and I even met someone I still keep in touch with 4 years later. In fact, I'll see her today at the Oregon SCBWI conference!

If you've never attended a writing conference, the thought of signing up can be scary. Sometimes it's hard to take the first step. But the IE SCBWI Conference in September is not something to be afraid of. The region is full of friendly, welcoming writers at all levels in their careers. So go ahead, sign-up before June 15th to get the Early Bird discount.

For tips of conference preparedness, check out this blog post on Guide to Literary Agents.