Over the last month or so, I've missed my Weight Watchers meetings. I've missed them more ways than one. Physically, been skipping them, and figuratively, I've missed the friendships, camaraderie, support, and my totally AWESOME leader, Julie.
Sometimes I have to become the returning prodigal daughter to realize what I have been missing.
On a side note: I also returned to my SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) meetings last night with a similar feeling. It wasn't as overwhelming of a 'welcome back' of my Weight Watcher's crew, but being warmly greeted and recognized was a nice feeling.
And I weighed in . . . officially.
This was the reason I missed last month. I knew I was over. I knew I was starting to slowly increase my weight in Jan, Feb, and March. I wanted to 'fix' it before I returned. But now, I was resigned to being over goal and was back because I knew I needed the support from the group.
But you want to know what missing those April meetings really did?
It helped me gain more weight.
I posted last week that it took a 2 X 4 against my head in the form of seeing 140 pounds on the scale for me to have a serious reality check. I buckle down and went 'no flour, no sugar', along with Simply Filling for about 8 days prior to weigh in.
With clothes on, I weighed 134.8 pounds.
The 'no flour, no sugar' didn't help as much as I'd hoped, but my clothes fit better and I feel less bloated.
I had to pay the meeting charge of $13. But my wonderful leader reminded me that I would have had to pay because I didn't weigh in during April. So, I guess, you could say I got a 'twofer'. Two for the price of one. I also had to pay because I was 0.8 pounds out of my goal weight range.
Lose 0.8 pounds by next week? I can do it.
Once I get back to my goal range, I can set my sights to a lower number. It helps that summer finally returned to Oklahoma. I'm not looking forward to the storm season, but I'm very happy about the warm weather. And there are loads of fresh fruits and veggies to eat!
The one thing Julie reminded the entire group was that though we were "losers", we were all winners. All of us have been in each other's shoes. We might have different food struggles to deal with, but the core of the matter is that we have started dealing with them--successfully.
We cheer our friends when they succeed. We commiserate when they gain. But ultimately, we are there for each other during the tough times.
This is what a support group is all about.
Later, Peeps!
Showing posts with label SCBWI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SCBWI. Show all posts
4/25/13
Middle Grade Novel vs. Picture book
As I mentioned before, I have no clue how to write a picture book. When I attended the local SCBWI conference last Saturday, I was all ears listening to an art director break down a picture book.
So I finished writing one. It's just like writing a regular book.
What it doesn't have is:
The editing is just as intense as editing a longer novel, though editing 3-4 pages is a piece of cake vs. 300 pages. You want the words to flow in a longer novel, but the words are read in your head versus out loud. When you do edit a novel, a good trick is to read it out loud so your ear can catch all the inaccuracies.
Anyhoo, I'm at the editing stage of this story . . . and managed to add a 100 words! Eeeeek!
I'm supposed to be cutting words, not adding them!
Here's the sitch: When I wrote this story titled, for lack of anything better at this point in time, "Go Away, Piper!" I added many, many descriptions as part of the process. I wanted to visualize the scene. When I cut all the descriptors, there were some serious issues with flow and cohesion--I had to add some words back to the story.
Over the next week, I'll periodically mull this story over, tweaking it as necessary and then write a query letter before I send it out.
One of the reasons I attended the SCBWI conference was to get direct contact to editors. This gives me a foot in the door.
Whether or not my story is strong enough for them to want to publish it is a whole other problem.
But that's another blog post.
Later, Peeps!
So I finished writing one. It's just like writing a regular book.
- It has a beginning, a middle and and end.
- It has action. It has adventure. And it has an 'all is lost' moment.
- It has a story arc. It has a character arc.
- It has a little twist in the end.
- It has varying sentence structure. It has a few complicated words.
- The story builds upon every scene
What it doesn't have is:
- rhyming
- a 'lesson'. Though you could read one into the story, I didn't write this story to teach or preach to a kid. (and if you know me at all--that's my one pet peeve about literature classes--can't people simply write a good story? I mean, what if there really wasn't a deep meaning to Moby Dick when it was written? Why do lit teachers see 'symbolism' in everything?) . . . sorry, rant over.
The editing is just as intense as editing a longer novel, though editing 3-4 pages is a piece of cake vs. 300 pages. You want the words to flow in a longer novel, but the words are read in your head versus out loud. When you do edit a novel, a good trick is to read it out loud so your ear can catch all the inaccuracies.
Anyhoo, I'm at the editing stage of this story . . . and managed to add a 100 words! Eeeeek!
I'm supposed to be cutting words, not adding them!
Here's the sitch: When I wrote this story titled, for lack of anything better at this point in time, "Go Away, Piper!" I added many, many descriptions as part of the process. I wanted to visualize the scene. When I cut all the descriptors, there were some serious issues with flow and cohesion--I had to add some words back to the story.
Over the next week, I'll periodically mull this story over, tweaking it as necessary and then write a query letter before I send it out.
One of the reasons I attended the SCBWI conference was to get direct contact to editors. This gives me a foot in the door.
Whether or not my story is strong enough for them to want to publish it is a whole other problem.
But that's another blog post.
Later, Peeps!
4/22/13
SCBWI Conference
On Saturday, I attended a one-day SCBWI {Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators} conference here in town. About 130 people attended, writers and illustrators. The food was hideous, actually worse than hideous, but it is what it is. It made me appreciate all the more the many conferences put on by RWI and the numerous RWA conferences I attended in years past. Yes, having coffee and tea available for X number of hours costs money, but sometimes it's money well served!
And for those who do wonder where their entry fees go--flying the various editors/agents into town, paying for their rooms, paying for their food, and sometimes paying them for their time. It pays for the conference room, the art illustrator room, the tables, the microphone system (yes, each mic has an additional fee), and the video system. The professionally presented folders given to each attendee, the paper fliers inside the folders, the name tags {though I did think it a little crass to request the plastic name tag holders to be returned. Yes, I know they cost, but really?}
And, of course, the food . . . which ran out. I happened to be table 11 out of 13 tables and by the time I went to get my food, there wasn't much left . . . except onions. Who in their right mind would have a bushel of sliced purple onions for a bunch of women to put on their ham/turkey/ beef sandwiches?? Okay, there were men there, too, but would you eat onions if you wanted to talk to an editor? More tomatoes, please.
Onward to the presentations:
There was one art director who went over the process of matching illustrator to author, and how they design the roughs into finished product. I've seen this presentation before, but it still brings the point home about how the text is only 50% or less of most picture books. Prior to this conference, I had the revelation about picture books . . . they are similar to screenplays--very pared down to allow for illustrator interpretation.
Then there was an editor who specialized in early readers: 5000 words and about 80-90 pages. Think Magic Treehouse books. There are illustrations, but it isn't so picture heavy as picture books. They are used more to break up the text and help the reader enhance the story.
One major thing I took away from her talk was to keep the early chapters shorter. At the early reader age, kids are very proud to say, "I read a chapter!" I remember this when my daughter was first reading. Yes, dear, you read a chapter . . . it was only a page and a half, but it was a chapter! Once the reader is intrigued and invested in the stories, the chapters can become longer.
Another editor from a different house talked about action, action, ACTION! Unless you've been living under a log, you would realize that everything in today's world is instantaneous. Video games are action packed . . . and if books aren't action-heavy then you've lost your reader even before you start! This is a tough age to write for--early middle grade.
And the last speaker was an agent, who talked about reasons for rejections. Like we need to hear that, right? Well, this was a little different take on the topic. The reasons an AGENTED story is rejected by an editor. This agent shared intensely detailed reasons for picture book rejections. It really gave the audience some valuable insight as to the depth an editor views the story.
There it is in a nutshell.
Later, Peeps! I have a picture book to finish!
And for those who do wonder where their entry fees go--flying the various editors/agents into town, paying for their rooms, paying for their food, and sometimes paying them for their time. It pays for the conference room, the art illustrator room, the tables, the microphone system (yes, each mic has an additional fee), and the video system. The professionally presented folders given to each attendee, the paper fliers inside the folders, the name tags {though I did think it a little crass to request the plastic name tag holders to be returned. Yes, I know they cost, but really?}
And, of course, the food . . . which ran out. I happened to be table 11 out of 13 tables and by the time I went to get my food, there wasn't much left . . . except onions. Who in their right mind would have a bushel of sliced purple onions for a bunch of women to put on their ham/turkey/ beef sandwiches?? Okay, there were men there, too, but would you eat onions if you wanted to talk to an editor? More tomatoes, please.
Onward to the presentations:
There was one art director who went over the process of matching illustrator to author, and how they design the roughs into finished product. I've seen this presentation before, but it still brings the point home about how the text is only 50% or less of most picture books. Prior to this conference, I had the revelation about picture books . . . they are similar to screenplays--very pared down to allow for illustrator interpretation.
Then there was an editor who specialized in early readers: 5000 words and about 80-90 pages. Think Magic Treehouse books. There are illustrations, but it isn't so picture heavy as picture books. They are used more to break up the text and help the reader enhance the story.
One major thing I took away from her talk was to keep the early chapters shorter. At the early reader age, kids are very proud to say, "I read a chapter!" I remember this when my daughter was first reading. Yes, dear, you read a chapter . . . it was only a page and a half, but it was a chapter! Once the reader is intrigued and invested in the stories, the chapters can become longer.
Another editor from a different house talked about action, action, ACTION! Unless you've been living under a log, you would realize that everything in today's world is instantaneous. Video games are action packed . . . and if books aren't action-heavy then you've lost your reader even before you start! This is a tough age to write for--early middle grade.
And the last speaker was an agent, who talked about reasons for rejections. Like we need to hear that, right? Well, this was a little different take on the topic. The reasons an AGENTED story is rejected by an editor. This agent shared intensely detailed reasons for picture book rejections. It really gave the audience some valuable insight as to the depth an editor views the story.
There it is in a nutshell.
Later, Peeps! I have a picture book to finish!
8/10/09
Deadly Isolation
***FYI--I wrote this on Saturday. Today is a better day, but I thought I would still run the post. Life isn't all wine and roses. Though, at this time, I'd be happy if the Stag's Leap Merlot was bottled and ready for consumption.***
Ever since I expanded my writing into another genre, I've experienced a surreal isolation. Oh, it's probably one of my own making, but I don't know what to do about it.
When I started writing full time, I hit every emotion on the spectrum, thank you very much. I kinda like the stability of working in the lab--there is no rollercoaster. Stress is due to the enviorment, not emotional upheaval. Trust me, periodic stress is far easier for me to deal with than emotional whammies.
All I can say is that it's freakin' depressing! An I'm not usually the one to get depressed!
I try to be there for other writers when they need encouragement, but it feels as if I don't get any thing back. Silence tends to do that. Dropping out of sight isn't really the signal-- 'Help! I need some encouragement'. It gives the impression, 'Oh, Margaret must be writing. I best not bother her.' When the opposite is really the case.
My sis-in-law is a good sounding board, but she has her own life along with living halfway across the country. My family thinks I'm a nut job or they just make fun of me and my stories or try to ignore me, with the exception of my nephew Matt. He's the only one who actually asks about my writing. Now that's a great kid. He's off to college in a few weeks, but for a teenager who knows how to speak to adults--he's the best. I wish him well in college. He's a smart kid--I know he'll do good.
*sigh* I don't fit in the romance world since I started writing middle grade novels. And I joined a local SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) group for one session. Oh, they welcomed me into the fold, but I didn't feel like I belonged. Friendships had been forged and I didn't really feel welcome into that group. Again, that was my feeling, but it might not have been what was really going on.
Writing middle grade has opened my writing voice. I like who I am as a writer, but not everyone does. Out of 19 query responses for my middle grade novel, I have 16 rejections. Most of them were personalized, i.e. they actually used my name, instead of Dear Author, and they mentioned the correct name of my novel. Trust me, that is an improvement. I did get requests from 3 agents. All are for partial manuscripts--the proverbial foot in the door--stops the door slamming in your face, but it doesn't open any wider. And I have 29 pending queries, but it's still early in the game, only 3 weeks into the process.
--and I have to admit this is the first time I've actually had more than two people request my story! YAY!
While I'm thinking about my next middle grade novel, I'm writing a romance (17K words into it) that I started a year and a half ago. It's a brand new story, though the plot is still the same. This novel has a lot of potential, but I don't belong to a romance group thus no support from that quarter. Again with the frustration due to my own making. I need to finish this rough draft before I allow anyone to see it as I'm too susceptible to other writers suggestions--not always to the benefit of the story.
I belong to a wonderful goals group, but I try not to whine to them. Sometimes it happens, but I try to keep on topic. I know they would show support, but they have their own problems to deal with. Again, with my own personal brand of isolation.
All in all, I'm trying to write without a support group of any kind, but it's hard.
I know, I know it's time to put on my big girl thong and hike it up--but, OW!--Damn it, that hurts!!
I feel better just venting on this blog, so what's a girl to do?
Write on, baby, write on!!
Ever since I expanded my writing into another genre, I've experienced a surreal isolation. Oh, it's probably one of my own making, but I don't know what to do about it.
When I started writing full time, I hit every emotion on the spectrum, thank you very much. I kinda like the stability of working in the lab--there is no rollercoaster. Stress is due to the enviorment, not emotional upheaval. Trust me, periodic stress is far easier for me to deal with than emotional whammies.
All I can say is that it's freakin' depressing! An I'm not usually the one to get depressed!
I try to be there for other writers when they need encouragement, but it feels as if I don't get any thing back. Silence tends to do that. Dropping out of sight isn't really the signal-- 'Help! I need some encouragement'. It gives the impression, 'Oh, Margaret must be writing. I best not bother her.' When the opposite is really the case.
My sis-in-law is a good sounding board, but she has her own life along with living halfway across the country. My family thinks I'm a nut job or they just make fun of me and my stories or try to ignore me, with the exception of my nephew Matt. He's the only one who actually asks about my writing. Now that's a great kid. He's off to college in a few weeks, but for a teenager who knows how to speak to adults--he's the best. I wish him well in college. He's a smart kid--I know he'll do good.
*sigh* I don't fit in the romance world since I started writing middle grade novels. And I joined a local SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) group for one session. Oh, they welcomed me into the fold, but I didn't feel like I belonged. Friendships had been forged and I didn't really feel welcome into that group. Again, that was my feeling, but it might not have been what was really going on.
Writing middle grade has opened my writing voice. I like who I am as a writer, but not everyone does. Out of 19 query responses for my middle grade novel, I have 16 rejections. Most of them were personalized, i.e. they actually used my name, instead of Dear Author, and they mentioned the correct name of my novel. Trust me, that is an improvement. I did get requests from 3 agents. All are for partial manuscripts--the proverbial foot in the door--stops the door slamming in your face, but it doesn't open any wider. And I have 29 pending queries, but it's still early in the game, only 3 weeks into the process.
--and I have to admit this is the first time I've actually had more than two people request my story! YAY!
While I'm thinking about my next middle grade novel, I'm writing a romance (17K words into it) that I started a year and a half ago. It's a brand new story, though the plot is still the same. This novel has a lot of potential, but I don't belong to a romance group thus no support from that quarter. Again with the frustration due to my own making. I need to finish this rough draft before I allow anyone to see it as I'm too susceptible to other writers suggestions--not always to the benefit of the story.
I belong to a wonderful goals group, but I try not to whine to them. Sometimes it happens, but I try to keep on topic. I know they would show support, but they have their own problems to deal with. Again, with my own personal brand of isolation.
All in all, I'm trying to write without a support group of any kind, but it's hard.
I know, I know it's time to put on my big girl thong and hike it up--but, OW!--Damn it, that hurts!!
I feel better just venting on this blog, so what's a girl to do?
Write on, baby, write on!!
4/24/09
Queryland. . . again
I've been angsting over my children's story, so I decided to start pimping my picture book/easy reader, Peter's Messy Room. I'd tweaked, edited, reworked it so I would have the appropriate number of pictures with pages, cut my word count, etc. It was time to let go.
Two days ago I started researching literary agents specializing in children's books. My primary site is Agent Query. And from there I investigate the agency website, decide which agent to target within the larger agencies and verify their status with Preditors and Editors. Even with all my careful preparation one of my queries was sent to an agent no longer at the agency. This agent's name is still plastered all over the agency's website. I did my research, so why can't agencies keep their website updated?
Yesterday, I submitted to 19 agencies electronically. I personalized each salutation, verified each agent, and most of them wanted to have picture book text pasted into the email. Awesome, not a problem. I had to remove two agents from the pile because they only represent middle-grade and above stories, NOT picture books. Okay, I'll save them for my Missing Gnome story. Speaking of that, I need to get my butt in gear and finish the silly thing. I'm 1/4 of the way through, so I need to keep on writing.
So far, I have had (updated) five rejections on PMR. I'd rather have quick rejections than wait for the 'no response from us means no' mindset. THAT drives me crazy! How hard is it to click reply and say "no thanks"??? But this topic is definitely a whole other blog. And many fine agents have addressed this issue on their blogs within the last month. One of the queries I sent happened to be to an agent that I sent this query to in Jan---uh, OOPS! I didn't think I sent PMR to anyone. Guess I should have checked my list a little better, huh? This was one of those agents who don't respond unless interested, which fits my point--how do I even KNOW she got the first email? :-) I think I'll chock that one up as a no request.
Today, I'll be snail mail querying. I have seven agents who still require writers to kill trees. Personalizing these letters, addressing envelopes, and making certain I have stamped SASE's takes a little more time, but I should have it finished in an hour or so. And once they are out the door, I can forget about PMR. I have a list of things I need to do: finish my @#%@#$%@# faerie story, write on my middle grade story, and fill out a character profiling chart on my urban fantasy heroine that I'd like to make into a series of seven books.
What are my odds of gaining the interest of an agent?
Slim to none. I don't have unrealistic hopes. I've been in this writing biz long enough to know the odds are not in my favor. I really, really like this story, BUT I honestly don't think it is 'different enough' for the current market. When I attended a SCBWI conference last month, Abigail Samoun of Tricycle Press had some depressing statistics. Last year Tricycle had over 7000 slush pile submissions, of that number they published 3, only 0.0004% of those submissions were published.
Yeah, those aren't very good odds. But writers do what they have to do--they write.
Write on!
Two days ago I started researching literary agents specializing in children's books. My primary site is Agent Query. And from there I investigate the agency website, decide which agent to target within the larger agencies and verify their status with Preditors and Editors. Even with all my careful preparation one of my queries was sent to an agent no longer at the agency. This agent's name is still plastered all over the agency's website. I did my research, so why can't agencies keep their website updated?
Yesterday, I submitted to 19 agencies electronically. I personalized each salutation, verified each agent, and most of them wanted to have picture book text pasted into the email. Awesome, not a problem. I had to remove two agents from the pile because they only represent middle-grade and above stories, NOT picture books. Okay, I'll save them for my Missing Gnome story. Speaking of that, I need to get my butt in gear and finish the silly thing. I'm 1/4 of the way through, so I need to keep on writing.
So far, I have had (updated) five rejections on PMR. I'd rather have quick rejections than wait for the 'no response from us means no' mindset. THAT drives me crazy! How hard is it to click reply and say "no thanks"??? But this topic is definitely a whole other blog. And many fine agents have addressed this issue on their blogs within the last month. One of the queries I sent happened to be to an agent that I sent this query to in Jan---uh, OOPS! I didn't think I sent PMR to anyone. Guess I should have checked my list a little better, huh? This was one of those agents who don't respond unless interested, which fits my point--how do I even KNOW she got the first email? :-) I think I'll chock that one up as a no request.
Today, I'll be snail mail querying. I have seven agents who still require writers to kill trees. Personalizing these letters, addressing envelopes, and making certain I have stamped SASE's takes a little more time, but I should have it finished in an hour or so. And once they are out the door, I can forget about PMR. I have a list of things I need to do: finish my @#%@#$%@# faerie story, write on my middle grade story, and fill out a character profiling chart on my urban fantasy heroine that I'd like to make into a series of seven books.
What are my odds of gaining the interest of an agent?
Slim to none. I don't have unrealistic hopes. I've been in this writing biz long enough to know the odds are not in my favor. I really, really like this story, BUT I honestly don't think it is 'different enough' for the current market. When I attended a SCBWI conference last month, Abigail Samoun of Tricycle Press had some depressing statistics. Last year Tricycle had over 7000 slush pile submissions, of that number they published 3, only 0.0004% of those submissions were published.
Yeah, those aren't very good odds. But writers do what they have to do--they write.
Write on!
4/3/09
Edits Finished, Doubts Setting In
I think today's blog title explains it all.
When do you know you've edited enough to improve your manuscript?
Right now, I think I'm simply moving the words around and making more of a mess than I had when I started. The one saving grace is that this is a three page manuscript and not my 400 page TNR fantasy. Come to think of it, I know I could easily cut 20K from the fantasy, but a 500 word story is tough!
After I deconstructed a few picture book/easy reader stories (typed into computer, printed and sliced and diced), I thought I was ready to tackle the editor's comments. Most of them are easy fixes: resolution comes to quickly, the fly character is acting too human, etc. See? Easy to fix.
But then comes the biggie: Story structure/pacing
Talk about having me bumfuzzled. In a 90-100K romance novel you have some wiggle room. Usually you have some sexual tension to build to the first kiss, which could be anywhere from the first few pages to the middle of the book.
Children's books have to follow strict guideline. There aren't 100 pages to muck about in building the tension, you have roughly 30 pages, or 500 words from intro of characters to build conflict to the climax and then resolution.
I think I managed it. But how do I really know? Yes, I could start mass querying, but I'd rather go into that will my guns loaded and blazing away. I HAVE to be ahead of the other 99% of the people in the slush pile.
Rejections don't scare me, trust me, I have enough from my romances to paper a wall. You learn to ignore most of them and move on.
Rejections without a reason scare me. I can't fix what I don't know is wrong. And yes, some of it will simply be subjective opinion--that's the nature of the biz. But again, I'd rather have as perfect of a manuscript as possible because I have seven other related stories I'd like to sell as a series.
I have to admit that I'm far more passionate about my Peter stories than I ever was with my romances. I'm hoping that passion shines through.
Write on!
When do you know you've edited enough to improve your manuscript?
Right now, I think I'm simply moving the words around and making more of a mess than I had when I started. The one saving grace is that this is a three page manuscript and not my 400 page TNR fantasy. Come to think of it, I know I could easily cut 20K from the fantasy, but a 500 word story is tough!
After I deconstructed a few picture book/easy reader stories (typed into computer, printed and sliced and diced), I thought I was ready to tackle the editor's comments. Most of them are easy fixes: resolution comes to quickly, the fly character is acting too human, etc. See? Easy to fix.
But then comes the biggie: Story structure/pacing
Talk about having me bumfuzzled. In a 90-100K romance novel you have some wiggle room. Usually you have some sexual tension to build to the first kiss, which could be anywhere from the first few pages to the middle of the book.
Children's books have to follow strict guideline. There aren't 100 pages to muck about in building the tension, you have roughly 30 pages, or 500 words from intro of characters to build conflict to the climax and then resolution.
I think I managed it. But how do I really know? Yes, I could start mass querying, but I'd rather go into that will my guns loaded and blazing away. I HAVE to be ahead of the other 99% of the people in the slush pile.
Rejections don't scare me, trust me, I have enough from my romances to paper a wall. You learn to ignore most of them and move on.
Rejections without a reason scare me. I can't fix what I don't know is wrong. And yes, some of it will simply be subjective opinion--that's the nature of the biz. But again, I'd rather have as perfect of a manuscript as possible because I have seven other related stories I'd like to sell as a series.
I have to admit that I'm far more passionate about my Peter stories than I ever was with my romances. I'm hoping that passion shines through.
Write on!
4/1/09
Best Money Spent!
When I signed up for the SCBWI conference I also sent in my picture book manuscript. The opportunity to be critiqued by one of the editors or agent was too good of a deal to miss. For $30 I received a page of comments, plus the editor edited my manuscript. True, my manuscript was only three pages, but what I got in return was gold.
All I have to say is if you have an opportunity to have someone in the biz look at your stuff--DO IT! Pay the price, it's worth it!
I've always complained that it's hard to know if you are heading in the right direction with your writing. So, in the romance world, many of us enter contests. The problem with contests is the judges have to follow the score sheet and if someone doesn't like your work you may or may not get appropriate feedback. Then your thoughts are still tainted with the idea that this isn't an industry pro, but simply another writer--and the odds were against you that the writer was even published. All you get for your $30 (average contest fee) are opinions from two or three judges. AND if you are so lucky to final and have your manuscript placed in front of an industry pro, you get ranked. Many times you don't even get any comments.
Back to square one.
What I got for my $30 was a crit by Abigail Samoun of Tricycle Press. This used to be an indy publisher, but was recently purchased by Crown of Random House. Instead of two seasons, they will be expanding into three seasons, which means they will be buying more authors. YAY!
My story could work except I needed to follow the structure for a picture book. This structure is very rigid, since there are only 32 pages to tell the story. It must have an intro, body of the story with ascending conflict, and resolution. Sound familiar? It is the same for almost any book except for the shorter format. She also gave me insights into where I failed in the writing of the piece--the out of character moments for my fly.
But the one gem for my $30 is that I now know what I have to do to make this story salable.
Will I sell it?
The odds are just as bad as it is for other books. Out of 7,500 queries she received last year, she bought three. Do the math. Not great odds.
BUT I have one thing in my arsenal that I didn't have before. I have direction. I have a plan.
And I must confess it is easier to self-edit a three page picture book than a 100,000 page novel.
So, this week, I'm deconstructing three picture books. Typing them out and marking the pages and where they chop the sentences for the format. Observing sentence structure, vocabulary, and subtext.
Then I will do it to my own story. Edit, tweak, edit, tweak, and then start the query process.
So was Ms. Samoun's input valuable? You bet it was! And I'd take another opportunity to do it again in a heartbeat!
Write on!
All I have to say is if you have an opportunity to have someone in the biz look at your stuff--DO IT! Pay the price, it's worth it!
I've always complained that it's hard to know if you are heading in the right direction with your writing. So, in the romance world, many of us enter contests. The problem with contests is the judges have to follow the score sheet and if someone doesn't like your work you may or may not get appropriate feedback. Then your thoughts are still tainted with the idea that this isn't an industry pro, but simply another writer--and the odds were against you that the writer was even published. All you get for your $30 (average contest fee) are opinions from two or three judges. AND if you are so lucky to final and have your manuscript placed in front of an industry pro, you get ranked. Many times you don't even get any comments.
Back to square one.
What I got for my $30 was a crit by Abigail Samoun of Tricycle Press. This used to be an indy publisher, but was recently purchased by Crown of Random House. Instead of two seasons, they will be expanding into three seasons, which means they will be buying more authors. YAY!
My story could work except I needed to follow the structure for a picture book. This structure is very rigid, since there are only 32 pages to tell the story. It must have an intro, body of the story with ascending conflict, and resolution. Sound familiar? It is the same for almost any book except for the shorter format. She also gave me insights into where I failed in the writing of the piece--the out of character moments for my fly.
But the one gem for my $30 is that I now know what I have to do to make this story salable.
Will I sell it?
The odds are just as bad as it is for other books. Out of 7,500 queries she received last year, she bought three. Do the math. Not great odds.
BUT I have one thing in my arsenal that I didn't have before. I have direction. I have a plan.
And I must confess it is easier to self-edit a three page picture book than a 100,000 page novel.
So, this week, I'm deconstructing three picture books. Typing them out and marking the pages and where they chop the sentences for the format. Observing sentence structure, vocabulary, and subtext.
Then I will do it to my own story. Edit, tweak, edit, tweak, and then start the query process.
So was Ms. Samoun's input valuable? You bet it was! And I'd take another opportunity to do it again in a heartbeat!
Write on!
3/30/09
Wow! The Things I Learned!
This week I plan to devote my blogs to what I learned at the SCBWI conference.
First of all, I have to mention that we had the most beautiful snowfall on the day of the conference. Tulsa doesn't usually get snow in March, much less 6 inches! We beat the record by ten days and five inches. Wow! So, of course, since it IS Oklahoma it is now melted with only a few traces of snow remaining.
--Drat! the ground is too soft to do any of the gardening I have planned!
I really liked the way this SCBWI program was set up. We had six speakers who spoke for 45 minutes then we had a 15 minute break to get up, walk around, get coffee or use the restrooms. Throughout the day, they had a box for questions that would be used during the panel session at the end of the day. The moderator spent the second to the last session reading and organizing the questions. She was able to group similar questions together forming a question that composed all the questions. Very well organized!
Since this is a SCBWI conference, the I stands for illustrators. There was a separate room for illustrators to show their portfolio, their product. and there was a first and second place winner. In addition, the illustrators were able to hold a 'pitch' type session with the Simon & Schuster art director. I don't know if this was an extra charge for the illustrators, but talk about an opportunity!
--Just like the editor critique that I paid $30. Best money ever spent! I'll blog about it tomorrow.
Just like any genre, children's books have sub-genres, BUT within each sub-genre comes another set of sub-sub-genre. Yeah, it is very complicated because there are no real delineations between them. So how does a writer figure out where her work resides?
I had my epiphany during Kristin Daly's talk. An editor with Harper Collins, she talked about the role of Easy readers and chapter books. Many ER's and CB's feature a series character: Henry and Mudge, Amelia Bedelia, Junie B and Judy Moody. Some of these are CB's, but they are also Easy Readers. Same thing goes for picture books and easy readers. How do you tell the difference? Other than PB's being cut on larger sized paper?
Now, I think the editor will have the final say in this decision, but you have to know roughly where your work resides. Take my Peter books. I always thought they were picture books, but came to the conclusion they were really Easy Readers. It's a combination of many things: sentence structure, vocabulary, and identifying with character--read that as building a series. When I wrote them I envisioned children reading the story, BUT an adult can also read to the child. The words are simple, but there might be one or two the child would have to decipher within the context of the text or pictures.
Hopping around here: Half of the picture book story MUST be told within the illustrations. While the illustrations in Easy readers tend to confirm the written text.
And while we're at it, throw word count to the dogs. There is no place for it in these books. Some chapter books are as short as 500 words or as long as 15000 words, depending where they fall in the child's reading development. Children's books have to fall in a very structured book format, except the longer chapter books. Even the Magic Treehouse books fall into this category and they are beginning chapter books.
PB's, ER, and early CB's have to be 32 pages. Period. Which means you have to make each page count. If you thought adult readers were unforgiving, children are worse. Do NOT bore a child.
So this week I've taken five different books off my daughter's shelf and will be typing them into the computer. I plan to use single space, but will double space between the 'pages'. I want to visualize the rhythm, pattern, and pace of these published books before I edit my Peter stories. I think the Peter stories will do well, but I need to figure out the formatting and pacing before I send them to the editors and agent.
I now have the tools to improve my stories, and I intend to use them. We all know how stubborn I am about my writing, but to ignore this chance to improve my story would be stupid.
Write on!
First of all, I have to mention that we had the most beautiful snowfall on the day of the conference. Tulsa doesn't usually get snow in March, much less 6 inches! We beat the record by ten days and five inches. Wow! So, of course, since it IS Oklahoma it is now melted with only a few traces of snow remaining.
--Drat! the ground is too soft to do any of the gardening I have planned!
I really liked the way this SCBWI program was set up. We had six speakers who spoke for 45 minutes then we had a 15 minute break to get up, walk around, get coffee or use the restrooms. Throughout the day, they had a box for questions that would be used during the panel session at the end of the day. The moderator spent the second to the last session reading and organizing the questions. She was able to group similar questions together forming a question that composed all the questions. Very well organized!
Since this is a SCBWI conference, the I stands for illustrators. There was a separate room for illustrators to show their portfolio, their product. and there was a first and second place winner. In addition, the illustrators were able to hold a 'pitch' type session with the Simon & Schuster art director. I don't know if this was an extra charge for the illustrators, but talk about an opportunity!
--Just like the editor critique that I paid $30. Best money ever spent! I'll blog about it tomorrow.
Just like any genre, children's books have sub-genres, BUT within each sub-genre comes another set of sub-sub-genre. Yeah, it is very complicated because there are no real delineations between them. So how does a writer figure out where her work resides?
I had my epiphany during Kristin Daly's talk. An editor with Harper Collins, she talked about the role of Easy readers and chapter books. Many ER's and CB's feature a series character: Henry and Mudge, Amelia Bedelia, Junie B and Judy Moody. Some of these are CB's, but they are also Easy Readers. Same thing goes for picture books and easy readers. How do you tell the difference? Other than PB's being cut on larger sized paper?
Now, I think the editor will have the final say in this decision, but you have to know roughly where your work resides. Take my Peter books. I always thought they were picture books, but came to the conclusion they were really Easy Readers. It's a combination of many things: sentence structure, vocabulary, and identifying with character--read that as building a series. When I wrote them I envisioned children reading the story, BUT an adult can also read to the child. The words are simple, but there might be one or two the child would have to decipher within the context of the text or pictures.
Hopping around here: Half of the picture book story MUST be told within the illustrations. While the illustrations in Easy readers tend to confirm the written text.
And while we're at it, throw word count to the dogs. There is no place for it in these books. Some chapter books are as short as 500 words or as long as 15000 words, depending where they fall in the child's reading development. Children's books have to fall in a very structured book format, except the longer chapter books. Even the Magic Treehouse books fall into this category and they are beginning chapter books.
PB's, ER, and early CB's have to be 32 pages. Period. Which means you have to make each page count. If you thought adult readers were unforgiving, children are worse. Do NOT bore a child.
So this week I've taken five different books off my daughter's shelf and will be typing them into the computer. I plan to use single space, but will double space between the 'pages'. I want to visualize the rhythm, pattern, and pace of these published books before I edit my Peter stories. I think the Peter stories will do well, but I need to figure out the formatting and pacing before I send them to the editors and agent.
I now have the tools to improve my stories, and I intend to use them. We all know how stubborn I am about my writing, but to ignore this chance to improve my story would be stupid.
Write on!
3/27/09
Oklahoma's SCBWI Conference
On Saturday, I'm attending my first SCBWI conference. For those not in the know, SCBWI is the acronym of Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. In Oklahoma they hold a conference every year, splitting each year between OKC and Tulsa. Yay! This year it's in Tulsa. I only have to go downtown for an all day seminar.
I also spent some extra bucks for a writing critique by one of the agents or editors. I sent in my first picture book story, Peter's Messy Room. Since then I've written a total of 8 Peter stories and I'm working on another PB along with a MG book.
To tell you the truth, I've been in a blue writing funk. I can't seem to write on ANY story, not even my adult UF. Ever since I entered Demon Within in a couple of writing contests, I'm stumped. What if I actually get some feedback that will help me figure it all out?
I think part of my problem is mental. Isn't it always? I know I'm going to get feedback on my pb, so why write something if I might actually get some constructive critsism? But I can tell you right now, I can almost guess exactly what the crit will be: Nice writing, but nothing special.
The story of my life. I've never excelled at anything. Oh, don't get me wrong, I've tried. I've tried all sorts of things, but I'm just not gifted at any one thing. And it's frustrating. I've trained horses, writing romance, teaching MT's and aerobics, and even my old career as a MT bench tech. I was good, efficient even if all my evaluations were true, but I didn't excel.
I'm just sick and tired of sucking at things. Hell, I can't even lose weight though I'm exercising my wazoo off at the moment. Damn plateaus.
Sorry, didn't mean for this to turn into a gritch session.
I am excited about meeting other writers and learning the secret handshake of children's book publishing, but I'm not holding my breath.
--that way I won't get disappointed.
I'll let you know how it went on Monday's blog.
I also spent some extra bucks for a writing critique by one of the agents or editors. I sent in my first picture book story, Peter's Messy Room. Since then I've written a total of 8 Peter stories and I'm working on another PB along with a MG book.
To tell you the truth, I've been in a blue writing funk. I can't seem to write on ANY story, not even my adult UF. Ever since I entered Demon Within in a couple of writing contests, I'm stumped. What if I actually get some feedback that will help me figure it all out?
I think part of my problem is mental. Isn't it always? I know I'm going to get feedback on my pb, so why write something if I might actually get some constructive critsism? But I can tell you right now, I can almost guess exactly what the crit will be: Nice writing, but nothing special.
The story of my life. I've never excelled at anything. Oh, don't get me wrong, I've tried. I've tried all sorts of things, but I'm just not gifted at any one thing. And it's frustrating. I've trained horses, writing romance, teaching MT's and aerobics, and even my old career as a MT bench tech. I was good, efficient even if all my evaluations were true, but I didn't excel.
I'm just sick and tired of sucking at things. Hell, I can't even lose weight though I'm exercising my wazoo off at the moment. Damn plateaus.
Sorry, didn't mean for this to turn into a gritch session.
I am excited about meeting other writers and learning the secret handshake of children's book publishing, but I'm not holding my breath.
--that way I won't get disappointed.
I'll let you know how it went on Monday's blog.
1/7/09
Professional Organizations
Speed blogging today.
I have to get my Wii Fit hour in before I can work on my edits--alas, personal edits, not professional editor edits of those who reign in the 212--Even though I clock an hour on Fit time you have to add at least an accumulated 30-45 minutes of 'trainer chat' time. And, no, I haven't found a way to fast forward through it. They probably have the slowdown to prevent lawsuits from idiots having heart attacks by working out too aggressively.
I just attended a local chapter of SCBWI last night. All the ladies were very lovely and nice, but I don't think attending local 'schmooze' sessions will work for me. Now this isn't to say that beginning writers shouldn't join a local writer group. I did when I thought I was a romance writer. I like writing romance and sex in my books--as a subplot. I don't really get the internal/emotional angsting of why they can't be together, though I LOVE reading it!
Anyhoo, local writers are exceedingly helpful and supportive, especially when they write in your genre. I learned a tremendous amount about writing, publishing, critiquing, judging, etc. from the ladies of RWI, and I will always be thankful for the time I spent with them. But I moved on into other genres: picture books and urban fantasy.
Yeah, tell me about it. When I go diverse, I go all the way.
Right now at this point in my writing career I don't need someone to pat me on the back or cheer me on. Shoot, I have over 200 rejections on four manuscripts--I have a tough shell. What I need to do is write. I can find almost everything I need on the Internet, and intend to exploit the heck out of it when I'm serious about querying my PB's.
So will I belong to professional organizations? Yes.
Most of them have very helpful info that can be had on their websites. Many times you can join as an associate member if you are not published, but can only gain full membership, and access to their site, after you sell. Most writing organizations host conferences regionally or nationally that are beneficial.
If I decide to pimp my PB's, I'll need to join SCBWI.
When I finish my UF, I'll have to join SFWA
And I'll still keep my membership to RWA, considering I still have two full romances written, and five beginnings.
So, yes, I do think a beginning writer should belong to a professional organization. But it is up to the individual as to whether or not a local support group is worth the effort
I have to get my Wii Fit hour in before I can work on my edits--alas, personal edits, not professional editor edits of those who reign in the 212--Even though I clock an hour on Fit time you have to add at least an accumulated 30-45 minutes of 'trainer chat' time. And, no, I haven't found a way to fast forward through it. They probably have the slowdown to prevent lawsuits from idiots having heart attacks by working out too aggressively.
I just attended a local chapter of SCBWI last night. All the ladies were very lovely and nice, but I don't think attending local 'schmooze' sessions will work for me. Now this isn't to say that beginning writers shouldn't join a local writer group. I did when I thought I was a romance writer. I like writing romance and sex in my books--as a subplot. I don't really get the internal/emotional angsting of why they can't be together, though I LOVE reading it!
Anyhoo, local writers are exceedingly helpful and supportive, especially when they write in your genre. I learned a tremendous amount about writing, publishing, critiquing, judging, etc. from the ladies of RWI, and I will always be thankful for the time I spent with them. But I moved on into other genres: picture books and urban fantasy.
Yeah, tell me about it. When I go diverse, I go all the way.
Right now at this point in my writing career I don't need someone to pat me on the back or cheer me on. Shoot, I have over 200 rejections on four manuscripts--I have a tough shell. What I need to do is write. I can find almost everything I need on the Internet, and intend to exploit the heck out of it when I'm serious about querying my PB's.
So will I belong to professional organizations? Yes.
Most of them have very helpful info that can be had on their websites. Many times you can join as an associate member if you are not published, but can only gain full membership, and access to their site, after you sell. Most writing organizations host conferences regionally or nationally that are beneficial.
If I decide to pimp my PB's, I'll need to join SCBWI.
When I finish my UF, I'll have to join SFWA
And I'll still keep my membership to RWA, considering I still have two full romances written, and five beginnings.
So, yes, I do think a beginning writer should belong to a professional organization. But it is up to the individual as to whether or not a local support group is worth the effort
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